It was one of the hottest days of the dry season. We had not seen rain in almost a month. The crops were dying. Cows had stopped giving milk. The streams were long gone back into the earth. If we didn't see some rain soon we would lose everything.

I was in the kitchen making lunch for my husband and his brothers when I saw my six-year old son, Billy, walking toward the woods. He was obviously walking with a great effort... trying to be as still as possible. Minutes after he disappeared into the woods, he came running out again, toward the house.

Moments later, however, he was once again walking in that slow purposeful long step toward the woods. This activity went on for over an hour: walking cautiously to the woods, then running back to the house. Finally, my curiosity got the best of me. I crept out of the house and followed him on his journey.

He was cupping both hands in front of him as he walked; being very careful not to spill the water he held in them. Branches and thorns slapped his little face but he did not try to avoid them. He had a much greater purpose. As I leaned in to spy on him, I saw the most amazing site.

Several large deer appeared threatening in front of him. But Billy walked right up to them. I almost screamed for him to get away. And I saw a baby deer lying on the ground, obviously suffering from heavy loss of water and heat exhaustion, lift its head with great effort to lap up the water cupped in my beautiful boy's hand.

I stood on the edge of the woods watching the most beautiful heart I have ever known working so hard to save a life. As the tears that rolled down my face began to hit the ground, they were suddenly joined by other drops... and more drops... and more. I looked up at the sky. It was as if God, Himself, was weeping with pride.

1.Why did the author follow her son?

A. Because there might be danger.

B. Because her son was doing a good deed.

C. Because she was curious.

D. Because she intended to help.

2.Which of the following statements is Not True according to the passage?

A. Rain was in great need.

B. Billy carried water with his small hands.

C. Billy walked into the woods and then returned over and over again.

D. There were few trees in the woods.

3.Which is the correct order of the development of the story?

① The author was moved to tears.

② Billy fed the water to the baby deer.

③ Billy walked towards the large deer.

④ It began to rain.

⑤ The author followed Billy into the woods.

A. ⑤③②①④ B. ③②⑤①④

C. ④①③②⑤ D. ⑤②①③④

4. Which of the following is the best title for the passage?

A. Importance of water B. The water of life

C. How to save animals D. Animals in danger

Samuel Osmond is a 19-year-old law student from Cornwall, England. He never studied the piano. However, he can play very difficult musical pieces by musicians such as Chopin and Beethoven just a few minutes after he hears them. He learns a piece of music by listening to it in parts. Then he thinks about the notes in his head. Two years ago, he played his first piece Moonlight Sonata(奏鸣曲)by Beethoven. He surprised everyone around him.

Amazed that he remembered this long and difficult piece of music and played it perfectly, his teachers say Samuel is unbelievable .They say his ability is very rare, but Samuel doesn’t even realize that what he can do is special. Samuel wanted to become a lawyer as it was the wish of his parents, but music teachers told him he should study music instead. Now, he studies law and music.

Samuel can’t understand why everyone is so surprised. “I grew up with music. My mother played the piano and my father played the guitar. About two years ago, I suddenly decided to start playing the piano, without being able to read music and without having any lessons. It comes easily to me ---I hear the notes and can bear them in mind---each and every note,” says Samuel.

Recently, Samuel performed a piece during a special event at his college. The piece had more than a thousand notes. The audience was impressed by his amazing performance. He is now learning a piece that is so difficult that many professional pianists can’t play it. Samuel says confidently,” It’s all about super memory---I guess I have that gift.”

However, Samuel’s ability to remember things doesn’t stop with music. His family says that even when he was a young boy, Samuel heard someone read a story, and then he could retell the story word for word.

Samuel is still only a teenager. He doesn’t know what he wants to do in the future. For now, he is just happy to play beautiful music and continue his studies.

1.What is special about Samuel Osmond?

A. He has a gift for writing music.

B. He can write down the note he hears.

C. He is a top student at the law school.

D. He can play the musical piece he hears.

2.What can we learn from Paragraph 2 ?

A. Samuel chose law against the wish of his parents.

B. Samuel planned to be a lawyer rather than a musician.

C. Samuel thinks of himself as a man of great musical ability.

D. Samuel studies law and music on the advice of his teachers.

3.Everyone around Samuel was surprised because he _________.

A. received a good early education in music

B. played the guitar and the piano perfectly

C. could play the piano without reading music

D. could play the guitar better than his father

4.Which of the following is the best title of the passage?

A. The Qualities of a Musician

B. The Story of a Musical Talent

C. The Importance of Early Education

D. The Relationship between Memory and Music.

根据短文内容,从短文后的七个选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项。选项中有两项为多余选项。

Of the many unpleasant emotions we can experience, fear may top the list. 1. Fear can also keep us from pursuing the things in life that really matter — like following our dreams, and developing important relationships. I have some ideas, though, of how to be free from fear.

Experience fear.

I used to be very afraid of speaking in front of people. I would get sweaty palms and my stomach would be so tied up that I wouldn't be able to eat. However, each time I spoke, I noticed afterwards that it wasn't that bad. Things I fear are never as bad in reality as I make them out in my mind. 2.

Create space.

The first and most important step to being fearless is to create some space between ourselves and the emotion of fear. This isn't accomplished by ignoring the fear, or trying to talk ourselves out of it. 3. In fact, a recent research shows that by simply admitting the emotion we actually begin to reverse the "fight or flight(逃避)" response in the body.

