My friend Karen and I were always together. Karen was only a few months older than I. I always thought she was so beautiful, with long hair and blue eyes. I loved Karen so much because she liked me for being the way I was. I could be myself and share my secrets with her and I never felt like I was being judged.

We had so much fun and were really quite silly. One time I asked my mom to make us the same dresses so we could pretend we were twins.

We continued as best friends throughout grade school. One day, Karen was going to another friend’s place and asked me to come along, but I couldn’t go because I had a babysitting job that afternoon. We walked together to the Becker’s home where I was to babysit and then she continued on her way without me. We had agreed that I would meet her at the corner when she returned and I finished my job.

At four o’clock I rushed to the corner so I wouldn’t be late for meeting Karen. Just as I arrived at the corner, I saw Karen crossing the street. In a second it happened. I saw Karen’s body fly up in the sky. A car had hit her！

Karen was on life support for a week before it was decided that they would allow her to go in peace. Karen’s parents wanted to donate her organs(器官)to the hospital, but there was nothing left healthy enough to be used because she was hit so hard.

I have never got so close to another person since Karen died. I do miss her! Do you cherish(珍惜)your friends? If you don’t, please do, as you may lose them one day.

1.What’s the best title for the passage?

2.When Karen was hit by a car, she was            .

3.Why were Karen’s organs unable to be donated?

4.What does the writer suggest we do?

I met him first in 1936. I rushed into his ugly little shop to have the heels of my shoes repaired. I waited when he did it. He greeted me with a cheerful smile. “You’re new in this neighborbood, aren’t you?”

    I said I was. I had moved into a house at the end of the street only a week before.

    “This is a fine neighborhood,” he said. “You’ll be happy here.” He looked at the leather covering the heel sadly. It was worn through because I had failed to have the repair done a month before. I grew impatient, for I was rushing to meet a friend. “Please hurry,” I begged.

    He looked at me over his spectacles. “Now, lady, we won’t be long. I want to do a good job. You see, I have a tradition to live up to.”

    A tradition? In this ugly little shop that was no different from so many other shoe repair shops on the side streets of New York?

    He must have felt my surprise, for he smiled as he went on. “Yes, lady, I inherited a tradition. My father and my grandfather were shoemakers in Italy, and they were the best. My father always told me, ‘Son, do the best job on every shoe that comes into the shop, and be proud of your fine work. Do that always, and you’ll have both happiness and money enough to live on.’”

    As he handed me the finished shoes, he said: “These will last a long time. I’ve used good leather.”

    I left in a hurry. But I had a warm and grateful feeling. On my way home I passed the little shop again. There he was, still working. He saw me, and to my surprise he waved and smiled. This was the beginning of our friendship. It was a friendship that came to mean more and more to me as time passed.

    Every day I passed his shop, we waved to each other in friendly greeting. At first I went in only when I had repair work to be done. Then I found myself going in every few days just to talk with him.

    He was the happiest man I’ve ever known. Often, as he stood in his shopwindow, working at a pair of shoes, he sang in a high, clear Italian voice. The Italians in our neighborhood called him la luce alla finestra—“the light in the window”.

    One day I was disappointed and angry because of poor jobs some painters had done for me. I went into his shop for comfort. He let me go on talking angrily about the poor work and carelessness of present-day workmen. “They had no pride in their work,” I said. “They just wanted to collect their money for doing nothing.”

    He agreed. “There’s a lot of that kind around, but maybe we should not blame them. Maybe their fathers had no pride in their work. That’s hard on a boy. It keeps him from learning something important.” He waited a minute and said “Every man or woman who hasn’t inherited a prideful tradition must start building one.”

    “In this country, our freedom lets each of us make his own contribution. We must make it a good contribution. No matter what sort of work a man does, if he gives it his best each day, he’s starting a tradition for his children to live up to. And he is making lots of happiness for himself.”

    I went to Europe for a few months. When I returned, there was no “light in the window”. The door was closed. There was a little sign: “Call for shoes at shop next door.” I learned the old man had suddenly got sick and died two weeks before

    I went away with a heavy heart. I would miss him. But he had left me something—an important piece of wisdom I shall always remember: “If you inherited a prideful tradition, you must carry it on; if you haven’t, start building one now.”                                            

1.The shoemaker looked sadly at the shoes because __________

A. they were of poor quality.

B. he didn’t have the right kind of leather

C. he thought they were too worn to be repaired

D. the author hadn’t taken good care of them.

2.The author was surprised when she heard that the shop had a tradition because the shop ________.

A. looked no different from other shoe repair shops        

B. had a light in the window

C. was at the end of a street

D. was quite an ugly and dirty one

3.What does the underlined word “inherit” mean in paragraph 6 mean?

A. develop                             B. receive                           C. learn                                  D. appreciate

4.The author later frequently went into the little shop __________.

A. to repair her worn shoes

B. only to chat with the shoemaker

C. to look at the new shoes there

D. only to get comfort from the shoemaker

5.Why was the shoemaker called “the light in the window” by his neighbors?

A. Because he always worked late at night.

B. Because he always put a light in the window.

C. Because he was always guiding the others.

D. Because he was always happy and cheerful.

6.What’s the best title of this passage?

