Surfing: It’s Not Just for Boys Anymore
If you asked high school girls to name their favorite sports, most would probably say basketball or volleyball. I happen to be one of the few girls who would   36 : surfing. But isn’t that a boy thing? Some people   37 . Most certainly not.
I started surfing about five years ago and fell in love with the sport on the  38  first day. Riding that first   39  was the best feeling I had ever experienced.
When I try to   40  surfing with other things, I find it very difficult because, in my   41 , there’s nothing like it. It involves body,   42 , and soul. There’s sand between my toes and cool, salt water all   43  us. The feeling I get when I’m surfing across that   44 , becoming one with the   45 , is like I’m weightless.
The one thing I can   46  from surfing and not any other sport is endless challenge. You can never be the “best surfer” because the ocean   47  an uncountable variety of waves that nobody can ever master. The variations of surfing styles are wonderful. Some surfers are free and lowing; others are very aggressive (活跃有力的) and   48 . All of these things attract me to surfing and make it   49  from any other sport.
I’ve   50  to tell every girl I know to do something that people don’t think girls can do. It’s part of being human to advance to new   51 , so shouldn’t it be expected that girls should step up and start   52  the limits of things boys and men used to dominate (主宰)?
There’re women   53  side by side with the President of our country, so why not side by side with the boys   54  the football team or out in the water surfing? Give girls a chance to   55  , and they will.

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  1  at us for playing in his yard. I remember him as someone nice and  2  .

       When Dr. Gibbs wasn’t saving  3  , he was planting trees. His house sat on ten acres（英亩）, and his life’s  4  was to make it a forest.

      But he  5  watered his new trees. Once I asked why. He said that watering plants would 6  them, and that  7  you water them, each following  8  of tree will grow weaker and weaker. So you have to make things  9  for them.

He’d planted an oak, and instead of watering it every morning, he’d  10   it with a rolled-up newspaper. I asked him why he did that, and he said it was to cause the tree’s  11  .

       Dr. Gibbs went away a couple of years ago. 12 , I walk by his house and look at the trees that I’d watched him plant some twenty-five years ago. They’re big and  13  now. Sufferings seemed to  14  them in ways ease and  15  never could ways.

Every night before I go to bed, I check on my two sons. I often pray for them. Mostly I pray that their lives will be  16 . But lately I’ve been thinking that it’s time to  17  my prayer, because life is 18  , whether we want it to be or  not. Too many times we pray for ease. But that’s what we seldom  19  . What we need to do is pray for roots that reach deep into the earth, so when the rains fall and the winds blow, we won’t be  20  .

1．A．smiled                   B．shouted               C．looked                 D．kicked

2．A．cold                      B．lonely                  C．mild                    D．careful

3．A．money                  B．lives                    C．flowers               D．energy

4．A．goal                      B．way                    C．attitude                D．theory

5．A．regularly               B．sometimes           C．never                  D．always

6．A．remove                 B．benefit                 C．drown                 D．spoil

7．A．if                          B．unless                 C．although              D．since

8．A．kind                      B．group                  C．rank                    D．generation

9．A．rough                   B．free                     C．available              D．poisonous

10．A．protected             B．tied                     C．beat                    D．wrapped

11．A．thank                  B．defense               C．shade                  D．death

12．A．More or less        B．Now and then      C．Sooner or later     D．Here and there

13．A．thin                     B．dying                  C．ripe                     D．strong

14．A．benefit                B．harm                   C．affect                  D．change

15．A．cure                    B．danger                 C．comfort              D．difficulty

16．A．interesting           B．colorful               C．easy                    D．hopeful

17．A．strengthen           B．change                C．repeat                 D．realize

18．A．tough                  B．helpless               C．various                D．valuable

19．A．seek                    B．prove                  C．share                  D．meet

20．A．challenged   B．defeated           C．missed            D．forgotten

阅读理解

　　Once, a wise man was taken to prison for something he had not done. He was kept in a stone tower for many months, and there seemed to be no hope of escape.

　　Then one night, as he was looking out of the window, he saw his wife standing at the foot of the tower. She was crying sadly.

