As we all know, getting benched in sports is usually a bad thing. But at one school in Florida, a girl has taken a bench and turned it into something entirely different – a place to find friends. It’s called the Friendship Bench. And it’s the brainchild of a sixth grader at Palm Bay Elementary – a girl named Acacia Woodley.

Acacia’s attitude toward life might be summed up best by a question she recently asked members of the Brevard County School Board – “what if we spend as much time putting the spotlight on kindness as we do on cruelty?” It’s a philosophy Acacias has learned to live her own life -despite having a lot of people would consider a handicap. She was born without a right hand. And her left hand did not form properly. But Acacia says that she has not stopped her from achieving her goals. “You need to believe in your dreams. If you don’t believe in you dreams, I can definitely tell you that they are not going to come true.” She said.

Acacia came up with the idea for the Friendship Bench after seeing kids getting bullied at school. She says she has also experienced bullying herself – kids whispering about her or picking on her because she is different. “Some people say they feel sorry for me. I tell them not to,” she said. “I don’t care that I’m different. I like being different.”

The Friendship Bench looks like a lot of other benches. It has arm sets and a place to lean on. But there are also words painted on it – words such as “hope”, “respect”, “listen” and “dream”. Acacia put the benches together with the help from her mother and brother.

Any time a kid feels he or she needs a friend, all that kid needs to do is sit on the bench. It is then up to the other kids – or grown-ups – to fill that need. “It’s a perfect idea,” Palm Bay Elementary Principal Lori said. “It’s something we’ve needed so badly.”

The Friendship Bench has been such a success at Palm Bay Elementary that other schools are now interested in installing one too. “There’s a saying in my teacher’s classroom,” Acacia said. “It says, ‘it you can dream it, you can achieve it.’”

1.What is the function of the first sentence in Paragraph One?

A. To explain the meaning of getting benched is sports.

B. To introduce the important role “bench” plays in sports.

C. To introduce what the author wants to say in the text to us.

D. To tell us that the passage is connected with the word “bench”.

2.What can be learned about Acacia from the passage?

A. She is disabled but leads an active life.

B. She has a deep understanding of life.

C. She finds it difficult to achieve her goals.

D. She finds herself always in need of help.

3.Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the passage?

A. Acacia has also suffered from other kids’ bullying.

B. The kids who sit on the bench feel they need friends.

C. Grown-ups are allowed to offer their help to the one in need.

D. The Friendship Bench is different from others in the arm sets.

4.What can we infer from the passage?

A. More Friendship Benches will be installed in other schools soon.

B. Students stop bullying other schoolmates at Palm Bay Elementary.

C. The students at Palm Bay Elementary have become more friendly.

D. Acacia has become a very important figure at Palm Bay Elementary.

5.What is the best title of this passage?

A. Acacia’s New Invention

B. The Friendship Bench

C. Help from a Special Bench

D. Getting Benched in School

Do you know that a Mom deserves a special gift this year for Mother’s Day? Sure, flowers can always brighten Mother’s day and a dinner out is always appreciated. However, doesn’t she deserve something more personal or something that lasts longer than an evening?

I’m talking about the gift of fitness. Improved fitness is a gift that is invaluable to everyone. When you give a woman the gift of fitness, you are helping her open a door to better health. I can’t think of a more thoughtful gift that shows the recipient(接受者) how much you care about their well-being. By giving the gift of fitness you are providing them with unlimited health benefits. And, its a gift that you can truly feel proud to give.

Of course, we all know that exercising can help people stay slim and fit. But, do you also know about all the other great benefits of exercising? Daily physical activity reduces stress and can help you sleep better. Fitness has been linked to reducing the risk of some diseases and to warding off depression. Researchers also believe that strength training can help prevent osteoporosis(骨质疏松). Not to mention that exercising also improves self-esteem, increases energy and helps you be able to do continuous work for longer.

All Moms would find these fitness benefits extremely invaluable. If they are like most of us, they have probably even mentioned how they would like to drop a few pounds or just get in better shape. In fact, experts say that about 62% of Americans are currently on a diet. By giving the gift of fitness you are helping provide your mom with extra motivation. She may be more motivated to actually get fit because she doesn’t want to feel guilty about ignoring such a thoughtful gift .

1.The first paragraph is most likely to tell us that___________.

2.You would like to send the gift of fitness to your mother because__________.

3.You want to keep healthy you should__________.

4.According to this passage the gift of fitness will____________.

5.Which of the following would be the best title for this passage?

EVERYONE NEEDS FRIENDS
Everyone needs friends.We all like to feel close to someone.It is nice to have a friend to talk,laugh and do things with.Surely,there are times when we need to be alone.We don’t always want people around.But we would feel lonely if we never had a friend.
No two people are just the same.Sometimes friends don’t get along well.That doesn’t mean that they no longer like each other.Most of the time they will make up and go on being friends.
Sometimes friends move away.Then we feel very sad.We miss them very much.But we call them and write to them.It could be that we would neven see them again.And we can make new friends.It is surprising to find out how much we like new people when we get to know them.
Families sometimes name their children after a close friend.Many people are named after men or women who have been friendly to people in a town.Some libraries are named this way.So are some schools.We think of these people when we go to these places.
There is more good news for people who have friends.They live longer than people who don’t.Why?It could be that they are happier.Being happy helps you stay well.Or it could be just knowing that someone cares.If someone cares about you,you take better care of yourself.
【小题1】The main idea of this passage is______.

