My brother, Michael, was born one month before his due date and he also had cerebral palsy(脑瘫). He was retarded. He never lost his baby teeth, never grew taller than about 30 inches and never weighed more than 28 pounds. They did estimate, however, that he would not live to see his 12th birthday.
As a boy I learned to feed and clothe Mike. As a teenager, I babysat for my "big brother" and learned use the proper medicine to prevent the seizures(癫痫) that caused him to tremble.
Many people said he would never walk or talk . He never did learn to walk, but he did learn to
talk -not even in complete sentences, but he had the basics down. If he was hungry, thirsty, happy or sad, we knew. He knew names too. I was Kagun, not Kevin. But that changed with a beard I grew during the
summer before college. Family members said it was ugly. Mike heard it.
"Look who"s at home. Who"s that?" they"d say to Mike. "Ugly," he would respond with delight.
All of which-to me-was normal, for he was the only brother I knew. The only time I thought of the
differences between us was when others pointed them out.
My circle of friends widened when I entered high school. One day Mom asked if my new friends would have a problem seeing Mike for the first time. "If they don"t accept Mike, they don"t accept me and they
aren"t welcome," I said.
And if I didn"t think of him as different, I never thought about him dying either. On a warm fall night in
1998, Mike had a seizure. With this first seizure, Mike"s life was beginning to fade.
On March 15, 1999, Mike died. Michael Patrick Harter-just 26 years old- died in Mom"s arms.
We never had those great talks other brothers have about women, work and parents. We never played catch or talked about our dreams. But Mike taught me compassion and strength. He taught me respect for those less fortunate than myself. And he taught me an appreciation of the beauty in the simplest things.
Physically and mentally, I was my brother"s keeper. Spiritually, Mike was and is my keeper-a nearly
silent guardian angel.
1. The underlined word "retard" in Paragraph 1 may mean_______.
A. to make development faster
B. to make development slower
C. to make development earlier
D. to make development better
2. How much longer did the writer"s brother live than expected?
A. About 26
B. About 12
C. About38
D. About 14
3. Which of the following statements is supported by the passage?
A.It was a great shock to the writer that his disabled brother died in his mother"s arms.
B.He thought his brother would inspire him forever.
C.His brother brought him great shame in his childhood.
D.He thought that friendship wasn"t that important.
4.The best title of this passage might be____________.
A. My Disabled Brother
B. A Peaceful Death of My Brother
C. My Silent Keeper
D. Love to My Brother
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As she waited at the edge of the ice for her music to start, Peggy took a quick look at her father standing nearby with a group of parents and teachers. He smiled at her. Then she _1_ out at the audience, _2_ to see her mother. These two, Alvert and Doris Fleming, had _3 _all the way from California more than 2,000
miles away, to see their _4 _compete in this sports meet in Cleveland, Ohio.
The music _5_ and Peggy moved onto the ice, letting the music _6_ her along into her turns, and she
began skating with much _7_ in herself. The cold fear she always had in the _8 _ seconds before skating
onto the ice was _9_ . She was feeling the movement of the _10_ and letting it carry her. She skated
easily, _11_ did some jumps, a final turn and her performance was _12_ .
The crowd loved it and cheered _13_ she skated off the ice. "Nice job," said one of the other _14_ . It was the remark(话语) that _15_came after a free-skating performance. But what should the _16_ say?
Standing beside her father, Peggy _17_ for the scoring(打分) to be finished. On all sides were other young
skaters, some waiting _18_ alone, others with a parent. Shortly before 10 o"clock the results were _19_ . The new United States Women"s Figure Skating Champion was Peggy Fleming of Passdena, _20_ .
