We all have weaknesses and strengths, no matter who we are. Sometimes the weaknesses seem to outweigh the strengths and sometimes it’s the other way around. Some people get sick easily. Some struggle to manage their money properly. Some people are hopeless communicators and struggle with relationships.
Many people accept it as just bad luck, but not everyone. Some people facing huge limitations still manage to achieve surprising things. They rise above their weaknesses and do not allow them to limit their possibilities.
I attended a school prize-giving ceremony not so long ago and the guest speaker was Andrew Becroft, who had a severe stutter(口吃) as a child. Instead of allowing this to limit him, he chose to work hard to overcome it. He is now the Principal Youth Court Judge for New Zealand. Not only did he become successful, but he did so in a profession where he had to speak in front of others regularly.
Lots of people face far more significant limitaions than you do. They may be missing limbs or are born into extreme poverty. But no matter what the limitation you will always find people who have overcome it. Brett Eastburn has no arms or legs and yet is an inspirational speaker and also a very good wrestler. Ringo Starr, drummer for the Beatles, came from a very poor background. He was constantly plagued with illness as a child and spent large amounts of time in hospital. Mark Inglis lost both of
his legs below the knees in a mountaineering accident, but has since climbed Mt Everest.
Most of us will never have to face the challenges these people faced. Yet most of us will never achieve to the degree that these people have either, unless we choose to. If Mark Inglis can climb the highest mountain in the world without legs, _________ ?What is the main idea of Paragraph 1? (Within 8 words.)
_______________________________________________________Which sentence in the text is the cloest in meaning to the following one?
All of the people don’t think it unlucky to have weaknesses, although many may think so.
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________List three people who rose above their weaknesses according to the text. (Within 8 words.)
①_________________ ②______________ ③________________Fill in the blank in the last paragraph with proper words. (Within 6 words.)
_________________________________________________________________Translate the underlined sentence in Paragraph 4 into Chinese.
_________________________________________________________________
Do you ever wonder how some things came about? For instance, who figured out that there was something worth eating inside a banana peel? Or how astonishing do you have to be to discover that an artichoke has edible parts? Well, we may not know how either of those foods was discovered, but we do know how potato chips were invented.
Potato chips originated in New England as one man’s variation on the French-fried potatoes, and their production was the result not of a sudden inspiration of cooking invention but of a fit of annoyance.
It was the summer of 1853 and Commodore Vanderbilt, a wealthy railroad magnate, was vacationing at a hotel named Moon Lake Lodge in New York. On the restaurant menu were French-fried potatoes, prepared in the thick-cut French style that was popularized in France in the 1700s and enjoyed by Thomas Jefferson as ambassador to that country.
At dinner one night, Vanderbilt complained that his French-fried potatoes were cut too thick and sent them back to the kitchen. Offended by his snobbyguest, chef George Crum decided he would give Mr. Vanderbilt exactly what he asked for! He decided to annoy the guest by producing French fries too thin and crisp. The chef angrily gather
ed up some potatoes and sliced them paper-thin. He threw the slices into hot oil to fry, drained and salted them and then personally served the new dish to Mr. Vanderbilt.
Surprised to see the chef in the dining room, the other diners fell into silence and everyone held their breath, waiting for Vanderbilt’s reaction.
Vanderbilt immediately popped a crisp potato slice into his mouth and the loud “Crunch” broke the silence. He continued to crunch away, delighted with his new dish. The plan backfired. Vanderbilt was interested in the browned, paper-thin potatoes. Clapping a surprised Chef Crum on the back, Vanderbilt praised him on the impressive potatoes. And other diners requested Crum’s potato chips, which began to appear on the menu as “Saratoga Chips”, a house specialty. Soon they were packaged and sold, first locally, then throughout the New England area. Crum eventually opened his own restaurant, featuring chips. At that time, potatoes were peeled and sliced by hand. It was the invention of the mechanical potato peeler in the 1920s that paved the way for potato chips to rise quickly from a small specialty item to a top-selling snack food. .
