I was feeling a little blue because my mother had lost her job.

One day, while I was    on the street, I heard the piano music and singing rising above the noise of the people. I walked more slowly to      where it was coming from. Then I saw a young lady sitting at a piano.

She was singing songs about love,      yourself and keeping on trying. The way she was singing made me a little comfortable. I stood there     ，watching her playing on such a crowded New York square. I thought that she must be     enough to perform in front of so many people.

She noticed me. I walked over and told her how good her       sounded. “Thank you.” she said.

“I have been going through a hard time recently,     you’ve made me hopeful again.” I said to her.

“I’m glad that I could help,” she replied, “Why are you so    ?”

“Well, my mom has lost her job, and I’m not sure what to do …”

“Did you noticed the    you were walking? Your head was down.” she said. “Don’t be upset, because      comes in different ways and if your head is down, you might not see it. You should       more… lift your head up.”

I looked      her, amazed at how she was encouraging me. “    are you playing the piano here?” I asked her with a smile.

She     that she saw a lot of unhappy people in the world and she tried to cheer       up by playing music.

I smiled a little wilder, realizing that no difficulties could stop me from going on.

1.A. driving            B. riding                         C. running     D. walking

2.A. find out           B. send out                     C. take out     D. get out

3.A. dressing          B. believing                     C. hurting      D. losing

4.A. nervously         B. rudely                        C. angrily      D. quietly

5.A. brave             B. shy                          C. bored       D. honest

6.A. advice             B. idea                         C. music       D. interest

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

8.A. dirty              B. busy                  C. sad         D. lazy

9.A. way               B. time              C. reason       D. station

10.A. opportunity     B. health            C. pain         D. life

11.A. complain       B. rest              C. smile        D. pay

12.A. like           B. after             C. for          D. at

13.A. How          B. Why              C. When       D. Where

14.A. dreamed       B. hoped             C. guessed     D. explained

15.A. us            B. them               C. me        D. her

Once there was a little orphan (孤儿) who always wished that he could fly like a bird. It was very difficult for him to understand why he could not fly.

There was another little boy who was crippled. One day the orphan came to a park, where he saw the little crippled boy playing in the sand alone.

He ran over to the little crippled boy and asked him if he had ever wanted to fly like a bird.

“No,” he said. “But I’ve been thinking about what it would be like to walk and run like others.”

“That is very sad,” said the little orphan. “Do you think we could be friends?”

“Sure,” said the little crippled boy.

The two little boys played for hours. Neither of them felt as lonely as they had been before. Then the little crippled boy’s father came with a wheelchair to pick up his son. The little orphan ran over to him and said something into his ear.

“That would be OK,” said the man.

The little orphan ran back to his friend and said, “You are my only friend and I wish I could do something to make you walk and run like others. Unluckily, I can’t. But there is something that I can do for you.”

The little orphan boy turned around and told his friend to slide onto his back. Then he began to run across the grass. He ran faster and faster, carrying the little crippled boy on his back.

The father began to cry with tears as his son shouted at the top of his voice, “I’m FLYING! Daddy, I’m FLYING!”

【小题 1】The underlined word “crippled” in the second paragraph means ______.

   A. having no arms               B. not being able to walk

    C. not being able to fly            D. not being able to see

【小题 2】 What did the little orphan most probably say to the crippled boy’s father?

   A. May I carry him on my back for a run?

    B. Could you be my daddy, too?

   C. Would you join us in our game?

    D. Could I be friends with your son?

【小题 3】Why did the little crippled boy’s father cry?

   A. Because the orphan boy became his son’s only friend.

   B. Because his son was able to fly.

   C. Because he was happy to see his son’s excitement.

   D. Because the orphan boy was riding on his son’s back.

Top student Lin Yijian had a problem recently. The 14-year-old boy from Xiamen used to get marks of over 110 points (out of 120 possible points) on his math tests. But during last semester's final exams, his math score was only 90 points.
It was a shock. "I didn't know what happened," said Lin, who kept feeling nervous and frustrated about math during the following month.
Like Lin, many of us have setbacks (挫折) in life. What would you do to deal with these setbacks? Would you just let them be and give up?
Lin chose to face his problem. His parents and teacher also gave him help. After some hard work he now gets marks between 100 and110 points on his math tests. Although he still isn't at his original (原来的) level, Lin doesn't panic anymore.
"Don't be scared by setbacks," he said. "You will beat it."
Chen Xingzhu in Shenzhen also has a story to tell. The 15-year-old girl is not good at doing sit-ups (仰卧起坐), which is necessary for the coming high school PE entrance exam. One has to do at least 35 sit-ups in a minute to pass the test. Most of Chen's classmates can do 40. However, Chen could only do 20.
Feeling worried, Chen decided to do something. She did sit-ups for half an hour every day after school. Now, after a month, she can do 30 sit-ups a minute.
"I finally found what made me slow through continuous practice and then improved little by little," said Chen. "I believe next month I will be able to do 40!"
【小题1】 What problem did Lin Yijian have recently?