"Do you like my dress?" she asked a stranger. "My mum made it just for me," she said with tears in her eyes.

"Well, I think it's very pretty, so tell me, little girl, why are you crying?"

The little girl answered in a low voice, "After mum made me this dress, she went away. My dad says that she's up in heaven (天堂) now with Grandfather."

Finally the woman realized why she was crying. She felt very sorry for the little girl and gently held the child in her arms.

Then suddenly the little girl did something a bit strange. She stopped crying, walked back from the woman and began to sing. She sang softly. It was the sweetest sound the woman had ever heard, almost like the song of a very small bird.

After the child stopped singing, she said to the lady, "My mum often sang that song to me before she went away, and she asked me to sing it whenever I started crying and it would make me stop."

"See," she said loudly, "it did, and now my eyes are dry!"

Just before the lady wanted to go, the girl showed her a spot (印迹) on her dress, and said, "Right here is where my mum kissed (吻) my dress, and here," pointing to another spot, "and here is another kiss, and here, and here. Mum said that she put all those kisses on my dress so that I would forget my sadness."

Then the lady realized that she wasn't just looking at a dress, no, she was looking at a mother. The mother knew that she was going away and would not be there to kiss away her daughter's hurts any longer.

So the mother gave all her love to her beautiful daughter and put it into this dress. Now her child was wearing it so proudly.

The lady no longer saw a little girl wearing a simple dress. She saw a child wrapped (包) in her mother's love.

46. The little girl was crying because her mother ____.　　　　　　　　　　　　　　

A. went to a big city　　　　　　　　　　 B. died

C. went out with her grandfather　　　　　 D. was ill

47. Who told the little girl to sing a song when she was crying?　　　　　　　　　　　

A. The lady.　　　　 B. Her father.　　　 C. Her mother.　　　 D. Her grandfather.

48. The little girl showed the lady ____.　　 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　

A. how rich she was　　　　　　　　　　 B. her happiness

C. how beautiful she was　　　　　　　　 D. her mother's love

49. What do we know about the lady in the passage?　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　

A. She was kind to the girl.　　　　　　　 B. She was beautiful.

C. She was glad to see the girl.　　　　　　 D. She was a careless woman.

50. From the story, we learn that_____.　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　

A. the girl's mother went away with her love

B. mother's love is the greatest in the world

C. a girl should wear a dress made by her mother

D. a mother should take her child with her wherever she goes

　　One of the things I always believe is that no matter how bad something is, you can take something positive out of it. The one time I wasn't sure of that was on September 11.

　　I usually wake up at 6:30 or 7:00 in the morning. That day, Lhappened to wake up earlier. I turned on the TV and I saw that a plane had crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center. My first reaction was that it was a terrible accident. Then I saw another plane fly into the South Tower and I realized that I was witnessing an act of terrorism.

　　My wife and I spent the day watching the terrible pictures over and over again. When I watched family members looking for their loved ones, the pain in their eyes was something I would never forget. I couldn't understand how something this terrible could have happened.

　　It wasn't until a few weeks after September 11 that I began to see that perhaps　　some good did come from this tragedy. People seem different now, more understanding,more tolerant. Little things that seemed to be such trouble before are no longer big things. Personally, I am more tolerant than I was. I realize life is too short and too precious to let myself get worried over small things. I've learned also that you can't take things for granted. Things change in the blind of an eye. People go to work and don't come back. One moment they're living and the next minute they're not. And, it doesn't matter who you are, there is nothing you can do about it. We never know when our time here will be over, so we all need to make the most of every minute we have.

　　You try to learn from what happened. You can't be used up by it. You can't live by it. All you can do is just live.

　　注：crash撞击　　reaction反应　　witness目击　　tragedy悲剧　　tolerant宽容的　　precious珍贵的　　take…for granted认为……是当然的

1．The word “positive” in the passage probably means ________.

[　　]

2．What did the writer see after he turned on the TV that morning?

[　　]

3．From September 11, the writer has realized that ________.

[　　]

A．people should make the most of every minute they have

B．he has become less tolerant towards others

C．he should get worried about little things

D．life is too short to care about others

4．What's the best title(题目) of this passage?

[　　]

A．A Report about September 11.

B．The Tragedy of September 11.

C．September 11 and My Family.

D．September 11 and My Turn.

When I was about 12, I had an enemy, a girl who liked to point out my shortcomings(缺点). Week by week her list grew: I was very thin, I wasn’t a good student, I talked too much, I was too proud, and so on. I tried to hear all this as long as I could. At last, I became very angry. I ran to my father with tears in my eyes.                       He listened to me quietly, then he asked. “Are the things she says true or not? Janet, didn’t you ever wonder what you’re really like ? Well, you now have that girl’s opinion. Go and make a list of everything she said and mark the points that are true. Pay no attention to the other things she said.”                                                                         

I did as he told me. To my great surprise, I discovered that about half the things were true. Some of them I couldn’t change (like being very thin), but a good number I could—and suddenly I wanted to change. For the first time I go to fairly clear picture of myself.            

I brought the list back to Daddy. He refused to take it.“That’s just for you,” he said.“You know better than anyone else the truth about yourself. But you have to learn to listen, not just close your ears in anger and feeling hurt. When something said about you is true, you’ll find it will be of help to you. Our world is full of people who think they know your duty. Don’t shut your ears. Listen to them all, but hear the truth and do what you know is the right thing to do.”                   

Daddy’s advice has returned to me at many important moments. In my life, I’ve never had a better piece of advice.                                                          

1.What does “Week by week her list grew” mean?                                   

A. Week by week she discovered more shortcomings of mine and pointed them out to me.  

B. She had made a list of my shortcomings and she kept on adding new ones to it so that it was growing longer and longer.                                                 

C. I was having more and more shortcomings as time went on.                        

D. Week by week, my shortcomings grew more serious.                         

2.Why did her father listen to her quietly?                                          

A. Because he believed that what her daughter’s “enemy” said was mostly true.          

B. Because he had been so angry with his daughter’s shortcomings that he wanted to show this by keeping silent for a while.                                                

C. Because he knew that his daughter would not listen to him at that moment.            

D. Because he wasn’t quite sure which girl was telling the truth.                        

3.Which do you think would be the best title for this passage?                          

A. Not an Enemy, but the Best Friend   

B. The Best Advice I’ve Ever Had                             

C. My Father                      

D. My Childhood

When I was about 12, I had an enemy, a girl who liked to point out my shortcomings(缺点). Week by week her list grew: I was very thin, I wasn’t a good student, I talked too much, I was too proud, and so on. I tried to hear all this as long as I could. At last, I became very angry. I ran to my father with tears in my eyes.                      He listened to me quietly, then he asked. “Are the things she says true or not? Janet, didn’t you ever wonder what you’re really like ? Well, you now have that girl’s opinion. Go and make a list of everything she said and mark the points that are true. Pay no attention to the other things she said.”                                                                         
I did as he told me. To my great surprise, I discovered that about half the things were true. Some of them I couldn’t change (like being very thin), but a good number I could—and suddenly I wanted to change. For the first time I go to fairly clear picture of myself.            
I brought the list back to Daddy. He refused to take it.“That’s just for you,” he said.“You know better than anyone else the truth about yourself. But you have to learn to listen, not just close your ears in anger and feeling hurt. When something said about you is true, you’ll find it will be of help to you. Our world is full of people who think they know your duty. Don’t shut your ears. Listen to them all, but hear the truth and do what you know is the right thing to do.”                   
Daddy’s advice has returned to me at many important moments. In my life, I’ve never had a better piece of advice.                                                          
【小题1】What does “Week by week her list grew” mean?