I was shopping in the supermarket when I heard a young voice.

“Mom, come here! There’s this lady here my size!”

The mother rushed to her son; then she turned to me to apologize.

I smiled and told her, “It’s okay.” Then I talked to the boy, “Hi, I’m Darryl Kramer. How are you?”

He studied me from head to toe, and asked, “Are you a little mommy?”

“Yes, I have a son,” I answered.

“Why are you so little?” he asked.

“It’s the way I was born,” I said. “Some people are little. Some are tall. I’m just not going to grow any bigger.” After I answered his other questions, I shook the boy’s hand, and left.

My life as a little person is filled with stories like that. I enjoy talking to children and explaining why I look different from their parents.

It takes only one glance to see my uniqueness. I stand three feet nine inches tall. I was born an achondroplasia dwarf. Despite this, I did all the things other kids did when I was growing up.

I didn’t realize how short I was until I started school. Some kids picked on me, calling me names. Then I knew. I began to hate the first day of school each year. New students would always stare at me as I struggled to climb the school bus stairs.

But I learned to smile and accept the fact that I was going to be noticed my whole life. I decided to make my uniqueness an advantage rather than a disadvantage. What I lacked in height, I made up for in personality.

I’m 47 now, and the stares have not diminished as I’ve grown older. People are amazed when they see me driving. I try to keep a good attitude. When people are rude, I remind myself, “Look what else I have — a great family, nice friends.”

It’s the children’s questions that make my life special. I enjoy answering their questions. My hope is that I will encourage them to accept their peers (a person of the same age, class, position, etc.), whatever size and shape they come in, and treat them with respect.

1... Why did the mother apologize to the author?

   A. Because the boy ran into the author.

   B. Because the boy laughed at the author.

   C. Because the boy said the author was fatter than him.

   D. Because she thought the boy’s words had hurt the author.

2..  When did the author realize that she was too short?

   A. When she began to go to school.       B. When she was 47 years old.

   C. When she grew up.             D. When she met the boy in the supermarket.

3..  Which of the following word can best replace the underlined word “diminished”?

   A. dismissed       B. increased       C. decreased      D. discriminated

4.. How does the author feel about people’s stares?

   A. Angry.         B. Calm.          C. Painful.        D. Discouraged.

That day I was later for school, so Mom offered me a   36 . I sat beside her in our car, daydreaming about my  37 . I’d be graduating from high school in a few months. I’d leave high school behind and do whatever I wanted. What  38 I do? Go to college? Or get a job in an office where I could  39 my way up?

Mom interrupted my thoughts.“Kassandra, do you  40  that?’’She asked just as we were  41  the railroad tracks. She stopped the car on the other side and   42  the window. “It looks like a child.’’  43 ,I saw a small boy walking by himeself. The warning lights on the train tracks flashed  44 .The boy stayed where he was right in the middle of the   45 .The whistle sounded. There’s no  46  that train can stop in time!The boy jumped up and down and   47  at the engineer.

I took off running. My shoes flopped(松动) against my feet as I   48 , so I kicked them off. I ran faster. Stones crunched(发出刺耳的碎裂声) and flew under my   49  feet. The ground shook. God, let me get to him! The train was almost on top of him. I   50 the boy in my arms. Keep running! But something   51  

me. I fell backward, away from the train. I pulled the boy with me onto safe ground. The train barreled(高速行驶)past. The noise was  52 . The wheels were so close that I could have reached out and touched one.

Once the train was out of  53 , I stood up. Mom ran up and hugged me. “Kassandra, I didn’t think you were going to  54 it !’’

I got ready for bed that night  55 looking forward to school the next day. I wanted to enjoy every moment in life.

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请根据汉语意思及首字母将单词的完整形式写在答题卡对应题号的横线上。

1.Since 1978, China has a _____(成就) glorious improvement.

2.He saw the boy in danger and i__________ (立即) ran up to him.

3.It’s easy to find lots of useful i_____ (信息)online now in our school.  

4.The n_____(正常) price for a ticket is 40 yuan but during holidays, it may be doubled.

5.The injured person was taken to hospital in time for t________(治疗).

6.He has made good progress this term because of his teacher’s e_____ (鼓励).  

7.Scientific experiments call for endless p_____ (耐心) and carefulness.

8.The number of tigers has greatly r_____ (减少) in the past fifty years.

9.He was such a brave man that we all r_____ (尊敬) him.

10.John has a_____ (承认) breaking the window.

Scott Langteau has this message for kids：spend less time playing video games.

It’s a message that many a mom and dad have tried to impress upon many a youngster (and some not?so?youngsters) who spend perhaps a bit too much time with game controllers in hand.

But the 40?year?old Langteau isn’t a parent.He’s a veteran (老手) of the video game industry—one who played producer on three “Medal of Honor” games and cofounded his own game development company.

Langteau has just published a children’s books called Sofa Boy，which tells the story of a kid who spends too much time sitting on the couch with controller clutched in hand and the rather terrible consequences that follow.

It’s a fairy tale plucked straight from Langteau’s own experiences as a lad with a fondness for video games and his own bouts with a bit of game addiction.But first，Langteau would like to make one thing clear，“I’m not saying that you shouldn’t play video games.I think video games are great.I think they do great things for kids.”Instead，Langteau says his book is all about a little something called moderation (克制)．

“It’s about being well rounded，” he says.“Just like with anything else，we all need to make sure that there’s a variety in what we do.”

Video gamers can be rather bad?tempered when it comes to accepting criticism about their favorite entertainment.And understandably so.After all，most people who go around talking about the dangers of playing video games tend to be outsiders—people who don’t play video games and certainly don’t understand that they can be a valuable and healthy form of entertainment.

But Langteau and Sofa Boy seem to be in a? unique position to deliver a message of gaming moderation that the young game masses might actually listen to.After all，this is a man who understands what it means to be a kid with a passion for games.His early experience has taught him a lesson.

1. Scott Langteau published Sofa Boy to________.

A．share his great skills on games

B．warn kids against game addiction

C．tell about his fairy tale as a kid

D．deliver a message for video games

2. Which of the following is TRUE about Sofa Boy?

A．The book implies the writer’s own story.

B．The book describes a veteran of games.

C．The boy in the book wins a medal in games.

D．The boy in the book is not a video game addict.

3. We can learn from the passage that________.

A．Langteau advises the young to play games within limits

B．Langteau advises the young not to play games

C．playing video games ruins the future of kids

D．playing video games doesn’t benefit kids

4.By saying “It’s about being well rounded，...” (in Para.6)，Langteau means________.

A．games do great good to kids

B．gamers are usually fat and round

C．games should be viewed from all sides

D．gamers are to blame for their behaviors

短文改错。