If 2005 was the year that Ding Junhui exploded onto the international snooker scene, then 2006 could be the year he became a legend.

He won the famous Northern Ireland Trophy after beating former world No. 1 Ronnie O’Sullivan 9-6 in August 2006 and shot up to fifth place in the World Snooker Provisional Rankings. With the first title of the new snooker season at the Waterfront Hall in Belfast, Ding became only the second player in snooker history to win three ranking titles before his 20th birthday, following the 2005 China Open and UK Championship. Ding was born on April 1, 1987 in Yixing, Jiangsu Province. His talent was discovered by his father when he was just eight years old. Systematic training started when he turned 11. In order to find better training facilities for Ding, his father gave up his small business and took his son to Dongguan, Guangdong Province. Father and son shared an eight-square-meter room created by partitioning the local snooker club.

Finally, Ding’s mother sold their house in their hometown and arrived at their narrow “room”. Parental love was all that supported Ding. He practiced very hard. Even as a professional player living in England, he practiced eight hours a day from 10 am to 6 pm, without a day off.

Their efforts began to pay off when 13-year-old Ding started to win prizes in an Asian invitational tournament. He turned professional at the age of sixteen.

Ding has confirmed his reputation as snooker’s most exciting young talent and perhaps the one with the potential to dominate world snooker in years to come.

However, the comments Ding and his father made on the miracle Ding performed were controversial. According to the media, when Ding questioned the importance of schooling, his father described what he did for Ding as nothing but a bet on life!

1. The whole passage is centered upon_________.

A. hard work contributing to success                            B. a successful sport—snooker

C. Ding Junhui’s way to success                                  D. the father-son relationship

2. The underlined word “dominate” in the second paragraph can be replaced by “_________”.

A. take the lead in            B. take part in             C. take advantage of   D. take hold of

3. In which year Ding Junhui was not an amateur for snooker any more?

A. 1998                         B. 2000                       C. 2003                      D. 2005

4. Which of the following statements is true according to the passage?

A. The year of 2005 is the turning point for Ding Junhui.

B. His talent for snooker was first discovered by his coach when trained.

C. He is sure to be the one with the potential to dominate world snooker in the coming years

D. His success is mainly owing to his parents’ love and support as well as his hard practice.

5. The author’s real attitude towards the comments made by the father in the last paragraph is that of being _________.

  A. optimistic                   B. subjective                C. positive                 D. oppositive

One day, Raul was miles away from the small ranch (牧场)house in a large valley. Everything seemed to be all right, yet he felt strange and somewhat uneasy. The wind had picked up, and angry, dark clouds  31  across the sky. He could smell the rain coming. And it did.  32 , the lightning flashed through the clouds, nearly  33  Raul. The thunder (雷声) was so loud that he buried his head in his hands and rubbed his eyes. Then he heard it — hoof beats (蹄声). He  34 . There before him stood a tall, white horse. An old man stared down at him from its back.

“Wh-wh-who are y-y-you?” asked Raul. “Oh, my name is Gray Cloud,” the old man answered  35 , “come with me.”

Raul followed on with his horse. A  36  feeling came over him. All  37  them the rain was pouring down,  38  not a drop fell on them. They seemed to be  39  back toward Raul’s home. Raul lost track of time. Then all at once, he found  40  at the ranch gate. The old man turned his horse, waved his hand, and smiled. Lightning flashed again. The old man and his horse were  41 .

Raul’s father ran out across the yard to  42  him. “We have been  43  about you. Are you okay? Hurry. Let’s get in out of the  44 .”

“Wait,” said Raul. “Have you ever heard of an old man called Gray Cloud?”

“Can’t say I … wait. I believe my great-grandfather used to tell stories about a man called Gray Cloud. He died a long time ago. They all say he was  45  by lightning during a terrible thunderstorm. Why do you ask?” At this, Raul was really more shocked than puzzled.

