“Lizzie, there’s a letter for you!” Emily called up the stairs to her sister. Elizabeth looked down. “Is it from Harvard? They refused my application once.” Emily answered, “No, it’s from Yale.” Quickly, Elizabeth walked downstairs. She took the letter and opened it. “Rejected again,” Elizabeth said unhappily. “Who says women can’t be doctors?”

“They are fools not to accept you. You can’t let them stop you, Lizzie,” Emily said.

“I won’t. I’ll apply to (申请) Geneva Medical College,” Elizabeth told her sister. As it turned out, the professors at Geneva Medical College were not fools. They allowed Elizabeth Blackwell to study medicine.

In 1848, a year before Elizabeth would graduate, a typhoid epidemic (伤寒流行病) broke out in New York. Elizabeth wrote to Emily. “There’s an outbreak (爆发) of typhoid, and I am going to help. It is dangerous, so if I should not survive, please do me the honor of studying medicine yourself.”

Emily replied, “Encouraged by your dream and success, I have decided to study in medical school, as well.”

Having survived the disease, Elizabeth tried to set up a private medical practice. “I graduated first in my class but no one believes a woman can be a good doctor,” she said to Emily one day. “All I hear is that doctors should be men, while women should stay home to cook and clean.”

Emily said worriedly, “I will graduate in June with my medical degree. What shall we do?” Elizabeth thought for a while and replied, “There’s a big house in the poor part of our town. We can practice medicine there for people who couldn’t afford care.”

Soon with the help of some friends, Elizabeth and Emily bought the house and opened a hospital for poor women and children. “We’ll have an all-women staff (员工),” Elizabeth said. “And later, we’ll add a medical college for women!” Emily added. At last, Elizabeth realized her dream of being a doctor.

1.The underlined word “Rejected” in the first paragraph can be best replaced by _____.

A．Refused          B．Praised           C．Changed          D．Accepted

2. Hearing Elizabeth’s words about the letter from Yale, Emily felt _____.

A．excited           B．calm             C．satisfied           D．angry

3. In 1848, Elizabeth wrote to Emily to _____.

A．persuade Emily to come to help the sick      B．ask Emily to study medicine if she died

C．warn Emily the danger of typhoid epidemic    D．tell Emily she would graduate from college

4.We can learn from the text that Elizabeth _____.

A．received strong support from her sister      B．refused to go to study at Yale University

C．founded a medical college after graduation    D．was finally accepted by Harvard after her efforts

5.Which of the following can best be used to describe Elizabeth?

A．Humorous.        B．Honest.           C．Determined.       D．Careful.

"Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me."

     You probably heard those lines in grammar school, but do you really agree that harsh (严厉的) or negative words do not harm us? Words have power. Surely we all have had our feelings hurt by something someone said.

     We may not say words to hurt others, but the way we interpret (解释) them and how we say them may cause great harm. Here’s an example:

     An ancient king dreamed all his teeth had fallen out. He sent for a wise man to explain his dream to him: the dream means that all your relatives will die and you will be left alone!

     The king was very angry and threw the interpreter into prison. He then sent for another interpreter who said, "Congratulations! King! You will live many more years. In fact, you will survive all your relatives. Long Live the King!"

     Both interpreters gave the same interpretation, but there was a huge difference in the way they said it.

     Our speech must be understood by those who hear our words, but the way we say things and the intention behind them have as much power as the words themselves. Words can cause anger or appreciation. Which would you rather receive?

     People who say harsh and negative things may not mean to harm, but have you ever known anyone who is a naysayer? They often look at the dark sides of things. They always see the glass as half empty rather than half full. How do you feel when you are around this type of person? Remember words have power. Use them wisely.

1.The author mentions the story of the ancient king to show that _____.

A. one dream sometimes has different explanations

B. good words can bring good luck to people

C. people should be careful when talking to a king

D. different ways of saying things have different effects

2.The underlined word "naysayer" in the last paragraph refers to a person who always _____.

A.has a negative attitude                B. likes to be praised

C.talks big                           D. likes to repeat what others say

3.According to the text, how can people understand each other better?

A. By sharing different life experiences

B. By accepting different habits.

C. By properly using words

D. By recognizing different values.

4.The author wrote the last paragraph to ______.

A. show how the dark sides of things affect people

B. advise people to see and say things positively

C. show how harsh and negative words hurt people

D. advise people to stay away from negative people

5.The passage mainly talks about ______.

