When I was growing up, I had an old neighbor named Dr. Gibbs. He didn’t look like any doctor I’d ever known. He never yelled at us for playing in his yard. I remember him as someone who was a lot nicer than most of the adults in our community.

　　When Dr. Gibbs wasn’t saving lives, he was planting trees. His house sat on ten acres, and his life’s goal was to make it a forest.

　　The good doctor had some interesting theories concerning plant care and growth. He never watered his new trees, which flew in the face of conventional wisdom. Once I asked why. He said that watering plants spoiled them so that each successive tree generation would grow weaker and weaker. So you have to make things rough for them and weed out(淘汰) the weaker trees early on.

He talked about how watering trees made for shallow roots, and how trees that weren’t watered had to grow deep roots in search of moisture. I took him to mean that deep roots were to be treasured.

　　So he never watered his trees. He planted an oak and, instead of watering it every morning, he’d beat it with a rolled-up newspaper. Smack! Slap! Pow! I asked him why he did that, and he said it was to get the tree’s attention.

Dr. Gibbs passed away a couple of years after I left home. Every now and again, I walked by his house and looked at the trees that I’d watched him plant some twenty-five years ago. They’re extremely tall, big and robust since they have deep roots now. However, the trees in my garden trembled in a cold wind although I had watered them for several years.

It seems that adversity(逆境) and suffering benefit these trees in ways comfort and ease never could. I stood there deep in thought.

　　Every night before I go to bed, I check on my two sons. I stand over them and watch their little bodies, the rising and falling of life within. I often pray for them. Mostly I pray that their lives will be easy. But I think it’s time to change my prayer(祷词) because now I know my children are going to encounter hardship..

According to Dr. Gibbs’ theories, trees will become weaker if they______

    A. are lack of care   B. are watered   C. are weeded out    D. are beaten

.According to Para.3 and Pare.4, we can infer that Dr. Gibbs’moto（座右铭）may be_____

     A. “seeing is believing”        B.“Put everything in proper use”

     C. ”Practice makes perfect”     D. “No pains, no gains”

.The underlined word robust in Para.5 most probably means______

      A. strong         B. strange         C. deep        D. old

Which of the following may be the author’s best prayer for his two sons now ?

  A. I wish them strong wings, with which they can fly higher and touch the sky.

  B.I wish them nice fortune so that they can meet people like Dr. Gibbs in the future.

  C.I wish them deep roots into the earth since the rains fall and the winds blow often.

  D.I wish them great shades under the tree since the sunlight is always sharp and bitter.

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

   A. A Nice Doctor                      B. The Deep Roots  

C. Adversity and Suffering              D. My Childhood Memory

A lesson in caring

It was a cold evening. My daughter and I were walking up Broadway. I didn’t notice a guy sitting inside a cardboard box. But Nora    36    . She wasn’t even four, but she   37    at my coat and said, “That man’s cold. Daddy, can we take him home?”

    I don’t remember my   38    . But I do remember a sudden   39    feeling inside me. I had always been delighted at how much my daughter noticed in her   40     , whether it was     41    flying or children playing. But now she was noticing   42    and beggary.

    A few days later, I saw an article in the newspaper about volunteers who picked up a food package from a nearby school on a Sunday morning and   43     it to an elderly person. It was quick and easy. I signed us up. Nora was   44    about it. She could understand the importance of food, so she could easily see how   45    our job was. When Sunday came, she was ready, but I had to    46    myself to leave the house to fetch the food package. On my way to the school, I fought an urge (强烈愿望) to turn    47    . The Sunday paper and coffee were waiting for me at home. Why do this?   48    , we phoned the elderly person we’d been appointed. She   49    us right over.

    The building was in a bad state. Facing us was a silver-haired woman in an old dress. She took the package and asked us to come in. Nora ran inside. I unwillingly followed.   50     inside, I saw that the department belonged to someone poor. Our hostess showed us some photos. Nora played and when it came time to say goodbye, we three hugged. I walked home    51    .

Professionals call such a(n)   52    “a volunteer opportunity”. They are opportunities and I’ve come to see. Where else but as volunteers do you have the opportunity to do something    53     that’s good for others as well as for yourself? Nora and I regularly serve meals to needy people and   54     clothes for the homeless. Yet, as I’ve    55     her grow over these past four years, I still wonder—which of us has benefited more?

A. did             B. was                           C. has              D. had

A. pulled　   B. replaced                C. waved   D. aimed

A. debate        B. reply                         C. explanation D. expression

A. general　　B. funny                          C. heavy           D. magical

A. web　　　 B. dream　　　　　       C. castle           D. world

A. insects        B. animals　　　　 C. plants　　　D. birds

A. coldness   B. illness 　　　           C. suffering　　D. appearance

A. sent  　　   B. returned　　　       C. devoted　　D. posted

A. concerned  B. sorry　　　　            C. worried      　D. excited

A. creative　　B. valuable　　　         C. shocking　　D. simple

A. warn　　　 B. stop　　　　  　      C. allow 　　　D. push

A. back 　　　B. away　　　　            C. up　　　　　D. out

A. Therefore　 B. But       　　          C. Anyhow　　　D. Also

A. requested   B. promised　　　        C. invited 　　 D. helped

A. Although    B. Once　　　　　       C. Because 　　D. Though

A. in tears       B. in surprise                  C. in reality       D.in disappointment

A. stay            B. visit 　　　　           C. reception　　D. challenge

A. fair            B. famous　　　　        C. difficult　　 D. enjoyable

A. collect        B. make　　　　  　    C. order 　　　 D. design

A. let              B. made　　　　  　    C. watched 　　    D. affected

　　　   such heavy loss in the hurricane, the farmer didn’t expect to have a good harvest.

