Those days life was so hard that I finally wished that I could just be “left alone”.
The thought of going somewhere by myself would give me so much 1 . but then I’d remember when I was alone. Not that 2 _ left me. I was alone by myself in crowded places. It was the 3 that I built around me that would not 4 the outside in or the inside out.
When I was a child, I would play this silly 5 . It was always 6 _ because a place in a corner or under a table would do. My favorite place was simply to pull a blanket over my head. I would lie there and 7 , “Right now no one in the world knows where I am!” That thought was so 8 .
If you knew me well enough this wouldn’t 9 you…I still do it at 60. It drives my dogs crazy, because they find me and start digging at the blanket until they find a way in. All three of them 10 me. That thought is so satisfying, too.
I want you to know that at times we all wish that we could be left _11 . The fact that you can be alone with yourself and enjoy it shows clearly who you are. Imagine for a 12 being locked in a room with someone you 13 . It would be torture. So, if you find peace with being with yourself, that is good. However, if you are trying to build a wall so no one can ever 14 , it can’t happen.
The light of love can find a 15 through the tiniest cracks. You can pull the covers over your head and love will find you.
A．trouble C．pleasure D．worry
A．anybody B．everyone C．nobody D．someone
A．idea B．place C．house D．wall
A．permit B．stop C．find D．turn
A．match B．program C．competition D．game
A．interesting B．disappointing C．easy D．different
A．shout B．think C．cry D．dream
A．satisfying B．shocking C．important D．strange
A．fear B．meet C．surprise D．excite
A．bite B．join C．watch D．excite
A．quiet B．calm C．alone D．silent
A．change B．moment C．rest D．chance
A．respect B．admire C．notice D．dislike
A．go out B．come to C．get in D．leave for
A．way B．help D．hope
From my second grade on，there was one event I feared every year：the piano recital(独奏会)．A recital____I had to practice a boring piece of music and perform before strangers．Each year I___ask my father if I could skip the recital “just this once”．And each year he’d shake his head，muttering(嘀咕) about building self-confidence and working towards a ．
So it was with really great that I stood in church one recent Sunday，video camera in hand，and my 68-year-old father sweating in his shirt rising to play the piano in his very first recital．
My father had longed to play music since childhood，but his family was poor and couldn’t lessons．He could have gone on regretting it， too many of us do．But though he was rooted in his past，he wasn’t there．When he retired three years ago，he his church music director to take him as a student．
For a moment after my father sat down at the keyboard，he stared down at his fingers．
Has he forgotten the ? I worried，remembering those split seconds ago when my mind would go blank and my fingers would ．But then came the beautiful melody(旋律)，from the fingers that once baited(装饵于)my fishing lines．And I he had been doing what music teachers always stress： the music and pretend the others aren’t there．
“I'm of him for starting something new at his age，”I said to my son Jeff．
“Yeah，and doing it so ，”Jeff added．
With his first recital，my father taught me more about courage and determination than all the words he used those 30-plus years ago．
A．reflected B．explained C．meant D．proved
A．would B．could C．might D．should
A．nothing B．everything C．anything D．something
A．goal B．stage C．journey D．chance
A．trouble B．satisfaction C．strength D．disappointment
A．kept B．sent C．watched D．felt
A．through B．from C．against D．before
A．miss B．afford C．select D．understand
A．as B．once C．if D．while
A．educated B．protected C．stuck D．spoiled
A．allowed B．invited C．inspired D．persuaded
A．roughly B．simply C．merrily D．curiously
A．words B．videos C．notes D．lessons
A．decades B．weeks C．hours D．moments
A．play B．freeze C．click D．adjust
A．same B．warm C．different D．dirty
A．predicted B．realized C．imagined D．insisted
A．pass over B．turn up C．concentrate on D．bring in
A．ashamed B．aware C．tired D．proud
A．casually B．anxiously C．nicely D．frequently
About 20 years ago, I was lucky to teach a disabled young woman named Audrey. Not only was she good at math and science, but she was also very in art. She could draw and paint beautifully. When Audrey graduated from university, she got two , one in fine arts and one in chemistry. Not too many people do well in two such areas of study. 根据上文：one in fine arts and one in chemistry.
Just before her high school graduation, Audrey me a wonderful gift. It was a watercolour painting of a mother and her baby. A tear from the mother’s eye as she looked at her child. Under the painting, Audrey had these words: “The deep love from Mother, me, touches another.” What a beautiful gift! I had the piece of art framed and in my office.
Years passed with many from one office to another and I the painting. Last year, after about eight years of not knowing where it was, I a phone call from a former colleague who said she had of mine. It was the picture Audrey had painted for me 18 years earlier. When cleaning out a storage room, she had my gift.
I was struck that the gift came back. I knew Audrey very well. When she was four years old, Audrey had a serious . What’s worse, her father left the house. It was her mother who brought her up with much trouble. She it but was disabled.
To , it is just a painting, but to me it shows how a mother’s love has helped a talent and how its pushes me ahead.
