Bertie knew there was something in the wind. His mother had been sad in recent days, not sick, just strangely sad. The lion had just lain down beside him, his head warm on Bertie's feet when Father cleared his throat and began," You'll soon be eight, Bertie. A boy needs a proper education. We've found the right place for you, a school near Salisbury in England."
His heart filled with a terrible fear, all Bertie could think of was his white lion. "But the lion," he cried, "What about the lion?"
"I'm afraid there's something else I have to tell you," his father said. Looking across at Bertie's mother, he took a deep breath. Then he told Bertie he had met a circus(马戏团) owner from France, who was over in Africa looking for lions to buy. He would come to their farm in a few days.
"No! You can't send him to a circus!" said Bertie. "People will come to see him. He'll be shut up behind bars. I promised him he never would be. And they will laugh at him. He'd rather die. Any animal would! " But as he looked across the table at them, he knew their minds were quite made up.
Bertie felt completely betrayed. He waited until he heard his father's deep breathing next door. With his white lion at his heels, he crept downstairs in his pyjamas, took down his father's rifle from the rack and stepped out into the night. He ran and ran till his legs could run no more. As the sun came up over the grassland, he climbed to the top of a hill and sat down, his arms round the lion's neck. The time had come.
"Be wild now," he whispered. "You've got to be wild. Don't ever come home. All my life I'll think of you. I promise I will." He buried his head in the lion's neck. Then, Bertie clambered down the hill and walked away.
When he looked back, the lion was still sitting there watching him; but then he stood up, yawned, stretched, and sprang down after him. Bertie shouted at him, but he kept coming. He threw sticks. He threw stones. Nothing worked.
There was only one thing left to do. With tears filling his eyes and his mouth, he lifted the rifle to his shoulder and fired over the lion's head.
【小题1】Bertie's mother was sad probably because she ______.

Scientists have proved that sleeping and learning go hand in hand. Even a short nap can boost our memory and sharpen our thinking. But the relationship goes deeper than that.

“The brain is not passive while you sleep,” scientist Anat Arzi said. “It’s quite active. You can do many things while you are asleep.”

Arzi and her coworkers didn’t try to teach the sleeping volunteers any complex information, like new words or facts. Instead, the scientists taught volunteers to make new connections between smells and sounds.

When we smell something good, like a flower, we take deep breaths. When we smell something bad, we take short breaths. Arzi and her co-workers based their experiment on these reactions.

Once the volunteers fell asleep in the lab, the scientists went to work. They gave them a whiff of something pleasant and meanwhile played a particular musical note. They didn’t wake up, but they heard—and sniffed(吸气) deeply. Then the scientists gave the volunteers a whiff of something terrible and played a different musical note. Again, the volunteers heard and smelled—a short snort this

time—but didn’t wake up. The researchers repeated the experiment.

After just four repetitions, volunteers made a connection between the musical notes and their paired smells. When the scientists played the musical tone that went with good smells, the sleepers breathed deeply. And when the scientists played the musical tone that went with bad smells, the sleepers breathed briefly—despite there being no bad smell.

The next day, the volunteers woke up with the sound-smell connection. They breathed deeply when hearing one tone and cut their breaths short when hearing the other, which must have been unusual for them. Imagine walking down the street and taking a deep breath upon hearing a particular sound!

1.In the study, the volunteers were taught _______. 

A．to become active during sleep

B．to tell the difference between smell

C．to learn new words and scientific facts

D．to make sound-smell connections

2. How did the volunteers react when smelling something nice and hearing musical notes?

A．They took a deep breath.                 B．They had a wonderful dream.

C．They woke up at once.                   D．They took a short breath.

3. When the volunteers woke up the next day, they_______.

A．learned how to play to musical tones

B．forgot what happened during their sleep

C．continued with the sound-smell connection

D．changed their reaction when hearing.

4.The passage mainly tell us______

A．special smells and sounds can improve our memory.

B．our brain can actually learn something new during the sleep.

C．the volunteers will always hear similar sounds in the street.

D．our brain can tell the difference between smells during the sleep.

5.Which of the following is NOT true?

A．A short sleep can improve our memory and sharpen our thinking.

B．Arzi and her coworkers didn’t try to teach the sleeping volunteer some simple information.

C．When the volunteer smelt something terrible, they didn’t wake up.

D．After four repetitions, volunteers made a connection between the musical notes and their pared smells.

