Some people bring out the best in you in a way that you might never have fully realized on your own. My mom was one of those people.

My father died when I was nine months old, making my mom a single mother at the age of eighteen. While I was growing up, we lived a very hard life. We had little money, but my mom gave me a lot of love. Each night, she sat me on her lap and spoke the words that would change my life, “Kemmons, you are certain to be a great man and you can do anything in life if you work hard enough to get it.”

At fourteen, I was hit by a car and the doctors said I would never walk again. Every day, my mother spoke to me in her gentle, loving voice, telling me that no matter what those doctors said, I could walk again if I wanted to badly enough. She drove that message so deep into my heart that I finally believed her. A year later, I returned to school — walking on my own!

When the Great Depression (大萧条) hit, my mom lost her job. Then I left school to support the both of us. At that moment, I was determined never to be poor again.

Over the years, I experienced various levels of business success. But the real turning point occurred on a vacation I took with my wife and five kids in 1951. I was dissatisfied with the second-class hotels available for families and was angry that they charged an extra $2 for each child. That was too expensive for the average American family. I told my wife that I was going to open a motel (汽车旅馆) for families that would never charge extra for children. There were plenty of doubters at that time.

Not surprisingly, mom was one of my strongest supporters. She worked behind the desk and even designed the room style. As in any business, we experienced a lot of challenges. But with my mother’s words deeply rooted in my soul, I never doubted we would succeed. Fifteen years later, we had the largest hotel system in the world — Holiday Inn. In 1979 my company had 1, 759 inns in more than fifty countries with an income of $ 1 billion a year.

You may not have started out life in the best situation. But if you can find a task in life worth working for and believe in yourself, nothing can stop you.

What Kemmons’ mom often told him during his childhood was ______.

A. encouraging  B. caring              C. moving            D. interesting

According to the author, who played the most important role in making him walk back to school again?    

A. Doctors.          B. Mom.    C. Nurses.            D. Friends.             

What caused Kemmons to start a motel by himself?

A.  His mom’s support.  B. His previous business success of various levels.

C. His terrible experience in the hotel.   D. His wife’s suggestion.

Which of the following best describes Kemmons’ mother?

A. Modest, helpful, and hard-working.    B. Careful, helpful and beautiful.

C. Loving, supportive and strong-willed.  D. Strict, sensitive and supportive.

Most people know that Marie Curie was the first woman to win the Nobel Prize, and the first person to win it twice. However, few people know that she was also the mother of a Nobel Prize winner.
Born in September, 1897, Irene Curies was the first of the Curies’ two daughters. Along with nine other children whose parents were also famous scholars, Irene studied in their own school, and her mother was one of the teachers. She finished her high school education at the College of Sevigne in Paris.
Irene entered the University of Paris in 1914 to prepare for a degree in mathematics and physics. When World War I began, Irene went to help her mother, who was using X-ray facilities (设备) to help save the lives of wounded soldiers. Irene continued the work by developing X-ray facilities in military hospitals in France and Belgium. Her services were recognized in the form of a Military Medal by the French government.
In 1918, Irene became her mother’s assistant at the Curie Institute. In December 1924, Frederic Joliot joined the Institute, and Irene taught him the techniques required for his work. They soon fell in love and were married in 1926. Their daughter Helene was born in 1927 and their son Pierre five years later.
Like her mother, Irene combined family and career. Like her mother, Irene was awarded a Nobel Prize, along with her husband, in 1935. Unfortunately, also like her mother, she developed leukemia because of her work with radioactivity (辐射能). Irene Joliot-Curie died from leukemia on March 17, 1956.
【小题1】Why was Irene Curie awarded a Military Medal?

