Mary’s dime（一毛钱）

It was Sunday afternoon. I decided to clean up the room nicely so that my parents would feel   1  when they returned from a long ride! Then, I sat in the room, having nothing to do.

　　 What else could I do? Then, with no reason, I suddenly  2  the pale face of that little beggar(乞丐) girl. I could see the glad light   3  her eyes when I put the dime in her little dirty hand.

　　  How much I  4  that dime, too! Grandpa gave it to me a whole month ago, and I had kept it ever since in my red box upstairs, but those sugar apples looked so attractive, and were so   5  — only a dime a piece — that I wanted to have one.

　　  I could imagine the little girl stood there in front of the  6  in her old dirty dress, looking at the   7  that were put all in a row in the window. I wonder what I should say, “Little girl, what do you want?” I gently asked. She felt   8  and looked straight at me, just as if（似乎）nobody had spoken so   9  to her before. She realized what I had meant, so she said seriously and sadly. “I was thinking how good one of those delicious hamburgers would  10 . I haven’t had anything to eat today.”

　　 Now I thought to myself, “Mary Williams, you have had a good breakfast and a good lunch today,   11  this poor girl has not had a mouthful yet. You can give her your  12 . She needs it a great deal more than you do.”

　　 I could not run away from that little girl’s sad,  13  look — so I dropped the dime right into her hand. How  14  the girl was! I am so glad I gave her the dime,  15  I had to go without the apple lying there in the window.

1.                A．disturbed       B．unhappy        C．satisfied  D．interested

2.                A．saw            B．remembered    C．forgot    D．described

3.                A．filling          B．protecting       C．attracting D．touching

4.                A．hated          B．loved          C．missed   D．noticed

5.                A．valuable        B．meaningful      C．expensive D．cheap

6.                A．market         B．library          C．store D．bookshop

7.                A．dresses         B．magazines       C．books    D．candies

8.                A．surprised       B．excited         C．pleased   D．worried

9.                A．happily         B．kindly          C．angrily   D．sadly

10.               A．taste           B．sound          C．feel  D．smell

11.               A．since          B．so             C．and  D．but

12.               A．apple          B．hamburger      C．dime D．candy

13.               A．proud          B．angry          C．calm  D．hungry

14.               A．grateful        B．unlucky        C．lonely D．friendly

15.               A．unless         B．if              C．though    D．because

As a girl, I've spent a great deal of my time on earth concerned about my weight. So I do know something about exercise. Let me tell you about the calorie-burning activities I've tried or will try.

Salsa (萨尔萨舞)

I try to maintain my weight through dancing. Dancing improves my coordination and sense of rhythm in addition to burning calories. I'm personally interested in salsa, which I find sexy and expressive(有表现力的). But I have not yet to start classes, because classes are very expensive, and I cannot find a dance partner.

Ping-Pong

Ping-pong is the national sport of China, so how could I know nothing about it?

My father is a ping-pong fan, and a really good player. He's won several informal (非正式的) matches. My relationship with ping-pong has always been on-and-off. I'll get into it for a while, and then lose interest. The reason is because I can’t find a good partner. Some stronger can depress you, while someone weaker (or just as weak) can make the game boring.

Tae Kwon Do （跆拳道）

I've recently decided to try tae kwon do as my regular exercise activity. There’s a story behind this choice: A few weeks ago, I was sitting on a bus, concentrating on a book. Suddenly, the bus became very quiet except for the sound of a woman’s crying. I looked up to see what had happened and overheard whispers that she had just quarreled with a man, and the man slapped(拍打) her face. No one on the bus dared say anything because the man looked really strong. Even now I feel ashamed I was among the silent.

That’s why I've made up my mind to learn something that will help me protect others and myself.

1.We can guess that the girl is _____ according to the passage.

2.Why doesn’t the girl want to go to learn salsa?

3.She is interested in ping-pong because ________.

4.She has made up her mind to learn Tae Kwon Do mainly because______.

5.We can learn from the passage that________.

根据句意和汉语注释，写出单词的正确形式。
【小题1】Helen took a deep ________ (呼吸)  and continued her story.
【小题2】The local people _________ (提供) us many good services when we visited the small village.
【小题3】Is the national day celebrated _______________ (遍及) the country every year.
【小题4】I’m sorry to tell you that book you ordered is not __________ (可找到的).
【小题5】we can see the little girl has something weighs _________ (沉重地) on her mind.

Angela Chang (张韶涵) didn’t know it would be so hard to turn singing into a career (失业). She went to many different record companies. But she was always turned down for looking too young and small.

“I’d never had such difficulties before,” Chang said. But Chang’s talent was finally accepted in 2002. When she got a piece of work, she cried.

She soon became a star. Her first album Over the Rainbow sold very well. She won many awards.

“You wouldn’t believe such a beautiful voice could come from such a small body,” said one musician after hearing Chang sing. “She has a special voice. You can’t forget it.”

But the 25-year-old girl has other talents too. Chang is also an actress. She has played a role in the popular TV plays, My MVP Valentine and At Dolphin Bay. Many people remember her common-girl parts in the plays. But acting is difficult. Chang once acted so badly that she was nearly fired (解雇). Another time it took her 27 tries to get a scene (一场戏) right.

“I cried when I got back home,” Chang said. “But I knew that I wouldn’t always fail. You only fail when you give up.”

Now with four albums behind her - Over the Rainbow, Aurora, Pandora and Flower in the Wonderland, it’s clear that Chang and music were made for each other. As she sings in one song, “I have a pair of invisible wings (隐形的翅膀). They fly me to the skies and give me hope.”

1.The phrase “turned down” in the first paragraph means “______”.

         A. 承认                             B. 拒绝                             C. 开除                      D. 雇用

2. Many record companies refused to co-operate (合作) with her because ______.

         A. she looks very common                                          B. she is too young

         C. she doesn’t sing very well                                 D. she looks young and small

3. Although acting is difficult for her, she never gives up because ______.

         A. she is strong-minded                                          B. people like her films 

         C. she is interested in acting                                               D. she acted in the popular TV plays

4.Which do you think is the best title of the passage?

         A. The Small Girl.                                                           B. Four Albums.

        C. I have a Pair of Invisible Wings.                 D. A Poor Actress.