A lot of teenagers are good at art at school, but how would you feel if people called you “the new Picasso(毕加索)” or if presidents and other famous people collected your paintings?
Alexandra Nechita was ten when her paintings became famous all over the world. She visited Britain, France, Italy, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and her family’s native place (祖籍) Romania where 5,000 fans came to see her at the airport. Alexandra said, “When it all started, I was moved. It was very exciting and I loved the traveling, but I got very tired. And I missed home.”
Alexandra is a good student. Her studies always come first. She only starts painting after she’s done her homework. She works on two or three paintings at a time. The paintings sell for thousands and Alexandra’s parents have given up their jobs to work for their daughter. Life for the Nechita family is very different from what it was like a few years ago.
Alexandra’s father Niki left Romania for political reasons in 1985. At first he tried his best to learn English and had different kinds of low-paid jobs. In 1987, he brought his wife and Alexandra, who was then 18 months old, to America. The family was very poor. Alexandra began to draw at the age of three.
She was drawing for four or five hours a day. Soon people offered to buy her paintings and she had her first art show at the age of eight. Stories about this child appeared in the newspapers and television. They now live in a large house with a swimming pool. Her mother said, “We started without anything, but thanks to Alexandra, we have everything we ever dreamed of.”
【小题1】Alexandra became well-known all over the world for her paintings at the age of _______.

It's very common to meet different people in public places.

    When I was  12 years old,I got a small job in a    16  ,On my first day at work,I didn't come home for lunch. When I came home at night, Mum asked, “How did you    17  your lunch, dear?”I answered,“I made some new friends in the supermarket, twin brothers, their mom and dad. They were my customers. They invited me   18   lunch."

Mum was happy that I had made new friends but she wanted to know what kinds of    19  they might be.

Several days later,I asked my friends to come to the supermarket where l worked   20  let Mum meet them. Mum was very    21    to find out that the twin brothers were joined at the chest（胸部）.She felt very strange because I didn't tell her about that before.

    When Mum asked me about this,I said,“I know that too. But do you know that their mom has to make all clothes because it's    22    difficult to find anything to fit them? They're also good    23    .That day, Joe, the one on the right, made me noodles for lunch."

    When Mum saw the twins, she must have thought how strange they    24    .But to me,what I cared about was that they had difficulty——25    clothes and they were good cooks.

1.A.supermarket  B.post office    C.factory       D.bank

2.A.find         B.make           C.manage        D.eat

3.A.at           B.for            C.after         D.before

4.A.men           B.women           C.boys          D.people

5.A.and           B.but             C.or            D.so

6.A.surprised     B.excited         C.interested    D.disappointed

7.A.so            B.very            C.too           D.really

8.A.friends       B.singers         C.workers       D.cooks

9.A.smelled       B,looked          C.felt          D.sounded

10.A.selling       B.making          C. wearing       D.buying

A group of adults, highly succeeded in their jobs, went to visit their old professor. Soon they began to __31__ the stress in work and life.

       The professor went to the kitchen and returned __32__ a pot of coffee and all kinds of cups — crystal (水晶的), glass, plastic; some nice looking, some plain looking; some __33__, some cheap. And he told them to help __34__ to the coffee.

       When all the students had a cup of coffee in hand, the professor said, “I’ve noticed that all the nice looking expensive cups were __35__, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. While it is __36__ for you to take only the best for yourselves, that is the root of your __37__ and stress.

       You know that the cup itself adds no quality to the coffee, __38__ you really wanted was coffee, not the cup, __39__ you consciously went for the best cups.

       Now consider this: Life is the coffee. The jobs, money and __40__ in society are the cups. They are just __41__ to hold life, and the type of cup does not change the quality of our life. Sometimes, by __42__ only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the coffee that God has __43__ us. God offers us the coffee, not the cups. Please enjoy your coffee!”The happiest people don’t have the best of everything. They just make __44__ of everything.

       Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply. Speak __45__. And leave the rest to God.

1.A. think of                B. thank for                 C. complain about        D. drop out

2.A. for                    B. at                       C. in                   D. with

3.A. expensive              B. ordinary                 C. strong                 D. serious

4.A. them                  B. themselves               C. him                  D. everyone

5.A. mixed up              B. left                      C. taken up               D. refused

6.A. normal                B. important                 C. impossible             D. necessary

7.A. thoughts               B. failure                   C. questions              D. problems

8.A. Who                  B. How much               C. What                  D. That

9.A. and                   B. but                     C. so                     D. or

10.A. position               B. age                     C. health                  D. purpose

11.A. cups                 B. tools                     C. bags                   D. bowls

12.A. putting               B. getting                   C. turning                  D. concentrating

13.A. taught                B. provided               C. returned         D. bought

14.A. fun                  B. use                    C. the best          D. the worst

15.A. kindly               B. sadly                   C. rudely           D. seriously

It’s over three years since I began to learn English. I’m glad that I am getting on well with it.

I find English quite difficult, but very interesting. When I first started, I thought I had only to remember the new words and learn some grammar  I knew little about English idioms（习语）.I thought each English word had the same meaning in Chinese. When I learn to say“I see a book on the desk,” I thought the English word “see ” was just like the Chinese word “ kan ”，So one day when my teacher asked me,“ what are you doing?”, I answered， “I’m seeing a book.” “That’s wrong .”  the teacher said, “you don’t see a book, You read a book. You can’t use English word like a Chinese one.. Be sure not to make the same mistake again.”

After that I began to pay more attention to the differences between Chinese and English. For example, in English we say a“ high mountain”, but a“ tall man. ” In Chinese we use the same word “gao ” for both.。Again in English we say“ take part in the sports meeting ”, “ attend the meeting ” and“ join the army,”  while in Chinese we can use “can jia ” for all three. Interesting ，isn't?

So to study English doesn't only mean hard wok, it can be great fun,  too! We not only have to pay attention to pronunciation, grammar spelling and handwriting, we also have to understand English idioms. We can learn English well only in the way!

But all this is only a beginning and I still have a long way to go. I’ll try my best and work even harder than before. I must speak and listen to English more both in and out of class. I must learn English well so that I can work well when I grow up.

1.I have learned English for ___________ years.

A．one              B．five              C．three             D．more than three

2. When I first started English I ________________.

A．knew more English words

B．knew more English idioms

C．used an English word like a Chinese one

D．found English easy and interesting

3.I began to pay more attention to the differences between Chinese and English __________

A When I began to learn English

B. when I said“ I see a book on the desk.”

C. before I began to learn English

D. after the teacher told me not use an English word like a Chinese one.

4.We should speak and listen to English __________.

A．only in class

B．out of class

C．both in and out of class

D．either in or out of class

5.To study English well, we have to ______________.

A．remember the new words and learn more grammar

B．know the differences between Chinese and English

C．pay attention to pronunciation, spelling, handwriting and idioms

D．do all the above things