1.                A．dropped        B．fell            C．rolled    D．covered

2.                A．Suddenly       B．Strongly        C．Quickly   D．Hardly

3.                A．beating         B．blinding         C．burning   D．touching

4.                A．looked up       B．woke up        C．lay down  D．sat down

5.                A．lazily           B．angrily          C．freely    D．slowly

6.                A．natural         B．common        C．strange   D．sad

7.                A．around         B．beside          C．through  D．above

8.                A．yet            B．for            C．so   D．or

9.                A．reaching        B．leading         C．heading  D．returning

10.               A．them          B．themselves      C．him  D．himself

11.               A．gone          B．left            C．followed   D．lost

12.               A．see            B．meet          C．beat  D．ask

13.               A．waited         B．thought        C．worried   D．excited

14.               A．yard           B．wind           C．grass D．rain

15.               A．defeated       B．caught         C．damaged  D．struck

One day,Raul was miles away from the small ranch（牧场） house in a large valley. 1  seemed to be all right,yet he felt strange and somewhat uneasy.The wind had picked up,and angry,dark clouds  2  across the sky. He could smell the rain coming.And it did. 3 ,the lightning flashed through the clouds,nearly  4  Raul.The thunder（雷声） was so loud that he buried his  5   in his hands and rubbed his eyes.Then he heard it. Hoofbeats（蹄声）.He  6 .There before him stood a tall, white  7 . An old man stared down at him from its back.

“Wh-wh-who are y-y-you?” asked Raul.“My name is Gray Cloud,” the old man answered  8 .“Come with me.”
    Raul followed on his horse. A 9 feeling came over him.All 10  them the rain was pouring down,  11  not a drop fell on them. They seemed to be  12   back toward Raul’s home.Raul lost track of time.Then all at once he found  13  at the ranch gate.The old man turned his horse,  14  his hand, and smiled. Lightning flashed again. The old man and his horse were  15 .
    Raul’s father ran out across the yard  to   16  him.“we have been  17  sick about you. Are you okay?Hurry.Let’s get in out of the  18  .”
    “Wait,” said Raul. “Have you ever heard of an old man called Gray Cloud?”
    “Can’t say I … wait. I  19  my great-grandfather used to tell storied about a man called Gray Cloud. He died a long time ago. They say he was  20  by lightning during a terrible thunderstorm. Why do you ask?”
1. A.Something        B.Everything        C.Anything        D.Nothing
2.A.dropped           B.fell              C.rolled           D.covered
3.A.Suddenly          B.Strongly          C.Quickly         D.Hardly
4.A.beating            B.blinding          C.burning         D.touching
5.A.nose              B.hair              C.neck           D.head
6.A.looked up          B.woke up          C.lay down       D.sat down
7.A.tiger              B.horse             C.lion           D.elephant
8.A.lazily              B.angrily           C.coldly         D.slowly
9.A.natural             B.common          C.strange        D.bad
10.A.around            B.beside            C.through       D.above
11.A.yet               B.for               C.so            D.or
12.A.walking           B.leading           C.heading        D.returning
13.A.them              B.themselves       C.him            D.himself
14.A.shook             B.waved           C.held            D.took
15.A.gone              B.left              C.followed       D.lost
16.A.see               B.meet             C.beat           D.ask
17.A.waited            B.thought           C.worried        D.excited
18.A.yard              B.wind             C.grass          D.rain
19.A.believe            B.consider          C.doubt         D.forget
20.A.defeated           B.caught           C.damaged      D.struck

          “How’s the basketball coming on?”

   I put down my drink and looked across at the next table. I was curious about that because both the man and the woman were at least 65.

   “Oh, I’m not playing much basketball these days,” the woman replied. “But I’m getting much better at golf.”

   What’s this, I thought. I opened my packet of crisps, thoughtfully.

“I’m still pretty hopeless at chess, I’m afraid,” the man said. “It beat me on level one this morning.”

   The penny dropped. These two were the proud owners of computer games.

