Success is often measured by the ability to overcome adversity. But, it is often the belief of others that gives us the courage to try.
J. K. Rowling, author of the Harry Potter book series, began writing at age 6. In her biography, she remembers with great fondness when her good friend, Sean, whom she met in secondary school, became the first person to encourage her and help build the confidence that one day she would be a very good writer.
“He was the first person with whom I really discussed my serious ambition to be a writer. He was also the only person who thought I was bound to be a success at it, which meant much more to me than I ever told him at the time.”
Despite many setbacks Rowling persevered in her writing, particularly fantasy stories. But it wasn't until l990 that she first conceived the idea about Harry Potter. As she recalls, it was on a long train journey from London to Manchester that “the idea of Harry Potter simply fell into my head. To my immense frustration(沮丧), I didn't have a functioning pen with me, and I was too shy to ask anybody if I could borrow one. I think, now, that this was probably a good thing, because I simply sat and thought, for four(delayed train) hours, and all the details bubbled up in my brain, and this scrawny, black-haired, bespectacled boy who didn't know he was a wizard became more and more real to me.”
That same year, her mother passed away after a ten-year battle with multiple sclerosis, which deeply affected her writing. She went on to marry and had a daughter, but separated from her husband shortly afterwards.
During this time, Rowling was diagnosed with clinical depression. Unemployed, she completed her first novel in area cafes, where she could get her daughter to fall asleep. After being rejected by l2 publishing houses, the first Harry Potter novel was sold to a small British publishing house.
Now with seven books that have sold nearly 400 million copies in 64 languages, J. K. Rowling is the highest earning novelist in history. And it all began with her commitment to writing that was fostered by the confidence of a friend !
【小题1】Who believed J. K. Rowling was to be a good writer?

A.Her friend Sean. B.Her mother.C.Her daughter.D.Her husband.
【小题2】Rowling first came up with the idea about Harry Potter         .
A.at the age of 6 B.on a train journey
C.after her mother's death D.in her secondary school
【小题3】She felt frustrated on the train because         .
A.her train was delayed for four hours
B.she didn't have a pen with her
C.her mind suddenly went blank
D.no one would offer her help
【小题4】It can be concluded from Paragraph 5 and 6 that Rowling is         .
A.open-mindedB.warm-heartedC.good-naturedD.strong-willed
【小题5】The text mainly tells us         .
A.hardship makes a good novelist
B.the courage to try is a special ability
C.you can have a wonderful idea everywhere
D.encouragement contributes to one's success

It was late in the afternoon, and I was putting the final touch on a piece of writing that I was feeling pretty good about. I wanted to save it, but my cursor(光标) had frozen. I tried to shut the computer down, and it seized up altogether. Unsure of what else to do, I yanked (用力猛拉) the battery out.
Unfortunately, Windows had been in the midst of a crucial(紧要关头) undertaking. The next morning, when I turned my computer back on, it informed me that a file had been corrupted and Windows would not load. Then, it offered to repair itself by using the Windows Setup CD.
I opened the special drawer where I keep CDs. But no Windows CD in there. I was forced to call the computer company's Global Support Centre. My call was answered by a woman in some unnamed, far-off land. I find it annoying to make small talk with someone when I don't know what continent they're standing on. Suppose I were to comment on the beautiful weather we've been having when there was a monsoon(季风) at the other end of the phone? So I got right to the point.
"My computer is telling me a file is corrupted and it wants to fix itself, but I don't have the Windows Setup CD."
"So you're having a problem with your Windows Setup CD." She has apparently been dozing and, having come to just as the sentence ended, was attempting to cover for her inattention.
It quickly became clear that the woman was not a computer technician. Her job was to serve as a gatekeeper. Her only duty, as far as I could tell, was to raise global stress levels.
To make me disappear, the woman gave me the phone number for Windows' creator, Microsoft. This is like giving someone the phone number for, I don't know, North America. Besides, the CD worked; I just didn't have it. No matter how many times I repeated my story, we came back to the same place. She was calm and polite.
When my voice hit a certain decibel (分贝), I was passed along, like a hot, irritable potato, to a technician.
"You don't have the Windows Setup CD, ma'am, because you don't need it," he explained cheerfully.
"Windows came preinstalled on your computer!"
"But I do need it."
"Yes, but you don't have it." We went on like this for a while. Finally, he offered to walk me through the use of a different CD, one that would erase my entire system. "Of course, you'd lose all your e-mail, your documents, your photos." It was like offering to drop a safe on my head to cure my headache. "You might be able to recover them, but it would be expensive." He sounded delighted. "And it's not covered by the warranty (产品保证书)!"  The safe began to seem like a good idea, provided it was full.
I hung up the phone and drove my computer to a small, friendly repair place I'd heard about. A smart, helpful man dug out a Windows CD and told me it wouldn't be a problem. An hour later, he called to let me know it was ready. I thanked him, and we chatted about the weather, which was the same outside my window as it was outside his.
【小题1】Why did the author shut down her computer abruptly?

A.She had saved what she had written.
B.She couldn't move the cursor.
C.The computer refused to work.
D.The computer offered to repair itself.
【小题2】Which of the following is the author's opinion about the woman at the Global Support Centre?
A.She sounded helpful and knowledgeable.
B.She was there to make callers frustrated.
C.She was able to solve her computer problem.
D.She was quick to pass her along to a technician.
【小题3】According to the passage, the solution offered by the technician was_________________.
A.effectiveB.economical C.unpractical D.unsatisfied
【小题4】 "It was like offering to drop a safe on my head to cure my headache" in the last but one paragraph means that_____________________.
A.the technician's proposal would make things even worse
B.the technician's proposal could eventually solve the problem
C.files stored on her computer were like a safe
D.erasing the entire system was like curing a headache
【小题5】It can be inferred from the passage that the differences between the Global Support Centre and the local repair shop lie in all the followings except ________________.
A.efficiencyB.locationC.setup CDsD.attitude

It was already dark when an old man came to a small town. He found an inn and wanted to stay there for the night. After he had gone to his room, the owner said to his wife, “Look at his bag, dear. I’m sure there are lots of valuable things in it. I want to steal it when he is asleep.”

