In the fall of 1985, I was a bright-eyed girl heading off to Howard University, aiming at a legal career and dreaming of sitting on a Supreme Court bench somewhere. Twenty-one years later I am still a bright-eyed dreamer and one with quite a different tale to tell.
My grandma, an amazing woman, graduated from college at the age of 65. She was the first in our family to reach that goal. But one year after I started college, she developed cancer. I made the choice to withdraw from college to care for her. It meant that school and my personal dream would have to wait.
Then I got married with another dream: building my family with a combination of adopted and biological children. In 1999, we adopted our first son. To lay eyes on him was fantastic and very emotional. A year later came our second adopted boy. Then followed son No. 3. In 2003, I gave birth to another boy.
You can imagine how fully occupied I became, raising four boys under the age of 8. Our home was a complete zoo---a joyous zoo. Not surprising, I never did make it back to college full-time. But I never gave up on the dream either. I had only one choice: to find a way. That meant taking as few as one class each semester.
The hardest part was feeling guilty about the time I spent away from the boys. They often wanted me to stay home with them. There certainly were times I wanted to quit, but I knew I should set an example for them to follow through the rest of their lives.
In 2007, I graduated from the University of North Carolina. It took me over 21 years to get my college degree！
I am not special, just single-minded. It always struck me that when you’re looking at a big challenge from the outside it looks huge, but when you’re in the middle of it, it just seems normal. Everything you want won’t arrive in your life on one day. It’s a process. Remember: little steps add up to big dreams. When the author went to Howard University, her dream was to be __________.
| A．a writer | B．a teacher |
| C．a judge | D．a doctor |
Why did the author quit school in her second year of college?
| A．She wanted to study by herself. |
| B．She fell in love and got married. |
| C．She suffered from a serious illness. |
| D．She decided to look after her grandma. |
What can we learn about the author from Paragraphs 4 and 5?
| A．She was busy yet happy with her family life. |
| B．She ignored her guilty feeling for her sons. |
| C．She wanted to remain a full-time housewife. |
| D．She was too confused to make a correct choice. |
What does the author mostly want to tell us in the last paragraph?
| A．Failure is the mother of success. |
| B．Little by little, one goes far. |
| C．Every coin has two sides. |
| D．Well begun, half done. |
Which of the following can best describe the author?
| A．Caring and determined. |
| B．Honest and responsible. |
| C．Ambitious and sensitive. |
| D．Innocent and single-minded. |
Perhaps you have heard a lot about the Internet，but what is it?
The Internet is many different networks around the world. A network is a group of computers put together. These networks joined together are called the Internet．
Maybe that doesn’t sound interesting. But when we’ve joined the Internet, there are lots of things we can do．We can find lots of interesting information on the World Wide Web(www)．We can use the Internet instead of a library to find all kinds of information for our homework. We can find information about our favourite sports or film stars and do shopping on the Inter-net. We can also send messages to other people by e-mail. It is much cheaper and quicker than calling our friends or sending a letter.
Thanks to the Internet, the world is becoming smaller and smaller. People can now work at home with a computer in front of them, getting and sending the information they need. They can buy or sell whatever they want by the Internet. But do you know 98％of the information is in English? So what will English be like tomorrow?The passage is mainly about________.
| A．the Internet | B．information |
| C．computers | D．e mail |
The quickest and cheapest way for people to send messages to their friends is________．
| A．by post | B．by e mail | C．by telephone | D．by TV |
The Internet cannot be used to__________.
| A．find information for our homework |
| B．get some information about our favourite sports stars |
| C．do some shopping |
| D．do our housework |
.Which of the following is NOT true?
| A．The Internet is a big computer． |
| B．The Internet is lots of computer networks． |
| C．The Internet is very helpful． |
| D．People can work at home with the help of the Internet． |
What does the writer try to tell us with the last two sentences?
| A．The Internet is more and more popular． |
| B．All the information is in English． |
| C．English is important in using the Internet． |
| D．Every computer must join the Internet． |
It was just three degrees above zero. “That’s cold,” thought Jane as she got ready to deliver her morning papers. Jane has 50 customers, and on cold mornings when she couldn’t ride her bike, it took her more than an hour to make her rounds.
As she collected her papers and put them into a big canvas bag, Jane regretted that she hadn’t finished her math homework the night before. There was still time. She’d hurry with the papers and finish the math before breakfast.
Less than an hour later, Jane was nearly finished. She had only five customers to go. She could then head for home to complete her math while her mom fixed breakfast. As she rounded the corner, she saw a car in the middle of the street. It was Mr. Zimmerman, the elderly man who walked with a walking stick. His car was out of gas.
“I’d like to help Mr. Zimmerman,” thought Jane. “but if I do, I won’t have time to do my homework.” She hated to think what Mr. Roberts would say if she hadn’t completed her papers.
“It’s his own fault for running out of gas,” Jane talked to herself, “the station is only a half mile down the street. Surely Mr. Zimmerman can walk that far, even on a cold morning like this… can’t he?” As she walked down the street, Jane wondered what to do.Jane delivers her papers _____.
| A．before she goes to school |
| B．on cold mornings |
| C．with the help of Mr. Zimmerman’s car |
| D．on the way to school |
Mr. Zimmerman was old and ______.