   It’s very likely that one of the results of the development of the silicon chip (硅片) will be that a lot of people will have more exciting ways to spend their leisure time. It already has. Space invader machines are now a familiar sight everywhere. A lot of people play them, and some, particularly school children, get remarkably high scores. How, one wonders, do they find the time (and money) to become so good?

   If you have your own computers, the possibilities are endless. You can play any active sports without stepping out of your living room.

   You can become an expert at chess or backgammon (a kind of game) without ever playing with another human being. Indeed, human beings aren’t needed at all.

   So, what of the future? Will we see school children stealing or even robbing to feed space invader machines? Will football grounds lie empty as families sit at home playing video football, or watching the national video football championship? Perhaps, it won’t go that far. But we won’t have to wait long for the Video Olympics. I’m sure of that.

   Back in the pub, I stood up, took out 20 pence, and went over to the space invader machine. I may not be much good at beating computers at backgammon, but any space invaders who arrive on Earth anywhere near me had better watch out.

1. Why did the dialogue mentioned at the beginning of the passage draw the writer’s attention?

   A. Because the speakers were old.       

B. Because he wanted to join them.

   C. Because the speakers were famous people.      

D. Because he was interested in sports.

2. The example of the man and woman is taken at the beginning of the passage to show how ______ the computer games are.

   A. convenient   B. necessary    C. curious       D. popular

3. What does the underlined sentence “The penny dropped” most probably mean?

   A. It was understood.          B. It was strange.  

   C. It was great.               D. It was accepted.

4. According to the writer, development in computer will make people ______.

   A. friendlier         B. less active       C. more athletic         D. smarter.

5. From the last paragraph we can see ______.

   A. the writer is strongly against video games

   B. the writer never plays video games

   C. the writer is fond of playing video games

   D. the write is better at “backgammon” than “space invader”

“How’s the basketball coming on?”

I put down my drink and looked across at the next table. I was curious about that because both the man and the woman were at least 65.

“Oh, I’m not playing much basketball these days,” the woman replied. “But I’m getting much better at golf.”

What’s this, I thought. I opened my packet of crisps, thoughtfully. “I’m still pretty hopeless at chess, I’m afraid,” the man said. “It beat me on level one this morning.”

The penny dropped. These two were the proud owners of computer games.

It’s very likely that one of the results of the development of the silicon chip(硅片) will be that a lot of people will have more exciting ways to spend their leisure time. It already has. Space invader machines are now a familiar sight everywhere. A lot of people play them, and some, particularly school children, get remarkably high scores. How, one wonders, do they find the time (and money) to become so good?

If you have your own computers, the possibilities are endless. You can play any active sports without stepping out of your living room.

You can become an expert at chess or backgammon without ever playing with another human being. Indeed, human beings aren’t needed at all.

So, what of the future? Will we see school children stealing or even robbing to feed space invader machines? Will football grounds lie empty as families sit at home playing video football, or watching the national video football championship? Perhaps, it won’t go that far. But we won’t have to wait long for the Video Olympics. I’m sure of that.

Back in the pub, I stood up, took out 20 pence, and went over to the space invader machine. I may not be much good at beating computers at backgammon, but any space invaders who arrive on Earth anywhere near me had better watch out.

1.The reason why the writer felt curious about the talk between the couple was that ____.

A. he thought they were too old to play basketball

B. they looked young for their age

C. the old seldom went to the bar

D. he didn’t believe they played basketball so well

2.The underlined sentence “The penny dropped.” in the fifth paragraph probably means ____.

A. his wallet was stolen

B. he dropped a penny into the space invader machine

C. he asked for another drink for a penny

D. he’s come to see what they meant

3.The text is mainly written to tell us that ____.

A. computers will make people have a better time in their leisure time

B. the writer was worried about the side effect of computers

C. the old couple were excellent at playing golf

D. school children shouldn’t play space invader machines so much

4.We can infer form the passage that ____.

A. we can do everything without leaving our home in the future

B. the writer was good at playing the space invader game

C. school children will certainly steal or rob to feed the space invader machines

D. the woman is better at playing chess than the man