Bardithch High School decided to have an All-School Reunion. Over 450 people came to the event. There were tours of the old school building and a picnic at Confederate Park. Several former teachers were on hand to tell stories about the old days. Ms. Mabel Yates, the English teacher for over fifty years, was wheeled to the Park.
Some eyes rolled and there were a few low groans (嘟囔声) when Ms. Yates was about to speak. Many started looking at their watches and coming up with excuses to be anywhere instead of preparing to listen to a lecture from an old woman who had few kind words for her students and made them work harder than all the other teachers combined.
Then Ms. Yates started to speak:
“I can’t tell you how pleased I’m to be here. I haven’t seen many of you since your graduation, but I have followed your careers and enjoyed your victories as well as crying for your tragedies. I have a large collection of newspaper photographs of my students. Although I haven’t appeared in person, I have attended your college graduations, weddings and even the births of your children, in my imagination. ”
Ms. Yates paused and started crying a bit. Then she continued:
“It was my belief that if I pushed you as hard as I could, some of you would succeed to please me and others would succeed to annoy me. Regardless of our motives, I can see that you have all been successful in your chosen path.”
“There is no greater comfort for an educator than to see the end result of his or her years of work. You have all been a great source of pleasure and pride for me and I want you to know I love you all from the bottom of my heart.”
There was a silence over the crowd for a few seconds and then someone started clapping. The clapping turned into cheering, then into a deafening roar (呼喊). Lawyers, truck drivers, bankers and models were rubbing their eyes or crying openly with no shame all because of the words from a long forgotten English teacher from their hometown.
【小题1】What activity was organized for the school reunion?

D
What's your earliest childhood memory? Can you remember the first time you heard thunder or watched a television program? Adults seldom recall events much earlier than the year or so before entering school, just as children younger than three or four rarely retain any memory of specific, personal experiences.
A variety of explanations have been proposed by psychologists for this "childhood amnesia"( 记忆缺失,健忘).One argues that the hippocampus, the region of the brain which is responsible for forming memories, does not mature（成熟）until about the age of two. But the most popular theory maintains (主张）that, since adults do not think like children, they cannot access childhood memories. Adults think in words, and their life memories are like stories. But when they search through their mental files for early childhood memories to add to this verbal life story, they don't find any that fit the pattern. It's like trying to find a Chinese word in an English dictionary.
Now psychologist Annette Simms offers a new explanation for childhood amnesia. She argues that there simply aren't any early childhood memories to recall. According to Dr. Simms, children need to learn to use someone else's spoken description of their personal experiences in order to turn their own short-term, quickly forgotten impressions of these experiences into long-term memories. In other words, children have to talk about their experiences and hear others talk about them - Mother talking about the afternoon spent looking for crabs(蟹) at the beach or Dad asking them about their day at Ocean Park. Without this verbal reinforcement, says Dr. Simms, children cannot form permanent memories of their personal experiences.
69. According to the passage, it is widely believed that_________.
A. it is impossible for an adult to recall his(or her) childhood experiences
B. adults virtually have no access to their childhood memories
C. adults think in words while children think in images
D. adults and children have different brain structures
70. "Trying to find a Chinese word in an English dictionary" is stated in the passage to show that_______.
A. Chinese and English are totally different languages
B. it is unlikely to find a Chinese word in an English dictionary
C. adults and children have different memory patterns
D. memories are in some way connected with languages
71. According to Annette Simms,_______________.
A. verbal reinforcement is necessary for children to have permanent memories
B. there does not exist such things as childhood memories
C. children's brains are mature enough to form permanent memories
D. children are generally inexperienced and unable to remember things they don't understand

Have you ever been afraid to talk back when you were treated unfairly? Have you ever bought something just because the salesman talked you into it? Are you afraid to ask a boy (girl) for a date？

Many people are afraid to assert themselves (insist upon their own rights). Dr Robert Alberti, author of Stand Up, Speak Out, and Talk Back, thinks it’s because their self-esteem(自尊) is low. “Our whole set-up makes people doubt themselves,” says Alberti. “There’s always a 'superior' around — a parent, a teacher, a boss — who 'knows better’”.

But Alberti and other scientists are doing something to help people to assert themselves. They offer “assertiveness training” courses (AT). In the AT courses people learn that they have a right to be themselves. They learn to speak out and feel good about doing so. They learn to be aggressive(敢闯, 闯劲儿) without hurting other people.

In one way, learning to speak out is to overcome fear. A group taking an AT course will help the timid person to lose his fear. But AT uses an even stronger motive—the need to share. The timid person speaks out in the group because he wants to tell how he feels. AT says you can get to feel good about yourself. And once you do, you can learn to speak out.

1. In the passage, the writer talks about the problem that _______.

A. some people are too easy-going

B. some people are too timid

C. there are too many superiors around us

D. some people dare not stick up for their own rights

2. The effect of our set-up on people is often to _______.

A. make them distrust their own judgment

B. make things more favorable for them

C. keep them from speaking out as much as their superiors do

D. help them to learn to speak up for their rights

3. One thing AT doesn’t do is to _______.

A. use the need of people to share

B. show people they have the right to be themselves

C. help people to be aggressive at anytime even when others suffer

D. help people overcome fear

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.

The house was quiet at 5 am and Tim’s mother was asleep. Only the sound of the big freezer broke the quiet. He’d dreamt of the cave last night. The purring（轻微颤动声）of the freezer had been the sea.                                         
Tim pulled on a sweater and put some apples into his schoolbag. It was too early for breakfast. He’d eat after he’d been through the cave, sitting on the rocks and staring at the sea.
He wished he had a proper pack. His schoolbag would have to do. What else? Sandwiches—but his mother might wake up if he started pulling out bread for sandwiches. She’d want to know why he had to leave so early. He settled for some biscuits, and left a note stuck to the table:
Gone to Michael’s. Back tonight, Tim.
The sky was high and soft and light outside, though the sun still wasn’t up. Even the highway up the hill was quiet as he made his way down the street. The wind from the sea was fresh and sweet.
The sand hills still breathed heat from yesterday’s sun, though the top of the sand was cool. He ran down to the beach impatiently, but there was no one, just dry sand dancing in the early wind and seabirds marching up and down watching the waves.
The light changed suddenly. The first rays of sunlight stretched (延伸) across the sea. The sun was pushing its way over the edge of the world.
Over the first rocks, along to the point, Tim glanced back. The beach was still empty. The sun sailed higher in the sky.
He could see the cave now, even darker in the morning light. The sand turned silver then dark gold as the water flowed away from it. He had to force himself to go closer. Why was it so much more mysterious now? But it would be silly to go back now after so much trouble. He needn’t go in all the way...
【小题1】What did Tim do at the beginning of the story?