单词拼写（共10小题，满分5分）

1. I don’t mind a_____ to others if I make a mistake.

2. We classmates visited our beloved teacher on hearing his a___ in the capital city.

3. We all a________ her for the way she saved the children from the fire.

4. It’s important to keep the b_______ of nature.

5. If you don’t understand the meaning of a word ,you can c________the dictionary.

6. Xiao Wang felt frustrated that a lot of c_____ went to a newly-opened small restaurant.

7. Nowadays lots of young people want financial _____________（独立）。

8. She _________（哭泣;流泪）when she heard the bad news.

9. It is _________（显而易见的）that even if we can save much energy, we can only delay the energy crisis.

10. He’ll never be__________（原谅）for what he has done .

 Maggie was very glad that James was not a frequent visitor to the house. So far as the children were concerned, they had a mystery about him that stirred their imagination. He stirred Maggie’s anger, however, so that she often said to her husband, “It’s mercy that brother of yours doesn’t come oftener.”

In fact James came once a year, unexpectedly, around eight o’clock in the evening, and he stayed for six hours of close discussion with his brother. His arrival was a signal to the children that their bedtime would be delayed. Not that he ever spoke to them or played with them. He took no notice of them, as if he was unable to see children, at least until the time came for him to go. Instead, after his first greeting and a careless kiss, James took no notice of Maggie either, except to add, “You’ll be getting on with the supper, Maggie.” Such was his regard for her.

Maggie paid him back in her own way. She kept the children up, the four of them, to keep her company, she said, but of course they sang and made a noise and broke the endless sound of James’s voice. Very late, they dropped off to sleep in their chairs. Then, when James was about to go, Maggie woke them up and so more or less forced him to part with four shillings before he left. That gave her some satisfaction, for James, though rich, was mean. He always went home by the last train, just after two o’clock.

Maggie’s children secretly stared at their uncle. They could not forget that he had, in their mother’s words, “lost two wives and taken a third, ” They wondered about those two unfortunate lost ladies. They asked each other what their fate had been, and if neither could ever be found again. James never brought his third wife with him nor ever mentioned her. The children decided that he must be so frightened of losing her that he never allowed her outside the door.

 The underlined word “mercy” in the text most probably means _______.

A. loss      B. wonder

C. lucky thing D. terrible thing

Maggie never prepared anything special for James because _______.

A. he was a man difficult to please

B. she never knew when he was coming

C. she was too busy looking after her children

D. he never stayed long enough for a meal

What do we know about James’ behavior?

A. He was a kind man, with love for the family.

B. He was generous, especially towards his brother.

C. He was anxious to please the family, especially the kids.

D. He was rude to his sister-in-law.

Maggie felt pleased when _______.

A. she paid James the money that she owed him

B. James gave some money to the children

C. she had to wake James up to catch his train

D. James thanked her for the nice supper

The children did not realize that two of James’ wives _______.

A. had been dead    B. suffered from loss of memory

C. had run away from him    D. might appear again one day

Thirteen, for me, was a challenging year. My parents divorced and I moved to a new town with my father, far from my old family and friends. I was terribly lonely mad and would cry myself to sleep each night. To ease my sadness, my father purchased an old horse for me at a local auction. I named him Cowboy.?

Cowboy was without a doubt the ugliest horse in the world. But I didn’t care. I loved him beyond all reason.?

I joined a riding club and suffered rude comments and mean snickers(窃笑) about Cowboy’s looks. I never let on about how I felt, but deep inside, my heart was breaking. The other members rode beautiful, registered horses.?

When Cowboy and I entered the events where the horse was judged on appearance, we were quickly shown the gate. No amount of preparation and love would turn Cowboy into a beauty. My only chance to compete would be in the speed events. I chose the jumping race.?

One girl named Becky rode a big brown horse in the race events. She always won the blue ribbons. Needless to say, she didn’t feel threatened when I competed against her at the next show. She didn’t need to. I came in next to last.?

The stinging memory of Becky’s smirks made me determined to beat her. For the whole next month I woke up early every day and rode Cowboy five miles to the arena (赛马场). We practiced running and jumping for hours in the hot sun and then I would walk Cowboy home totally exhausted.?

All of our hard work didn’t make me feel confident by the time the show came. I sat at the gate and sweated it out while I watched Becky and her horse charge through the course and finish in first place.?

My turn finally came. I put on my hat, rubbed Cowboy’s neck and entered the arena. At the signal, we dashed toward the first fence, jumped it without trouble and raced on to the next one. Cowboy then flew over the second, third and fourth fences like a bird and I turned him toward the finish line.?

As we crossed the line the crowd was shocked into silence. Cowboy and I had beaten Becky and her fancy horse by two seconds!?

I gained much more than a blue ribbon that day. At thirteen, I realized that no matter what the odds, I’d always come out a winner if I wanted something badly enough to work for it.?

1. The underlined expression "shown the gate" (paragraph 4) most probably means "     __________".?

A. told how to enter the arena?

B. shown how to make the horse beautiful?

C. removed from the competition early?

D. told to enter the timed-speed events?

2. Why was the writer not confident of victory??

A. He was an inexperienced rider.?    

B. He had not practiced enough.?

C. He believed he was unpopular with the crowd.?

D. He thought his horse wasn’t as good as the others. ?

3.When the final race finished, nobody cheered because____________.?

A. the audience didn’t like Cowboy?    B. people envied the writer?

C. the win was unexpected?           D. the writer had run out of time

4.What did the writer learn from his experience??

A. Life can sometimes be unfair.?

B. Anything is possible if one tries hard enough.?

C. A positive attitude will bring success.?

D. One should not make judgments based on appearance. [来源:Zxxk.Com]

5.The best title for the story is ___________.         .?

