Sometimes, something that is considered to be negative turns out to be an advantage on the job．Though he is only 18 years old and blind, Suleyman Gokyigit is among the top computer technicians and programmers at InteliData Technologies Corp., a large software company with several offices across the United States.

    “After our company united with another one last October, two different computer networks were driving us crazy,” recalls Douglas Braun, the InteliData president. “We couldn’t even send e-mail to each other.” In three weeks Mr. Gokyigit created the software needed to connect the two networks.  “None of the company’s 350 other employees could have done the job in three months,” says Mr. Braun. “Suleyman can ‘see’ into the heart of the computer.”

    Mr. Gokyigit’s gift, as Mr. Braun calls it, is an unusual ability to form an idea of the inside of a machine. “The computer permits me to reach out into the world and do almost anything I want to do,” says Mr. Gokyigit.

    The young programmer is at home with hardware as well, thanks partly to a highly developed sense of touch. Mitzi Nowakowski, an office manager at InteliData, remembers how he easily disconnected and reconnected their computer systems during a move last year.  “Through feel, Suleyman can find the position of connectors, pins and wires much faster than most other people with sight,” he says.

    Much of the student programmer’s speed comes from his ability not to be interrupted while at the computer.  When typing, he listens carefully to the synthesizer (合成器). His long, thin fingers fly over the keyboard．“Nothing seems to shake his attention,” says Mrs. Nowakowski, his boss.

    Mr. Gokyigit is the only company employee who is available (可找到的) 24 hours a day. “We consider him our top problem solver.” says Mr. Braun.

    1. According to Mr. Braun, Suleyman _______.

A．can work wonders on computer

B．is the best technician in the world

C．has done a hard job in three months

D．has united Intelidata Technologies Corp. with another computer company

    2. The underlined part “is at home with hardware” (Paragraph 4) means ______.

A．is good at dealing with computer hardware

B．is fond of computer hardware at home

C．works with computer hardware

D．feels comfortable when working with computer hard ware

    3. Suleyman was quick while at the computer mostly because of _____.

A．his blindness

B．his attention on the synthesizer

C．his long, thin fingers

D．his ability not to be interrupted

    4. What does the text mainly tell us?

A．Computer technicians are more likely to be gifted.

B．One’s disadvantages may prove to be advantages.

C．The disabled can also play an important role in society.

D．Top computer scientists have unusual abilities to form ideas of computers.

    “After our company united with another one last October, two different computer networks were driving us crazy,” recalls Douglas Braun, the InteliData president. “We couldn’t even send e-mail to each other.” In three weeks Mr. Gokyigit created the software needed to connect the two networks.  “None of the company’s 350 other employees could have done the job in three months,” says Mr. Braun. “Suleyman can ‘see’ into the heart of the computer.”

    Mr. Gokyigit’s gift, as Mr. Braun calls it, is an unusual ability to form an idea of the inside of a machine. “The computer permits me to reach out into the world and do almost anything I want to do,” says Mr. Gokyigit.

    The young programmer is at home with hardware as well, thanks partly to a highly developed sense of touch. Mitzi Nowakowski, an office manager at InteliData, remembers how he easily disconnected and reconnected their computer systems during a move last year.  “Through feel, Suleyman can find the position of connectors, pins and wires much faster than most other people with sight,” he says.

    Much of the student programmer’s speed comes from his ability not to be interrupted while at the computer.  When typing, he listens carefully to the synthesizer (合成器). His long, thin fingers fly over the keyboard．“Nothing seems to shake his attention,” says Mrs. Nowakowski, his boss.

    Mr. Gokyigit is the only company employee who is available (可找到的) 24 hours a day. “We consider him our top problem solver.” says Mr. Braun.

    1. According to Mr. Braun, Suleyman _______.

A．can work wonders on computer

B．is the best technician in the world

C．has done a hard job in three months

D．has united Intelidata Technologies Corp. with another computer company

    2. The underlined part “is at home with hardware” (Paragraph 4) means ______.

A．is good at dealing with computer hardware

B．is fond of computer hardware at home

C．works with computer hardware

D．feels comfortable when working with computer hard ware

    3. Suleyman was quick while at the computer mostly because of _____.

A．his blindness

B．his attention on the synthesizer

C．his long, thin fingers

D．his ability not to be interrupted

    4. What does the text mainly tell us?

A．Computer technicians are more likely to be gifted.

B．One’s disadvantages may prove to be advantages.

C．The disabled can also play an important role in society.

D．Top computer scientists have unusual abilities to form ideas of computers.