The author wrote the first paragraph to .
| A．tell us how potato chips were invented |
| B．introduce the topic dealt with in the passage |
| C．give examples of how some things came about |
| D．explain why we do know how those foods were discovered |
.
. According to the passage, chef George Crum .
| A．invented potato chips by accident |
| B．opened his own restaurant, featuring potatoes |
| C．served the new dish to Mr. Vanderbilt in private |
| D．helped promote potato chips to a top-selling snack |
.
. The production of potato chips was the result of .
| A．Mr. Vanderbilt’s praise for the new dish |
| B．Thomas Jefferson’s appreciation of the French Fries |
| C．George Crum’s anger at Mr. Vanderbilt |
| D．the invention of the mechanical potato peeler |
.
The underlined word “backfired” in the 6th paragraph probably means .
| A．developed in a successful way | B．made a big difference |
| C．happened in a particular way | D．had an opposite result |
I was shopping in the supermarket when I heard a young voice.
“Mom, come here! There’s this lady here my size!”
The mother rushed to her son; then she turned to me to apologize.
I smiled and told her, “It’s okay.” Then I talked to the boy, “Hi, I’m Darryl Kramer. How are you?”
He studied me from head to toe, and asked, “Are you a little mommy?”
“Yes, I have a son,” I answered.
“Why are you so little?” he asked.
“It’s the way I was born,” I said. “Some people are little. Some are tall. I’m just not going to grow any bigger.” After I answered his other questions, I shook the boy’s hand, and left.
My life as a little person is filled with stories like that. I enjoy talking to children and explaining why I look different from their parents.
It takes only one glance to see my uniqueness. I stand three feet nine inches tall. I was born an achondroplasia dwarf. Despite this, I did all the things other kids did when I was growing up.
I didn’t realize how short I was until I s
tarted school. Some kids picked on me, calling me names. Then I knew. I began to hate the first day of school each year. New students would always stare at me as I struggled to climb the school bus stairs.
But I learned to smile and accept the fact that I was going to be noticed my whole life. I decided to make my uniqueness an advantage rather than a disadvantage. What I lacked in height, I made up for in personality.
I’m 47 now, and the stares have not diminished as I’ve grown older. People are amazed when they see me driving. I try to keep a good attitude. When people are rude, I remind myself, “Look what else I have — a great family, nice friends.”
It’s the children’s questions that make my life special. I enjoy answering their questions. My hope is that I will encourage them to accept their peers (a person of the same age, class, position, etc.), whatever size and shape they come in, and treat them with respect. .. Why did the mother apologize to the author?
| A．Because the boy ran into the author. |
B．Because th e boy laughed at the author. |
| C．Because the boy said the author was fatter than him. |
| D．Because she thought the boy’s words had hurt the author. |
.When did the author realize that she was too short?
| A．When she began to go to school. | B．When she was 47 years old. |
| C．When she grew up. | D．When she met the boy in the supermarket. |
.Which of the following word can best replace the underlined word “diminished”?
| A．dismissed | B．increased | C．decreased | D．discriminated |
. How does the author feel about people’s stares?
| A．Angry. | B．Calm. | C．Painful. | D．Discouraged. |
Pop music is the name for various popular，commercial music．It originated in the USA and spread through the whole world during the 1950s and 60s．It is widely liked by the young people．The best known early form of pop music was “rock’n’ roll”; another was “blues”. A more recent development is “folk rock”．Pop music has taken the place of native music in many parts of the world．It has caused the number of people for “jazz” music to become much smaller than in the 1950s and earlier, and it has now began to rule music stage productions．It is a big industry．
Much pop music is without artistic value, but the work of some pop singers e.g. the Beatles, Bob Dylan, the group like Pink Floyd and Crosby, Still and Nash, is on a higher musical level. And there is still great interest in it today. Pop music concerts and festivals are held all over the world. In this passage the underlined word "originated" means _______.
| A．got around | B．began | C．invented | D．reached |
According to the text, the number of people for “jazz” in the 1950s and earlier wa
s
it is today.