A. A Race to Remember              B.A Horse’s Tale?

C. Neck and Neck                    D.A Difficult Age ?

Thirteen, for me, was a challenging year. My parents divorced and I moved to a new town with my father, far from my old family and friends. I was terribly lonely and would cry myself to sleep each night. To ease my sadness, my father purchased an old horse for me at a local auction. I named him Cowboy.

Cowboy was without a doubt the ugliest horse in the world. But I didn’t care. I loved him beyond all reason. I joined a riding club and suffered rude comments and mean snickers about Cowboy’s looks. I never let on about how I felt, but deep inside, my heart was breaking. The other members rode beautiful, registered horses.

When Cowboy and I entered the events where the horse is judged on appearance, we were quickly shown the gate. No amount of preparation and love would turn Cowboy into a beauty. My only chance to compete would be in the speed events. I chose the jumping race.?

One girl named Becky rode a big brown horse in the race events. She always won the blue ribbons.  Needless to say, she didn’t feel threatened when I competed against her at the next show. She didn’t need to. I came in next to last.

The stinging memory of Becky’s smirks made me determined to beat her. For the whole next month I woke up early every day and rode Cowboy five miles to the arena (赛马场). We practiced running and jumping for hours in the hot sun and then I would walk Cowboy home totally exhausted. All of our hard work didn’t make me feel confident by the time the show came. I sat at the gate and sweated it out while I watched Becky and her horse charge through the course and finish in first place.

My turn finally came. I put on my hat, rubbed Cowboy’s neck and entered the arena. At the signal, we dashed toward the first fence, jumped it without trouble and raced on to the next one. Cowboy then flew over the second, third and fourth fences like a bird and I turned him toward the finish line. As we crossed the line the crowd was shocked into silence. Cowboy and I had beaten Becky and her fancy horse by two seconds!

I gained much more than a blue ribbon that day. At thirteen, I realized that no matter what the odds, I’d always come out a winner if I wanted something badly enough to work for it.

63. 1.The underlined expression "shown the gate" (paragraph 3) most probably means ______.

A. told how to enter the arena

B. shown how to make the horse beautiful

C. removed from the competition early

D. told to enter the timed-speed events

64. 2. When the final race finished, nobody cheered because        .

A. the audience didn’t like Cowboy             B. people envied the writer

C. the win was unexpected?            D. the writer bad run out of time

65. 3.Why was the writer not confident of victory?

A. He was an inexperienced rider.

B. He had not practiced enough.

C. He believed he was unpopular with the crowd.

D. He thought his horse wasn’t so good as the others.

66. 4.What did the writer learn from his experience?

A. Life can sometimes be unfair.

B. Anything is possible if one tries hard enough.

C. A positive attitude will bring success.

D. One should not make judgments based on appearance.

There were red faces at one of Britain’s biggest banks recently. They had accepted a telephone order to buy ￡100,000 worth of shares from a 15-year-old schoolboy (they thought he was 21). The shares fell in value and the schoolboy was unable to pay up. The bank lost ￡20,000 on the deal which it cannot get back, because, for one thing, the young boy does not have the money, for another, being under 18, he is not legally liable for his debts. If the shares had risen in value by the same amount that they fell, he would have pocketed ￡20,000 profit. It certainly is better than delivering the morning newspaper. In another case, a boy of 14 found, in his grandmother’s house, a suitcase full of foreign banknotes. But they were now not used in their country of origin or anywhere else. This young boy headed straight to the nearest bank with his pockets filled with notes. The cashiers did not realize the country in question had reduced the value of its currency by 90%. They exchanged the notes at their face value at the current exchange rate. In three days, before he was found out, he took ￡200,000 from nine different banks. Amazingly, he had already spent more than half of this before the police caught up with him. Because he is also under 18 the banks have kissed goodbye to a lot of money, and several cashiers have lost their jobs.

Should we admire these youngsters for being enterprising and showing initiative or condemn them for their dishonesty? Maybe they had managed for years with tiny amounts of pocket money that they got from tight-fisted parents. Maybe they had done Saturday jobs for peanuts. It is hardly surprising, given the expensive things that young people want to buy, such as fashionable running shoes and computer games, if they sometimes think up more imaginative ways of making money than delivering newspapers. These youngsters saw the chance to make a lot of money and took it.

Another recent story which should give us food for thought is the case of the man who paid his six-year-old daughter￡300 a week pocket money. He then charged her for the food she ate a few coins for her piggy bank（存钱灌）“She will soon learn the value of money, ” he said. “There’s no such thing as a free lunch. Everything has to be paid for and the sooner she learns that the better.” At the other extreme there are fond parents who provide free bed and board for their grown-up children, While even the most hard-hearted parents might hesitate to throw their children out on the streets, we all know of people in their twenties who still shamelessly live off their parents. Surely there comes a time when everyone has to leave the parental nest, look after themselves and pay their own way in life. But when is it?

1..

 Recently one of Britain’s biggest banks _____.

   A. bought a lot of shares for a customer and brought him a great loss

   B. lost money as its young customer had no money to pay his debts

   C. lost much money because the shares they bought fell in value

   D. received a telephone order to buy shares for a 21-year-old boy

2..

. The author’s attitude to the example of the two boys who cheated the banks is _____.

   A. objective     B. subjective       C. questioning      D. negative

3..

 The man paid his daughter ￡300 a week pocket money and then required her to pay for her living expenses because _____.

   A. he wanted her to know making money was not easy

   B. he wanted to save money for her future education

   C. he thought it useful for family members to bear life hardships together

   D. he wanted her to learn the value of money 

4..

It can be concluded from the passage that the author believes that _____.

   A. children should leave the parental nest as soon as possible

   B. grown-up children should live on their own

   C. children should be taught not to cheat others

   D. parents should give more pocket money to their children