A．interested B．talented C．buried D．absorbed
A．degrees B．choice C．chances D．jobs
A．similar B．distinguishing C．different D．scientific
A．gave B．promised C．afforded D．presented
A．sank B．flooded C．escaped D．fell
A．quietly B．lovingly C．warmly D．gently
A．described B．marked C．written D．signed
A．past B．on C．with D．through
A．hung B．decorated C．painted D．added
A．migrations B．moves C．turns D．circles
A．left B．forgot C．lost D．ignored
A．accepted B．made C．dialed D．received
A．something B．books C．gifts D．letters
A．searched B．discovered C．observed D．touched
A．ancient B．colorful C．precious D．abstract
A．symptom B．fault C．heart D．disease
A．survived B．recovered C．struggled D．managed
A．someone else B．anyone else C．everyone else D．nobody else
A．encourage B．become C．develop D．practise
A．energy B．force C．strength D．power
A noted American psychologist once remarked that childhood is a magical period in one’s life. Indeed it is, for during one undergoes a step-by-step transformation not only in capacity, but also in physical and verbal skills. Each step an increase in the difficulty of a child’s conceptual and learning abilities. During the early stages of childhood, from infancy to about five, the child learns simple skills including using the toilet, bathing and dressing himself . At this stage, he also learns to be very observant, curious, and creative. His ability to remember things also at this stage. He remembers details that an adult may have difficulty in remembering. , he learns elementary skills in problem-solving. At school, particular in classes, the child is especially creative. Given a piece of paper and some colored pencils, he draws a variety of from his surroundings as well as from his circle. It is not surprising to see a child draw a monster to represent an abusive father, and an _____ to represent a loving and caring mother.
As he graduates to the later stages of childhood bordering on the years, the child learns the complexity of human relations and socialization by with his peers—his friends and schoolmates. He also learns to with new life situations, including dates and part-time work. Given a tight schedule of schoolwork, the child learns to prepare his own schedules of work and play; the more practical and less serious ones manage to take time out of their schedules of assignments, reports and tests and examinations to go with their friends on relaxation entertainment.
A．adolescence B．adulthood C．childhood D．infancy
A．spiritual B．magical C．practical D．mental
A．signals B．presents C．prevents D．signs
A．willingly B．excitedly C．confidently D．independently
A．optimistic B．imaginative C．able D．studious
A．increases B．develops C．declines D．strengthens
A．Gradually B．Fortunately C．Unexpectedly D．Undoubtedly
A．music B．chemistry C．art D．biology
A．pictures B．images C．reflections D．buildings
A．school B．family C．teacher D．friend
A．beauty B．actress C．witches D．angel
A．infancy B．adulthood C．teenage D．aged
A．competing B．fighting C．interacting D．learning
A．experiment B．agree C．withdraw D．concern
A．ambitious B．original C．daily D．busy
“Can I see my baby?” the happy new mother asked. When the baby was placed in her arms, she was . The baby had been born without ears. Time that the baby’s hearing was perfect. It was only his that was damaged. When he rushed home from school one day and himself into his mother’s arms, she sighed, that he would have many heartbreaks in his life. He grew up and became a(n) with his classmates. He might have been class president, but for that. The boy’s father with the family physician in secret. “Could be done?” the father asked. “I believed I could on a pair of outer ears, if they could be got.” the doctor answered. So the began for a person who would make such a for a young man. Two years went by. Then the father said, “You are going to the hospital, son. Mother and I have someone who will give the ears you need. it’s a secret,” said the father. The operation was very , and a new person appeared. “But I must know!” he urged his father. “Who so much to me? I could never do enough for him.” “I do not believe you could,” said the father. The secret was for years till he stood with his father over his mother’s coffin(棺材). Slowly and , his father raised his mother’s thick brown hair to that his mother had no outer ears. “Mother said she was she never let her hair be cut,” he whispered gently, “and nobody ever thought she was less , did they?”
A．angry B．disappointed C．surprised D．curious
A．proved B．seemed C．told D．saw
A．figure B．face C．ear D．appearance
A．got B．put C．sent D．took
A．knowing B．guessing C．doubting D．wondering
A．enemy B．stranger C．favorite D．friend
A．ever B．also C．even D．still
A．asked B．spoke C．chatted D．said
A．something B．everything C．anything D．nothing
A．transplant B．operate C．set D．fix
A．operation B．search C．interview D．examination
A．devotion B．effort C．sacrifice D．contribution
A．Therefore B．But C．Though D．Otherwise
A．normal B．useful C．difficult D．successful
A．changed B．worked C．gave D．did
A．discussed B．hidden C．spread D．kept
A．carefully B．sadly C．excitedly D．tenderly
A．see B．find C．show D．tell
A．proud B．glad C．worried D．regretful
A．beautiful B．ugly C．respectable D．fashionable
For most of us, success in school has very little to do with actual learning. The most important thing you have to master is how to play the grade games. you think out your own strategies for getting high marks, everything opens up to you. You may be to a well-known college or win scholarship, not to mention gaining the admiration of your teachers and parents.
But not everyone does well in tests. At times, it can almost turn into a funny game of hit and . Some students haven't mastered the of test taking, and some fear under pressure or need more time or another way to what they know. Being a school means learning things out of the school system. Then you have to work things to your . Lots of students are already doing it without it. Getting high grades also on knowing each teacher's character. For example, I once had to take , so one day in classes I talked to the teacher I had wanted to. I told him how I'd heard what a really good teacher he was, and how disappointed I was that I'd have to graduate having been in his class. I lied. It . (I had counted on the chemistry teacher being human, and he accepted.) I wasn't proud of myself for what I did. But I considered it of the grade game we're pushed into to aim at going to the best schools.
A．Before B．Unless C．Once D．While
A．permitted B．allowed C．agreed D．admitted
A．miss B．lost C．strike D．blow
A．game B．art C．interest D．result
A．speak B．tell C．talk D．express
A．master B．house C．failure D．success
A．points B．ideas C．advantage D．freedom
A．remembering B．realizing C．teaching D．understanding
A．bases B．depends C．calls D．takes
A．place B．arms C．classes D．chemistry
A．between B．among C．after D．before
A．after B．before C．without D．from
A．worked B．effected C．mattered D．did
A．one B．none C．part D．member
A．taking B．playing C．making D．enjoying