As a child, I was really afraid of the dark and of getting lost. These fears were very real and caused me
some uncomfortable moments.
     Maybe it was the strange way things looked and sounded in my own room at night that scared me so
much. There was never complete darkness, but always a streetlight or passing car lights, which made clothes
on the back of a chair take on the shape of a wild animal. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the curtains (窗
帘) seem to move when there was no wind. A very low sound in the floor would seem a hundred times louder
 than in the day. My imagination (想象) would run wild, and my heart would beat fast. I would lie very still so
that the"enemy(敌人)" would not discover me.
     Another of my childhood fears was that I would get lost, especially on the way home from school. Every
morning I got on the school bus right near my home. That was no problem. After school, though, when all the
buses were lined up along the street, I was afraid that I would get in the wrong one and be taken to some other
strange places. On school or family trips to a park or a museum, I wouldn't let the leaders out of my sight.
     Perhaps one of the worst fears of all I had as a child was that of not being liked or accepted by others.
Being popular was so important to me then, and the fear of not being liked was a serious one.
     One of the processes (过程) growing up is being able to realize and overcome our fears. Understanding the
things that scared us as children helps us achieve greater success later in life.

1. The author had _____ kind(s) of fears when she was a child.

A. one
B. two
C. three
D. none

2. _____ would scare the author at night.

A. Streetlight and car lights
B. Wild animals and enemies
C. Moving curtains and wind
D. Strange sights and sounds

3. When she went to some other places, she would _____.

A. walk away without others
B. take a bus by herself
C. follow others closely
D. make sure not to take a wrong bus

4. Which of the following would be possibly true when she was a child?

A. She was usually popular among people.
B. She was always the leader of the others.
C. She always' got poor grades.
D. She was not at all liked by others.

5. The underlined word "overcome" means "_____" in Chinese.

A. 接受
B. 忍受
C. 信服
D. 克服

     When I was a child, I could not wait to see the world. I grew like the spring flowers in the garden. 　　
     When I was a teenager, I could not wait to leave home. I did not want to follow any rules, and I was
as angry as the burning sun in the summer sky. 　　
      But then, I learned to think carefully before doing anything. Both good and bad things in the past became
parts of my life, like autumn harvests for a farmer. 　　
      Now I am old. My body is weak, but my mind has become strong and clear because of those experiences
in my younger days. I am like a winter leaf, ready to take a good rest. 　　
      These are the four seasons of my life.
                                                                                                                   Elizabeth Owen
                                                                                                                   July 10, 2010
harvest  收获  leaf  叶子 likely 可能

1. What does four seasons mean in the reading?

A. Four times of life.
B. Four parts of the year.
C. Four parts of the body.
D. Four kinds of weather.

2.  Which is most likely true about the writer?

A. She is wiser than before.
B. She has a strong and healthy body.
C. She enjoys growing flowers in her garden.
D. She tried hard to forget what happened in the past.

     Have you ever been afraid to talk back when you were treated unfairly? Have you ever bought something
just because the shop assistant asked you to buy it? Have you ever been afraid to ask someone for an
appointment?
     Many people are afraid to assert themselves (坚持主见). Dr. Alberti, author of Stand Up and Speak Out,
thinks it's because their self-respect (自尊心) is low. "Our whole system (体制) of society is designed to
make people less confident," says Alberti. "There's always a person who knows more and better around us-a
parent, a teacher or a boss. These people often chip away at (削弱) our self-image (自我形象)."
     To help people assert themselves, Alberti and other scientists offer AT courses where people learn that
they have a right (权利) to do so. They learn to speak out and feel good doing so. They learn to be more
active without hurting other people.
     In one way, learning to speak out is to get over fear. A group taking an AT course will help the shy person
lose fear. And AT even encourages the need to share (分享) so that even the shy person wants to tell others
how he feels.
     Whether you speak out depends on your self-image. If someone you face is more "important" than you,
you may be afraid to do so. But, why should you? AT says once you can learn to speak out, you will gradually
feel good about yourself.

1. The author asks some questions in the first paragraph in order to _____.

A. find out the answers
B. make a survey
C. ask for some advice
D. introduce the topic

2. The underlined phrase "talk back" in the first paragraph means _____.

A. criticizing somebody
B. answering to show disagreement
C. talking behind somebody's back
D. fighting with somebody

3. One thing that AT does NOT do is _____.

A. help people to get over fear
B. remind people of their right to assert themselves
C. teach people to assert themselves without respecting others
D. help people to feel good about themselves