I remember my first Christmas party with Grandma．I remember the day when my big sister dropped the bomb: “There is no Santa Claus,” she laughed．“Even dummies know that!”
　　I fled to Grandma because I knew she always told me  21 ．After I told her everything, she said “No Santa Claus? Don’t believe it. Now,  22 your coat, and let’s go.”
　　“Go? Go where?” I asked．
　　“Where” 23  to be the General Store．As we walked through its doors, Grandma   24 me ten dollars．That was a lot in those days．“Take this money and buy something for  25 needs it．I’ll wait for you in the car．”
　　The store seemed big and  26 , full of people hurrying to finish their Christmas shopping．For a few moments I just stood there, 27  , holding that bill, wondering what to buy, and who on earth to buy it for．
　　Suddenly I thought of Bobbie who sat right behind me．I remembered he didn’t have a coat．I fingered the bill with growing  28 ．I would buy Bobbie a coat．
　　“Is this a Christmas present for someone?” the lady behind the   29  asked me kindly, as I laid my ten dollars down
　　“Yes,” I replied shyly．“It’s…for Bobbie.”
　　The nice lady smiled at me．I didn’t get any  30 , but she put the coat in a bag and wished me a Merry Christmas．
　　That evening, Grandma helped me  31  the coat and wrote, “To Bobby, From Santa Claus” on it．Then she  32 me over to Bobbie’s house．
　　Grandma parked down the street from Bobbie’s house, and she and I crept 33 and hid in the  34 ．Then Grandma gave me a sign．“All right, Santa Claus, get going．”
　　I took a deep 35 , dashed for his front door, threw the present down, pounded his doorbell and flew back to the safety．Together we  36 breathlessly in the darkness for the front door to open．Finally it  37 , and there stood Bobbie．
Forty years haven’t dimmed the thrill of those  38 spent shivering, beside my grandma, in Bobbie’s bushes． 39 ,  I realized: Santa was alive and well, and we were  40  his team．

Roberta appeared on the stage. She took a deep breath and began to 16 .  Now she was Portia, a strong –willed 17  in Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice. The theater was filled with people. She was speaking with a power she had never before experienced, the words flowing 18 form her.

19, Roberta had never acted in her life before the audition （选拔试演）. She 20 being in front of other people. She was very 21 at school. She had never thought she was good enough at anything to 22 much attention. She stayed mostly to herself, making 23 friends. She had excellent grades, 24 she always thought that something was missing.

Two weeks before the audition, Robertsa’s mother had heard about it and 25 her to join in.

“I can’t think of anyone else better suited to 26 the part. Remember all the plays you used to act our for us?”

Her mother wouldn’t let the 27 drop. “You’re just a little scared (害怕) . Everyone gets scared. You know you 28 do it. The trick is to look past the 29 to find the love of what you’re doing. ’’

So Roberta had made an appointment (预约) with the head of the Drama Club. She had read the play and found herself excited by the 30 of speaking such rich words. In secret she practiced Portia’s part, 31 the lines by repeating them over and over. It wasn’t hard; she 32 every minute of it. Every time she spoke the words, she had a new 33 of the lines, as if Shakespeare had written Portia on many levels.

On the day of the audition, she 34 two of  Portia’s famous speeches for the auditors. When she had finished, the head of the Drama Club announced the 35 was hers. 

16. A. sing                          B. dance              C. speak                             D. report

17. A. member             B. actress             C. player                            D. character

18. A. weakly               B. rapidly                    C. smoothly                  D. slowly

19. A. At first               B. In fact                     C. After all                         D. In all

20. A. hated                        B. enjoyed                   C. appreciated                     D. regretted

21. A. honest                B. shy                  C. polite                             D. patient  

22. A. avoid                 B. focus                       C. pay                         D. attract

23. A. few                          B. a few                      C. several                           D. many

24. A. or                             B. so                   C. for                          D. but

25. A. forced               B. requested                  C. encouraged              D. reminded

26. A. accept                B. play                        C. offer                       D. learn

27. A. role                   B. matter                     C. interest                   D. grade

28. A. can                           B. must                       C. may                        D. should

29. A. anger                B. pain                        C. sadness                    D. fear

30. A. purpose              B. way                        C. idea.                              D. importance

31. A. memorizing        B. organizing                C. checking                 D. improving

32. A. disliked             B. loved                      C. expected                         D. bore

33. A. consideration      B. description               C. selection                  D. understanding

34. A. practiced            B. planned           C. performed               D. delivered  

35. A. part                          B. play                 C. speech                            D. position  

From the time I was seven, I had a dream of becoming a member of the Students Union. I always
 31  my school leaders for taking responsibility for all of us. So I dreamed of being a leader.
Years flew by, and soon I was able to take part in the elections,  32  I would win. But the reality struck that I hadn’t had a chance. I wasn’t pretty. Girls across the school hardly knew me. I just did not have what it  33  to win a school election. I was depressed.
As I cried in my room that evening, I  34  took a deep breath and decided I wouldn’t stop dreaming. I decided that I would stand for elections again in my final year at school — and I would win.
I recognized that my  35  had a lot of things in their favor. What were the  36  that would work in my favor? I had good grades, and I was friendly and helpful. And my biggest strength was the
 37  I had. I would not allow my plain appearance to hold me  38  from putting my best foot forward. That evening, I began my election plans a whole year ahead of time.
I realized that the girls would have to get to know me and recognize that I had the ability to  39
them. I loved making friends and I liked being helpful,  40  I decided that perhaps I could use these qualities to work to my advantage. In order to learn how to deliver a great election  41 , I also attended a course on effective public speaking.
The day after the election, when the principal announced I won the second highest number of votes, the students  42 . That joy on the faces of all my friends showed me that my victory was also theirs.
Suddenly, I realized that I had  43  much more than I had dreamed of. I had made many new friends and had helped people  44  the way. I had won the  45  and love of my school-mates and they knew me as somebody who would stand by them. I was able to put a smile on their faces and brighten their day.