Life is difficult.
But life is no longer difficult once we truly understand and accept it. Most do not fully see this truth. Instead they complain about their problems and difficulties as if life should be easy. It seems to them that their difficulties represent a special kind of suffering especially forced upon them or else upon their families, their class, or even their nation.
What makes life difficult is that the process of facing and solving problems is painful. Problems, depending on their nature, cause us sadness or loneliness or regret or anger or fear. These are uncomfortable feelings, often as any kind of physical pain. And since life causes an endless series of problems, life is always difficult and is full of pain as well as joy.
Yet, it is in this whole of solving problems that life has its meaning.
Problems are the serious test that tells success from failure. When we desire to encourage the growth of the human spirit, we encourage the human ability to solve problems just as in school we set problems for our children to solve. It is through the pain of meeting and working our problems that we learn. As Benjamin Franklin said, “Those things that hurt, instruct.” It is for this reason that wise people learn not to fear but to welcome the pain of problems.The writer uses just one short sentence in the first paragraph probably to _________.
| A．make a suggestion | B．persuade readers |
| C．make readers laugh | D．get readers’ attention |
According to the passage, we give school children difficult problems to solve in order to __________ .
| A．encourage them to learn |
| B．make them suffer |
| C．make their life easier |
| D．help them understand life is difficult |
“Those things that hurt, instruct.” from Benjamin Franklin suggests that ________ .
| A．we do not learn from experience |
| B．we do not learn when we are in pain |
| C．pain teaches us important lessons |
| D．pain cannot be forgotten |
From the passage, it can be inferred that __________.
| A．not everybody has the same problems |
| B．we become stronger by facing and solving the problems in life |
| C．life is difficult because our problems bring us pain |
| D．people like to complain about their problems |
Adults（成年人）usually do not remember most of the things that are taught by their teachers at school. But this story is one such lesson that I will never forget. Every time I drift off course, I think of this story.
It was a normal Monday morning, and my teacher was teaching us on important things in life and about devoting ourselves to what is important to us. This is how the story went:
An old man lived in a certain part of London, and he would wake up every morning and go to the subway. He would get onto the train right to Central London, and then sit at the street corner and beg（乞讨）. He would do this every single day of his life. He sat at the same street corner and begged for almost 20 years.
His house was dirty, and a stench (恶臭) came out of the house and it smelled terrible. The neighbors could not stand the smell any more, so they called for the police officers to clear the place. The officers knocked down the door and cleaned the house. There were small bags of money all over the house that he had collected over the years.
The police counted the money, and they soon realized that the old man was a millionaire (百万富翁). They waited outside his house expecting to share the good news with him. When the old man arrived home that evening, one of the officers told him that there was no need for him to beg any more as he was a rich man now, a millionaire.
But the old man 
said nothing at all; he went into his house and locked the door. The next morning he woke up as usual, went to the subway, sat at the street corner and continued to beg.
Clearly, this old man had no great plans, dreams or anything significant (有意义的) for his life. We learn nothing from this story other than（除了）staying focused on（专心于）the things we enjoy doing. The underlined part in the first paragraph may mean ______.
| A．I get tired of learning my subjects |
| B．I fail to listen to lessons attentively |
| C．I go in the wrong direction of life |
| D．I wouldn’t like to go to school |
The neighbor called the police because ______.
| A．the old man kept begging money from them every day |
| B．there was something dangerous in the old man’s house |
| C．the old man wouldn’t buy tickets for the train |
| D．they couldn’t bear the smell from the old man’s house |
When the old man knew he was a millionaire, he ______.
| A．remained calm | B．became excited |
| C．felt worried | D．became nervous |
What lesson do we learn from the story?
A．Make great pla ns for your life. |
| B．Keep on doing what you like. |
| C．Do something that is good to society. |
| D．Depend on yourself rather than others. |
People need to relax and enjoy themse1ves．One way they can have a good time is to watch a baseball game or another sports event．Even thousands of years ago，groups of people gathered（聚集） to watch skilled athletes（运动员）．
Over 2000 years ago in Greece，certain days in the year were festival days．These were holidays when people stopped work and enjoyed themselves．They liked to watch athletes take part in races and other games of skill．
The most important festival was held every four years at the town of Olympia．It was held in honor of the Greek god Zeus（Zus）．For five days，athletes from all parts of the Greek world took part in the Olympic Games．At the Olympic 
Games，people could watc
h them box，run，jump and so on．There was a relay race between two teams of men in which a lighted torch（火矩）was passed from runner to runner．The Olympic Games were thought to be so important that cities which were at war with one another had to stop fighting．People were allowed to travel to the games safely．Thousands of people came to Olympia from cities in Greece and from her colonies（殖民地）in Africa，Asia and Italy．They met as friends to cheer their favorite athletes and to enjoy themselves．What happened in Greece over 2000 years ago？
| A．People stopped work and enjoyed themselves． |
| B．The cities there were often against one another． |
| C．People watched baseball games． |
| D．People didn’t go to any games at all． |
What were those countries in Africa？
| A．Friends． | B．Enemies． |
| C．Colonies． | D．Other cities． |
What did people do at the games？
| A．They fought． | B．They just talked to friends． |
| C．They cheered for good athletes． | D．They tried to find friends． |
The best title for the story is“_____”．
| A．Greece at War | B．Together for the Games |
| C．Stop Fighting | D．Sport |
Dear Mom and Dad ,
I'm afraid I have some very bad news for you . I have been very naughty（淘气的） and the school master is very angry with me . She is going to write to you . You must come and take me away from here . She does not want me in the school any longer . The trouble started last night when I was smokin
g a cigarette（香烟）in bed . As I was smoking , I heard footsteps（脚步）coming towards the room .I did not want a teacher to catch me smoking , so I th
rew the cigarette away . Unfortunately（不幸地） , the cigarette fell into the waste--paper basket . It caught fire .