A. the power of words                  B. the cruelty of the king

C. how to understand others              D. how to build good relationships

When I was about 12, I had an enemy, a girl who liked to point out my shortcomings(缺点). Sometimes she said I was thin. Sometimes she said I was lazy. Sometimes she said I wasn’t a good student. Sometimes she said I talked too much, and so on. I tried to put up with(忍受) her as long as I could. At last, I became very angry. I ran to my father with tears in my eyes.

He listened to me quietly, and then he asked, “Are the things she said true or not? Mary, didn’t you ever wonder what you’re really like? Go and make a list of everything she said and mark the points that are true. Pay no attention to the other things she said.”

I did as he told me and to my surprise, I discovered that about half the things were true.

I brought the list back to my dad. He refused to take it. “That’s just for you,” he said. “You know better than anyone else the truth about yourself. When something said about you is true, you’ll find it will be helpful to you. Don’t shut your ears. Listen to them all, but hear the truth and do what you think is right.”

Many years have passed. The situation often appears in my mind. In our life we often meet with some trouble and we often go to someone and ask for advice. For some advice you will treasure(珍惜) all your life!

1.What did the writer’s father do after he heard her complaints(抱怨)?

2.The writer felt ______ when she did the things as her father had told her.

3.Which of the following can we know from the passage?

4.Which of the following can be the best title of the passage?

Let's pretend we're sailing down the Rhine River on a pleasure boat. The Rhine is one of the main waterways of Germany, and the river traffic is heavy. It's interesting to watch the many boats going up and down the river. But the river traffic is not nearly so interesting as the beautiful scenery along the banks and hillsides. The boat is passing many old castles. We can see people working in the vineyards (葡萄园) on the hillsides. There are vineyards as far as the eye can see. Wine from the Rhine Valley is famous all over the world.

Suddenly our boat slows down and begins to turn a little. We are coming to a sharp bend in the river. On our right we can see a rocky cliff over 400 feet high. At first it looks quite ordinary, but there is nothing ordinary about it. There are many stories, poems, and songs about the cliff. We are looking at the Lorelei. Then someone on the boat begins to sing in German, the song of the Lorelei. It is a song about a beautiful siren (妖妇) who has lured(引诱) many sailors to their deaths.

The siren is supposed to sit on the rock combing her long golden hair and singing. The sailors who hear her forget to steer（掌舵）, and the current of river hurls (掀翻) their boats on the rocks and dashes（猛撞）them to pieces.

Soon other people on the boat begin to sing. The beautiful song adds to special magic to the moment, and you begin to realize why so many people have made this trip down the Rhine to see the rock of the Lorelei.

1.The most interesting thing to those who are sailing down the Rhine River on a pleasure boat is      .  

A. to watch many boats going up and down the river

B. to see the beautiful scene along the banks and hillsides

C. to hear a song about beautiful siren

D. to see a beautiful siren combing her golden hair

2. Which of the following is famous all over the world?

A. The Rhine River.                 B. The River Traffic.

C. Wine from the Rhine Valley.        D. The Lorelei.

3.We can see a rocky cliff over 400 feet high      .

A. on our right when coming to a sharp bend           B. on the Rhine hillsides

C. from the Rhine Valley                     D. on the boat

4. The song of the Lorelei is about      .

A. The Rhine wine                  

B. a rocky cliff

C. the beautiful scenery along the Rhine River   

D. a beautiful and dangerous siren

We can achieve knowledge either actively or passively（被动地）. We achieve it actively by direct experience, by testing and proving an idea, or by reasoning.
We achieve knowledge passively by being told by someone else. Most of the learning that takes place in the classroom and the kind that happens when we watch TV or read newspapers or magazines is passive. Conditioned as we are to passive learning, it’s not surprising that we depend on it in our everyday communication with friends and co-workers·
Unfortunately, passive learning has a serious problem. It makes us tend to accept what we are told even when it is little more than hearsay and rumor（谣言）.
Did you ever play the game Rumor? It begins when one person writes down a message but doesn’t show it to anyone. Then the person whispers it, word for word, to another person. That person, in turn, whispers it to still another, and so on, through all the people playing the game. The last person writes down the message word for word as he or she hears it. Then the two written statements are compared Typically, the original message has changed.
That’s what happens in daily life. The simple fact that people repeat a story in their own words changes the story. Then, too, most people listen imperfectly. And many enjoy adding their own creative touch to a story, trying to improve on it, stamping（打上标记）it with their own personal style. Yet those who hear it think they know.   
This process is also found among scholars and authors：A statement of opinion by one writer may be re-stated as fact by another, who may in turn be quoted（引用）by yet another; and this process may continue, unless it occurs to someone to question the facts on which the original writer based his opinion or to challenge the interpretation he placed upon those facts.
【小题1】According to the passage, passive learning may occur in______________.