Rising above the names

　　 I was shopping in the supermarket when I heard a young voice.

　 “Mom，come here！There's this lady here my size！”

　　 The mother rushed to her son；then she turned to me to apologize.

　　 I smiled and told her，“It's okay.”Then I talked to the boy，“Hi，I'm Darryl Kramer.How are you？”

　　 He studied me from head to toe，and asked，“Are you a little mommy？”

　 “Yes，I have a son，”I answered.

　 “Why are you so little？”he asked.

　 “It's the way I was born，”I said.“Some people are little.Some are tall.I'm just not going to grow any bigger.”After I answered his other questions，I shook the boy's hand and left.

　　 My life as a little person is filled with stories like that.I enjoy talking to children and explaining why I look different from their parents.

　　 It takes only one glance to see my uniqueness.I stand three feet nine inches tall.I was born an achondroplasia dwarf(侏儒)．Despite this，I did all the things other kids did when I was growing up.

　　 I didn't realize how short I was until I started school.Some kids picked on me，calling me names.Then I knew.I began to hate the first day of school each year.New students would always stare at me as I struggled to climb the school bus stairs.

　　 But I learned to smile and accept the fact that I was going to be noticed my whole life.I decided to make my uniqueness an advantage rather than a disadvantage.What I lacked in height，I made up for in personality.

　　 I'm 47 now，and the stares have not diminished as I've grown older.People are amazed when they see me driving.I try to keep a good attitude.When people are rude，I remind myself，“Look what else I have－a great family，nice friends.”

　　 It's the children's questions that make my life special.I enjoy answering their questions.My hope is that I will encourage them to accept their peers(a person of the same age，class，position，etc.)，whatever size and shape they come in，and treat them with respect.

1．Why did the mother apologize to the author?

A．Because the boy ran into the author.

B．Because the boy laughed at the author.

C．Because the boy said the author was fatter than him.

D．Because the mother thought the boy's words had hurt the author.

2．When did the author realize that she was too short?

A．When she grew up.

B．When she was 47 years old.

C．When she began to go to school.

D．When she met the boy in the supermarket.

3．Which of the following word can best replace the underlined word“diminished”？

A．Dismissed. 　　　　 B．Increased.

C．Decreased. 　　　　 D．Discriminated.

4．How does the author feel about people's stares?

A．Angry. 　　　　　　 B．Calm.

C．Painful. 　　　　　 D．Discouraged.

Our three-year-old daughter Becky wanted a dog. But we were too busy to buy one. One day, Becky ran in, shouting, “Mom! Come to see my dog!” Her face was red with   36 .

　　I followed her to the bush and found a   37 ! He was hurt. Seeing me, he stood up   38 ! I could see his teeth! God! My mouth felt dry. “Don’t be afraid. That’s Mom. She  39 you, too.” Becky said. Then he became friendly. It was  40 !

　　I   41  to find my husband and told him about the wolf. We should have 42  the wolf, but Becky loved him. Besides, he was gentle(温柔的) to Becky. So we called the vet finally.

　　Becky named the wolf (狼) Ralph ,  43  she carried food to him every day. Later, Ralph got well. They played together in the daytime. At night, Ralph would return to the mountains. Sometimes he   44  but came back several days later.

　　On Becky’s first day of school, we could see Ralph’s   45 . After the school bus left, Ralph lay by the side of the road and   46  . When Becky returned, he got happy again. This    47  throughout Becky’s school years.

　　Twelve   48  passed.

　　One day we heard that a she-wolf was killed. The other wolf was hurt and ran away. We were   49  about Ralph. That night, Ralph returned with a wound (伤). Fifteen-year-old Becky held his head and   50  him. We hope he could come through. However, he   51 .

　　Becky cried. I noticed something strange in the bush — two little yellow eyes! Ralph’s  52 ! Before he died, Ralph   53  his child to us! He knew he would be  54  here, as he had been. Ralph, Ralph... I was   55 .

“Don’t be afraid, little ... Ralphie. That’s Mom. She loves you, too.”