We all have our ways of marking time. As a photographer, my life is measured from one story to the next. My oldest son was born in the middle of a long story about the Endangered Species Act. My daughter came along with a pack of gray wolves.

Twenty stories later, though, it’s the story in Alaska that I’ll remember best. It was the story about the loss of wilderness — and the story during which my wife Kathy got cancer. That’s the one that made time stand still. I stopped taking pictures on the day when she found that tumor (肿瘤). Cruelly, it was Thanksgiving. By Christmas, she had become very weak. Some days she was so sick she couldn’t watch TV.

Early examination saves time. But ours was not early. By the time you can feel it yourself, it’s often bigger than the doctor want it to be.

Cancer is a thief. It steals time. Our days are already short with worry. Then comes this terrible disease, unfair as storm at harvest time. But cancer also has the power to change us, for good. We learn to simplify, enjoying what we have instead of feeling sorry for what we don’t. Cancer even made me a better father. My work had made me a stranger to my three kids. But now I pay attention to what really matters. This is not a race. This is a new way of life and new way of seeing, all from the cancer.

In the end each of us has so little time. We have less of it than we can possibly imagine. And even though it turns out that Kathy’s cancer has not spread, and her prognosis (诊断) is good. We try to make it all count now, enjoying every part of every day.

I’ve picked up my camera again. I watch the sky, searching for beautiful light. When winter storms come, Kathy and I gather our children and take the time to catch snowflakes (雪花) on our tongues. After all, this is good. This is what we’re living for.

1.As a photographer, the author used to ______.

A. leave his daughter with a pack of gray wolves

B. express his love for his family in a special way

C. miss a great many important historical moments

D. devote much more to his career than his family

2.Why did the author decide to stop taking pictures?

A. To cure his own disease.                                    B. To spend more time with his wife.

C. To seek a better position.                                   D. To leave the wilderness alone.

3.What is the biggest change the cancer has brought to the author?

A. He treasured every bit of time with his family.

B. He has become a stranger to his children.

C. He takes his work more seriously.

D. He focuses more on medical care.

4.The author and his family catch snowflakes on their tongues probably because ______.

A. the snowflakes taste very good                       

B. snowflakes are what they feed on

C. they regard that as a way to enjoy life            

D. there is beautiful light in the snowflakes

1.I had a very happy day today because we had no school though it is Tuesday today. I played football with my friends on the playground in our school. Then we had a big dinner with a lot of our friends.

2.Today was a special day. After the bell rang for the lesson, we all sat up straight, waiting for our maths teacher. Today in former years we would place something on the top of the door so that when someone entered, it would fall onto that person. But this year, we put nothing on the top of the door. But as our maths teacher was entering, we all shouted “Take care”. The teacher got a surprise and raised his head but saw nothing. We all laughed and said “April fool”.

3.Early this morning I got up and woke up my sister Jane. Together we went from door to door to call on my friends. It was a day for us to play. We gathered on the square of the town with our New Year’s gift. We exchanged our gifts and played all kinds of games on the square. How happy we were!

4.This evening we had a Halloween party in the open. We were all dressed in witch’s outfit and wore masks. We sang and danced happily. We couldn’t figure out who was who though we were all such close friends or neighbors.

5.Today I gave a kiss to the girl I love most in front of all my classmates. I didn’t say anything before. But today I was brave enough to kiss her on the face with my classmates and my history teacher near at hand.

A．Near Year’s Day

It falls on the first day of the year. The year should begin happily, they say, so that it will end happily. And on the first morning of the New Year, children in Scotland, Wales and the English border countries rise early so that they may make the round of their friends and neighbors. “On January 1^st,” writes a 13-year-old Scottish girl, “I always go New Year’s Gifting with my sister and friends, about four of us. I get up about 7 o’clock and call for my friends and go round the houses and farms.”

B．Shrove Tuesday

For centuries Shrove Tuesday has been a day of high festival for apprentices (学徒) and schoolchildren. It has been a day of feasting, and cock fighting, a day for football , and rowdiness (吵闹). And it is pleasing to find that it is still a special day for children in some parts of England, where “Pancake Day (薄煎饼日),” as they call it, is kept as a school holiday.

C．Kissing Friday

A teacher writing to the Yorkshire Post tells how after Ash Wednesday, comes Kissing Friday. A few days ago, when she arrived at a country school and was taking a mixed class of 13-year-old children in country dancing, she saw the leading boy suddenly lean across and kiss his partner, who showed no sign of embarrassment. When, as teacher, she expressed her surprise, the boy said, “It’s all right, Miss. You see, it’s Kissing Friday”. And he explained that on Friday following Shrove Tuesday any boy had the right to kiss any girl without being resisted.

D．April Fool’s Day

The first day of April ranks amongst the most joyous days in the juvenile (青少年) calendar. It is a day when you hoax (愚弄) friends of yours with jokes like sending them to the shop for some pigeon’s milk, or telling them to dig a hole because the dog has died; when they come back and ask where the dead dog is, you say “April fool” and laugh at them.

E. May Day

On the first of May, in country districts, young maidens (少女) rise early and go out into the dawn, as they have done for centuries, to wash their faces in the May dew (露水). In Somerset children call this “kissing the dew”. In most places, the girls do so to ensure that they shall have a beautiful complexion (肤色) for the rest of the year.

F. Halloween

It falls on October 31. Many children attend Halloween parties. “The best thing about the party is that you should go in fancy dress, ” says a girl. The most popular dress is a Witch’s outfit, or something to do with lucky charms. It is said that one of the luckiest things at a Halloween party is for a person to come in with a lump (块) of coal.