Poet William Stafford once said that we are defined more by the detours (绕行路) in life than by the narrow road toward goals.I like this image.But it was quite by accident that I discovered the deep meaning of his words.

For years we made the long drive from our home in Seattle to my parents’ home in Boise in nine hours.We traveled the way most people do：the fastest，shortest，easiest road，especially when I was alone with four noisy，restless kids who hate confinement (限制) and have strong opinions about everything.

Road trips felt risky，so I would drive fast，stopping only when I had to.We would stick to the freeways and arrive tired.

But then Banner，our lamb was born.He was rejected by his mama days before our planned trip to Boise.I had two choices：leave Banner with my husband，or take him with me.My husband made the decision for me.

That is how I found myself on the road with four kids，a baby lamb and nothing but my everlasting optimism to see me through.We took the country roads out of necessity.We had to stop every hour，let Banner shake out his legs and feed him.The kids chased him and one another.They’d get back in the car breathless and energized，smelling fresh from the cold air.

We explored side roads，catching grasshoppers in waist?high grass.Even if we simply looked out of the car windows at baby pigs following their mother，or fish leaping out of the water，it was better than the best ride down the freeway.Here was life.And new horizons (见识)．

We eventually arrived at my parents’ doorstep astonishingly fresh and full of stories.

I grew brave with the trip back home and creative with my disciplining technique.On an empty section of road，everyone started quarreling.I stopped the car，ordered all kids out and told them to meet me up ahead.I parked my car half a mile away and read my book in sweet silence.

Some road trips are by necessity fast and straight.But that trip with Banner opened our eyes to a world available to anyone adventurous enough to wander around and made me realize that a detour may uncover the best part of a journey－and the best part of yourself.

1.Why did the author use to take freeways to her parents’home?

A．It was less tiring.

B．It would be faster and safer.

C．Her kids would feel less confined.

D．She felt better with other drivers nearby.

2.The author stopped regularly on the country roads to________.

A．relax in the fresh air

B．take a deep breath

C．take care of the lamb

D．let the kids play with Banner

3.What does the author discover from the trip according to Paragraph 6?

A．Freeways are where beauty hides.

B．Getting close to nature adds to the joy of life.

C．Enjoying the beauty of nature benefits one’s health.

D．One should follow side roads to watch wild animals.

4.Why did the author ask the kids to get out of the car on their way back home?

A．To give herself some time to read.

B．To order some food for them.

C．To play a game with them.

D．To let them cool down.

5.What could be the best title for the passage?

A．Charm of the Detour

B．The Road to Bravery

C．Creativity out of Necessity

D．Road Trip and Country Life

阅读下面短文，并按照题目要求用英语回答问题（请注意问题后的词数要求）。

My name is Clara. I still remember that chilly December day, sitting in science class. I had finished a worksheet early and picked up a TIME for Kids magazine. A piece of news caught my eye: NASA (美国宇航局) was holding an essay contest to name its Mars rover (火星探测器). Before I even knew anything else about it, a single word flooded my 11-year-old mind, Curiosity.

I couldn’t wait for the bell to ring so I could get started on my essay. That afternoon, I raced home, sat down at the computer, and typed until my fingers ached. “Curiosity is an everlasting flame that burns in everyone’s mind…”

Five months later, my mom received a phone call, and immediately, a wide smile spread across her face.

On August 5, 2012, at 10: 31pm, the rover named Curiosity touched down safely on the surface of Mars, and I was honored to have a front-row seat in NASA.

Curiosity is such an important part of who I am. I have always been fascinated by the stars, the planets, the sky and the universe. I remember as a little girl, my grandmother and I would sit together in the backyard for hours. She would tell me stories and point out the stars. Grandma lived in China, thousands of miles away from my home in Kansas, but the stars kept us together even when we were apart. They were always there, yet there was so much I didn’t know about them. That’s what I love so much about space.