Eleven-year-old Angela was attacked by a rare   21  affecting her nerve system. She was unable to walk and her movement was    22  in other ways as well. The doctors did not hold much    23   of her ever recovering from this illness. They    24  she'd spend the rest of her life in a wheelchair.They said that few, if any, were able to come back to    25 after suffering from this disease .The little girl was   26 . There, lying in her hospital bed, she would swear that she was   27  going to be walking again one day.
She was moved to a specialized    28 hospital in the San Francisco Bay area. All   29  that could be applied to her case were used. The doctors were moved by her undefeatable spirit. They taught her about imaging about seeing herself walking. If it would do   30 else, it would at least give her hope and something   31 to do in the long waking hours in her bed. Angela would work as hard as possible in physical treatments, and in exercise sessions. But she worked just as hard lying there faithfully doing her   32  , visualizing herself moving, moving, moving!
One day,   33 she was attempting, with all her might, to imagine her legs moving again, it seemed as though something  34  happened: the bed moved! It began to move around the room! She    35 out, "Look what I'm doing! Look! Look! I can do it”. I moved! I moved!"
Of course, at this very moment everyone else in the hospital was screaming, too, and running to a   36 place. People were screaming, equipment was  37 and glass was breaking. You see, it was the terrible San Francisco earthquake.  38 don't tell that to Angela. She    39  that she did it.
And now only a few years later, she's back in school, on her own   40  . No crutches, no wheelchair. You see, anyone who can shake the earth between San Francisco and Oakland can defeat a little disease, can't they?

Cara Lang is 13. She lives in Boston, Massachusetts, in the U. S. Last Thursday, she didn't go to school. She went to work with her father instead. Every year, on the fourth Thursday in April, millions of young girls go work. This is Take Our Daughters to Work Day. The girls are between the ages of 9 and 15. They spend the day at work with an adult, usually a mother, father, aunt, or uncle. They go to offices, police stations, laboratories, and other places where their parents or other family members work. Next year, the day will include sons, too.
The Ms. Foundation, an organization for women, started the program about ten years ago. In the U.S., many women work outside the home. The Ms. Foundation wanted girls to find out about many different kinds of jobs. Then, when the girls grow up, they can choose a job they like.
Cara's father is a film director. Cara says, “It was very exciting for me to go to the studio with my dad. I saw a lot of people doing different jobs.” Many businesses have special activities for girls on this day. Last year, Cara went to work with her aunt at the University of Massachusetts. In the engineering department, the girls learned to build a bridge with toothpicks and Candy. In the chemistry department, they learned to use scales. They learned about many other kinds of jobs, too.
Right now, Cara does not know what job she will have when she grows up. But because of Take Our Daughters to Work Day, she knows she has many choices.
【小题1】What is Cara's father?

Some people bring out the best in you in a way that you might never have fully realized on your own. My mom was one of those people.
My father died when I was nine months old, making my mom a single mother at the age of eighteen. While I was growing up, we lived a very hard life. We had little money, but my mom gave me a lot of love. Each night, she sat me on her lap and spoke the words that would change my life, “Kemmons, you are certain to be a great man and you can do anything in life if you work hard enough to get it.”
At fourteen, I was hit by a car and the doctors said I would never walk again. Every day, my mother spoke to me in her gentle, loving voice, telling me that no matter what those doctors said, I could walk again if I wanted to badly enough. She drove that message so deep into my heart that I finally believed her. A year later, I returned to school—walking on my own!
When the Great Depression(大萧条)hit, my mom lost her job. Then I left school to support the both of us. At that moment, I was determined never to be poor again.
Over the years, I experienced various levels of business success. But the real turning point occurred（出现）on a vacation I took with my wife and five kids in 1951. I was dissatisfied with the second-class hotels available for families and was angry that they charged an extra $2 for each child. That was too expensive for the average American family. I told my wife that I was going to open a motel(汽车旅馆)for families that would never charge extra for children. There were plenty of doubters at that time.
Not surprisingly, mom was one of my strongest supporters. She worked behind the desk and even designed the room style. As in any business, we experienced a lot of challenges. But with my mother’s words deeply rooted in my soul, I never doubted we would succeed. Fifteen years later, we had the largest hotel system in the world—Holiday Inn. In 1979 my company had 1759 inns in more than fifty countries with an income of $1 billion a year.
You may not have started out life in the best situations. But if you can find a task in life worth working for and believe in yourself, nothing can stop you.
【小题1】What Kemmons’ mom often told him during his childhood was_______.