| ( )1. A. looked ( )2. A. failing ( )3. A. bicycled ( )4. A. friend ( )5. A. started ( )6. A. allow ( )7. A. thought ( )8. A. following ( )9. A. lost ( )10. A. music ( )11. A. so ( )12. A. satisfied ( )13. A. because ( )14. A. skaters ( )15. A. always ( )16. A. players ( )17. A. waited ( )18. A. comfortably ( )19. A. spoken ( )20. A. England | B. watched B. looking forward B. driven B. children B. played B. set out B. belief B. last B. present B. fear B. or B. unsatisfactory B. until B. friends B. seldom B. audience B. looked B. hurriedly B. explained B. Cleveland | C. found C. having C. run C. son C. developed C. carry C. success C. recent C. strong C. ice C. before C. finished C. before C. judges C. again C. judges C. wished C. happily C. announced C. Ohio | D. stepped D. hoping D. walked D. daughter D. sang D. support D. design D. past D. gone D. audience D. then D. welcome D. as D. parents D. hardly D. parents D. asked D. anxiously D. unknown D. California |
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| 根据短文内容，从短文后的选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项，选项中有两项为多余选项。 I was ten when I first sat with my grandmother behind the cashier(收银台)in her general store. 1 I quickly learned the importance of treating customers politely and saying "thank you." At first I was paid in candy. 2 I worked every day after school, and during the summer and on weekends and holidays from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. My father helped me set up a bank account. 3 By the time I was 12, My grandmother thought I had done such a good job that she promoted me to selling cosmetics(化妆品). I developed the ability to look customers directly in the eye. Even though I was just a kid, women would ask me such things as " What color do you think I should wear?" I took a real interest in their questions and was able to translate what they wanted into makeup(化妆)ideas. 4 The job taught me a valuable lesson: to be a successful salesperson, you didn"t need to be a Rocket scientist-you needed to be a great listener. 5 Except they are no longer women purchasing cosmetics from me; instead, they are kids who tell me which toys they would like to see designed and developed. A.Later I received 50 cents an hour. B.Before long, she let me sit there by myself. C.I ended my selling a record amount of cosmetics. D.Today I still carry that lesson with me: I listen to customers. E.My grandma"s trust taught me how to handle responsibility. F.Soon I found myself looking more beautiful than ever before. G.Watching my money grow was more rewarding than anything I could have bought. | |||
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| Adrian"s "Amazing Race" started early when his parents realized he couldn"t hear a thing, not even loud noises. At a special school for the hearing-impaired (听觉受损的),he learned ___1__ language and had to __2___ with other disabled children. However, the ___3__ of all the disabled children communicating with one another upset his mother. She wanted him to lead a(an) __4_ life. After speaking to an advisor, she sent him to private classes __5__ he learned to lip-read and pronounce words. Later on, Adrian"s parents __6__ to send him to a regular school. The headmaster tried to prevent them from doing so, __7__ regular school couldn"t take care of a special needs student. His parents were determined to __8__ and pushed him hard to go through his work every day __9__ they wanted to prove that, __10__ the opportunity, Adrian could do anything. Adrian made the grade and was __11__. It was a big challenge. The pace(节奏) was faster so he had to sit at the front of the class and really pay attention to the teacher, ___12__ wasn"t always easy. But he___13__ it and did a lot of extra work after school. The ___14__made by Adrian and his parents paid off. Adrian graduated with good __15__ and got into a top high school. He also achieved a lot in his life __16__ school. He developed a love __17___ the outdoors and went to Nepal to climb mountains. He even entered the World Yacht Race 05/06, __18___ the first hearing-impaired Asian to do so. But none of these achievements would have been possible __19__ one of the most important lessons from his mother. "If you ___20__ yourself and work hard, you can achieve great results," she often said. | |||
| ( )1. A. sign ( )2. A. mix ( )3. A. view ( )4. A. common ( )5. A. that ( )6. A. thought ( )7. A. lying ( )8. A. insist on ( )9. A. because ( )10. A. having given ( )11. A. fired ( )12. A. it ( )13. A. stuck to ( )14. A. affords ( )15. A. aims ( )16. A. outside ( )17. A. to ( )18. A. achieved ( )19. A. out of ( )20. A. leave out | B. hearing B. work B. sight B. normal B. which B. succeeded B. telling B. take a look B. therefore B. given B. blamed B. he B. devoted to B. effects B. fames B. inside B. for B. became B. through B. trust in | C. spoken C. play C. sign C. ordinary C. where C. decided C. speaking C. focus on C. however C. giving C. accepted C. that C. applied to C. efforts C. grades C. behind C. over C. becoming C. from C. try out | D. written D. study D. scenery D. average D. when D. considered D. saying D. take the risk D. while D. to give D. squeezed D. which D. appealed to D. affects D. data D. after D. about D. achieving D. without D. believe in |
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| A girl complained to her father about her hard life. She didn"t know what she could do and wanted to ___1___. She was tired of fighting and fighting. One problem had been settled, but ___2___ appeared. Her  father, a cook, took her into the ___3___. He poured water into three pots and boiled it. After the water came to a boil, he put some ___4___ in the first pot, eggs in the second and coffee in the last. He waited for them for a few minutes ___5___ any words. The girl closed her mouth and waited, impatient and ___6___ by what her father was doing. After about 20 minutes, her father ___7___ the stove, took out the carrots  and put them in a bowl. He tookthe eggs and put them in another bowl. After that he ___8___ the coffee into a cup. Turning back to his ___9___ , he asked, "Sweetheart, what do you see?" "Carrots, eggs and coffee," she replied. Her father asked her to __10 _ the carrots. She did and felt that the carrots were ___11___. ___12___ he asked her to take the eggs and break them. After peeling them, she felt the eggs were hard. Last, her father asked her to smell the coffee. S  he asked, "What does this _ _13__, Father?"He __14__ that each of the things had felt the same unfortunate fate. They were all boiled in ___15__, but with a ___16___ result. The strong and hard carrots became soft and weak after being boiled. The fragile eggs became __17___ after cooking. Coffee grounds were very unique. They could change the water. "___18___ one are you?" asked her fath  er. "When calamity(不幸的事) __19___ on your door,what will your ___20___ be? Are you carrots, eggs of coffee?" | |||
s just for you," he said. "You know better than anyone else the truth about yourself. But you have to learn to listen, not just close your ears in anger 