People often ask me why we go to faraway places like Mars. My answer is simple because we’re curious. We human beings do not just hole up in one place. We are constantly wondering and trying to find out what’s over the hill and beyond the horizon.

1.How did the author get the news about the essay contest? (within 7 words)

2.In which year was the author born according to the passage? (within 2 words)

3.Why did author have a front-row seat in NASA? (within 10 words)

4.What does the author remember about the time spent with Grandma? (within 15 words)[

5.What does the underlined phrase “hole up” in the last paragraph probably mean? (1 word)

Hi, everybody !
Welcome to our newly-opened Richards Cinema Bookstore!
Now let me introduce to you some of the new film books in our store.
Are you Chinese film fans? OK, here comes the latest 25 New Takes about Chinese films. It is a collection of 25 fresh readings of different Chinese films from the 1930s to the present. In recent years, Chinese films are very popular in the States, such as Crouching Tiger and Hidden Dragon, Hero, and Flowers of Shanghai.
Do you like French films? Well, here is The French Cinema Book. It covers French films from the 1890s to the beginning of the 21st century. It is written for all lovers of French cinema: students and teachers, specialists and fans, and so on.
Maybe you are Indian film fans and star-chasers. Then here is Encyclopedia (百科全书)
of Indian Cinema. The book is a complete introduction to all the best Indian films. It also offers a full list of names of the famous and successful film stars in the past ten years. You know, the Indian film industry is the largest in the world after our Hollywood.
If you like British films, we have The British Cinema Book. It is a good review of British cinema. This book contains a good many nice pictures.
In our bookstore, you can also find books about Mexican, Japanese, Australian, German and Italian films..
Well, please help yourselves to some coffee or tea, and have a good time here!
60. The speaker of the passage is most probably _______.
A. the author of 25 New Takes           B. a tourist in the cinema bookstore
C. the manager of the cinema bookstore   D. a reader of Encyclopedia of Indian Cinema
61. How many Asian countries does the speaker refer to when he talks about the  
film books?
A. Two.             B. Three.            C. Four.     D. Nine.
62. Which of the following statements is NOT mentioned in the passage？
A. Indian cinema is second only to Hollywood.
B. The British Cinema Book includes a complete list of names of stars.
C. Crouching Tiger and Hidden Dragon is well received in the States.
D. The French Cinema Book covers over a century's French films.
63. The purpose of the speaker is_______.
A. to satisfy the customers' various tastes
B. to keep the authors in the cinema bookstore
C. to offer the tourists chances to meet the film stars
D. to take the readers into film producers

In my living room，there is a plaque (匾) that advises me to“Bloom (开花) where you are planted.” It reminds me of Dorothy.I got to know Dorothy in the early 1980s，when I was teaching Early Childhood Development through a program with Union College in Barbourville，Kentucky.The job responsibilities required occasional visits to the classroom of each teacher in the program.Dorothy stands out in my memory as one who“bloomed”in her remote area.

Dorothy taught in a school in Harlan County，Kentucky，Appalachian Mountain area.To get to her school from the town of Harlan，I followed a road winding around the mountain.In the eight?mile journey，I crossed the same railroad track five times，giving the possibility of getting caught by the same train five times.Rather than feeling excited by this drive through the mountains，I found it depressing.The poverty level was shocking and the small shabby houses gave me the greatest feeling of hopelessness.

From the moment of my arrival at the little school，all gloom (忧郁) disappeared.Upon arriving at Dorothy’s classroom.I was greeted with smiling faces and treated like a queen.The children had been prepared to show me their latest projects.Dorothy told me with a big smile that they were serving poke greens salad and cornbread for“dinner”(lunch)．In case you don’t know，poke greens are a weed?type plant that grows wild，especially on poor ground.