My school makes students take one religion (宗教) class every year. But religion is really hard, especially with Mr Frank Smith for a teacher.
Mr Smith is 55 years old, with grey hair and a moustache (胡子). He always wears a blue school T-shirt, shorts and tennis shoes with long white socks. My friends say he looks like a cat.
In his class, we did yoga (瑜珈) and meditation (冥想) (actually most of the children in my class lay on the ground sleeping), tasted some strange tea, had classes outside in the garden, and watched videos and movies about Tibetan Buddhism (藏传佛教), God, and so on.
It was fun sometimes. However, the course (课程) was quite hard when it came to tests. The girls often worked until one or two o'clock in the morning on nights before the tests, but they still got bad scores.
When our test scores were bad, he would give us some makeup assignments (补考作业). Once I got a B, which I thought was bad, so I asked Mr Smith for an assignment to bring up my grades.
As a matter of fact, his assignments were often worse than the tests. The tests were just a lot of multiple-choice, fill-in-the-blanks, or short essays (文章). But his assignments usually included a speech in class.
I was not afraid of public speaking, yet it took me three days to collect the information, two days to write the speech, one day to make a PowerPoint and several hours to prepare. I knew my presentation (课堂展示) was good, because I saw Mr Smith's big smile when he listened to me. He gave me an A at last.
After finishing the course, I may not remember how hard it was or the meaning of some vocabulary. But through Mr Smith, I learned a lesson that will be with me my whole life. That is: no matter what we do, we need to put our hearts into it, and then our work will pay off.
【小题1】The religion class is hard because Mr Smith _______.

单词拼写（共15小题，每小题1分，共15分）
【小题1】Buildingtheproposednewroadwould be __________（环境）damaging，which made the public very concerned.
【小题2】The Prime Minister, ___________（陪同）by the governor, led the President up to the house.
【小题3】Mr. Liu is a strong supporter who __________（提倡）banning students from using cell phones in the schoolyard.
【小题4】We need to take ___________（责任）for looking after our own health; because without it, we can do nothing.
【小题5】The stockmarkethas a risk，Youhadbetterget___________（职业）advicebeforebuyingstocks.
【小题6】Everydaythey are talkingaboutpeacebut a__________ preparing for war.
【小题7】Those close to him are convinced that he has every i__________ of staying on until the end of his second term.
【小题8】Sometimes people find it may bepossible to m__________the value of materialgoods in terms of money, but it is extremelydifficulttoestimate the truevalue of them.
【小题9】The teacher examined the students on the p__________ lesson, and he was satisfied with what they had done.
【小题10】Our teacher often told us meaningfully, “Difficulties s_______ the mind, as labor does the body.”
【小题11】A__________ sensitive to criticism, the bull forgot all about the matador and charged at the drunk.
【小题12】Though he managed to take a number of b__________ photographs, he could not stay near the volcano for very long.
【小题13】After having been i__________ to drive out of town, I began to acquire confidence.
【小题14】A colony of bees had turned the engine into a hive and it was totally p__________ in beeswax.
【小题15】The plane wasn’t too badly damaged, but over the years, the crash was forgotten and the wreck remained u__________.

A
On the first day of the 11th grade, our new math teacher Mr Washington asked me to go to the blackboard to do a math problem. I told him that I couldn’t do it. He asked, “Why not?” I paused, and then I said, “Because I’m educable mentally retarded (可教育智能迟滞).”
He came from behind his desk and looked at me. “Don’t ever say that again. Someone’s opinion of you does not have to become your reality,” he said.
It was a very special moment for me. Doctors said that I was educable mentally retarded in the fifth grade, and I was put back into the fourth grade. When I was in the eighth grade, I failed again.
But Mr Washington changed my life. This person always gave students the feeling that he had high expectations of them, and then all of the students did their best to live up to what those expectations were. He often said, “You have greatness within you.”
One day, I caught up with him in the parking place and said, “Mr Washington, is there greatness within me, sir?”
He said, “Yes, Mr Brown.”
“But what about the fact that I failed English, math, and history? What about that, sir? I’m slower than most kids.”
“It doesn’t matter. It just means that you have to work harder. Your grades don’t determine who you are or what you can produce in your life.”
“I want to buy my mother a house.”
“It is possible, Mr Brown. You can do that.” And he turned to walk away.
“Mr Washington?”
“What do you want now?”
“Uh, I’m the one, sir. One day you’re going to hear my name. I’m the one, sir.”
School was a real struggle for me. Mr Washington put many demands on me. He made me believe that I could do it. At the end of that year, I was on the honor roll for the first time in my life.
Years later, I produced five programs on public television. When one of my programs was shown on the educational television channel, I had some friends call him. I was sitting by the phone waiting when he called me. He said, “May I speak to Mr Brown, please?”
“Oh, Mr Washington, is that you?”
“Yes, it’s me. You were the one, weren’t you?”
“Yes, sir, I was.”
【小题1】What does Mr Washington mean by saying “Someone’s opinion of you does not have to become your reality”?