Some people bring out the best in you in a way that you might never have fully realized on your own. My mom was one of those people.
My father died when I was nine months old, making my mom a single mother at the age of eighteen. While I was growing up, we lived a very hard life.
We had little money, but my mom gave me a lot of love. Each night, she sat me on her lap and spoke the words that would change my life, “Kemmons, you are certain to be a great man and you can do anything in life if you work hard enough to get it.”
At fourteen, I was hit by a car and the doctors said I would never walk again. Every day,my mother spoke to me in her gentle,loving voice, telling me that no matter what those doctors said, I would walk again if I want to badly enough. She drove that message so deep into my heart that I finally believed her.A year I returned to school—walking on my own !
When the Great Depression(大萧条)hit, my mom lost her job. Then I left school to support the both of us. At that moment, I was determined never to be poor again.
Over the years, I experienced various levels of business success. But the real turning point occurred on a vacation I took with my wife and five kids in1951. I was dissatisfied with the second-class hotels available for families and was angry that they charged an extra $2 for each child. That was too expensive for the average American family. I told my wife that I was going to open a motel(汽车旅馆)for families that would never charge extra for children. There were plenty of doubters at that time.
Not surprisingly, Mom was one of my strongest supporters. She worked behind the desk and even designed the room style. As in any business,we experienced a lot of challenges. But with my mother’s words deeply rooted in my soul, I never doubted we would succeed.Fifteen years later,we had the largest hotel system in the world—Holiday Inn. In 1979 my company had 1759 inns in more than fifty countries with an income of $1billion a year.
You may not have started out life in the best situations. But if you can find a task in life worth working for and believe in yourself, nothing can stop you.What Kemmons’mom often told him during his childhood was______
| A．caring | B．moving | C．encouraging | D．interesting |
According to the author, who played the most role in making him walk back to school again?
| A．Doctors | B．Nurses | C．Friends | D．Mom |
What caused Kemmons to start a motel by himself?
| A．His terrible experience in the hotel |
| B．His previous business success of various levels |
| C．His mom’s support |
| D．His wife’s suggestion |
Which of the following best describles Kemmons’s mother?
| A．Modest,helpful and hard—working |
| B．loving, supportive and strong—willed(有坚强意志的) |
| C．careful, helpful and beautiful |
| D．strict, sensitive and supportive. |
Which of the following led to Kemmons’ success according to the passage?
| A．Self-cofidence, hard work, higher education and a poor family |
| B．Mom’s encouragement, clear goals. Self—confidence and hard work |
| C．Clear goals,mom’s encouragemen, a poor family and higher education. |
| D．Mom’s encouragement, a poor family, higher education and opportunities |
Have you ever stayed up late? If so, you know that not getting enough sleep can make you tried and grumpy. Not sleeping enough sleep can also make it harder to think clearly the next day.
Sleep scientists have long known that getting a good night’s sleep is very important. It helps kids be able to do their best during the day.
A recent study shows that sleep helps improve problem-solving skills and creative(创造性的) thinking. For the study, two groups of students answered a math problem. The group that slept for eight hours solved the problem correctly more often than the group that did not get enough sleep.
While you sleep at night, your brain is busy doing its “homework”. It sorts out(整理) al
l the informa
tion that you get in the day. Getting enough sleep each night can improve your thinking ability. That will surely help you do your best at school. Experts say that, i
n return, can lead to better grades.The underlined word grumpy in the first paragraph means_______.
| A．excited and happy | B．active and creative |
| C．impatient and angry | D．bored and weak |
Choose the best title for this pass
age.
| A．Sleep to Success | B．A Recent Study |
| C．Do Sleep Well | D．The More Sleep, the Better |
Mr.Clinton and his 13-year-old son Tony are basketball fans. Last October 10th was Tony’s birthday, so Mr.Clinton decided to drive him to New York, for the first game of the World Series. They had no ticket but hoped to buy a pair from scalpers.
It was a two hours’ ride. After they arrived, they walked in the street for two hours, carrying a sign(牌子) that read, “
We need two tickets.” There were many scalpers around, but the cheapest ticket was $200. They were about to leave when suddenly a man stopped them. He took out two tickets and handed them to Mr. Clinton.
“How much do you want?”
“Just a present,” said the man. “Enjoy the game.”
Mr. Clinton wouldn’t accept, so the man explained, “I’m Jackson. Hans is my boss. He and his wife haven’t missed a World Series in 18 years. But he is ill and can’t watch the game this time. So he told me to give the two tickets to people who I thought would actually enjoy the game. A lot of people looked as if they might just take th
e tickets and sell them. Then I saw you and I followed you for a while. You seemed very disappointed. You made me think of my dad and me when I was a child. I dreamed of going to a World Series game with my father. But my dream never came true.”