4. What's the author's attitude towards AT courses?

A. 肯定的
B. 否定的
C. 冷漠的
D. 怀疑的

5. The most suitable title for this passage would probably be _____.

A. The AT courses
B. Speak out for yourself
C. The sadness of shy people
D. The importance of self-respect

     Do you have a goal for life? What's it? Do you want to become a writer, singer or just become a rich
person? 
     A recent survey shows that in modern society, most people pick up practical goals, such as "earning
money to buy a house and a car" "to improve one's life quality" "finding a good job". Wang You worked
in a small firm (商行) in Nanjing. The job was good and he didn't have to work for extra hours. However,
he felt the work was not exciting at all and the life was boring. So he gave up his job and went to Beijing
in February, 2007. When he arrived in Beijing, he set his new goal as finding a good job. 
     Nowadays more and more people want to live a better life. This fact shows that the society is making
progress and people's life goals have be- come more practical. One researcher says, "Everybody has
his/her own life goal, which will be surely different from people to people. If one is poor, one's life goal
will be to earn more money; if one doesn't have a diploma, studying hard to get a diploma will become
his life goal; and if one doesn't have love, his life goal will be to look for it. But if one has no life goal, he
will idle away (虚度) his lifetime."
1. Why did Wang You go to Beijing though he had a good job in Nanjing?
    _______________________________________________________________
2. If a man is poor, what will his life goal be?
    _______________________________________________________________
3. The Chinese meaning of the phrase "life quality" is ______________________
4. 将文中画线的句子译成汉语。
    _______________________________________________________________
5. What's your life goal? How do you plan to achieve it?
    _______________________________________________________________

     When we compare ourselves with great people, we may feel very ordinary (平凡的) and unimportant.
However, we must remember that those great people were extraordinary (卓越的). The world has more
than 6 billion people, so it is difficult for all of us to be extraordinary. What can we do? We can try to be
the best people that we can possibly be.
     ①I think this means that we need to be honest and hard-working. We also need to be open-minded and
kind to other people. Most importantly, we need to be ambitious (有雄心的). We need to always set goals
for ourselves and work hard to achieve these goals.
     Madam Curie and Thomas Edison were hard-working, kind and ambitious, and they worked hard to
achieve their goals. Curie gave her life to"ease(减轻) human suffering". Edison spent his life as an inventor.
He invented a camera that showed movement. Later people used cameras to make modem films.
     A famous writer from Ireland once wrote,"We are all in the gutter (社会底层) but some of us are looking
at the stars." ②I often come up with this when I am unable to achieve something. It reminds me that we
are all at a lower level and that we all have a higher goal to work towards. It makes me try to be the best
person that I can possibly be.

1. Is it difficult for all of us to be extraordinary according to the passage?
    ________________________________________________________________
2. What did people use cameras to do later?
    ________________________________________________________________
3. 翻译文章中①处。
    ________________________________________________________________
4. 翻译文章中②处。
    ________________________________________________________________
5. What is the best tide of this passage? (within ten English words) 
    ________________________________________________________________

                                                       Depending on yourself
     Growing up is not always easy. When we face difficulties, a spirit of depending on yourself is more useful
than crying for help. That's what Hong Zhanhui's story of growing from boy to man with family hardship tells
us.
     Hong was born in 1982 in a poor family in Xihua County (县), Henan Province. When he was only 11, his
father became badly ill and one day he came back with an unwanted baby girl. A year later, Hong's mother left
home. She no longer wanted to live such a poor life and face her sick husband. So everything hard fell onto the
young boy's shoulders: to take care of his father and the sister Chenchen, and to go on to study.
     Although his life was hard, Hong didn't go away from his father and sister. He worked in part-time jobs to
feed his family. He climbed tall trees to get birds' eggs for his sister. He walked two hours at weekends to the
market to buy different things to sell around his school. A few years later, he studied at a college. To take care
of Chenchen, he worked hard to rent (租) a room near his college for her, and send her to school.
     After Hong's story went public, he became a hero in people's eyes. But Hong refused offers from others.
He said he felt encouraged by kind offers, but he could depend on his own work.
     Through his hard life, he has grown up from boy to man. 
                                                                                         From: Shanghai Middle School English Online

Information Card
1. Hong's spirit    
    ______________________________________________
2. Hong's birthplace
    ______________________________________________
3. Hong's age when his mother left home 
    ______________________________________________
4. The distance between Hong's school and the market 
    ______________________________________________
5. The way Hong fed his family 
    ______________________________________________

     As young students, you have many dreams. These dreams can be very big, such as winning the Nobel
Prize. They can also be small. You may just want to become one of the ten best students in you class. Once
you find a dream, what do you do with it? Do you ever try to make your dream real?
     Follow Your Heart by Australian writer Andrew Matthews tells us that making our dreams real is life's
biggest challenge.
     You may think you're not very good at some school subjects, or that it is impossible for you to become
a writer. These kinds of ideas stop you from getting your dream, the book says.
     In fact, everyone can make his dream come true. The first thing you must do is to remember what the
dream is.
     Don't let it leave your heart. Keep telling yourself what you want every day and your dream will come
true faster because a big dream is, in fact, many small dreams.
     You must also never give up your dream. There will be difficulties on the way to your dreams. But the
biggest difficulty comes from yourself. You need to decide what is the most important. Stud-ying instead
of watching TV will help you to get better exam results, while saving five yuan instead of buying an ice-cream
means you can buy a new book.
     As you get closer to your dream, it may change a little. This is good as you have the chance to learn
something more useful and find new hobbies.

1. Where is the writer of Follow Your Heart from?
    ___________________________________________________________________
2. What is the first thing to make the dream come true? 
    ___________________________________________________________________
3. In fact, a big dream is many small dreams, isn't it? 
    ___________________________________________________________________
4. Does the biggest difficulty come from yourself on the way to your dreams? 
    ___________________________________________________________________
5. 将文中划线部分翻译成汉语。
    ___________________________________________________________________