1.                A．encouragement  B．entertainment    C．agreement    D．excitement

2.                A．dog            B．fox            C．wolf D．tiger

3.                A．lovely          B．finally          C．suddenly  D．patiently

4.                A．hurts          B．loves           C．kills  D．hates

5.                A．wonderful      B．unhappy        C．unbelievable   D．normal

6.                A．prepared       B．rushed         C．pretended D．wanted

7.                A．loved          B．found          C．damaged  D．killed

8.                A．and            B．but            C．so   D．or

9.                A．disappeared     B．turned         C．passed   D．came

10.               A．sadness        B．dream         C．understanding  D．anger

11.               A．slept           B．left            C．sang  D．waited

12.               A．stopped        B．joined          C．lived  D．continued

13.               A．days           B．weeks          C．months    D．years

14.               A．surprised       B．puzzled         C．worried   D．careful

15.               A．comforted      B．beat           C．washed   D．amused

16.               A．succeeded      B．died           C．cried D．woke

17.               A．mother         B．father          C．wife  D．child

18.               A．posted         B．brought        C．sold  D．threw

19.               A．safe           B．happy          C．warm D．friendly

20.               A．confused       B．disappointed    C．moved    D．frightened

I was waiting for a phone call from my agent. He had left a message the night before, telling me that my show was to be canceled. I called him several times, but each time his secretary told me that he was in a meeting and that he would call me later. So I waited and waited, but there was still no call. Three hours passing by, I became more and more impatient. I was certain that my agent didn’t care about my work, and he didn’t care about me. I was overcome with that thought. I started to shout at the phone,“ Let me wait, will you? Who do you think you are?”
At that time I didn’t realize my wife was looking on. Without showing her surprise, she rushed in, seized the phone, tore off the wires, and shouted at the phone, “Yeah! Who do you think you are? Bad telephone! Bad telephone!” And she swept it into the wastebasket.
I stood watching her, speechless. What on earth?
She stepped to the doorway and shouted at the rest of the house, “Now hear this! All objects in this room — if you do anything to upset my husband, out you go!”
Then she turned to me, kissed me, and said calmly, “Honey, you just have to learn how to take control. ” With that, she left the room.
After watching a crazy woman rushing in and out, shouting at everything in sight, I noticed that something in my mood had changed. I was laughing. How could I have trouble with that phone? Her antics helped me realize I had been driven crazy by small things. Twenty minutes later my agent did call. I was able to listen to him and talk to him calmly.
【小题1】Why did the author shout at the telephone?

Walking down a path through some woods in Georgia, I saw a small pool of water ahead on the path. I angled my direction to go around it on the part of the path that wasn't covered by water or mud. As I reached the pool, I was suddenly attacked!

Yet I did nothing for the attack. It was so unpredictable and from somewhere totally unexpected. I was surprised as well as unhurt though I had been struck four or five times. I backed up a foot and my attacker stopped attacking me. Had I been hurt I wouldn't have found it amusing. And I was laughing. After all, I was being attacked by a butterfly!

　　Having stopped laughing, I took a step forward. My attacker rushed me again. He charged towards me at full speed, attempting to hurt me but in vain. For a second time, I took a step backwards while my attacker paused. I wasn't sure what to do. After all, it’s just not everyday that one is attacked by a butterfly. I stepped back to look the situation over. My attacker moved back to land on the ground. That's when I discovered why my attacker was charging me only moments earlier. He had a mate and she was dying.

　　Sitting close beside her, he opened and closed his wings as if to fan her. I could only admire the love and courage of that butterfly in his concern for his mate. He had taken it up on himself to attack me for his mate’s sake, even though she was clearly dying and I was so large. He did so just to give her those extra few precious moments of life. Should I have been careless enough to step on her? His courage in attacking something thousands of times larger and heavier than himself just for his mate’s safety seemed admirable. I couldn’t do anything other than reward him by walking on the more difficult side of the pool. He had truly earned those moments to be with her, undisturbed.

　　Since then, I’ve used that butterfly’s courage as an inspiration and to remind myself that good things are worth fighting for.

1.The writer changed his direction while walking down a path because he wanted_______.

A. to get close to a butterfly

B. to escape a sudden attack

C. to look over the bad situation

D. to avoid getting his shoes dirty

2.From the passage we can learn that the attacker _________.

A. struck the author four or five times and made him badly hurt

B. paused until the author took a step backwards

C. thought it was the author who caused the death of his mate

D. attacked the author for his mate’s safety and to accompany her for the last moments of life

3.From this experience the man learned_____.

A. butterflies are brave insects

B. the small can defeat the large

C. how to deal with challenges in his life

D. people should try their best to fight for everything

4.Which of the following words can best describe the butterfly?

A. caring     B. ambitious     C. courageous       D. aggressive

完形填空

　　The first day at school has left a deep ___(1)___ on me. I'll never forget it.

　　As soon as I rushed into the classroom, the bell rang. A young beautiful woman came in, but she was ____(2)___, no smile on her face.“You are not permitted to ____(3)___ me in the course of class unless...”She was speaking when I heard a ___(4)___“Lily, Lily”from outside the door. My grandmother was standing there with a pair of socks in her hand. I didn't realize I was bare feet ____(5)___ then. I wanted to ____(6)___ them, but I dared not do that. I shook my hand, ___(7)____“Don't wait here any longer. Leave quickly.”As I did so, I still ____(8)___ my eyes on my teacher. I really didn't want her to take ____(9)___ of me, but she did. She went out to get the socks. When she gave them to me, she looked at me for a while. My face suddenly turned ____(10)___ and my heart ___(11)____ faster. I began to put the socks on. Unfortunately I was so nervous that my ___(12)___ hands couldn't get them onto my feet easily. Just then I heard my name called. I ____(13)____ from my seat quickly.“Can you ____(14)___ the numbers from one to one hundred?”the teacher asked. I nodded. ____(15)___ her surprise, I did very well. Finally she said,“Be ___(16)____, please. Study hard.”I looked ____(17)____ her to find a smile on her face. I felt ____(18)____ at last.

　　The first day at school has stayed in my ____(19)___ as something embarrassing（尴尬）but ___(20)____.