Today, as I was relaxing at the beach, I couldn't help but eavesdrop（窃听，偷听） on a conversation four high school kids were having on the beach blanket next to me. Their conversation was about making a positive difference in the world. And it went something like this…
"It's impossible to make a difference unless you're a huge company or someone with lots of money and power," one of them said.
"Yeah man," another replied. "My mom keeps telling me to move mountains – to speak up and stand up for what I believe. But what I say and do doesn't even get noticed. I just keep answering to ‘the man’ and then I get slapped back（山谷回声） in place by him when I step out of line."
"Repression…" another snickered.
I smiled because I knew exactly how they felt. When I was their age, I was certain I was being repressed and couldn't possibly make a difference in this world. And I actually almost got fired from school once because I openly expressed how repressed(压抑) I felt in the middle of the principals’ office.
I Have A Dream.
Suddenly, one of the kids noticed me eavesdropping and smiling. He sat up, looked at me and said, "What? Do you disagree?" Then as he waited for a response, the other three kids turned around too.
Rather than arguing with them, I took an old receipt out of my wallet , tore it into four pieces, and wrote a different word on each piece. Then I crumbled the pieces into little paper balls and handed a different piece to each one of them.
"Look at the word on the paper I just gave you and don't show it to anyone else." The kids looked at the single word I had handed each of them and appeared confused. "You have two choices," I told them. "If your word inspired you to make a difference in this world, then hold onto it. If not, give it back to me so I can recycle the paper." They all returned their words.
I walked over quickly , sat down on the sand next to their beach blanket and laid out the four words that the students had returned to me so that the words combined to form the simple sentence,        "I have a dream."
"Dude, that's Martin Luther King Jr.," one of the kids said.
"How did you know that?" I asked.
"Everyone knows Martin Luther King Jr." the kid snarled. "He has his own national holiday, and we all had to memorize his speech in school a few years ago."
"Why do you think your teachers had you memorize his speech?" I asked.
"I don't really care!" the kid replied. His three friends shook their heads in agreement. "What does this have to do with us and our situation?"
"Your teachers asked you to memorize those words, just like thousands of teachers around the world have asked students to memorize those words, because they have inspired millions of repressed people to dream of a better world and take action to make their dreams come true. Do you see where I'm going with this?"
"Man, I know exactly what you're trying to do and it's not going to work, alright?" the fourth kid said, who hadn't spoken a word until now. "We're not going to get all inspired and emotional about something some dude said thirty years ago. Our world is different now. And it's more screwed up than any us can even begin to imagine, and there's little you or I can do about it. We're too small, we're nobody."
Together
I smiled again because I once believed and used to say similar things. Then after holding the smile for a few seconds I said, "On their own, ‘I' or ‘have’ or ‘a’ or ‘dream’ are just words. Not very compelling or inspiring. But when you put them together in a certain order, they create a phrase that has been powerful enough to move millions of people to take action – action that changed laws, perceptions, and lives. You don't need to be inspired or emotional to agree with this, do you?"
The four kids shrugged and struggled to appear totally indifferent, but I could tell they were listening intently. "And what's true for words is also true for people," I continued. "One person without help from anyone else can't do much to make a big difference in this crazy world - or to overcome all of the various forms of repression that exist today. But when people get together and unite to form something more powerful and meaningful then themselves, the possibilities are endless.
Together is how mountains are moved. Together is how small people make a big difference.
1.Why were the kids repressed?

A．Because they were scolded by their teachers

B．Because they lacked confidence of making a difference in the world

C．Because they didn’t have lots of money or power.

D．Because one of them almost got expelled from school.

2.What did the writer do when one of the kids noticed him eavesdropping?

A．He argued with them.

B．He played a game with them.

C．He scooted over sat down on the sand next to their beach blanket .

D．He took an old receipt ,ripped it into four pieces, and wrote a different word on each piece.

3.Which of the following is not true?

A．“I Have A Dream” was delivered by Martin Luther King.

B．A national holiday was named after Martin Luther King to honor him.

C．Teachers asked kids to memorize Martin Luther King’s famous speech.

D．Martin Luther King made a difference because he is a man with power.

4.Give a proper Chinese translation to explain the underlined sentence.