A. A Proud Shoemaker                                                     B. A Prideful Tradition

C. The Light in the Window                                             D. Treasure Your Shoes

My friend Karen and I were always together. Karen was only a few months older than I. I always thought she was so beautiful, with long hair and blue eyes. I loved Karen so much because she liked me for being the way I was. I could be myself and share my secrets with her and I never felt like I was being judged.
We had so much fun and were really quite silly. One time I asked my mom to make us the same dresses so we could pretend we were twins.
We continued as best friends throughout grade school. One day, Karen was going to another friend’s place and asked me to come along, but I couldn’t go because I had a babysitting job that afternoon. We walked together to the Becker’s home where I was to babysit and then she continued on her way without me. We had agreed that I would meet her at the corner when she returned and I finished my job.
At four o’clock I rushed to the corner so I wouldn’t be late for meeting Karen. Just as I arrived at the corner, I saw Karen crossing the street. In a second it happened. I saw Karen’s body fly up in the sky. A car had hit her！
Karen was on life support for a week before it was decided that they would allow her to go in peace. Karen’s parents wanted to donate her organs(器官)to the hospital, but there was nothing left healthy enough to be used because she was hit so hard.
I have never got so close to another person since Karen died. I do miss her! Do you cherish(珍惜)your friends? If you don’t, please do, as you may lose them one day.
【小题1】What’s the best title for the passage?

I lost my sight when I was four years old by falling off a car and landing on my head. Now I am thirty-two. I can vaguely remember the brightness of _____ and what color red is. It would be _____ to see again, but a (n) ____ can do strange things to people. I don’t mean I would ____ to go without my eyes. I simply mean that the loss of them made me appreciate more what I had ____.                                                

My parents and my teachers saw something in me ----- a ____ to live ---- which I didn’t see, and they made me want to fight in out with ___.

The ____ lesson I had to learn was to believe in myself. I am not talking about simply the kind of ____ that helps me down so unfamiliar staircase alone. I _____ something bigger than that: a confidence that I am, despite being ____, a real, positive person; that there is a special place where I can make myself fit.

It took me years to discover and strengthen this confidence. It had to start with the easy and simple things. _____ a man gave me an indoor baseball. I thought he was laughing at me and I was ____. “I can’t use this,” I said. “Take with you,” he urged me, “and roll it around.” The words _____ in my head. “Roll it around!” By rolling the ball I could ____ where it went. This gave me an idea how to achieve a goal I had thought ___ before; playing baseball. At Philadelphia’s Overbrook School for the Blind I ___ a successful variation of baseball. We called it ground ball.

I have set ahead of me a series of goals and then tried to reach them, one at a time. I had to be clear about my  ___. It was no good crying for something that I knew at the start was ____ out of reach because that only invited bitterness of failure. I would fail something anyway, _____ on the average I made progress.

1.A. sky     B. cloud   C. sunshine        D. mist

2.A. helpful       B. wonderful     C. hopeful          D. successful

3.A. disaster      B. environment          C. incident         D. wonder

4.A. manage     B. try         C. want     D. prefer

5.A. lost   B. left        C. used     D. cared

6.A. purpose     B. potential       C. pressure       D. preparation

7.A. energy       B. happiness      C. luck       D. blindness

8.A. hardest      B. dullest           C. simplest         D. easiest

9.A. self-respect    B. self-control         C. self-confidence         D. self-defence

10.A. think        B. consider       C. guess    D. mean

11.A. imperfect         B. perfect C. unfair    D. fair

12.A. Later       B. Soon    C. Once     D. Then

13.A. worried B. encouraged          C. shocked        D. hurt

14.A. stuck       B. impressed    C. occupied      D. held

15.A. see          B. hear     C. notice D. observe

16.A. important        B. unimportant          C. possible        D. impossible

17.A. invented          B. discovered   C. instructed    D. directed

18.A. experience     B. advantages    C. knowledge    D. limitation

19.A. hardly      B. wildly    C. highly    D. deeply

20.A. so   B. for        C. but       D. and

My friend Karen and I were always together.Karen was  only a few months older than I．I always thought she was so beautiful，with long hair and blue eyes.I loved Karen so much because she liked me for being the way I was.I could be myself and share my secrets with her and I never felt like I was being judged.

We had so much fun and were really quite silly.One time I asked my mom to make us the same dresses so we could pretend we were twins.

We continued as best friends throughout grade school.One day，Karen was going to another friend’s place and asked me to come along，but I couldn’t go because I had a babysitting job that afternoon.We walked together to the Becker’s home where I was to babysit and then she continued on her way without me.We had agreed that I would meet her at the corner when she returned and I finished my job.

At four o’clock I rushed to the corner so I wouldn’t be late for meeting Karen.Just as I arrived at the corner，I saw Karen crossing the street.In a second it happened.I  saw Karen’s body fly up in the sky.A car had hit her!

Karen was on life support for a week before it was decided that they would allow her to go in peace.Karen’s parents wanted to donate her organs (器官) to the hospital，but there was nothing left healthy enough to be used because she was hit so hard.

I have never got so close to another person since Karen died.I do miss her！Do you cherish (珍惜) your friends？If you don’t，please do，as you may lose them one day.

71．What’s the best title for the passage?

 A．A horrible car accident.

 B．An unforgettable experience.

C．My dearest friend—Karen.

 D．An unforgettable girl.

72．The writer likes Karen mainly because________.

A．Karen was beautiful

 B．Karen looked like her

C．Karen was kind

D．Karen loved her for who she was

73．When Karen was hit by a car，she was________.

A．on her way to a friend’s place

B．on her way to the Becker’s home

C．shouting to the writer who was so far from her

D．heading to the corner where she and the writer would meet

74．Why were Karen’s organs unable to be donated?

A．Because her parents refused to do that.

B．Because all of her organs were seriously damaged.

C．Because the doctors thought it was too cruel.

D．Because no patients needed organs in the hospital then.

75．What does the writer suggest we do?

A．Cherish our friends.

B．Accept the fact that people die.

C．Be careful when crossing the street.

D．Never be too close with someone.