It was the end of the school term and my son Tom had less than three months left before he would finish his six years at high school. During this time he had developed a love for basketball. Sadly, because of my work over the last twelve months, I had only been able to attend a few of his games; however, I was determined to get to his last game for the school term.

Tom’s team came out in the first 10 minutes with a burst of goals that saw them leading by just over 20 points at the end of the first half. The second half changed as the other team quickly played themselves back into the game. Tom’s team started to miss an increasing number of shots. It was at that point that the coach called his first time out.

The noise of the spectators (观众) became quiet as the coach spoke to them. He had the team standing in a half circle, but he squatted (蹲) down, looking up at them and fiving some very calm and clear instructions on what they needed to do in the last couple of minutes. As he stood up to allow the team to return to the court, I saw him give some further words of encouragement to all of them.

You could see that he knew that the team was fighting to save the game and that he needed to lift them up. By squatting down he placed himself in a position where he was talking up to them, rather than down or at them, and as the players went back onto the court his words of encouragement served to lift their energy and spirits.

Well, Tom’s team went on to win the final by 5 points. As I drove away I thought about what can happen to us all in our everyday life. One of my favourite quotes is about the half filled glass of water --- “Is it half full or is it half empty?” Like the coach, the answer to this quote all depends on how you look at things.

1.Why did the writer come to see his son play basketball?

A. Because his son would graduate from high school.

B. Because he felt sorry for never watching his son play.

C. Because it was a final his son played a key role in.

D. Because he had a strong interest in basketball himself.

2.By squatting down, the coach wanted to _____ .

A. talk about what the players were doing wrong

B. make the players feel better

C. prevent spectators from hearing what he said

D. show his anger at the bad performance of the players

3.What is the writer’s attitude towards the coach?

A. Negative.   B. Supportive.   C. Interested.   D. Unconcerned.

4.What can we infer from the passage?

A. A father should care about his son at school.

B. Playing hard is rewarded with a close match.

C. What a coach says has the most influence on players.

D. Looking at things positively is important in hard times.

Even at school there had been an unhealthy competition between George and Richard.
“I’ll be the first millionaire in Coleford!” Richard used to boast.
“And you’ll be sorry that you knew me,” George would reply “because I’ll surely be the best lawyer in our town!”
After graduation, George never became a lawyer and Richard was anybody but a millionaire …. Instead, it happened that both men opened bookshops on opposite sides of Coleford High Street, while it was hard to make much money from books then, which made the competition between them worse. Eventually, Richard closed down his, dreaming of making a fortune elsewhere. 
Now, with only one bookshop in the town, business was better for George. But sometimes he sat in his narrow old kitchen and gazed out of the dirty window, thinking about his former rival (竞争对手)。Perhaps he missed him? zxxk
George was very interested in old dictionaries, and he had recently found a collector in Australia who was selling a rare first edition. When the parcel arrived, the book was in perfect condition and George was quite delighted. But while he was having lunch, George glanced at the photo in the newspaper that the book had been wrapped in. He was astonished — the smiling face was older than he remembered but unmistakable! Trembling, George started reading: “Bookends Company has bought ten bookstores from its competitors. The company, owned by multi-millionaire Richard Pike, is now the largest bookseller in this country.”
【小题1】George and Richard were        at school.

I suppose that the most basic and powerful way to connect to another person is to listen. Just listen. Perhaps the most important thing we ever give each other is our attention. And especially if it’s given from the heart. When people are talking, there’s no need to do anything but receive them. Listen to what they’re saying. Care about it. Most times caring about it is even more important than understanding it. Most of us don’t value ourselves or our love enough to know this. It has taken me a long time to believe in the power of simple saying “I’m so sorry,” when someone is in pain.

One of my patients told me that when she tried to tell her story people often interrupted to tell her that they once had something just like that happening to them. Her pain became a story about them. Eventually, she stopped talking to most people. We connect through listening. When we interrupt what someone is saying to let them know that we understand, we move the focus of attention to ourselves. When we listen, they know we care.

