A school was across the street from our home and I would often watch the kids from my window as they played basketball. One day, among the children a girl attracted me. She seemed so small as she muscled her way through the crowd of boys. Running circles around the other kids, she managed to shoot jump shots just over their heads and into the net with no one to stop her. Sometimes, I saw her play alone. She would practice dribbling (带球) and shooting over and over again until dark.

One day I asked her why she practiced so much. Without hesitation, she said, “I want to go to college. The only way I can go is that I get a scholarship. If I were good enough, I would get a scholarship. I like basketball. My Daddy told me if the dream is big enough, the facts don’t count.” Then she smiled and ran towards the court to go on with practice.

I watched her through junior high and into high school. Every week, she led her school team to victory. One day in her senior year, I saw her sitting in the grass, head cradled (抱) in her arms. I went over there and sat down beside her. The coach told her that as a player as tall as 5’5” she would probably never get to play for a top ranked college team ― much less offered a scholarship ― so she should stop dreaming about college.

She was heartbroken and I felt my own throat tighten as I sensed her disappointment. I asked her if she had talked to her dad about it yet. She told me that her father said those coaches were wrong. They did not understand the power of a dream. He told her that if she really wanted to play for a good college and if she truly wanted a scholarship, nothing could stop her except one thing ― her own attitude. He told her again, “If the dream is big enough, the facts don’t count.”

The next year, as she and her team went to the Northern California Championship game, she was seen by a college recruiter (招聘人员), and was offered a full scholarship, to a NCAA women’s basketball team. She was going to college, which she had dreamed of and worked toward for all those years.

41. Which of the following is true about the girl according to the passage? 

A. She sometimes played alone because she was too short.

B. She played basketball so well that she could compete against some boys.

C. She believed girls had to pay more than boys to succeed.

D. She felt sad when her coach didn’t allow her to play for a college team.

42. What can we learn from the story? 

A. Follow your dream and you’ll make it sooner or later.

B. Take our teachers’ advice when making a decision.

C. Whoever wants to succeed must get a scholarship.

D. Failure is the mother of success.

43. What can we infer from the passage? 

A. Anyone who dreams every day will surely succeed.

B. Basketball players can go to college without studying well.

C. It’s not easy to become a member of NCAA basketball team.

D. Only if you have a good teacher can you succeed.

44. The coach advised the girl to quit because he thought ___________.  

A. she had lost confidence in her ability to play well

B. she had been good enough to get a scholarship

C. she couldn’t get along well with her teammates

D. she was too short to realize her dream                  

If a noisy neighbor is blasting music at all hours of the day and night, drowning out your phone conversations and interrupting your sleep, you can call the police. But what is a whale to do?
Natural noise from waves, wind, rain and even earthquakes is common in oceans. Unfortunately, man-made noise from oil and gas drilling, sonar, and ships is also present.
Low frequency noise has doubled off the California coast every decade since the nineteen sixties. The main reasons are ships’ propellers(螺旋桨). They not only generate continuous low frequency sound, some propellers cavitate(形成气穴), which means they create air bubbles that collapse, creating loud popping sounds.
Whales use low frequency calls to communicate across thousands of miles of ocean. They are threatened by noise pollution because it can prevent them from contacting each other and from locating their foods. Endangered humpback and right whales, which use fibrous baleen to strain food from the water, are the most at risk.

Scientists studying right whales off Canada’s east coast have discovered that whales are sending louder calls through the water to make themselves heard. Because they invest more energy in making calls, they have less energy available for finding food and mating. Other scientists measuring whale calls against background noise pollution have discovered that right whales have lost about eighty percent of their normal communication area. This could seriously affect survival of this already threatened species.
Scientists don’t have badges and guns, but they are trying to correct the noise pollution problem. By tracking ships and marine mammals and understanding how noise travels, they are creating sound maps. They hope to get shipping lanes moved so that the noise pollution ships create will not overlap with areas most important to the whales.