There was a curtain near the waste --paper basket . It caught fire too . Soon the whole room was burning . The master phoned the fire brigade（消防队）. The school is a long way from the town and before the fire brigade arrived , the whole school was on fire . The master said that the fire was all my fault（过错） and I must pay for the damage
（损坏）. She will send you a bill for about a million dollars .
I'm very sorry for this .
Much love
SarahWhy did Sarah write to his parents ?
| A．He missed them very much for they hadn’t seen each other for a long time. |
| B．He told his parents what he had done in school. |
| C．He was tired of studying, and wanted to leave school. |
| D．He thought he was old enough to help them do something. |
Where did S
arah smoke?
| A．in the classroom. | B．in the Dinning hall . |
| C．in the street. | D．in the dormitory（宿舍）. |
Why was the school master angry with him?
| A．because he was too naughty. | B．because he was too lazy. |
| C．because he caused a big fire. | D．because he stole something from the school. |
According to the passage, what should the students not do?
| A．they should not smoke, because smoking is dangerous to them. |
| B．they should not dance, because dancing would waste a lot of money. |
| C．they should not make friends, because making friends would make them absent. |
| D．they should not wear expensive clothes because they would waste a lot of money. |
2.26-meter-tall Yao Ming made his NBA debut (初次登台) on October 23, 2002 and got 6 points for the Houston Rockets in the game. The next day, he got 13 points (得分)in another game.
Most people think that Yao Ming is a born basketball player. But Yao said, “When you watch it on TV, it looks very easy. But when you are playing in the NBA, it is really not so easy.” He said that joining the Houston Rockets was a new start and a new challenge. “I hope that through very hard work I can make everyone happy and help the Rockets win more games,” he said.
Yao Ming speaks some English. Both he and his teammates can understand each other. They don't think there is a language problem. While Yao Ming faces this new challenge（挑战）, the people of Houston have shown great interest in him and they hope Yao Ming will bring new energy (活力) to the Rockets. The team has started having lessons to learn more about China, and many people who work for the Rockets have learned to speak some Chinese.Yao Ming got 13 points on October _____, 2002.
| A．22 | B．23 | C．24 | D．26 |
Yao Ming said that _____.
| A．playing in the NBA was difficult |
B．it was hard to watch NBA games on  TV |
| C．he was an NBA star |
| D．it was boring to play basketball |
From the passage we can know that Yao Ming ________.
| A．will work hard for his team |
| B．made the highest score in his first NBA game |
C．can't understand hi s teammates |
| D．teaches the Rockets workers Chinese himself |
The passage is probably ______.
| A．an advertisement | B．a notice | C．a news report | D．an instruction |
Welcome to our school. You can do a lot of things here. Come and join us.
| Timetable |
|
| Sunday 8:30---11:30 Personal Inventions You can see many inventions by the students; you may also bring your own inventions. |
Monday 19:00---21:00 Space and Man Dr. Thomas West If you want to know more about the universe（宇宙）. |
Wednesday 19:30---21:00 Modern Medicine Mrs. Lucy Green Would you like to know medical science? |
Friday 18:30---21:00 Computer Science Mr. Harry Morison from Harvard University Learn to use Windows XP. |
You may have a chance to introduce your inventions on _________.
| A．Sunday | B．Monday | C．Wednesday | D．Friday |
The person who teaches Computer Science is from___________.
| A．Canada | B．Australia | C．New Zealand | D．America |
You may learn something about a disease called TB from __________.
| A．Dr. West | B．Mr. Morison | C．Mrs. Green | D．Mr. Thomas |
If you want to learn something about satellites（卫星）, you can go to the class from______.
| A．8:30 to 11:30 on Sunday | B．19:00 to 21:00 on Monday |
| C．19:30 to 21:00 on Wednesday | D．18:30 to 21:00 on Friday |