A．车到山前必有路???????? B．从我做起

C．团结就是力量?????????? D．三人行,必有我师

5.Which of the following sentences is true according to the story.

A．The kids and the writer are complaining about their life.

B．All of the four kids don’t believe they can change the world.

C．The word on the paper inspires the four kids.

D．The writer’s purpose is to tell them to a faith in the life.

6.Which of the following can be the best title for the story?

A．How adults persuade kids

B．How small people make a big difference

C．How young adults build up their confidence

D．How create a better world to live in

Where was I? The room was dark and quiet. My head hurt really badly. I shouted, “Help! Help! Can anybody help me?”
After a while somebody came in. The room was so dark that I couldn’t see his face clearly. The man turned on the light and said with a sharp voice, “Ah! Sweetie, do you still remember who I am?” I was shocked. Oh, my God! I cried, “You are Michael Zey, the man I charged with murder! Why are you here? You should be in prison!”
“You never thought about the result of charging a gang（犯罪团伙） leader, did you? Because of you, I was in prison for 15 years. You ruined my life!” His voice was very cold. My face was pale with fear. He was here to take revenge（报复）!
“Please, let me go! Don't hurt me! Please!” I asked him. “Dr. Calment, you are smart enough to know it is impossible. Now, I give you two choices. One is shooting your head. It is the quickest way. The other is cremation（火葬）. Your husband and you will be together forever. It’s quite romantic. Don't you think?” He spoke angrily. “What? My husband? He is innocent!” I shouted at him.
Suddenly, he took hold of my head and said, “You will pay for what you have done to me.” He took out a gun from his bag.
“Help! Help! Can anybody help me?”
【小题1】What might have happened to the writer before the man came in?

It was lunchtime and I walked into a small branch bank on the West Side. I had come to   1  a checking account. The only officer on   2  was a fortyish black man, standing   3  a small counter from a young white boy who was wearing a V-necked sweater. I thought I was especially   4  of the boy because he looked more like from a prep school than a   5  in a West Side bank.

The boy continued to   6  my attention because of what happened next. He was holding an open savings-account book and   7  an expression of disappointment. “But I don’t understand. I opened the account myself, so why can’t I   8  any money?” the boy said, his voice breaking.

“I know it is, but those are the rules. I’ve already explained to you that a fourteen-year-old is not   9  to withdraw money without a letter from his parents,” the officer explained patiently.

Suddenly I noticed the   10  had a series of small deposits (存款) and withdraws. Then I questioned the officer, “How do you   11  that? Why did you let him withdraw money before, but not now?” He looked   12 . “Because the tellers were not aware of his age before and now they are. It’s really very   13 .” I turned to the boy with a shrug. “You’re really getting   14 ,” I said. “You ought to get your parents to come here and protest.” The boy looked destroyed.   15 , he put his savings book in a rear-pocket and walked out of the bank.

The officer turned to me. “You know,” he said, “you really shouldn’t have got   16 .” I couldn’t believe what he was saying. “We were   17  this morning that some neighborhood bully has been shaking down (敲诈) this boy for more than a month. The guy was   18  him to take money out every week and hand it over. The poor kid was   19  too scared to tell anyone. Anyway, the police are on the case and they’ll probably make a(n)   20  today.”

“You mean there is no rule about being too young to withdraw money from a savings account?”

“Not that I ever heard of. Now, sir, what can we do for you?”

1.                A．make          B．open           C．buy  D．choose

2.                A．duty           B．board          C．display   D．business

3.                A．on            B．after           C．over D．across

4.                A．sure           B．proud          C．aware    D．afraid

5.                A．guard          B．customer       C．clerk D．manager

6.                A．attract         B．pay            C．attach    D．control

7.                A．achieving       B．finding         C．reaching  D．wearing

8.                A．use            B．spend          C．withdraw D．bank

9.                A．supported      B．inspired        C．encouraged   D．allowed

10.               A．letter          B．account        C．note  D．message

11.               A．think          B．explain         C．do   D．claim

12.               A．annoyed        B．disappointed    C．confused D．amused

13.               A．difficult        B．strange         C．fantastic   D．simple

14.               A．obeyed        B．stolen          C．cheated   D．caught

15.               A．Happily         B．Silently         C．Cheerfully D．Nervously

16.               A．interacted      B．interrupted     C．involved   D．infected

17.               A．occupied       B．discovered      C．suggested  D．informed

18.               A．rushing         B．forcing         C．requesting D．begging

19.               A．hardly         B．unwillingly      C．apparently D．eagerly

20.               A．arrest          B．sentence       C．apology   D．difference

Hercule Poirot looked over the small gate which gave admission to Pine Crest. It was a modern nicely-built house. It was on a hill top, and the hill top was planted with a few sparse pines. It had a small neat garden and a large elderly man was watering with a big tin.

