Short and shy, Ben Saunders was the last kid in his class picked for any sports team. "Football, tennis,cricket — anything with a round ball, I was useless." he says now with a laugh. But back then he was the object of jokes in school gym classes in England's rural Devonshire.

It was a mountain bike he received for his 15th birthday that changed him. At first the teen went biking alone in a nearby forest. Then he began to cycle along with a runner friend. Gradually, Saunders set his mind building up his body, increasing his speed, strength and endurance. At age 18, he ran his first marathon.

The following year, he met John Ridgway, who became famous in the 1960s for rowing an open boat across the Atlantic Ocean. Saunders was hired as an instructor at Ridgway's school of Adventure in Scotland, where he learned about the older man's cold-water exploits (成就). Intrigued, Saunders read all he could about Arctic explorers and North Pole expeditions, then decided that this would be his future.

Journeys to the Pole aren't the usual holidays for British country boys, and many people dismissed his dream as fantasy. "John Ridgway was one of the few who didn't say, 'You are completely crazy,'" Saunders says.

In 2001, after becoming a skilled skier, Saunders started his first long-distance expedition toward the North Pole. He suffered frostbite, had a closer encounter (遭遇) with a polar bear and pushed his body to the limit.

Saunders has since become the youngest person to ski alone to the North Pole, and he's skied more of the Arctic by himself than any other Briton. His old playmates would not believe the transformation.

This October, Saunders, 27, heads south to explore from the coast of Antarctica to the South Pole and back, an 1800-mile journey that has never been completed on skis.

1.The turning point in Saunders'life came when ________.

A．he started to play ball games

B．he got a mountain bike at age 15

C．he ran his first marathon at age 18

D．he started to receive Ridgway's training

2.We can learn from the text that Ridgway ________.

A．dismissed Saunders' dream as fantasy

B．built up his body together with Saunders

C．hired Saunders for his cold-water experience

D．won his fame for his voyage across the Atlantic

3.What do we know about Saunders?

A．He once worked at a school in Scotland.

B．He followed Ridgway to explore the North Pole.

C．He was chosen for the school sports team as a kid.

D．He was the first Briton to ski alone to the North Pole.

4.The underlined word "Intrigued" in the third paragraph probably means ________.

A．Excited           B．Convinced         C．Delighted         D．Fascinated

5.It can be inferred that Saunders' journey to the North Pole ________.

A．was accompanied by his old playmates

B．set a record in the North Pole expedition

C．was supported by other Arctic explorers

D．made him well-known in the 1960s

My father never wanted his children to know what he did for a living. Dad worked in Plant C. Lying beside Lake Erie, it saw him in at sunrise and out at nightfall. Sometimes my mother would take my siblings (兄弟姐妹) and me to the public beach in our hometown of Ashtabula. She’d gather us round and point to the smokestacks, coughing clouds into the sky.

“Wave to daddy!” she’d shout. Four little hands would shoot into the air. I never knew what Dad did in Plant C, but during 34 years of hard work, he had surgery (手术) on his shoulder and hand. At 48, he had his first heart attack. He retired in 1993, right after the last kid graduated from college. But the damage was done. A few years later, the next heart attack killed him.

I saw my dad in plant C only once, when I took dinner to him. That night, I looked at my father, covered in sweat and coal, and for the first time I knew why he was so often angry for no reason.

Recently my father’s friend, Toby Workman, walked me there. I knew my father never wanted me to see it. At every station, he described the job and the danger. It was like listening to a foreign language. I walked past many DANGER signs. Toby put his hand on my shoulder. “Look”, he said, “you need to understand something. Your dad was a maintenance mechanic. He worked the most dangerous job. If something broke, he fixed it. ”

A few days later, my daughter graduated from college. I gave her the hard hat Toby handed to me as I left, and this note: “Whenever you feel something difficult, put this on, look in the mirror, and remember your roots.”

1.What is the purpose of the passage?

A．In memory of the author’s mother         B．to know about what the father did.

C．In memory of the author’s father.          D．to remind the family to live well.

2.Which of the following is TRUE of the facts about the author’s father?

A．He didn’t suffer a heart attack until he retired.

B．He always faced danger while working.

C．He was satisfied with his job.

D．He worked in Plant C for 48 years in all.

3.When the author saw her father in Plant C,       ___.

A．her father was fixing a broken machine.

B．she didn’t recognize her father.

C．she understood him about his bad temper.

D．her father was angry about her coming.

4.When Toby Workman described the author’s father’s job, the author   ____  .

A．felt familiar with the job                  B．decided to do the same work.

C．wanted to learn a foreign language          D．felt much puzzled

5.The author gave her daughter the hat to hope that her daughter could    _______ .

A．get encouraged by her grandfather         B．overcome all difficulties by wearing it

C．remember her grandfather                D．follow her grandfather’s work

Hidden in our subconsciousness(潜意识）is a perfect mental picture.  We see ourselves on a long trip that goes across the continent. We are traveling by train. Out the windows, we think in the passing scene of cars on nearby highways,  of children waving at a crossing , of cattle feeding on a distant hillside, of smoke pouring from a power plant, or row upon row of corn and wheat, of flat lands and valleys, of mountains and rolling hills, of city skylines and village halls.

But uppermost in our minds is the final destination.  On a certain day at a certain hour, we will pull into the station. Bands will be playing and flags waving. Once we get there, so many wonderful dreams will come true and the pieces of our lives will fit together like a completed jigsaw puzzle. How restlessly we pace the aisles, condemning(谴责）the minutes for loitering(虚度）— waiting, waiting,  waiting for the station.

"When we reach the station, that will be it!”we cry. "When I’m 38." "When I buy a new 450SL Mercdes Benz!""When I put the last kid through college.""When I have paid off the debt!" "When I get a promotion.""When I reach the age of rement, I shall live happily ever after!"