　　“Don't cry!”the man called to his wife in a low voice.“Listen to what I'm going to say. Go and bring back a scarab(金龟子), a little butter, some silk thread, a strong cord and a rope. If you do that, you can save me.”

　　The woman left at once and returned quickly with everything her husband had asked for.

　　Then the man said,“Put a little butter on the head of the scarab, tie the silk thread around its body, and place it on the wall with its head pointing to my window.”

　　The woman did what her husband said. The scarab, thinking the butter was somewhere in front of him，began to climb up the wall.

　　It was a quiet night. The moon was slowly piercing(刺透，穿过)through the clouds across the sky. Every now and again the prison tower stood in the shadow of clouds. Somewhere a bird was hooting(讨厌的叫喊)low. The man waited eagerly at his window in silence. When at last the scarab got close, to his window，he picked it up and took off the silk thread from its body. Meanwhile his wife tied the cord to the other end of the silk thread. When the man pulled the cord up, his wife had already tied the thick rope to the other end.

　　The man now had only to tie one end of the rope securely to something within the tower and slide down the rope to the ground. There his wife was watching and waiting to see him. She was happy and surprised that such a small thing as scarab had made his escape possible.

1．The man was sent to prison because _____.

[　　]

A．he killed a man

B．he stole something from others

C．he set fire to a house

D．there is no reason at all

2．Who saved the man?

[　　]

A．A scarab.　　　　B．A thread.

C．A night bird.　　 D．A cat.

2．How did the man leave the prison?

[　　]

A．The man left the prison because no man saw him.

B．The man thought of a good method to save himself.

C．The man who is in charge of the prison set the man free.

D．The man left the prison under the help of a cat.

4．According to the text, which of the following statements is TRUE?

[　　]

A．The man climbed down the stone tower by the silk thread.

B．The man climbed down the stone tower by cord.

C．His wife is cleverer than his husband.

D．The scarab likes eating butter very much.

阅读理解

　　Once, a wise man was taken to prison for something he had not done. He was kept in a stone tower for many months, and there seemed to be no hope of escape.

　　Then one night, as he was looking out of the window, he saw his wife standing at the foot of the tower. She was crying sadly.

　　“Don't cry!”the man called to his wife in a low voice.“Listen to what I'm going to say. Go and bring back a scarab(金龟子), a little butter, some silk thread, a strong cord and a rope. If you do that, you can save me.”

　　The woman left at once and returned quickly with everything her husband had asked for.

　　Then the man said,“Put a little butter on the head of the scarab, tie the silk thread around its body, and place it on the wall with its head pointing to my window.”

　　The woman did what her husband said. The scarab, thinking the butter was somewhere in front of him，began to climb up the wall.

　　It was a quiet night. The moon was slowly piercing(刺透，穿过)through the clouds across the sky. Every now and again the prison tower stood in the shadow of clouds. Somewhere a bird was hooting(讨厌的叫喊)low. The man waited eagerly at his window in silence. When at last the scarab got close, to his window，he picked it up and took off the silk thread from its body. Meanwhile his wife tied the cord to the other end of the silk thread. When the man pulled the cord up, his wife had already tied the thick rope to the other end.

　　The man now had only to tie one end of the rope securely to something within the tower and slide down the rope to the ground. There his wife was watching and waiting to see him. She was happy and surprised that such a small thing as scarab had made his escape possible.

1．The man was sent to prison because _____.

[　　]

A．he killed a man

B．he stole something from others

C．he set fire to a house

D．there is no reason at all

2．Who saved the man?

[　　]

A．A scarab.　　　　B．A thread.

C．A night bird.　　 D．A cat.

2．How did the man leave the prison?

[　　]

A．The man left the prison because no man saw him.

B．The man thought of a good method to save himself.

C．The man who is in charge of the prison set the man free.

D．The man left the prison under the help of a cat.

4．According to the text, which of the following statements is TRUE?

[　　]

A．The man climbed down the stone tower by the silk thread.

B．The man climbed down the stone tower by cord.

C．His wife is cleverer than his husband.

D．The scarab likes eating butter very much.