Dorothy never ran out of reports of exciting activities of her students.Her enthusiasm never cooled down.When it came time to sit for the testing and interviewing required to receive her Child Development Associate Certification，Dorothy was ready.She came to the assessment and passed in all areas.Afterward，she invited me to the one?and?only steak house in the area to celebrate her victory，as if she had received her Ph.D.degree.After the meal，she placed a little box containing an old pen in my hand.She said it was a family heirloom (传家宝)，but to me it is a treasured symbol of appreciation and pride that cannot be matched with things.

1.“Early Childhood Development”in Paragraph 1 refers to________.

A．a program directed by Dorothy

B．a course given by the author

C．an activity held by the students

D．an organization sponsored by Union college

2.In the journey，the author was most disappointed at seeing________.

A．the long track

B．the poor houses

C．the same train

D．the winding road

3.Upon arriving at the classroom，the author was cheered up by________.

A．a warm welcome

B．the sight of poke greens

C．Dorothy’s latest projects

D．a big dinner made for her

4.What can we know about Dorothy from the last paragraph?

A．She was invited to a celebration at a restaurant.

B．She got a pen as a gift from the author.

C．She passed the required assessment.

D．She received her Ph.D.degree.

5.What does the author mainly intend to tell us?

A．Whatever you do，you must do it carefully.

B．Whoever you are，you deserve equal treatment.

C．However poor you are，you have the right to education.

D．Wherever you are，you can accomplish your achievement.

I want to make the most of every day. And, like most people, I've      that the best way to do it is (to) let go of past failures. But that's not all. One can never fully      today while thinking too much about past successes, either. People never      while resting comfortably on their laurels (荣誉). The      is that sometimes our successes hold us back more than our failures!

I once       a story about the Oscar owner, actor Clark Gable. A friend      Gable one afternoon at the actor's home. She brought along her      son, who was playing happily with toy cars on the floor. He      he was racing those cars around a great track, which in      was an imaginary circle around a golden statue. The small statue the boy played with was actually the Oscar Clark Gable      for his performance in the 1934 movie It Happened One Night.

When his mother told him the time had come to      , the little boy asked the actor, “Can I have this？”      to the Oscar.

“Sure,” he smiled. “It's yours.”

The horrified mother       . “Put that back immediately！”

Giving the child the golden statue, Clark Gable said, “Having the Oscar around doesn't mean anything to me;       it does.” The actor seemed to know that past success could be a       hammock (吊床) upon which he may be tempted to     , rather than a springboard setting him to begin a new start.

You may have learned to let go of past       and mistakes in order to free the present. But will you forget past successes and achievements in order to free the      ？Will your past be a springboard or a restful hammock?

“I like the       of the future better than the history of the past，” said Thomas Jefferson. I      . After all, the future, not the past, is where the rest of your life will be lived.

1.A.discovered　               B. inferred                  C. preferred             D. worried

2.A.spend                           B. live                         C. affect                    D. enjoy

3.A.struggle             B. work                       C. succeed                D. concentrate

4.A.story                             B. fact                        C. idea                       D. figure

5.A.wrote                           B. told                        C. knew            D. heard

6.A.saw                      B. recognized   C. met              D. visited

7.A.careful                B. small                        C. lonely                    D. clever

8.A.pretended                  B. believed                 C. insisted                 D. suggested

9.A.fact                      B. case                        C. turn             D. need

10.A.cared                         B. asked                       C. won                       D. looked

11.A.act                              B. leave                       C. play                        D. wait

12.A.running            B. getting                     C. pointing                D. shouting

13.A.shouted                     B. noticed                  C. suffered                D. breathed

14.A.selling               B. keeping                   C. earning                 D. sharing

15.A.special              B. comfortable          C. expensive  D. necessary

16.A.rest                            B. cheat                       C. stop                       D. sit

17.A.difficulties                 B. events                     C. failures              D. achievements

18.A.time                           B. future                      C. body             D. brain

19.A.idea                            B. meaning                  C. dreams                  D. thoughts

20.A.obey                          B. permit                    C. wish              D. agree