MarkTwainwasagreatwriter.Hewas-优题课

I can remember the day my father came home from the war. As he walked up the front path of our home, he saw Mum and me and he dropped the suitcase.
I was only five years old so Dad made a fuss of me, then began making an even bigger fuss of my mother. This left me free to examine all the stuff lying around the broken suitcase, and I was quick to notice a newspaper advertisement displaying a new piano. When Dad saw me holding up the newspaper cutting, he smiled.
“Yes, that’s right,” he said. “I bought your mum a piano for ten pounds down and two pounds a week.”
A few moments later, a horse pulled a cart with a piano on top. Soon we all stared at it in our small lounger room. Mum had never been close to a piano before, except at the kindergarten I attended, and she used to say how wonderful it would be if the teachers could teach her to play.
After tea that night, Mum began to teach herself to play. She plinked the keys for about two hours and drove everybody in the street mad, until Dad gently said, “Enough is enough.”
From that day on, she would plink between doing the cooking and housework. Three months went by and Mum was now a skilled pianist, holding parties with all the neighbors gathering around to sing.
Although we were poor, Mum felt like a princess and was delighted at all the attention she was receiving.
At the height of Mum’s happiness, I began to notice that Dad was looking increasingly worried. It turned out that since returning from the war, he’d been unable to find a job. Then, a few weeks later, I observed two men taking Mum’s piano away. Mum sobbed in the kitchen. Suddenly, it all became clear to me: no job, no money, no piano.
Dad finally got a job. Mum was happy again as if he’d just win the lottery(彩票). Dad had to study to qualify as an account. Every night after dinner he’d place a stack of books on the kitchen table and study late into the night. Mum didn’t say much but I could tell she was proud of Dad.
Two years later, Dad bought Mum another piano. This time he paid cash for it.
How did the author’s Dad buy the piano for his mum?

A．He paid part of the bill regularly.

B．He earned it by winning a bet.

C．He paid cash for it.

D．He bought it as a big bargain.

By saying “Enough is enough”, the author’s dad meant_______.

A．practice makes perfect

B．it was time to stop practicing

C．he couldn’t bear being troubled

D．his wife played the piano well enough

What happened to the author’s mum’s first piano?

A．It was lost.

B．It was broken by one neighbor.

C．It was sold by his dad.

D．It was taken away.

What made the author’s mum proud of his dad?

A．His dad’s willingness to help cook.

B．His dad’s winning the lottery luckily.

C．His dad’s loyalty to his motherland.

D．His dad’s determination to rebuild his life.

It’s good to make mistakes, and here is why．
First of all, mistakes are a clear sign that you are trying new things． It’s always good to try new things because when you are trying new things you are growing． If you never try anything new, how can you improve? How can you expand? The simple answer is “You can’t”． Look around you． With very few exceptions, either everything you see in your physical world or every single detail of every single thing is the result of someone trying something new．
Another good thing about mistakes is this: When you are making mistakes, you are learning． Consider this: Edison failed 10,000 times before he perfected the light bulb． When asked how it felt to fail that many times, he said that he hadn’t failed 10,000 times, but rather had learned 10,000 things that didn’t work．
Finally, when you make a mistake you are much closer to success． Why?
Because when all is said and done, you will have tried some number of things before you succeeded． Every time you make a mistake you eliminate one of those things and are one step closer．
But this all doesn’t mean that you should go ahead without considering the consequences of a mistake． Quite the contrary, when you try something new you have to be willing to set some reasonable limits so that in the event that it doesn’t work out the way you want it to, you will be in a position to try again．
We all have limited resources in the form of time and money so don’t blow them all on one approach to a problem． Realize that it probably won’t be perfect the first time and allocate （分配） these resources appropriately so you can learn, make corrections, and try it again． Only by accepting and using your mistakes in this way can you make significant advances in your business and your career．
There is an old saying that goes, “If you’re not making mistakes, you’re not trying hard enough．”
So go forth and make mistakes． And learn． And grow． And prosper（成功）．
From the second paragraph, we can conclude that _______．

A．mistakes are unnecessary for development

B．we are afraid of trying new things

C．it’s common for people to make mistakes

D．mistakes are better than not trying

According to the article, one thing you should pay attention to about making mistakes is．

A．avoiding making the same mistakes

B．accepting the punishment willingly

C．taking consequences into account

D．trying things out one by one

What would the writer probably suggest we say to ourselves when we make a mistake?

