Bringing a giraffe into the world is a tall order. A baby giraffe is born 10 feet high and usually lands on its back. Within seconds it rolls over its legs under its body. Then the mother giraffe rudely introduces its children to the reality(现实) of life.
In his book, A View from the Zoo, Gary Richmond describes how a new-born giraffe learns its first lesson.
The mother giraffe lowers her head long enough to take a quick look. Then she puts herself directly over her child. She waits for about a minute, and then she does the most unreasonable(不合情理的) thing. She throws her long leg and kicks her baby, so that it’s sent sprawling(四脚朝天).
When it doesn’t get up, the process is repeated again and again. The struggle to rise is important. As the baby giraffe grows tired, the mother kicks it again. Finally, it stands for the first time on its shaky(摇晃的) legs. Then the mother giraffe kicks it off its feet again. Why? She wants it to remember how it got up. In the wild, a baby giraffe must be able to get up as quickly as possible to stay with its group, where there’s safety.
Another writer named Irving Stone understood this. He spent a lifetime studying greatness, writing stories about such men as Michelangelo, Vincent van Gogh, Sigmund Freud, and Charles Darwin.
Stone was once asked if he had found something that runs through the lives of all these great people. He said, “I write about people who sometime in their life have a dream of something. They’re beaten over the head, knocked down and for years they get nowhere. But every time they stand up again. And at the end of their lives they’ve realized some small parts of what they set out(着手) to do .”
【小题1】What does the underlined part “a tall order” in Paragraph 1 mean?

Bringing a giraffe into the world is a tall order. A baby giraffe is born 10 feet high and usually lands on its back. Within seconds it rolls over its legs under its body. Then the mother giraffe rudely introduces its children to the reality of life.
In his book, A View from the Zoo, Gary Richmond describes how a new-born giraffe learns its first lesson.
The mother giraffe lowers her head long enough to take a quick look. Then she puts herself directly over her child. She waits for about a minute, and then she does the most unreasonable thing. She throws her long leg and kicks her baby, so that it’s sent sprawling(四脚朝天).
When it doesn’t get up, the process is repeated again and again. The struggle to rise is important. As the baby giraffe grows tired, the mother kicks it again. Finally, it stands for the first time on its shaky legs. Then the mother giraffe kicks it off its feet again. Why? She wants it to remember how it got up. In the wild, a baby giraffe must be able to get up as quickly as possible to stay with its group, where there’s safety.
Another writer named Irving Stone understood this. He spent a lifetime studying greatness, writing stories about such men as Michelangelo, Vincent van Gogh, Sigmund Freud, and Charles Darwin.
Stone was once asked if he had found something that runs through the lives of all these great people. He said, “I write about people who sometime in their life have a dream of something. They’re beaten over the head, knocked down and for years they get nowhere. But every time they stand up again. And at the end of their lives they’ve realized some small parts of what they set out to do .”
【小题1】What does the underlined part “a tall order” in Paragraph 1 mean?

Bringing a giraffe into the world is a tall order. A baby giraffe is born 10 feet high and usually lands on its back. Within seconds it rolls over its legs under its body. Then the mother giraffe rudely introduces its children to the reality(现实) of life.

In his book, A View from the Zoo, Gary Richmond describes how a new-born giraffe learns its first lesson.

The mother giraffe lowers her head long enough to take a quick look. Then she puts herself directly over her child. She waits for about a minute, and then she does the most unreasonable(不合情理的) thing. She throws her long leg and kicks her baby, so that it’s sent sprawling(四脚朝天).

When it doesn’t get up, the process is repeated again and again. The struggle to rise is important. As the baby giraffe grows tired, the mother kicks it again. Finally, it stands for the first time on its shaky(摇晃的) legs. Then the mother giraffe kicks it off its feet again. Why? She wants it to remember how it got up. In the wild, a baby giraffe must be able to get up as quickly as possible to stay with its group, where there’s safety.

Another writer named Irving Stone understood this. He spent a lifetime studying greatness, writing stories about such men as Michelangelo, Vincent van Gogh, Sigmund Freud, and Charles Darwin.

Stone was once asked if he had found something that runs through the lives of all these great people. He said, “I write about people who sometime in their life have a dream of something. They’re beaten over the head, knocked down and for years they get nowhere. But every time they stand up again. And at the end of their lives they’ve realized some small parts of what they set out(着手) to do .”

1.What does the underlined part “a tall order” in Paragraph 1 mean?

A．A happy thing.                          B．A difficult task.

C．A big dream.                           D．A beautiful scene.

2.What does the book A View from the Zoo talk about?

A．A new-born giraffe’s first lesson.

B．A mother giraffe’s story.

C．The lives of some great people.

D．The way for a giraffe to stand up.

3.Why were some great people mentioned in the passage?

A．Because they all worked hard.

B．Because they all liked to read some special stories.

C．Because they were born with some illnesses.

D．Because they were similar to giraffes in some ways.

4.Which of the following statements is True according to the passage?

