Sandra Cisneros was born in Chicago in 1954 to a Mexican American family. As the only girl in a family of seven children, she often felt like she had “seven fathers,” because her six brothers, as well as her father, tried to control her. Feeling shy and unimportant, she retreated(躲避) into books. Despite her love of reading, she did not do well in elementary school because she was too shy to participate.

In high school, with the encouragement of one particular teacher, Cisneros improved her grades and worked for the school literary magazine. Her father encouraged her to go to college because he thought it would be a good way for her to find a husband. Cisneros did attend college, but instead of searching for a husband, she found a teacher who helped her join the famous graduate writing program at the University of Iowa. At the university’s Writers’ Workshop, however, she felt lonely----a Mexican American from a poor neighborhood among students from wealthy families. The feeling of being so different helped Cisneros find her “Creative voice.”

“It was not until this moment when I considered myself truly different that my writing acquired a voice. I knew I was a Mexican woman, but I didn’t think it had anything to do with why I felt so much imbalance in my life, but it had everything to do with it! That’s when I decided I would write about something my classmates couldn’t write about.”

Cisneros published her first work, The House on Mango Street, when she was twenty-nine. The book tells about a young Mexican American girl growing up in a Spanish-speaking area in Chicago, much like the neighborhoods in which Cisneros lived as a child. The book won an award in 1985 and has been used in classes from high school through graduate school level. Since then, Cisneros has published several books of poetry, a children’s book, and a short-story collection.

1.Which of the following is TRUE about Cisneros in her childhood?

A．She had seven brothers.                  B．She felt herself a nobody.

C．She was too shy to go to school.            D．She did not have any good teachers.

2.The graduate program gave Cisneros a chance to _____.

A．work for a school magazine                B．run away from her family

C．make a lot of friends                     D．develop her writing style

3.According to Cisneros, what played the decisive role in her success?

A．Her early years in college.                 B．Her training in the Workshop.

C．Her feeling of being different.              D．Her childhood experience.

4.What do we learn about The House on Mango Street?

A．It is quite popular among students.

B．It is the only book ever written by Cisneros.

C．It wasn’t success as it was written in Spanish.

D．It won an award when Cisneros was twenty-nine.

—Brain, did you have a good time during the holiday?

— ______. I had to do homework most of the time.

A. No doubt                         B. Why not                           C. Forget it                           D. Not really

Mark was walking home from school one day when he noticed that the boy ahead of him had tripped and dropped all the books he was carrying, along with two sweaters, a baseball bat, a glove and a small tape recorder. Mark knelt down and helped the boy pick up the scattered articles. Since they were going the same way, he helped to carry part of the burden. As they walked, Mark discovered the boy’s name was Bill, that he loved video games, baseball and history that he was having a lot of trouble with his other subjects and that he had just broken up with his girlfriend.

Mark went home after leaving Bill at his house. They continued to see each other around school, had lunch together once or twice, and then both graduated from junior high school. They ended up in the same high school, where they had brief contacts over the years. Finally the long-awaited senior year came. Three weeks before graduation, Bill asked Mark if they could talk.

Bill reminded him of the day years ago when they had first met. “Do you ever wonder why I was carrying so many things home that day?” asked Bill. “You see, I cleaned out my locker because I didn’t want to leave a mess for anyone else. I had stored away some of my mother’s sleeping pills and I was going home to commit suicide(自杀). But after we spent some time together talking and laughing, I realized that if I had killed myself, I would have missed that time and so many others that might follow. So you see, Mark, when you picked up my books that day, you did a lot more. You saved my life.”

1.What happened to Bill on his way home from school?

A．Bill almost killed himself.

B．Bill was caught on something and almost fell down.

C．Bill was sleepy from the sleeping pills.

D．Bill noticed Mark following him home.

2.After Bill got home,           .

A．he missed his friend Mark very much

B．he decided to break up with his girlfriend

C．he intended to kill himself immediately

D．he thought of the friendliness of Mark

3.Mark saved Bill from committing suicide by          .

A．helping Bill pick up the fallen books on the ground

B．saying something comfortable and friendly to Bill

C．persuading Bill not to leave a mess for other people

D．being friendly to Bill in trouble

4.Bill cleared his locker in order to           .

A．store away some of his mother’s sleeping pills

B．prepare for the next school year of high school

C．leave the world without troubling others

D．help his mother do some housework the last time

– Shall we invite Jim and his sister to our party?

– ______. They’ll have fun with us, I think.

A．No way!                              B．Why not?

C．Good for you!                          D．What for?

There was a boy in India who was sent by his parents to a boarding school. Before being sent away this boy was the brightest student in his class. He was at the top in every competition. He was a champion.

But the boy changed after leaving home and attending the boarding school. His grades started dropping. He hated being in a group. He was lonely all the time. And there were especially dark times when he felt like killing himself. All of this was because he felt worthless and that no one loved him.

His parents started worrying about the boy. But even they did not know what was wrong with him. So his dad decided to travel to the boarding school and talk with him.

They sat on the bank of the lake near the school. The father started asking him casual questions about his classes, teachers and sports. After some time his dad said, “Do you know son, why I am here today?”

The boy answered back, “to check my grades?”

“No, no” his dad replied, “I am here to tell you that you are the most important person for me. I want to see you happy. I don’t care about grades. I care about you. I care about your happiness. YOU ARE MY LIFE.”

These words caused the boy’s eyes to fill with tears. He hugged his dad. They didn’t say anything to each other for a long time.

Now the boy had everything he wanted. He knew there was someone on this earth who cared for him deeply. He meant the world to someone. And today this young man is in college at the top of his class and no one has ever seen him sad!

Thanks a lot, dad. YOU ARE MY LIFE.

1.The boy changed after he went to the boarding school because________.

A．his grades were not as good as before       B．his classmates didn’t like him

C．his father seldom went to see him           D．he felt no one cared about him

2.The father went to the boarding school to_________.

A．know if he was still the best student

B．find out what was wrong with his son

C．ask some questions about his classmates

D．talk with the boy’s teacher about his grades

3.The underlined word “ casual” in Paragraph 4 means _______.

A．unimportant       B．strange           C．special            D．difficult

4.The passage mainly tells us never to _________.

A．send a small boy to a boarding school

B．care too much about a student’s grades

C．pay no attention to the power of caring

D．miss the chance to say thanks to our fathers