| A．couldn’t drive well |
| B．would have nobody to help him |
| C．was not rich enough to buy gas |
| D．was not able to walk a long way |
We know from the reading that_______
| A．Jane couldn’t find any time to finish her homework |
| B．it took about an hour for Jane to send the papers |
| C．Jane would have her breakfast in the school |
| D．Jane likes to deliver papers on cold mornings |
The reading doesn’t say but we can infer that_____
| A．Jane bought the gas for Mr. Zimmerman |
| B．usually Jane delivers papers by bike |
| C．Mr. Robert doesn’t like Jane at school |
| D．Mr. Zimmerman had to leave the car for Jane |
The best title for this reading should be ______
| A．Fifth Customers | B．There’s no Easy Answer |
| C．No Time to Finish Homework | D．A Cold Morning for Jane |
你听说过波兰首都华沙(Warsaw)一词的由来吗? 这里有一个美丽的传说。
Long long ago，there was a young man．His name was Wars．He lived in a little house near the River Vistula．He went there fishing every day for a living．
One day he saw a beautiful girl in the river．The girl's name was Sawa．From then on，the young man and the beautiful girl met every day．They fell in love with each other．When Wars asked Sawa to marry him．Sawa was very sad．She told him that she was mermaid (美人鱼) and she couldn't marry man．But she said she would give him something when they met again．
The next day，Wars went to the river and met Sawa. Sawa was waiting for him with a sword in her
right hand and a shield(盾)in her left hand．She told Wars that they wouldn't meet again．She gave the
sword and the shield to him．She said he would be successful with the sword and the shield and become a great hero．Then she went away．
Wars missed Sawa very much．He always remembered his first love．What the mermaid had told him came true．Wars became a great hero．He got the land by the River Vistula．There he set up a city. He called it Warsaw.Wars was a ___________when he met Sawa for the first time
| A．hero | B．fisherman | C．mermaid | D．soldier |
Sawa couldn't marry Wars because _______________
| A．Sawa was a mermaid | B．Sawa didn't love Wars |
| C．Wars was very poor | D．Wars didn't love Sawa |
Sawa told Wars_____________
| A．they would marry later |
| B．they would leave together |
| C．he would become a hero |
| D．he would get much money |
The name of Poland's capital came from _________________
| A．the name of a house |
| B．the name of a river |
| C．the name of a mountain |
| D．the names of Wars and Sawa |
From this passage, we know that _____________
| A．Wars lived in a big house near the River Vistula before he met Sawa |
| B．Sawa was kind but not pretty |
| C．Sawa gave Wars nothing but a sword |
| D．Wars named the city Warsaw to remember his first love |
At the age of seven I started taking violin lessons. I practiced half an hour every day, went to lessons once a week, and occasionally played in a group concert. Like most kids, I always thought practicing was boring. If my parents hadn’t been there to make me practice, I probably would have put down my violin and never have picked it up again.
I met Moira when I was 11 at an Irish music party. Moira hosted the party that night, playing the violin, singing and dancing. She made sure that everyone in the room got involved and had a great time. I immediately fell in love with the music she played and the energy that she brought to it. Just a few days after that party, I took my first lesson with Moira, and I continued taking lessons with Moira throughout middle school.
When I started playing the violin with Moira, playing music became something that I loved. She introduced me to so many types of music, from Irish to Old Time, to Cajun. Moira also taught me to play the guitar. Soon we started performing together and were shocked to discover that people actually wanted to hear us! When I began to play the violin, practicing was something that I did at home in my living room, but with Moira’s influence it quickly became something that I did everywhere. I played on street corners, at festivals, at the beach, at parties, at weddings, and late at night in my friends’ kitchens.
Moira took the music out to the classroom and brought it to life. Her passion(激情)was not only for playing music, but also for sharing it. My time with Moira allowed me to grow both musically and personally. I have met so many special people and had so many invaluable(无价的) experiences. Moira has proven to be the most important influence in my musical development, and also my invaluable friend. Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．The writer had her violin lessons every day. |
| B．The writer disliked the kids who hated the violin. |
| C．The writer usually played music in school concerts. |
| D．At first the writer was not active in learning the violin. |
The passage didn’t say directly but we can learn that.
| A．Moira was a good neighbor |
| B．the writer was a good singer |
| C．Moira was a good organizer |
| D．the writer was a music teacher |
What can we know from the last paragraph?
| A．Moira didn’t like to play music in the classroom. |
| B．Moira helped the writer a lot with her personal life. |
| C．Moira had great influence on the writer’s life |
| D．Moira was very thankful for the writer’s support. |
What would be the best title for the passage?
| A．My Way to Success. | B．My Invaluable Friend. |
| C．My Middle School Life. | D．How I learned the Violin. |
As a student, you must be excited to know something about American school students. In fact, just like in China, in the United States, high school is usually divided into two periods, the first two or three years are called “junior high school” and the other is “senior high school”.
In China, children enjoy free education of nine years, but in the United States, the students enjoy free education(which will be started when they are about 6 years old) until they are 18 years old. As a result of the free education system, American children have little difficulty in going to senior high school.
American high school students can take part in a lot of activities outside of the classroom. The activities are organized by the school, such as joining a music group or a sports team. Certainly, just like us students in China, American students have to work hard in order to get good marks if they want to go to a good university. They take classes in all kinds of subjects all through the high school period. And students with low marks at the end of a school year are still allowed to go on to the next grade.
In American high schools, there is fighting or hurting or other kinds of bad behaviors. So children who want to go to university are often sent to suburban (郊区的) high schools, where most students want to go to university and the atmosphere (氛围) is quite different.This passage mainly tells us about ________.
| A．education of Chinese middle school |
| B．education of American high school |
| C．American free education |
| D．how to get into universities in America |
Which of the following statements is NOT true?
| A．The time of free education in China is longer than that in America. |
| B．Those who get good marks can go to a good university. |
| C．American students can take all kinds of subjects during the high school period. |
| D．They can be allowed to join the next grade even if they fail the school-year exam. |
The writer of the passage tells us the truth that ________.
| A．the atmosphere in high schools is not good |
| B．none of the schools in cities are good for learning |
| C．suburban high schools are good places for learning |
| D．all the American students want to go to university |