Part of David"s heart muscle grew thick and stiff ,keeping the flow of blood. The disease David had
lived with for 17 years was slowly keeping his heart from beating.
The night Flora bent forward in front of her computer, everybody else was asleep. For the price, or
keeping her husband a live. To do that, she needed to search for the information: a place and someone to
fix David"s damaged heart. And she needed to be lucky.
Finally, she found what she needed on a magazine"s website. When David came into the study early
the following morning, she said "I"ve found it" and handed him the papers.
David wondered if there was any other way. Then he thought about his wife and kids. He stared at
the papers. Only he could make the choice: Should he have the same surgery(外科手术) that had killed
his father,Or the one that no one works? This experiment treatment might be his best hope.
The operation theatre was kept freezing cold. David wasn"t frightened, just nervous.
He felt a burning pain, a burning knife cutting through his heart.
On the EKG screen, the tiny valley in the middle of each peak(高峰)-showing a sign of David"s disease-smoothed out. For the first time in years, he had a normal arterial(动脉) pressure.
"That"s the most unusual thing, "said Flora, excited by the results.
Three days later, David and Flora drove home after the fight from Houston. Their kids ran out to meet
them.
1. Decide which is closest in meaning to the underlined word "stiff" in the text.
A. Unable to bend
B. Dry, loose and smaller
C. Not easy to turn or move
D. Less straight as well as narrow
2. "And she needed to be lucky ."What did this sentences suggest?
A. God would bring luck to her.
B. Good luck was sure to reach her.
C. She needed to try hard to be lucky.
D. There was a chance that her efforts would end in failure.
3. From the text, we learn that Houston was probably the name of ________.
A. the operation room
B. the most unusual surgery
C. a city where the hospital lay
D. the head doctor in charge of the operation
4. From the text, we can tell that________.
A. the Davids got along well with each other
B. David accepted Flora"s advice without any hesitation
C. David"s father died from a sudden attack of heart trouble
D. David became a normal person soon after the medical operation
summer is all happened. I was a second grader, but my best friend Stephanie was only in the first grade.
Both of our parents were at work and most of the time they let us go our own way.
It was a hot afternoon and we decided to have an adventure in Stephanie"s basement. As I opened
the basement door, before us lay the biggest room, full of amazing things like guns, dolls and old cloths.
I ran downstairs, and spotted a red steel can. It was paint. I looked beyond it and there lay even more
paint in bright colors like purple, orange, blue and green.
"Stephanie, I just found us a project for the day. Get some paintbrushes. We are fixing to paint." She
screamed with excitement as I told her of my secret plans and immediately we go to work. We gathered
all the brushes we could find and moved all of our materials to my yard. There on the road in front of my
house. We painted big stripes(条纹) of colors across the pavement(人行道). Stripe by stripe, our colors
turned into a beautiful rainbow. It was fantastic!
The sun was starting to sink. I saw a car in the distance and jumped up as I recognized the car. It was my mother. I couldn"t wait to show her my masterpiece. The car pulled slowly into the driveway and from
the look on my mother"s face. I could tell that I was in deep trouble.
My mother shut the car door and walked towards me. Her eyes glaring, she shouted "What in the
world were you thinking? I understood when you made castles out of leaves, and climbed the neighbors"
trees, but this! Come inside right now! "I stood there glaring back at her for a minute, angry because she
had insulted(侮辱) my art.
"Now go clean it up!" Mother and I began cleaning the road. Tears ran down my cheeks as I saw my
beautiful rainbow turn into black cement.
Though years have now passed, I still wonder where my rainbow had gone. I wonder if, maybe when
I get older, I can find my rainbow and never have to brush it away. I guess we all need some sort of
rainbow to brighten our lives from time to time and to keep our hopes and dreams colorful.