| A．much greater than | B．as small as | C．as greater as | D．much smaller than |
All of the following forms belong to pop music except .
| A．blues | B．rock’n’ roll | C．jazz | D．folk rock |
Which of the following is TRUE?
|
A．Not all the pop music is without artistic value. |
B．Much pop music is on a high musical level. |
| C．Pop music is high artistic. | |
| D．No pop music is on a high musical level. |
Memphis is the largest city in the southern State of Tennessee, USA. The Mississippi River flows along the west side of the city. Memphis is the chief center of business, industry and transportation in Tennessee.
650,000 people live in the city. More than one million people live in the area. Like many other American cities, Memphis has had racial problems. About forty-eight percent of the city’s population is African American. In 1968, city workers who collected waste went on strike. Most of the workers were black. The famous civil rights leader Martin Luther King Junior went to Memphis to support the workers. On April 4th, King was murdered in Memphis by James Earl Ray. After Mr. King’s death, the city worked to improve living conditions for black people. In 1991, voters elected W.E.Herenton the city’s first black mayor. The same ye
ar, Memphis opened the National Civil Rights Museum. It was built next to the place where Martin Luther King was killed. Many people visit the museum to learn about the history of the American civil rights movement. Today, people from across the United States and around the world visit Memphis,where tourism has become a major industry..
There are aboutAfrican Americans living in Memphis.
| A．312,000 | B．480,000 | C．650,000 | D．1,000,000 |
.
Which of the following statement is NOT true according to the passage?
| A．Martin Luther King was killed in the city of Memphis by James Earl Ray in 1968. |
| B．W.E.Herenton was elected the first black mayor of Memphis in 1991. |
| C．Memphis opened the National Civil Rights Museum in 1991. |
| D．Martin Luther King was elected mayor of Memphis. |
.
The title for the passage should be .
| A．How to fight against slavery | B．National Civil Rights Museum |
| C．Memphis | D．A black mayor |
If you go to Juliano’s restaurant in San Francisco, you can’t get a cup of coffee or a hot cheese sandwich. All the food in the restaurant is raw, including the pizza and the rice.
Juliano thinks that cooked food makes us sick. “Food is alive, like you and me. When you cook food, you take away some of the vitamins,” he says. Juliano never eats food that is over 50 degrees. His restaurant doesn’t have a stove（火炉）or a microwave（微波炉）. But he has lots of clever ideas for making raw food taste great. Instead of heat, Juliano uses water to prepare food. He puts foods in water to make them soft. For example, he places beans in water for a few days and rice in water for two to four weeks.
Everything at the restaurant is cold, and the pizza and the rice taste good. So do the fruit and vegetable juices made from carrots, apples, oranges and so on. Juliano’s restaurant doesn’t serve meat, but some people who eat raw food also eat raw meat. Juliano has three friends who ate 
raw meat. They all got very sick. One of them is still sick.
Juliano eats mostly fruits, vegetables, nuts, rice and beans. He says he feels very healthy. “Raw food gives you lots of energy,” he says. Juliano says he needs only six hours of sleep a night, and he never gets sick..
How is the food in Juliano’s restaurant prepared?
| A．Foods are heated on a stove to a certain degree. |
| B．Foods are cooled in a fridge. |
| C．Foods are put into water to make them soft. |
| D．Foods are boiled and then cooled. |
.
. What is NOT served in Juliano’s restaurant?
| A．Carrot juice. | B．Cold pizza. | C．Hot meat. | D．Raw rice. |
.
. Which of the following can be inferred from the passage?
| A．Eating raw meat may make people sick. |
| B．People will like eating raw food in the future. |
| C．Juliano has not enough money to buy cooking equipment. |
| D．Restaurants like Juliano’s are very popular in America. |
.
. What is the main idea of the passage?
| A．A special restaurant in San Francisco. |
| B．A man who eats only raw food. |
| C．Raw food is better than cooked food. |
| D．How to make raw food taste good. |