A．This passage is a description of giraffes’ living habits.

B．Baby giraffes can’t stand up until three months old.

C．Irving Stone spent a lifetime studying and writing stories about great people.

D．The great people can’t stand up after they’re knocked down for years.

5.What would be the best title for the passage?

A．How to Raise a Baby Giraffe.

B．Learning to Get Back Up.

C．Stories about the great people.

D．A Mother Giraffe and Its Baby Giraffe.

One day a man found a cocoon(茧) of a butterfly in the forest. He sat there for several hours and watched the butterfly. Suddenly a small opening appeared, and the butterfly made its great effort to force its body through that little hole. Then it seemed to stop making any progress. It appeared as if it had gotten as far as it could and it could go no further.

So the man decided to help the butterfly. He cut off the remaining bit of the cocoon so that the butterfly could come out easily. But to his surprise, the butterfly got a heavy body and very small wings when it came out of the cocoon.

The man continued to watch the butterfly because he expected that the body would grow smaller at any moment and the wings would become larger and be able to fly. But neither happened! In fact, the butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling (爬) around with a heavy body and small wings. It was never able to fly.

The man was in his kindness, but he did not understand the nature rules. Before the butterfly came out of the cocoon, fluid(流体) from its body must be forced into its wings, and then it would be ready for flying. It must have a hard struggle (拼搏) to get through the small opening to get its freedom from the cocoon.

Sometimes struggles are exactly what we need in our life. If God allowed us to go through our life without any difficulties, it would make us fail. We would not be as strong as we could have been; we could never fly.

(  )46. What was the butterfly doing at the beginning of the story ?

A. It was trying to make a cocoon for itself.

B. It was struggling to get out of its cocoon.

C. It was flying among the trees in the forest. 

D. It was crawling around quietly on the ground.

(  )47. The man cut off the remaining bit of the cocoon

A. to take the butterfly home        B. to help the butterfly come out easily

C. to kill the butterfly              D. to stop the butterfly growing bigger 

(  )48 What do you think of the man?

A. Patient but cruel.            B. Careful and wise.

C. Kind but unwise.            D. Brave and funny.

(  )49. What does the last paragraph（段落） tell us?

A. Struggles are sometimes necessary in our life.

B. Nothing is difficult if we put our heart into it.

C. Every good deed will come back with good result.

D. The greatest happiness in the world is to help others．

(  )50. What is the best title for the story?

A. The Love for the Cocoon.          B. The Joy of Helping Each Other.

C. The Lesson of the Cocoon.         D. The Expectation for the Butterfly.

 “BANG!” the door caused a reverberation (回声). It was just standing there, with father standing on one side, and I was on the other side. We were both in great anger. “Never set foot in this house again!” stormed father. I rushed out of the flat and ran along the street. The street lights were shining, causing rather a sad feeling.

A young father who held a child in his arms walked past me. I felt as if I saw my childhood from another space: happy and carefree. But now … I don’t know whether it is because I have grown up or because dad is getting old. We differ in our ways of thinking. He always put his opinions and codes of behavior on me. Whenever I do something wrong, he never admits it. We are just like two people coming from two different worlds. I wandered in the streets, until I had only the street lights to keep me company. When I finally reached the high-rise apartment block in which I lived ,I saw that the light was still on.

I thought to myself: “Is father waiting for me, or is he still angry with me?”

All the lights were off except father’s. Dad was always like this. Maybe he didn’t know how to express himself. After an argument he has the habit of creeping up(悄悄地来到) in my sleep. This was how he always was．He has been a leader for so long that telling everyone else what to do has become his second nature. With the key in hand, I was as nervous as I had ever been. At last, I decided to open the door. As soon as I opened the door tears ran down my cheeks. I suddenly realized that the iron(铁的) door that I had imagined between us did not exist at all. Love—it’s second to none. 

1.Decide which is the best order of the following according to what happened in the passage.

a. I opened the door and entered the house.

b. Sadly I ran out into the street.

c. I reached the place where I lived and saw my house still brightly lit.

d. I thought of my father’s kindness towards me.

e. I walked about in the street without any aim.

A. b, e, d, c, a        B. b, e, c, d, a             C. b, e, a, c, d        D. b, e, c, a, d

2.What made the writer think of his childhood ?

A. The sight of the street lights.???????????????  

B. The sight of the empty street.

C. The sight of a father with a child in his arms.??

D. The sight of light in his own house.

3. Why do you think the father often shouts at his son?

A. perhaps the father is getting older and older. 

B. perhaps the son has already grown up.

C. perhaps they never agree with each other. 

D. perhaps the father has got used to doing that.

4. According to the passage what does “Love—it’s second to none” mean ?

A. 爱并没有什么??? B. 爱是第二位的???

C.? 爱是至高无上的??? D. 爱就是没什么

5.What conclusion can you come to after reading the passage?

A. The father treats his son in an unfair way. 

B. The father is actually kind to his son.

C. The father is neither kind nor cruel to his son. 

D. The father is always finding fault with his son.