Sooner or later, we must realize there is no station, no one place to arrive at once and for all. The true joy of life is the trip. The station is only a dream.It constantly outdistances us.

"Relish(appreciate) the moment" is a good motto,  actually it isn’t the burdens of today that drive man mad. It is the regret over yesterday and the fear of tomorrow. Regret and fear are twin thieves who rob us of today.

So stop pacing the aisles and counting the miles. Instead, climb more mountains, eat more ice cream, swim more rivers,  watch more sunsets, laugh more and cry less. Life must be lived as we go along. Then the station will come soon enough.

1.

Why does the author describe the mental picture?

     A. To lead us into a perfect world.     B. To let people enjoy the scenery.

     C. To introduce an actual trip of his.   D. To compare it to our life’s journey.

2.

 How do people feel when they’re on their trip?

     A. Puzzled.    B. Happy.    C. Relaxed.      D. Impatient.

3.

 What does the author mean by "Regret and fear are twin thieves who rob us of

today" in Line 2 Paragraph 5?

   A. Regret and fear are responsible for the loss of today.

   B. We must be careful of the two thieves: regret and fear.

   C. Regret and fear stop us from enjoying our present life.

   D. We’re frequently challenged by the two: regret and fear.

4.

Why does the author write the passage?

A. To teach us a good lesson.       

B. To tell us the right attitude to life.

C. To advise us to forget our worries.

D. To stop us wandering along the aisles.

Thanks a Million, Dad
I was born disabled．A difficult birth, feet first, my head stuck．By my first birthday, I couldn't stand or walk．
When I was three, the doctor told dad I had cerebral palsy （脑瘫）．A loss of oxygen to my brain had destroyed brain signals to the right side of my body．
But no son of my dad' s was going to be disabled．Every morning before breakfast and every evening before bed, my dad placed me on the bedroom floor to exercise my right leg．The muscles were shrunk and twisted together．Back and forth up and down, my dad pushed and pulled the muscles into shape．
But my dad' s exercise of passion didn't stop there．For my 13th birthday, he threw me a special party．When everybody was gone, he brought me to open a large box, it was a-set of boxing gloves．We put them on．My dad kept on beating me mercilessly．Each time I tried to get up, leather kissed my nose, eyes and jaw．I "begged him to stop. He said he beat me to get me ready for the tough world.
That same year, I was the only kid in my neighborhood that wasn't picked for Little League. Two weeks later．Dad started the Shedd Park Minor League, and every kid played．Dad coached us and made me a pitcher （棒球投手）．
The power of my dad' s love guaranteed I walked and more．In high school, I became a football star．
In 1997, a brain surgeon in San Jose told me I didn’t t have cerebral palsy after all．He explained how and where the doctor' s forceps （镊子） at birth had damaged my brain.
My dad never knew the whole truth since he passed away years ago．But all that counts is the bottom line．After all his madness, on this Father' s Day, like every Father' s Day, I' m no longer disabled．
【小题1】What caused the author' s disability?

第三部分  阅读理解（共20小题;每小题2分，满分40分）

阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。

Christopher Thomas, 27, was a writer by night and a teacher by day when he noticed he was always tired and was losing weight fast. Diagnosed with diabetes(糖尿病), Thomas would need to inject himself with insulin(胰岛素) three times a day for the rest of his life or risk nerve damage, blindness, and even death. And if that weren't bad enough, he had no health insurance.

After a month of feeling upset, Thomas decided he'd better find a way to fight back. He left Canton, Michigan for New York, got a job waiting tables, nicknamed himself the Diabetic Rockstar , and created diabeticrockstar.com, a free online community for diabetics and their loved ones—a place where over 1,100 people share personal stories, information, and resources.

    Jason Swencki’s son, Kody, was diagnosed with type diabetes at six. Father and son visit the online children's forums(论坛) together most evenings. "Kody gets so excited, writing to kids from all over," says Swencki, one of the site's volunteers. "They know what he's going through, so he doesn't feel alone."

Kody is anything but alone: Diabetes is now the seventh leading cause of death in the United States, with 24 million diagnosed cases. And more people are being diagnosed at younger ages.

    These days, Thomas's main focus is his charity（慈善机构）, Fight It, which provides medicines and supplies to people—225 to date—who can't afford a diabetic's huge expenses. Fight-it.org has raised about $23,000—in products and in cash. In May, Thomas will hold the first annual Diabetic Rockstar Festival in the Caribbean.

    Even with a staff of 22 volunteers, Thomas often devotes up to 50 hours a week to his cause, while still doing his full-time job waiting tables. "Of the diabetes charities out there, most are putting money into finding a cure," says Bentley Gubar,  one of Rockstar's original members. "But Christopher is the only person I know saying people need help now."

1. Which of the following is true of Christopher Thomas?

He needs to go to the doctor every day.

He studies the leading cause of diabetes

He has a positive attitude to this disease.

He encourages diabetics by writing articles.

2. Diabeitcrockstar.com was created for _________.

   A. diabetics to communicate          B. volunteers to find jobs

   C. children to amuse themselves       D. rock stars to share resources.

3. According to the text, Kody ______.

A. feel lonely because of his illness

B. benefits from diabeticrockstar.com

C. helps create the online kid’s forums

D. writes children’s stories online

4. What can we learn about Fight It?

A. It helps the diabetics in financial difficulties.

B. It organizes parties for volunteer once a year.

C. It offers less expensive medicine to diabetics.

D. It owns a well-known medical website.

5. The last paragraph suggests that Thomas ______.

A. works full-time in a diabetes charity      B. employs 22 people for his website

C. helps diabetics in his own way           D. ties to find a cure for diabetes