Spence’s hair was now grey all over. He had not shrunk much in girth（围长）, though. He stopped watering and looked at the visitor at the gate. Hercule Poirot stood there without moving.

“God bless my soul,” said Spence. “It must be. It can’t be but it is. Yes, it must be Hercule Poirot!”

“Aha,” said Poirot, “you remember me. I’m grateful.”

Spence abandoned the watering can and came down to the gate.

“What brings you down here?”

“What has brought me to many places in my time,” said Poirot, “and what once a good many years ago brought you to see me. Murder, Spence.”

“I’m done with murder since I retired,” said Spence, “except in the case of weeds. Killing weeds is never easy as you think, something’s always wrong. How did you know where to find me?” he asked as he opened the gate and Poirot passed through.

“You sent me a Christmas card. It had your new address on it.”

“Ah yes, so I did. I’m old-fashioned, you know, I like to send round cards at Christmas time to a few old friends. I’m an old man now.”

“We both are.”

“Not much grey in your hair,” said Spence.

“I take care of my hair with a bottle,” said Poirot. “There is no need to appear in public with grey hair unless you wish to do so. By the way, why have you come to live in Woodleigh Common?”

“As a matter of fact, I came here to join forces with a sister of mine. She lost her husband, her children are married and living abroad. So I moved in here. Pensions（退休金）don’t go far nowadays, but we do comfortably living together.”

1.From their dialogue, we can learn about _______.

A. their common friends?? ????????????? ????????????? ????????????? B. Spence’s sister’s characters

C. their relationship?? ????????????? ????????????? ????????????? ????????????? D. Poirot’s recent life

2.Which statement is TRUE according to the passage?

A. Spence used to deal with murder.??

B. Poirot didn’t care about his appearance.

C. Spence moved to join his sister for lack of money.

D. Poirot came specially to reunite with his old friend.

3.From the passage we can infer that they might _______ next.

A. meet Spence’s family??? ????????????? ????????????? ????????????? B. discuss about a murder

C. visit Spence’s new home????????????? ????????????? ????????????? D. water the garden together?

Tomorrow was his girlfriend’s birthday and the young man was having a difficult time deciding on a present for her. She already had more clothes than she knew what to do with them, so he couldn’t get any kind of apparel. She never ate sweets, so candy was out of the question. What then? He had a very special reason for wanting to impress her with just the right gift,for tomorrow he was going to make an offer of marriage to her. He finally decided on perfume(香水). All girls liked perfume. That raised another problem, however. What kind did she prefer? He couldn’t ask her because that would ruin the surprise.
At last the young man hit upon a brilliant idea. That afternoon, pretending to take his girlfriend’s fox terrier(小猎狗),Fritz, for a walk, the young man and the dog went directly to the perfume counter of the town’s biggest department store. Good! There was a large array(长列)of perfume. He beckoned(招呼)a clerk, asking her to open a large number of bottles and wave the stoppers （塞子）under the dog’s nose. Nestled(依偎于) in the young man’s arms, the terrier began to be restless and bored as this seemingly meaningless game went on. Then Fritz suddenly became frisky, wiggling in the young man’s arms and barking excitedly, as the clerk waved one stopper under its nose.
“I’ll take that one,” said the young man to the clerk. The price was high, but it was worth it, he thought.
“ My favorite perfume!” said the delighted girl the next evening as she unwrapped the package. “ How did you know?” she asked, dabbing（轻擦）some perfume behind each ear.
“ Intuition(直觉), I guess.”said the young man, deciding that it wasn’t exactly wrong to tell a lie at that time. One day, after they were married, he would admit that his intuition had really been the little dog named Fritz.
【小题1】Which of the following words best describes the young man in the story?