When I was growing up, I had an old neighbor named Dr. Gibbs. He didn’t look like any doctor I’d ever known. He never yelled at us for playing in his yard. I remember him as someone who was a lot nicer than most of the adults in our community.

When Dr. Gibbs wasn’t saving lives, he was planting trees. His house sat on ten acres, and his life’s goal was to make it a forest.

The good doctor had some interesting theories concerning plant care and growth. He never watered his new trees, which flew in the face of conventional wisdom. Once I asked why. He said that watering plants spoiled them so that each successive tree generation would grow weaker and weaker. So you have to make things rough for them and weed out(淘汰) the weaker trees early on. He talked about how watering trees made for shallow roots, and how trees that weren’t watered had to grow deep roots in search of moisture. I took him to mean that deep roots were to be treasured.

So he never watered his trees. He planted an oak and, instead of watering it every morning, he beat it with a rolled-up newspaper. Smack! Slap! Pow! I asked him why he did that, and he said it was to get the tree’s attention.

Dr. Gibbs passed away a couple of years after I left home. Every now and again, I walked by his house and looked at the trees that I’d watched him plant some twenty-five years ago. They’re extremely tall, big and robust since they have deep roots now. However, the trees in my garden trembled in a cold wind although I had watered them for several years.

It seems that adversity(逆境) and suffering benefit these trees in ways comfort and ease never could. I stood there deep in thought.

Every night before I go to bed, I check on my two sons. I stand over them and watch their little bodies, the rising and falling of life within. I often pray for them. Mostly I pray that their lives will be easy. But I think that it’s time to change my prayer(祷词) because now I know my children are going to encounter hardship.

According to Dr. Gibbs’ theories, trees will become weaker if they _________.

A. are lack of care　　　　　B. are watered      C. are weeded out　　　　　D. are beaten

According to Para.3 and Para.4, we can infer that Dr. Gibbs’ motto(座右铭) may be       .

A. “Seeing is believing”                                    B. “Put everything in proper use”

C. “Practice makes perfect”                               D. “No pain, no gain”

The underlined word robust in Para.5 most probably means _________.

A. strong　　                      B. strange　　       C. deep　　                        D. old

Which of the following may be the author’s best prayer for his two sons now?

A. I wish them strong wings, with which they can fly higher and touch the sky.

B. I wish them nice fortune so that they can meet people like Dr. Gibbs in the future.

C. I wish them deep roots into the earth since the rains fall and the winds blow often.

D. I wish them great shades under the tree since the sunlight is always sharp and bitter.

Which of the following can be the best title of this passage?

A Nice Doctor  B. The Deep Roots  C. Adversity and Suffering  D. My Childhood Memory

When I was growing up, I had an old neighbor named Dr. Gibbs. He didn’t look like any doctor I’d ever known. He never yelled at us for playing in his yard. I remember him as someone who was a lot nicer than most of the adults in our community.

When Dr. Gibbs wasn’t saving lives, he was planting trees. His house sat on ten acres, and his life’s goal was to make it a forest.

The good doctor had some interesting theories concerning plant care and growth. He never watered his new trees, which flew in the face of conventional wisdom. Once I asked why. He said that watering plants spoiled them so that each successive tree generation would grow weaker and weaker. So you have to make things rough for them and weed out(淘汰) the weaker trees early on. He talked about how watering trees made for shallow roots, and how trees that weren’t watered had to grow deep roots in search of moisture. I took him to mean that deep roots were to be treasured.

So he never watered his trees. He planted an oak and, instead of watering it every morning, he beat it with a rolled-up newspaper. Smack! Slap! Pow! I asked him why he did that, and he said it was to get the tree’s attention.

Dr. Gibbs passed away a couple of years after I left home. Every now and again, I walked by his house and looked at the trees that I’d watched him plant some twenty-five years ago. They’re extremely tall, big and robust since they have deep roots now. However, the trees in my garden trembled in a cold wind although I had watered them for several years.

It seems that adversity(逆境) and suffering benefit these trees in ways comfort and ease never could. I stood there deep in thought.

Every night before I go to bed, I check on my two sons. I stand over them and watch their little bodies, the rising and falling of life within. I often pray for them. Mostly I pray that their lives will be easy. But I think that it’s time to change my prayer(祷词) because now I know my children are going to encounter hardship.

According to Dr. Gibbs’ theories, trees will become weaker if they _________.

A. are lack of care　　　　　B. are watered      C. are weeded out　　　　　D. are beaten

According to Para.3 and Para.4, we can infer that Dr. Gibbs’ motto(座右铭) may be       .

A. “Seeing is believing”                                    B. “Put everything in proper use”

C. “Practice makes perfect”                               D. “No pain, no gain”

The underlined word robust in Para.5 most probably means _________.

A. strong　　                      B. strange　　       C. deep　　                        D. old

Which of the following may be the author’s best prayer for his two sons now?

