A Child Who Could Not See, Hear, Or Speak

For the first nineteen months of her life, Helen Keller was like other pretty happy babies in every way. Then a sudden illness destroyed her sight and hearing. Because she could not hear what other people were saying, the child could not learn to speak. For the next seven years, she lived in a world of darkness, without sounds or words.

The person who changed Helen’s world was her teacher, Anne Sullivan, who entered her life on March 3, 1887. Miss Sullivan had accepted a job a blind child who had never learned to act like a human being, because no one had ever been able to guide her in any way. No one could control Helen. She acted like a young animal, rushing wildly around, throwing things, and hitting anyone whom she could reach. Who could believe that such a child could be taught?

But Anne Sullivan was a very special kind of teacher. She had been blind during part of her own childhood and had learned to read Braille, system of writing that uses raised dots which can be felt by the fingers of a blind person. She had learned to see again after several operations, but she had never forgotten the experience of being blind.

Miss Sullivan understood Helen. She loved her and believed she could teach her. Anne Sullivan could not teach Helen Keller to speak until some other important things had been learned. The little girl had to learn to control her actions and feelings. She had to learn that she could not always do what she wished to do. She had always been able to get what she wanted by using force. The teacher had to change such habits without breaking the child’s spirit.

Miss Sullivan’s battle began. Sometimes, there was real fighting between the wild child and the strong young teacher. At last, however, the battle was won by Miss Sullivan, who had succeeded in showing Helen that she loved her and wanted to help her. The child and her teacher became friends. They continued to be friends until the teacher’s death, fifty year later.

The day on which Helen finally accepted Miss Sullivan as her friend and teacher was a great day in Helen’s life. After that, the teacher could begin to teach the child language.

1．Helen Keller acted like a wild animal for she 　　　　.

A. had never had a teacher

B. could not understand any words

C. had never learned to know the world around

D. could not hear anyone speak

2．　　   , Sullivan believed she could teach Helen.

A. Being a blind person herself

B. Having learned Braille when she was young

C. Having been specially trained to be a teacher

D. Knowing how a blind child feels

3．Helen 　　   and so she could neither hear nor learn to speak.

A. lost her hearing at an early age

B. had disease with her ears and tongue

C. lost her ability in hearing and speaking

D. did not know any words

4．The most important thing for Helen was that she should learn　　   .

A. not always to use force

B. to keep her spirit from breaking

C. to tell what was wrong and what was right

D. not to get angry again

5．Sullivan won the battle　　   .

A. because she was stronger than Helen

B. by helping Helen understand why they fought

C. through fighting until she beat Helen

D. through real fighting and beating

 After living in America for over 20 years, Brother Sway said to a reporter the other day, “I ________ done bigger things, had bigger achievements had I stayed in China.” .

A. must do           B. could do        C. could have done      D. must have done

Around 5:30 p.m., I was on the bus one day and everybody on the bus was quiet. People had just  36 from work, students had just finished their 37 class and everybody was a little  38  from a long day. It wasn't a particularly good day for me as I was feeling quite tired too. I was just looking outside of the 39 without any specific thought in my mind. It was the same 40  I had seen many times before, people hurrying home.

In front of me, there was a man sitting in the seat who didn't look too clean. 41  he was looking out of the window, the man suddenly 42 to me and pointed at something outside. "Hey, look." He had a big smile on his face. I turned to the  43  he was pointing to and there it was ---- the beautiful Catalina mountains burning with a beautiful  44 . The mountains were coated with bright pink light and shadows. He turned to other people on the bus and told them to look at the mountains. He  45   

" Wow" and " It's so beautiful" again and again. Everybody on the bus  46  the views indeed.

The  47 view also helped me to 48  my long tiring day with a good feeling in my heart. But, more 49  , I was so inspired (鼓舞）to see that this man wanted to 50  the beautiful view with everybody on the bus, total strangers. His 51 act made me accidentally find something that I had lost which I didn't even know I had lost. He made me  52 that I had lost the feelings and the excitement I  53 have everyday. In my daily life, many things had  54  their color and movement. But he 55 me that things are still there ---- they never get lost.

2.A morning        B. important     C. last            D. boring

Even Intelligent People Can Fail

1._________

The unusual things about the innovators (创新者) who succeeded in making our modern world is how often they failed. Turn on a light, take a photograph, watch TV, search the web, jet across the Pacific Ocean, talk on a cell-phone. The innovators who left us these things had to find the way to success through a maze (错综复杂) of wrong turns.

2._________

We have just celebrated the 125th anniversary of American innovator Thomas Edison’s success in heating a thin line to white, hot heat for 14 hours in his lab in New Jersey, US. He did that on October 22, 1879, and followed up a month later by keeping a thread of common cardboard alight (点亮着的) in an airless space for 45 hours. Three years later he went on to light up half a square mile of downtown Manhattan, even though only one of the six power plants in his design worked when he turned it on, on September 4, 1882.

3.________

“Many of life’s failures,” Edison said, “are because that people did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.” Before that magical moment in October 1879, Edison had worked out no fewer than 3,000 theories about electric light. But in only two cases did his experiments work.

4.________

No one likes failure, but the smart innovators learn from it. Mark Gumz, the head of a camera maker, attributes some of the company’s successes in technology to understanding failure. His popular phrase is：“You only fail when you quit.”

5._________

Over two centuries, the most common quality of the innovators has been persistence (坚忍不拔). That is another way of saying they had the emotional ability to keep on with what they were doing. Walt Disney, the founder of Disneyland, was so penniless after a series of financial failures that he was left shoeless in his office because he could not afford the $1.50 to get his shoes from the repair shop. Pioneering car maker Henry Ford failed with one company and was forced out of another before he developed the Model T Car.

Around 5:30 p.m., I was on the bus one day and everybody on the bus was quiet. People had just  36 from work, students had just finished their 37 class and everybody was a little  38  from a long day. It wasn't a particularly good day for me as I was feeling quite tired too. I was just looking outside of the 39 without any specific thought in my mind. It was the same 40  I had seen many times before, people hurrying home.
In front of me, there was a man sitting in the seat who didn't look too clean. 41  he was looking out of the window, the man suddenly 42 to me and pointed at something outside. "Hey, look." He had a big smile on his face. I turned to the  43  he was pointing to and there it was ---- the beautiful Catalina mountains burning with a beautiful  44 . The mountains were coated with bright pink light and shadows. He turned to other people on the bus and told them to look at the mountains. He  45   
" Wow" and " It's so beautiful" again and again. Everybody on the bus  46  the views indeed.
The  47 view also helped me to 48  my long tiring day with a good feeling in my heart. But, more 49  , I was so inspired (鼓舞）to see that this man wanted to 50  the beautiful view with everybody on the bus, total strangers. His 51 act made me accidentally find something that I had lost which I didn't even know I had lost. He made me  52 that I had lost the feelings and the excitement I  53 have everyday. In my daily life, many things had  54  their color and movement. But he 55 me that things are still there ---- they never get lost.