Control the breath and feel the fear.

Once we acknowledge the presence of fear, the second step is to control the breathing so that it becomes slower and gentler. We try to make the breath just a little bit longer, and feel how fear manifests(展现) in the body. 4.

With practice, we can create enough space between us and the emotion of fear so that we're able to replace a fearful thought with a positive one. 5. For instance, before I get up to speak in front of a group of people, I imagine that the audience is positively impressed by what I say and that I manage to complete the speech successfully.

A. Space is created only when we can honestly acknowledge that fear exists.

B. We can imagine a positive outcome for whatever we're about to do.

C. Fear, if left uncontrolled, can even destroy our life.

D. So one way to get rid of fear is to simply push ourselves to do things that we fear.

E. When we can see a positive outcome in our mind, fear no longer holds us back.

F. But fear is more than just physically unpleasant.

G. As we pay attention to the physical symptoms of fear, we can see fear objectively.

Dear Guys,

I’d like to talk to you about the shame you subjected me to last night. Let me first refresh your memory: You, a group of fit, young men, were playing soccer on the field across from my apartment building. I, a better-than-average looking young woman, was walking along the sidewalk with my groceries. That’s when your ball came flying over the fence and landed in front of me.

One of you approached and asked politely if I would throw the ball back to you. Fighting the urge to drop my bags and run screaming down the street, I reluctantly (勉强地) agreed.

Before I continue, let me explain something that I didn’t have a chance to mention last night: I hate sports. More specifically, I hate sports involving balls. This results from my lack of natural ability when it comes to throwing, catching and hitting. I’m bad at aiming too. So you can understand why I’d be nervous at what I’m sure seemed to you like a laughably simple request.

However, wanting to appear agreeable, I put my bags down, picked up the ball and, eyes half-shut, and threw it as hard as I could.

It hit the middle of the fence and bounced back to me.

Trying to act casually, I said something about being out of practice, and then picked up the ball again. If you’ll remember, at your command, I agreed to try throwing underhand. While outwardly I was smiling, in my head, I was praying, oh God, oh please oh please oh please. I threw the ball upward with all my strength, terrified by what happened next.

The ball hit slightly higher up on the fence and bounced back to me.

This is the point where I start to take issue with you. Wouldn’t it have been a better use of your time, and mine, if you had just walked around the fence and took the ball then? I was clearly struggling; my smiles were more and more forced. And yet, you all just stood there, motionless.

Seeing that you weren’t going to let me out of the trouble, I became desperate. Memories of middle school softball came flooding back. I tried hard to throw the ball but it only went about eight feet, then I decided to pick it up and dash with ball in hand towards the baseline, while annoyed thirteen-year-old boys screamed at me that I was ruining their lives. Children are cruel.

Being a big girl now, I pushed those memories aside and picked up the soccer ball for the third time. I forced a good-natured laugh while crying inside as you patiently shouted words of support over the fence at me.

“Throw it granny-style!” one of you said.

“Just back up a little and give it all you’ve got!” another offered.

And, most embarrassing of all, “You can do it!”

I know you thought you were being encouraging, but it only served to deepen the shame.

Anyway, I accepted your ball-throwing advice, backed up, rocked back and forth a little, took a deep breath and let it fly.

It hit the edge of the fence and bounced back to me.

I surprised myself—and I’m sure you as well—by letting out a cry, “DAMN IT!!!” I then willed myself to have a heart attack and pass out in front of you just so I’d be put out of my misery.

Alas, the heart attack didn’t happen, and you continued to look at me expectantly, like you were content to do this all night. I had become a sort of exhibition for you. I could feel your collective thoughts drifting through the chain-link: “Can she really not do it? But I mean, really?”

Unfortunately for you, I wasn’t really game to continue your experiment. Three failed attempts at a simple task in front of a group of people in a two-minute period were just enough blows for me for one night. I picked up the ball one last time, approached the fence and grumbled, “Please just come get the damn ball.”

And you did. And thanks to you, I decided at that very moment to never throw anything ever again, except disrespectful glances at people who play sports.

Sincerely,

Jen Cordery

1.The writer agreed to throw the ball because ______.

A.she needed to have a relax carrying the heavy groceries

B.she wanted to refresh her childhood memories

C.she could not refuse the polite request from the young man

D.she had fallen in love with the young man at first sight

2.Which of the following is closet in meaning to the underlined word “game”?

A.anxious B.brave C.afraid D.curious

3.Why did the writer mention her middle school memory?

A.To explain why she failed the attempts to throw the ball back.

B.To complain that she had not mastered the ball throwing skills.

C.To show how cruel those 13-year-old boys were.

D.To express her dislike towards softball.

4.What the boys said before the writer’s third attempt actually made the writer ________.

A.inspired B.encouraged C.awkward D.depressed

5.What happened to the ball at last?

A.The writer managed to throw the ball back.

B.The boy got the ball back by himself.

C.The writer threw the ball away out of anger.

D.The boys got angry and left without the ball.

6.What’s the writer’s purpose in writing this open letter?

A.To express her regret over what she did the day before.

B.To announce that she would never play all games again.

C.To joke on her inability to throw the ball over the fence.

D.To criticize the young men for their cruelty to her dignity.

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