After giving a talk at a high school, I was asked to pay a visit to a spe­cial student. An illness had kept the boy home, but he had expressed an interest in meeting me. I was told it would mean a great deal to him, so I agreed.

During the nine-mile drive to his home, I found out something about Matthew. He had muscular dystrophy (肌肉萎缩症). When he was born, the doctor told his parents that he would not live to five, and then they were told he would not make it to ten. Now he was thirteen. He wanted to meet me because I was a gold-medal power lifter, and I knew about overcoming obstacles and going for my dreams.

I spent over an hour talking to Matthew. Never once did he complain or ask, “Why me?” He spoke about winning and succeeding and going for his dreams. Obviously, he knew what he was talking about. He didn’t mention that his classmates had made fun of him because he was different. He just talked about his hopes for the future, and how one day he wanted to lift weights with me. When we had finished talking, I went to my briefcase and pulled out the first gold medal I had won and put it around his neck. I told him he was more of a winner and knew more about success and overcoming obstacles than I ever would. He looked at it for a moment, then took it off and handed it back to me. He said, “You are a champion. You earned that medal. Someday when I get to the Olympics and win my own medal, I will show it to you.”

Last summer I received a letter from Matthew’s parents telling me that Matthew had passed away. They wanted me to have a letter he had written to me a few days before:

Dear Dick,

My mum said I should send you a thank-you letter for the picture you sent me. I also want to let you know that the doctors tell me that I don’t have long to live any more, but I still smile as much as I can.

I told you someday that I would go to the Olympics and win a gold medal, but I know now I will never get to do that. However, I know I’m a champion, and God knows that too. When I get to Heaven, God will give me my medal and when you get there, I will show it to you. Thank you for loving me.

Your friend,

Matthew

1.The boy looked forward to meeting the author because _________. 

2.The underlined sentence in the third paragraph probably means that _______.

3.From the passage we learn that _________. 

4.Matthew didn’t accept the author’s medal because _________.  

5.What would be the best title for this passage? 

第二节完形填空（共20小题，每小题1分，满分20分）
Nearly thirty years ago, I went rock climbing for the first time with a group in New Mexico. It sounded exciting and  31  ! Anyone who has ever climbed knows that you can easily  32  where there is no place to go, or so. It seems you’re stuck. But    33  is not an option. You cannot just stand there and feel  34  for yourself. You cannot go back down, so you are  35  to become solution minded.
I held on for dear life that day, on my first climb,   36  about three quarters of the way to the top. It seemed that there was no place to go, and  37  to put my hands or feet so that I could  38  upward. But after a few minutes had passed I realized that I had to do  39  . I began to look again for a(n)  40  . I then noticed a   41  sticking out, which I might be able to grab with my hands and  42  myself up to where I could have a small foothold. I called to the instructor at the top and asked him if that rock would hold my  43  if I pulled myself up. I can  44  remember his answer, “I don’t know. Why don’t you try it and see?”
In life we many times feel “stuck”. We wonder how we got into the  45  that we are presently in. It is in those times that we need to be careful about how we define(定义)it. Have we failed,   46  is it just a setback?
Setbacks, adversity(逆境), or being stuck is never an indication that you are a   47  unless you decide that those things define your life as a failure. For people looking for a(n)  48  to be a failure, there are always plenty to choose from. But if you want your life to be successful, setbacks, adversity and being stuck are   49  stepping-stones to your success. Success minded people  50  those kinds of things for what they really are. They know that for them, they are only temporary.
31. A. amusing              B. challenging               C. boring               D. surprising
32. A. put away             B. take up                     C. end up                     D. lead to
33. A. searching            B. regretting                 C. refusing            D. quitting
34. A. sorry                  B. free                         C. amazed             D. surprised
35. A. unlikely                 B. forced                      C. asked                D. bound
36. A. shocked                 B. stuck                        C. suffered            D. struck
37. A. nowhere             B. somewhere               C. anywhere          D. wherever
38. A. continue             B. improve                   C. promote            D. enjoy
39. A. everything          B. something                C. anything            D. nothing
40. A. attention             B. appreciation              C. solution             D. expectation
41. A. track                  B. sign                         C. tree                   D. rock
42. A. turn                    B. push                        C. pull                  D. build
43. A. quantity                 B. feet                          C. weight                     D. burden
44. A. still                    B. never                       C. hardly               D. ever
45. A. destination          B. situation                   C. location             D. occasion
46. A. however             B. otherwise                 C. or                     D. yet
47. A. learner                B. failure                      C. thinker                 D. winner
48. A. signal                 B. excuse                      C. comment           D. imagine
49. A. easily                 B. hardly                      C. simply                     D. nearly
50. A. develop                     B. deserve                    C. promise             D. accept