71. What does the passage mainly talk about?

A. Whales are in danger because of the noise.　　　　　　

B. Noise pollution is affecting whales.

C. Natural noise is good for whales.　　　　　　　　　　　　

D. How to protect whales endangered.

72. The following statements are true EXCEPT ________.

A. You can call the police if you are disturbed by a noise neighbor

B. Low frequency noise has doubled off the Canadian coast every decade since 1960s.

C. Noise pollution can prevent whales from contacting each other and from locating prey.

D. Endangered humpback and right whales are the most at risk.

73. We can infer from the last paragraph that ________.

A. Some areas important to whales are overlapped with the ship lanes.

B. Scientists are creating the sound maps by tracking ships and marine mammals.

C. If scientists have guns, they can correct the noise pollution.

D. Scientists have worked out a plan to protect the whales.

74. According to scientists, ________.

A. Right whales off the Californian coast have been in danger because of the loss of the energy.

B. Right whales cannot find food and mate for they lose a lot of living area.

C. There are about 20% of the normal communication areas still available for the right whales.

D. The right whales always invest most of their energy for making calls.

75. According to the description of whales, we can know that ________.

A. The noise made by the ships has a bad effect on the area where whales live.

B. Whales can communicate with each other by diving into the deep water.

C. Whales cannot find mates because they don’t have enough energy.

D. The communication between whales is through low frequency calls

What makes a gift special? Is it the price you see on the gift receipt? Or is it the look on the recipient's face when they receive it that determines the true value? What gift is worth the most?
This Christmas I was debating what to give my father.  My dad is a hard person to buy for because he never wants anything.  I pulled out my phone to read a text message from my mom saying that we were leaving for Christmas shopping for him when I came across a message on my phone that I had locked.  The message was from my father.  My eyes fell on a photo of a flower taken in Wyoming, and underneath a poem by William Blake.  The flower, a lone dandelion standing against the bright blue sky, inspired me.  My dad had been reciting those words to me since I was a kid.   That may even be the reason why I love writing. I decided that those words would be my gift to my father.
I called back.  I told my mom to go without me and that l already created my gift.  1 sent the photo of the cream-colored flower to my computer and typed the poem on top of it.  As I was arranging the details another poem came to mind.  The poem was written by Edgar Allan Poe; My dad recited it as much as he did the other.  I typed that out as well and searched online for a background to the words of it.  The poem was focused around dreaming, and after searching I found the perfect picture.  The image was painted with blues and greens and purples, twisting together to create the theme and wonder of a dream.  As I watched both poems passing through the printer, the white paper coloring with words that shaped my childhood, I felt that this was a gift that my father would truly appreciate.
Christmas soon arrived.  The minute I saw the look on my dad's face as he unwrapped those swirling black letters carefully placed in a cheap frame, I knew I had given the perfect gift.
【小题1】The idea for a special gift began to form when the author was________________.

What makes a gift special? Is it the price you see on the gift receipt? Or is it the look on the recipient's face when they receive it that determines the true value? What gift is worth the most?
This Christmas I was debating what to give my father. My dad is a hard person to buy for because he never wants anything. I pulled out my phone to read a text message from my mom saying that we were leaving for Christmas shopping for him when I came across a message on my phone that I had locked. The message was from my father. My eyes fell on a photo of a flower taken in Wyoming. and underneath a poem by William Blake. The flower, a lonely dandelion（蒲公英） standing against the bright blue sky, inspired me. My dad had been reciting those words to me since I was a kid. That may even be the reason why I love writing. I decided that those words would be my gift to my father.
I called back. I told my mom to go without me and that I already created my gift. I sent the photo of the cream-colored flower to my computer and typed the poem on top of it. As I was arranging the details another poem came to mind. The poem was written by Edgar Allan Poe; my dad recited it as much as he did the other. I typed that out as well and searched online for a background to the words of it. The poem was focused around dreaming, and after searching I found the perfect picture. The image was painted with blues and greens and purples, twisting together to create the theme and wonder of a dream. As I watched both poems passing through the printer, the white paper coloring with words that shaped my childhood. I felt that this was a gift that my father would truly appreciate.
Christmas soon arrived. The minute I saw the look on my dad's face as he unwrapped those swirling black letters carefully placed in a cheap frame, I knew I had given the perfect gift.
【小题1】The idea for a special gift began to form when the author was____________.