1. What did the writer want to do when his mother came home?
A. To introduce Stephanie to her
B. To prevent her from seeing his painting
C. To put the materials back in the yard
D. To show his artwork to her
2. In his mother"s eyes, the write________.
A. was a born artist
B. always caused trouble
C. was a problem solver
D. worked very hard
3. The unlined word "rainbow" in the last paragraph refers to_________.
A. the rainbow in the sky
B. the stripes on the pavement
C. something imaginative and fun
D. important lessons learned in childhood.
4. It can be learned from the passage that parents should________.
A. encourage children to paint
B. value friendship among children
C. discover the hidden talent in children
D. protect rather than destroy children"s dreams
A primary school teacher who left a class of 25 pupils in tears after she told them Santa Claus did not
exist has been fired. When excited youngsters became rowdy as they talked a- bout Santa, the supply
teacher said out suddenly, "It"s your parents who leave out presents on Christmas Day."
The class of seven-year-olds at Blackshaw Lane Primary School, Royton, Greater Manchester burst in
to tears and told their parents when they arrived home. Mothers and fa- thers then complained about the
incident and were sent a letter by the school saying the teacher, who only worked at the school for one day
last week, has been punished.
The school has now said it will not hire her again.
One father said, "My son came home and said that his teacher had told the class that Santa doesn"t
exist and it"s their mum and dad that put out presents for them. Obviously, they were all talking about
Christmas and being a bit rowdy. She just came straight out with it. "
"My son was in tears and so was everyone else in the class -- especially as it was so close to
Christmas. I thought it was wrong. He was crazy about it. He"s only seven-year-old and it"s part of the
magic of Christmas to him. "
"We told him that she did not believe in Father Christmas because of her religion and he"s fine now. "
"The father described the incident as " shocking" and believed it was done with malicious intent (恶意地). A lot of parents were angry and complained to the school. The teacher, who was supplied by
Rochdale and Oldham Supply Agency, is still listed and will work with other schools," the agency said.
However, the head teacher in Angela McCormick refused to comment on the incident.
B. The parents whose children cried.
C. The pupils who were in tears.
D. Santa Claus the teacher talked about.
B. the letters by the school
C. their teacher"s leaving
D. the presents left out by the parents
B. the parents complained about the discipline of the school
C. the little pupils felt disappointed after hearing the news told by the teacher
D. in reality, Santa Claus exists and gives out presents once a year
B. noisy.
C. discouraged.
D. annoyed
evening my wife had asked me to go to the store to get some soft drinks. It seemed like this would be a
good time to let my teenage daughter Holly practice her driving, so I sent her to the store in my truck. At
dinner my son talked about how much he liked my truck. I enjoyed having it, but I said: "Guy, my heart is
not set on that truck. I like it but it is just metal and won"t last forever. Never set your heart on anything that
won"t last. "After hearing the loud noise, the whole family ran outside. My son shouted: "Dad! Dad, Holly
crashed your truck. "
My heart sank and my mind was flooded with conflicting thoughts. Was anyone hurt? Who else was
involved? As I ran to the door, I heard a voice in my heart say: "Here is a chance to show Holly what you
really love. She"ll never forget it. "
The accident had occurred in my own driveway. Holly had crashed my truck into our other vehicle, the
family van. In her inexperience, she had confused the brakes and the gas pedal (油门]). Holly was unhurt
physically but when I reached her, she was crying and saying: "Oh, Dad, I"m sorry. I know how much you
love this truck. "I held her in my arms as she cried.
Later that week a friend stopped by and asked what had happened to my truck. I told her the whole
story. Her eyes moistened (润湿) and she said: "That happened to me when I was a girl. I borrowed my
dad"s car and ran into a log that had fallen across the road. I ruined the car. When I got home my Dad
knocked me to the ground and began to kick me. "
Over 40 years later, she still felt the pain of the night. It was a deep wound on her soul.
I remember how sad Holly was on the night she crashed our truck, and how I comforted her. One day,
when Holly thinks back on her life, I want her to know that I love her a thou- sand times more than any
piece of property.
I repaired the van, but the dent (凹陷) in my truck is still there today. Every day it re- minds me of
what really matters in my life.
B. Holly stepped on the gas pedal instead of the brakes.
C. Holly was drinking a soft drink while driving.
D. The car got a flat tire and Holly lost control.
B. She lost the courage to drive.
C. Her father kicked her out of the house.
D. Her father was violent toward her
B. The author allowed his daughter to use his truck because his son was too young to drive.
C. When the author saw the crash, he was sorry for the damage to his beloved car.
D. By comforting his daughter, the author showed how much more he loved her than his truck.
B. parents should never let a teenager drive
C. there is no point blaming someone after an accident
D. we should always forgive others~ mistake
1 was his favorite recreation(娱乐). He had so much 2 in the water as any person I have known.