I have even learned to respond to someone crying by just listening. In the old days I used to reach for the handkerchiefs, until I realized that passing a person a handkerchief may be just another way to shut him down, to take them out of their experience of sadness. Now I just listen. When they have cried all they need to cry, they find me there with them.

This simple thing has not been that easy to learn. It certainly went against everything I had been taught since I was very young. I thought people listened only because they were too shy to speak or did not know the answer. But now I know that a loving silence often has far more power to heal than the kindest words.

1.What does the author value most in the communication with each other?

A．Deep understanding                     B．Saying “I’m Sorry”.

C．Attention from heart.                    D．Doing nothing.

2.The woman patient stopped telling her story to most people because ______.

A．She didn’t get enough respect from others

B．she was discouraged by being often interrupted

C．people often told her their own opinions

D．people couldn’t understand her sad situation

3. If you hand a handkerchief to someone crying, you may ______.

A．hurt his feelings                        B．make him embarrassed

C．encourage him to continue to cry           D．stop him from letting out his sorrow

4. It can be inferred from the passage that while communicating, ______.

A．listening is a perfect way to respond to others

B．people keep silent because they don’t know the answer

C．keeping silent means being too shy to speak

D．it is easy to form the habit of listening silently

Dear Mr. Barton,

I am writing for the residents’ association (业主协会) to inform you of our feelings about your act. We’ve really had enough of you. Although we have tried to speak to you politely on several occasions, you have always answered with a stream of verbal abuse(辱骂).

Ever since you moved in three months ago, you have shown very little consideration for the other residents of this building, though many residents expressed their unhappiness with you. For the past six weekends, you have held very noisy parties, which have not finished until early the next morning. As you know, most of the people here are elderly or have very young children, and the noise keeps them awake all night. You don’t have to be so noisy, do you? Last weekend the situation deteriorated when two of your friends fought with each other on the first floor. The fighting was so bad that the police had to be called. What’s more, your friends left the stairs in a terrible state --- they even broke two windows on their way out! We feel that we can’t bear this type of act.

We strongly demand that you pay for this damage to the window soon. If you don’t and you carry on being a nuisance(令人讨厌的人或物). We will kick you out! Legal steps will be taken if necessary.

Yours sincerely

1.What does the writer feel?

A. Excited      B. Surprised            C. Angry         D. Happy

2.What does the word “deteriorated” mean?

A. Changed     B. Improved        C. Moved       D. Worsened

3.What is the main purpose of the letter?

A. To ask Mr. Barton to leave the building for the peace.

B. To inform Mr. Barton of the noise he made.

C. To talk about what Mr. Barton did.       

D. To give a warning to Mr. Barton.

4.Why were the police called?

A. Because Mr. Barton broke two windows.

B. Because Mr. Barton made too much noise.

C. Because Mr. Barton’s friends fought.     

D. Because Mr. Barton beat a child and an old man.

5.Which is true according to the letter?

A. Mr. Barton paid no attention to the others’ unhappiness.  

B. Mr. Barton replied to the others’ unhappiness

C. Mr. Barton always said sorry to those unhappy with him.     

D. Mr. Barton never apologized to the other residents.

短文改错（共10小题；每小题1分，满分10分）
Dear friends,
I’m awfully sorry to hear that a horrible but severe earthquake unexpected hit your hometown. Facing the rarely-seen disaster, we remain so calm and strong –willed that we are all moved to tear. A friend in need is a friend indeed. Think about your present situation, we can wait a minute to make every bit of effort to help you. I, as a chairman of the Students’ Union, on behalf of all my schoolmates, express our most sincerely pity and care for you. Besides, we have made donation of 120,000 yuan to you, expecting that it can help you go through the difficult. A better hometown can rebuilt. Remember we won’t be far away when you need any help.