A. I wish them strong wings, with which they can fly higher and touch the sky.

B. I wish them nice fortune so that they can meet people like Dr. Gibbs in the future.

C. I wish them deep roots into the earth since the rains fall and the winds blow often.

D. I wish them great shades under the tree since the sunlight is always sharp and bitter.

Which of the following can be the best title of this passage?

A Nice Doctor  B. The Deep Roots  C. Adversity and Suffering  D. My Childhood Memory

When I entered Berkeley. I hoped to earn a scholarship. Having been a Straight-A student, I believed I could   36 tough subjects and really learn something. One such course was World Literature given by Professor Jayne. I was extremely interested in the ideas he   37  in class.
When I took the first exam, I was   38  to find a 77, C-plus, on my test paper,   39  English was my best subject. I went to Professor Jayne, who listened to my arguments but remained   40 .
I decided to try harder, although I didn’t know what that   41  because school had always been easy for me. I read the books more carefully, but got another 77. Again, I   42  with Professor Jayne. Again, he listened patiently but wouldn’t change his   43 .
One more test before the final exam. One more   44  to improve my grade. So I redoubled my efforts and, for the first time,   45  the meaning of the word “thorough”. But my   46  did no good and everything   47  as before.
The last hurdle（障碍）was the final. No matter what   48  I got, it wouldn’t cancel C-pluses. I might as well kiss the   49  goodbye.
I stopped working hard. I felt I knew the course material as well as I ever would. The night before the final, I even   50  myself to a movie. The next day I decided for once I’d have   51  with a test.
A week later, I was surprised to find I got an A. I hurried into Professor Jayne’s office. He   52  to be expecting me. “If I gave you the A-pluses you   53 , you wouldn’t continue to work as hard.”
I stared at him,   54  that his analysis and strategy(策略) were correct. I had worked my head   55 , as I had never done before.
I was speechless when my course grade arrived: A-plus. It was the only A-plus given. The next year I received my scholarship. I’ve always remembered Professor Jayne’s lesson: you alone must set your own standard of excellence.

When I entered Berkeley, I hoped to earn a scholarship. Having been a Straight-A student(优等生), I believed I could  1   tough（=hard） subjects and really learn something. One such course was World Literature given by Professor Jayne. I was extremely interested in the ideas he  2 in class.
When I took the first exam, I was  3   to find a 77, C-plus, on my test paper,  4   English was my best subject. I went to reason with Professor Jayne, who listened to my arguments but remained 5  .
I decided to try harder, although I didn't know what that  6   because school had always been easy for me. I read the books more carefully, but got another 77. Again, I  7    with Professor Jayne. Again, he listened patiently but wouldn't change his  8   .
One more test before the final exam. One more  9  to improve my grade. So I redoubled my efforts(加倍努力) and, for the first time,  10  the meaning of the word "thorough"（彻底的）.But my  11  did no good and everything  12  as before.
The last hurdle（障碍）was the final. No matter what  13 I got, it wouldn't cancel three C-pluses. I might as well kiss the  14  goodbye.
I stopped working hard. I felt I knew the course material as well as I ever would. The night before the final, I even  15  myself to a movie. The next day I decided for once I'd have  16  with a test.
A week later, I was surprised to find I got an A. I hurried into Professor Jayne's office. He  17  to be expecting me. "If I gave you the As you  18  , you wouldn't continue to work as hard."
I stared at him,  19  that his analysis and strategy（策略）were correct. I had worked my head  20  , as I had never done before.
I was speechless when my course grade arrived: A-plus. It was the only A-plus given. The next year I received my scholarship. I've always remembered Professor Jayne's lesson: you alone must set your own standard of excellence.

A few weeks ago, I followed a friend into an art supply store．I found him picking out tubes of water-color paint, which __36__ me because he’s not an artist.
"I   37  up for a water-color class, and it starts next week," he said．"I really don’t have  38_ for it, but it was on my list of 50 things to do before I die, so I _39__ it．Every few months I look at the list and decide what to focus on next． 40  I had the list, I complained a lot about what I was  41 _ in my life．Now I just bury myself in doing these things．Write your own list．and you’ll   42  what I mean．"
So that night．I did just that, and he was right．The list revealed （显露出） a whole lot about what was __43__ to me．It also revealed how _44___ behind I am at getting to the things I really want．
I filled up the first twenty __45__ quickly, but then began to think carefully．
Eventually I __46_ items I’ve thought about for years, and __47__ I’ve carried with me since I was young．When I  48  the list later, some entries surprised me．
First, I want to _ 49_ much more, particularly now that my children are   50_ and can go with me to see the world．I would like to take them to bike through Denmark and camp in the Canadian Rockies．
I’m also surprised to _51_ some things on the list that need to be done soon．If I’m going to learn to roller-blade （轮滑）, __52_, I’d better start before I turn 50．
Like my friend, I now have an alternative to __53__．When I’m bored with life, I take out my list．
My friend told me the _54_ was preparing the ground so that life could work in mysterious ways．"If you want your ship to come in, you must build a dock （码头）," he said．
Thanks to my _55__, I’m working on some big docks．