You didn"t have to throw a stick in the water to 3 him to go in. Of course, he would bring back a stick
to you if you 4 throw one in.
That 5 me of that night, 6 he brought back a small box that he found somewhere- how 7 nobody
ever knew. Since it was Rex, it 8 easily have been half a race. The box wasn"t a good one. It was just a 9 old piece that somebody 10 . Still it was something he wanted, probably 11 there was some
difficulty in transportation(运输). And that he thought could test his courage. We first knew about his
achievement when, deep in the night, we 12 him trying to get the box up onto the porch(门 厅). It
sounded 13 two or three people were trying to tear the house 14 . We came downstairs and turned
on the 15 light. Rex was on the top step trying to pull the thing up, but it had 16 somehow. And he was
just holding his own(坚持着). I suppose he would have held his own 17 dawn if we hadn"t helped him.
The next day we carried the box miles away and threw it out. If we had thrown it out in a 18 place, he
would have brought it home again, as a small token(象征)of his strength in such matters. 19 , he had been
taught to carry heavy wooden objects about and he was 20 of his skill.
| ( )1. A.Fighting ( )2. A.fun ( )3. A.stop ( )4. A.will ( )5. A.reminds ( )6. A.which ( )7. A.far ( )8. A.could ( )9. A.priceless ( )10. A.kept ( )11. A.because ( )12. A.saw ( )13. A.like ( )14. A.up ( )15. A.hall ( )16. A.rolled ( )17. A.at ( )18. A.distant ( )19. A.In all ( )20. A.proud | B.Swimming B.trouble B.make B.do B.warns B.while B.long B.can B.worthless B.forgot B.only if B.heard B.that B.in B.kitchen B.stopped B.before B.nearby B.As a result B.tired | C.Barking C.danger C.get C.did C.tells C.as C.old C.should C.valuable C.deserted(遗弃) C.even if C.watched C.as if C.away C.bedroom C.caught C.till C.silent C.At last C.ashamed | D.Running D.difficulty D.have D.would D.suggests D. when D.heavy D.would D.important D.remained D.in case D.caught D.at least D.down D.porch D.broken D.during D. busy D.After all D.doubtful |
| 阅读理解。 | |||
| The CEO of Apple, Steve Jobs" story about death. When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: "If you live each day as if it were your last, someday you"ll most certainly be right." It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself, "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?" Remembering that I"ll be dead soon is the most important tool I"ve ever encountered (遇到) to help me make the big choice in life. About a year ago I was diagnosed with cancer. The doctors told me this was almost certainly a type of cancer that was incurable, and that I would live no longer than three to six months. My doctor advised me to go home and get my affairs in order, which is my doctors" code for preparing yourself to die. I lived with that diagnosis all day. I was completely in despair. Later that evening, I had another biopsy(活组织检查) and my wife told me that tumor turned to be curable with surgery. I had the surgery and I"m fine now. This was the closest I"ve been to facing death. To tell the truth, no one wants to die. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. It clears out the old to make room for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Your time is so limited that you shouldn"t waste it repeating someone else"s life. Don"t be trapped by dogma (教条)----which is living with the results of other people"s thinking. Don"t let the noise of others" opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most importantly, have the courage to follow your heart. It somehow already knows what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary. | |||
| 1. The doctor advised the author to go home and get his affairs in order because _____. | |||
| A. he had to rest at home B. his disease was not serious at all C. his disease couldn"t be cured D. he had to wait for the result of the test | |||
| 2. How did the author feel after the diagnosis? | |||
| A. Angry B. Excited C. Optimistic D. Hopeless | |||
| 3. What does the author think of death? | |||
| A. He thinks it is nothing to be scared of. B. He thinks it is not the end of life. C. He thinks it is impossible to avoid. D. He thinks it is the beginning of a new life. | |||
4. In the author"s opinion, we should _____. | |||
| A. follow others" advice B. take no notice of diseases C. take exercise and keep healthy D have the courage to follow our heart |