“No, no,” said the woman. “He must look for his bag tomorrow morning. Then he’ll take you before the judge.” They thought and at last the woman had an idea. “We have forgetful grass,” said the woman, “Why not put some into his food? If he has the food, he will forget to take his bag away.” “How clever you are!” said the owner, “Don’t forget it when you prepare supper for him.”

The old man had the food with the forgetful grass and went to bed. The next morning, when the owner got up, he found the door was open and the old man had left with his bag. He woke his wife up and said angrily, “What a fool! Your forgetful grass isn’t useful at all.” “No, no,” said the woman. “I don’t think so. He must forget something.” “Oh, I’ve remembered!” The owner cried out suddenly, “He forgot…”

1.The old man came to the inn _______.

A.in the morning                         B.in the afternoon

C.in the evening                          D.at night

2.The owner and his wife wanted to _______.

A.get the man’s bag                      B.steal the man’s money

C.make the man pay them more              D.hide the man’s bag

3.The owner and his wife put the forgetful grass into the food because _______.

A.the old man always forgot something

B.they wanted to make the food better

C.they hoped the old man would leave the bag in the inn

D.they wanted to know if the grass was useful

4.According to the passage the old man forgot _______.

A.to take his bag away

B.to tell the owner when he left

C.to close the door when he went to sleep

D.to pay them the inn money

5.Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?

A.Both the owner and his wife were clever.

B.The owner of the inn got nothing from the old man.

C.The old man left the inn without his bag.

D.The woman forget to put the grass into the food.

 

A voyaging ship was wrecked during a storm at sea and only two of the men aboard were able to swim to a small, desert-like island. Not knowing what else to do, the two survivors agreed that they had no alternativethan to pray to God.

However, to find out whose prayers were more powerful, they agreed to divide the territory between them and stay on opposite sides of the island.

The first thing they prayed for was food. The next morning, the first man saw a fruit-bearing tree on his side of the island, and he was able to eat its fruit. But the other man’s parcel of land remained barren.

After a week, the first man became lonely and decided to pray for a wife. The next day, another ship was wrecked and the only survivor was a woman who swam to his side of the island. But on the other side of the island, there was nothing.

Soon thereafter the first man prayed for a house, clothes and more food. The next day, like magic, all of these things were given to him. However, the second man still had nothing.

Finally, the first man prayed for a ship so that he and his wife could leave the island, and in the morning he found a ship docked at his side of the island.

The first man boarded the ship with his wife and decided to leave the second man on the island, considering the other man unworthy to receive God’s blessings since none of his prayers had been answered.

As the ship was about to leave, the first man heard a voice from Heaven booming, “Why are you leaving your companion on the island?”

“My blessings are mine alone since I was the one who prayed for them,” the first man answered. “His prayers were all unanswered and so he doesn’t deserve anything.”

“You are mistaken!” the voice rebuked him. “He had only one prayer, which I answered. If not for that, you would not have received any of my blessings.”

“Tell me,” the first man asked the voice, “what did he pray for that I should owe him anything?”

“He prayed that all your prayers would be answered.”

For all we know, our blessings are not the fruits of our prayers alone, but those of another praying for us. So what you do for others is more important than what you do for yourself.

1.The first man’s wife is _____.

A.a swimmer who got to the island by accident

B.an angel sent by God to keep him company

C.a survivor from another wrecked ship

D.a native person on the desert-like island

2.The underlined word “barren” in Paragraph 3 is closest in meaning to _____.

A.isolated           B.unproductive       C.fertile            D.dry

3.Which of the following is true about the second man?

A.He didn’t deserve any blessing from God.

B.None of his prayers was answered by God.

C.He is not brave enough to tell God his needs.

D.His prayer helped his companion get out of trouble.

4.What’s the moral of the story?

A.Never judge a person by appearance.

B.Don’t lose heart in trouble.

C.Helping others is helping ourselves.

D.Greed is the root of all evil.

 

One evening, a young man at a certain college who was known to be something of a poet read one of his poems to a small group of his friends in a room.The poem was greatly admired.But afterwards, one of them, who was called Crick, said, "I was very interested in Hand’s poem, but it was stolen from a book."

    His words were reported to Hand, who was very angry and required an apology."Well," said Crick, "I don’t often take back what I said, but this time I admit (承认) I was mistaken.When I got to my room, I looked in the book which I thought the poem was stolen from, and I saw it was still here!"

1.The poem Hand read one evening was written by         .

     A.Hand                                               B.Crick               

       C.one of his friends                                                             D.another poet

2.Hand’s friends admired the poem mainly because       .

     A.it was read by Hand                    B.Hand was a poet

     C.it was really wonderful                  D.it was stolen from a book

 

3.From the story, we know that Crick        .

     A.was really mistaken                     B.really took back what he said         C.was a poet himself               D.was quite familiar with the poem

4.When Hand required an apology, Crick       .

     A.didn’t do as Hand asked              B.admitted he was wrong

     C.was unwilling to do so                 D.showed the poem to Hand

5.According to the passage, we can infer that Hand       .

     A.was a young poet                    B.liked poems very much

     C.would be a poet                      D.was regarded as a poet

 

 

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