How do you suppose this made Mr. Clinton and his son feel? Here is what Mr. Clinton said: “This is the most wonderful thing that ever happened to us. My boy and I must have turned to each other over 30 times and said, ‘I can’t believe this.’ We still never forget Jackson and Hans.” The underlined word scalpers in the first paragraph means ____
__.
| A．people who buy tickets at a reasonable price |
| B．people who sell tickets at a reasonable price |
C．p eople who buy tickets at a high price |
| D．people who sell tickets at a high price |
Algae(水藻) are very simple plants. They grow in fresh water or salty water. Seaweed is algae that grow in salty water. Seaweed is red or brown in color. The Japanese people use these plants from the sea in many ways. From it, they make a food called Kombu. Kombu is seaweed that has been dried, cooked and pressed together. Then it is dried again and cut into long pieces. The Japanese eat a lot of Kombu and like it very much.
Japanese farmers often use seaweed as fertilizer. It makes their plants grow better. Many farmers also find seaweed makes a fine food for their animals.
From seaweed the Japanese also get iodine(碘), which they sell to other countries. Iodine is used in many ways all over the world. It is used in making medicine. It is added to the salt we use at the table. Scientists even use one form of iodine to “ seed clouds” when they want rain to 
fall. Kombu is a kind of ____ according to the text.
| A．plant | B．medicine | C．food | D．fertilizer |
In the last sentence of the text, “seed clouds” means ____.
| A．clouds spreading like seeds |
| B．the seeds like clouds |
| C．to make rain fall with human power |
| D．dropping seeds by clouds |
The main idea of the story is that ____.
| A．The Japanese eat seaweed when they want rain to fall. |
| B．Kombu is made into medicine for farmers. |
| C．The Japanese use seaweed in many ways. |
| D．The Japanese eat a lot of Kombu. |
The year is 2094. It has been announced that a comet (彗星) is heading towards the Earth . Most of it will miss our planet, but two pieces will probably hit the southern half of the Earth.
On 17 July , a piece four kilometers wide enters the Earth’s atmosphere (大气层) with a massive explosion . About half of the piece is destroyed, but the remaining part hits the South Atlantic at 200 times the speed of sound. The sea boils and a huge hole is made in the sea bed. Huge waves are created and spread outwards from the hole. The wall of water, a kilometer high, rushes towards southern Africa at 800 kilometers an hour. Cities on the African coast are totally destroyed and millions of people are drowned.
Before the waves reach South America, the second piece of the comet lands in Argentina. Earthquakes and volcanoes are set off in the Andes Mountains. The shock waves move north into California and all around the Pacific Ocean. The cities of Los Angeles, San Francisco and Tokyo are completely destroyed by earthquakes. Millions of people in the southern half of the earth are already dead, but the north won’t escape for long. Because of the explosions, the sun is hidden by clouds of dust, temperatures around the world fall to almost zero .Crops are ruined. The sun won’t be seen again for many years. Wars break out as countries fight for food. A year later, no more than 10 million people remain alive.
Could it really happen? In fact, it has already happened more than once in the history of the Earth. The dinosaurs were on the Earth for over 160 million years. Then 65 million years ago they suddenly disappeared. Many scientists believe that the Earth was hit by a piece of object in space. The dinosaurs couldn’t live through the cold climate that followed and they died out. Will we meet the same and?What is mainly described in the passage?
| A．A historic discovery. | B．An event of imagination |
| C．A research on space. | D．A scientific adventure. |
When the first piece hits the South Atlantic, it causes________ .
| A．an earthquake | B．damages to cities |
| C．an Earth explosion | D．huge waves |
Why can’t the northern half of the earth escape for long?
| A．Because the land is covered with water |
| B．Because the light and heat from the sun can not reach the earth. |
| C．Because people there can not live at the temperature of zero. |
| D．Because wars break out among countries. |
By giving the example of dinosaurs, the author tries to prove________ .
| A．animals could not live in the cold climate |
| B．what happened 65 million years ago was an invented story |
| C．the human beings will die out in 2094 |
| D．the Earth could be hit by other objects in space |
Who is there among us who hasn’t dreamed of having his or her own small (maybe , several years later , even big )business , and having wonderful freedom , both from a boss and from the time clock ; the freedom to make up our own rules for our work , and our own plans —arranging our own hours of work ? That way work would be both painless and fun. Or, so we imagine.
Well, in fact it isn’t quite as simple as that. Yes , it is true that being the boss has its satisfactions and that you can arrange your working hours freely if you own your own small business . But in those early years of starting your own business, you shouldn’t think of a free day, not to mention flying off for a month’s vacation. It is not unusual for new business owners to work seventy or eighty hours a week , and if there is a day off , that day might need to be devoted to accounting (算账).
But this negative picture doesn’t destroy the beautiful hopes. The possibility of getting something wonderful in return—both material and mental—continues to drive that large number of people who start up small businesses each year in the United States.From the first paragraph, we know that everybody hopes________ .
| A．to rule others | B．to be his or her own boss |
| C．to get a time clock | D．to be free from work |
Most new business owners have to________ .
| A．work more than 10 hours a day | B．devote himself to accounting |
| C．fly to some places in the world | D．have a day off in a week |
The expression “negative picture” most probably means “________ “.
| A．a terrible experience | B．a poor picture |
| C．limited freedom | D．unpleasant situations |
The beautiful hopes will never be destroyed because________ .
| A．people love beautiful things by nature |
| B．people have a strong desire to seek personal gains |
| C．small businesses make big money each year in the US |
| D．small businesses have advantages over big companies |