A．Suffered　        B．Having suffered     C．Suffering　　      D．To suffer

LONDON — Britain awoke on Easter Monday to a period of mourning for the Queen Mother, who died over the weekend after a life spanning a century of noisy and evident change. The 101-year-old royal matriarch died in her sleep last Saturday with Queen Elizabeth, her elder and only surviving daughter, at her bedside. For a woman who was one of the best-known figures in Britain for more than 80 years — from the era of tinted portraits on tin biscuit boxes and cigarette cards to the age of the Internet, the Queen Mother remained an enigmatic(不可思议的) and elusive(躲避的) figure.

She achieved such a respect through aeons(永世, 亿万年) of, first, fawning and, later, intrusive media fascination, by remaining almost entirely silent. Her private thoughts were never paraded(炫耀) in public. What the public saw was a charming and benign elderly lady, adept at winning the admiration of press photographers, whom she always favoured with a particular smile.

CHINA’s third unmanned spacecraft, Shenzhou Ⅲ, landed safely in central Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region Monday afternoon, after orbiting the earth 108 times in slightly less than a week. The craft, which lifted off from Jiuquan in Gansu Province last Monday night, landed after successfully conducting a chain of flight and scientific experiments over a period of 162 hours.

A powerful earthquake jolted Taiwan, killing five construction workers, authorities(官方) said. Over 200 injuries ware reported across the island, mostly minor, as a result of Sunday’s 7.5-magnitude quake. The quake was centred off Hualien, 180 kilometres east of Taipei. It struck at 2:53 pm and lasted for nearly a minute.

1. Which of the following statements is true according to the news?

　　A. The Queen Mother died on Easter Monday alone.

　　B. The Queen Mother was an attractive person in her political life.

　　C. The British people felt sorry for the death of the Queen Mother.

　　D. The Queen Mother was suffering a lot when she was dying.

　　2. It can be inferred that _______.

　　A. the craft landed in central Inner Mongolia unexpectedly

　　B. it took the craft at least 2 hours to orbit the earth once

　　C. the Chinese scientists did a lot of experiments in space

　　D. China was successful in sending an unmanned spacecraft into space

3. The third news mainly talks about the _______ in Taiwan.

    A. political matters                         B. social problems

　　C. unexpected damage                     D. construction workers

I am a team leader in an insurance company.   We are going through a lot of changes right now which is __1__ much stress for all of us. A few weeks ago I was having a day so __2__ that I even doubted if I had the ability to do this challenging work, and was about ready to change to a less stressful job __3__. Something happened that day to change my way of __4__ and I am so appreciative of this young lady. I want to let her know that the small act __5__.

On the top of my cubicle(工作隔间)I have a small collection of lighthouses(灯塔)to let people know where I am sitting __6__ my team members have to find me for emergencies.

That day I came into the office and was about to get the day __7__ when Crystal came over. I asked if she needed anything. She said，“I __8__ you something.  I looked at her   ”with a __9__ look  and said，“Well，thank you, but why __10__ you buy me anything？”I had never spoke to this young lady __11__. She said，“Every day I stand up and look across the __12__ and see your light houses. Then I feel I am not alone and I encourage myself that there are always __13__ things in life. I saw this on the way to work and thought __14__ would like it. I wish it would have the same __15__ as your lighthouses do. ”In her hand she had a small globe with a lighthouse and a ship on it. I gave her a hug and __16__ her.   I don't think she knows how much that small act of __17__ changed my day：I remained __18__ the rest of the day.

For anyone that reads this，I hope you remember，no matter what the __19__ is，you could change someone's day, __20__ even his views on life.

1. A. preventing　B. reducing　C. causing　　D. suffering

2. A. funny      B. nice      C. bad       D. dull

3. A. everywhere  B. elsewhere  C. anywhere  D. nowhere

4. A. working     B. behaving  C. speaking  D. thinking

5. A. broke my heart   B. touched my heart

C. lost my heart     D. tore my heart

6. A. in case      B. so that  C. as if   D. even though

7. A. ended      B. started  C. changed   D. avoided

8. A. borrowed  B. lent  C. sold  D. bought

9. A. delighted  B. puzzled  C. thankful  D. worried

10. A. might  B. dare  C. could  D. would

11. A. before  B. then  C. since  D. after

12. A. dorm  B. office  C. ship  D. tower

13. A. bright       B. challenging

C. bad         D. stressful

14. A. colleagues  B. leaders  C. you  D. I

15. A. opinion  B. cause  C. expectation  D. effect

16. A. praised  B. thanked  C. scolded  D. refused

17. A. justice  B. courage  C. kindness  D. tolerance

18. A. careful      B. encouraged

C. tired         D. alone

19. A. present  B. work  C. gesture  D. intention

20. A. so       B. for  C. or      D. nor