A．Never mind, I can always try again．

B．I’d better stay out of trouble．

C．Ok! Now I can learn something．

D．Look at this mess． Anyone would be upset．

Baby girls make their way directly for dolls as soon as they can crawl（爬）, while boys will head for the toy cars, a study has shown． The findings, the first to show differences in very young babies, suggest there is a biological basis to their preferences．
Psychologists Dr． Brenda Todd from City University London carried out an experiment involving 90 infants aged nine months to 36 months． The babies were allowed to choose from seven toys． Some were typically boys' toys: a car, a digger, a ball and a blue teddy． The rest were girls’ toys: a pink teddy, a doll and a cooking set． They were placed a meter away from the toys, and could pick whichever toy they liked． Their choice and the amount of time they spent playing with each toy were recorded．
Of the youngest children （nine to 14 months）, girls spent significantly longer playing with the doll than boys, and boys spent much more time with the car and ball than the girls did． Among the two-and three-year-olds, girls spent 50 percent of the time playing with the doll while only two boys briefly touched it． The boys spent almost 90 percent of their time playing with cars, which the girls barely touched． There was no link between the parents’ view on which toys were more suitable for boys or girls, and the children’s choice．
Dr． Brenda Todd said: “Children of this age are already exposed to much socialization． Boys may be given ‘toys that go’ while girls get toys they can care for, which may help shape their preference． But these findings agree with the former idea that children show natural interests in particular kinds of toys． There could be a biological basis for their choices． Males through evolution have been adapted to prefer moving objects, probably through hunting instincts（本能）, while girls prefer warmer colors such as pink, the color of a newborn baby．”
Baby boys and girls have different toy preferences probably because．

A．baby boys are much more active

B．baby girls like bright colors more

C．there is a natural difference between them

D．their parents treat them differently

What can we infer from Paragraph 3 ?

A．Nine-month-old baby boys don’t play with dolls at all．

B．Two-year-old baby girls sometimes play with cars and balls．

C．Parents should teach their babies to share each other’s toys．

D．The older the babies are, the more obvious their preference is．

Both baby boys and baby girls like to play with _________ according to the study．

A．a teddy

B．a car

C．a doll

D．a ball

We may read this article in asection of a newspaper．

A．health

B．science

C．culture

D．entertainment

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What do we know about Apple Seeds?

A．The soft cover enables it to be read and kept long．

B．It can be purchased as an award for your children．

C．It offers the biggest discount among all the magazines．

D．The magazine is going to surprise you for many years．

Tom wants to beautify his house, so he may choose _________ ．

A．Apple Seeds

B．Better Life

C．Humor Times

D． News China

What kind of people may buy News China ?

A．People who have an interest in personal lifestyle of the Chinese．

B．People who have a strong sense of humor and love to laugh．

C．People who want to enlarge the knowledge of their kids．

D．People who are interested in China’s politics, business and culture．

Which magazine may best help relieve your work stress?

A．Apple Seeds

B．Better Life

C．Humor Times

D． News China

Jonny Jones was a nice and popular boy, who everyone loved．He was so much fun, so good and so kind to everyone that they treated him wonderfully. But as everything he needed was given to him without asking, Jonny became a weed. He was so spoiled by everyone that he couldn’t stand any hardship.
One day Johnny heard a mother saying to her son “Come on, my boy, get up and stop crying. You are behaving like Johnny Jones.” That made Johnny feel very ashamed. But he was sure that he would prefer to be known as a good boy rather than a fool. Worried, he spoke to his father about all this, though he was afraid that maybe he would be laughed at for having such worries. His father, far from laughing at Johnny, told him that a teacher had taught him a secret trick to turn him into the toughest boy off all. “Eat a candy less, study a minute more, and count to five before crying.” Johnny asked, “Just that? ” “Yes, just that,” said his father, “It’s very simple, but I warn you that it won’t be easy.”
Johnny was happy like a bird, ready to follow the advice. He went to see his mother, and she noticed how happy he was when she offered him candies. “One candy less”, thought Johnny, so he only took one. That afternoon he had another chance to put it into practice by studying one minute more. The result was that he missed the first minute of his favorite program! But having achieved this gave him a great feeling of satisfaction. The same happened when he ran up against the corner of the kitchen table. He only managed to count to four before crying, but that was left deeply in his mother’s memory.
Over the following days Johnny kept using the motto in his life as his father told him. And the more he put this into practice ,the easier it got. Before long he realized that he could also do things that would seem impossible before.
The underlined word "weed" in the first paragraph refers to ____．

A．a person with a strong v/ill

B．a person with a weak character

C．a person who isn't popular with everyone

D．a person who changes his behavior according to the situation

What made Jonny Jones decide to change himself?
A．A mother's words． B．Others' attitude to him．
C．His father's advice． C．His teacher's warning．
What is the key point of the advice from Jonny's father?

A．Eat fewer candies than before．

B．Count to five before crying．

C．Talk with parents and follow their advice．

D．Learn to control oneself and keep using the motto in life．

What message does the writer want to convey through the story?

A．One should be brave to face his mistakes．

B．Nothing is difficult as long as you set your mind on it．

C．Spoilinga child too much may result in his selfish behaviors．

D．A strong will can be developed by small but consistent efforts．