There are many colors in nature. But do you know if a color has weight? I think you’ll say “no”. But I am afraid you are wrong. If you don’t believe, you may do a small experiment.
　　First, put two objects with the same weight into two boxes. Then cover the box. Third, wrap one box with a red piece of paper, the other with a white piece of paper. OK. Now hold the boxes with your hand one by one. It is certain that you will think the red one is a little heavier.
　　Why do you think so? A scientist found that different colors have different weight in a man’s mind. So he did man tests and at last he got the result. That is to say, every color has its own weight in our mind and their order is the same. The heaviest color is red, then blue, green, orange, yellow and white.
　　The scientist told us that colors also have smell. Can you smell the color? Of course not. Then why did the scientist say so? That is because every color stands for a kind of light with a certain wavelength. It reaches our brain through sense organs (感觉器官).
According to this discovery, scientists say that people accept the colors they like, and refuse the colors they hate. So your body and mind will be healthy by using the colors you like. Or you’ll be nervous or even get ill. For example, if you stay in a room with red windows, wallpapers and furniture for two hours, you’ll feel you have been there for four hours. But if the room is blue, you’ll feel you have been there for only an hour. Another example, if a person walks out of a red room and into a blue room, his temperature will fall. That means our body temperature will change with different colors.
【小题1】The purpose of the second paragraph is to tell us ___________.

For many years, I was convinced that my suffering was due to my size. I believed that when the weight disappeared, it would take old wounds, hurts, and rejections with it.

Many weight – conscious people also mistakenly believe that changing our bodies will fix everything. Perhaps our worst mistake is believing that being thin equals being loved, being special, and being cherished. We fantasize（梦想）about what it will be like when we reach the long – awaited goal. We work very hard to realize this dream. Then, at last, we find ourselves there.

But we often gain back what we have lost. Even so, we continue to believe that next time it will be different. Next time, we will keep it off. Next time, being thin will finally fulfill its promise of everlasting happiness, self–worth, and, of course, love.

It took me a long while to realize that there was something more for me to learn about beauty. Beauty standards vary with culture. In Samoa a woman is not considered attractive unless she weighs more than 200 pounds. More importantly, if it’s happiness that we want, why not put our energy there rather than on the size of our body? Why not look inside? Many of us work hard to change our body, but in vain. We have to find a way to live comfortable inside our body and make friends with and cherish ourselves. When we change our attitudes toward ourselves, the whole world changes.

1. The passage tries to tell us the importance of           .

    A．body size                        B.attitudes

    C．culture difference                                 D.different beauty standards

2. What does the word “everything” in paragraph 2 mean?

    A．All the problems.                                  B．All the properties

    C．The whole world                                    D．The absolute truth

3. What can be inferred about the author?

    A．The author is a Samoan

    B．The author succeeded in losing weight

    C．The author has been troubled by her/his weight.

    D．The author probably got wounded in wars or accidents.

4.. According to the author, what is the common view of those who have lost some weight first and gained it back later?

    A．They feel angry about the regained weight

    B．They are indifferent to the regained weight

    C．They feel optimistic about future plans on weight control.

    D．They think they should give up their future plans on weight control.

For many years, I was convinced that my suffering was due to my size. I believed that when the weight disappeared, it would take old wounds, hurts, and rejections with it.

Many weight－conscious people also mistakenly believe that changing our bodies will fix everything. Perhaps our worst mistake is believing that being thin equals being loved being special, and being cherished. We fantasize about what it will be like when we reach the long－awaited goal. We work very hard to realize this dream. Then, at last, we find ourselves there.

But we often gain back what we have lost. Even so, we continue to believe that next time it will be different. Next time, we will keep it off. Next time, being thin will finally fulfill its promise of everlasting happiness, self－worth, and, of course, love.

It took me a long while to realize that there was something more for me to learn about beauty. Beauty standards vary with culture. In Samoa a woman is not considered attractive unless she weighs more than 200 pounds. More importantly, if it’s happiness that we want, why not put our energy there rather than on the size of our body? Why not look inside? Many of us strive hard to change our body, but in vain. We have to find a way to live comfortably inside our body and make friends with and cherish ourselves. When we change our attitudes toward ourselves, the whole world changes.

The passage tries to highlight the importance of _________.

       A．body size         B．attitudes toward life

       C．culture difference           D．different beauty standards

What does the word “everything” in paragraph 2 mean?

       A．All the problems.           B．All the properties.

       C．The whole world.           D．The absolute truth.

What can be inferred about the author?

       A．The author is a Samoan.

       B．The author succeeded in losing weight.

       C．The author has been troubled by her/ his weight.

       D．The author probably got wounded in wars or accidents.

According to the author, what is the common view of those who have lost some weight first and gained it back later?

       A．They feel angry about the regained weight.

       B．They are indifferent to the regained weight.

       C．They feel optimistic about future plans on weight control.

       D．They think they should give up their future plans on weight control.