D
The thing is, my luck’s always been ruined. Just look at my name: Jean. Not Jean Marie, or Jeanine, or Jeanette, or even Jeanne. Just Jean. Did you know in France, they name boys Jean? It’s French for John. And okay, I don’t live in France. But still, I’m basically a girl named John. If I lived in France, anyway.
This is the kind of luck I’ve had since before Mom even filled out my birth certificate. So it wasn’t any big surprise to me when the cab driver didn’t help me with my suitcase. I’d already had to tolerate arriving at the airport to find no one there to greet me, and then got no answer to my many phone calls, asking where my aunt and uncle were. Did they not want me after all? Had they changed their minds? Had they heard about my bad luck—all the way from Iowa—and decided they didn’t want any of it to rub off on them?
So when the cab driver, instead of getting out and helping me with my bags, just pushed a little button so that the trunk (汽车后备箱) popped open a few inches, it wasn’t the worst thing that had ever happened to me. It wasn’t even the worst thing that had happened to me that day.
According to my mom, most brownstones in New York City were originally single-family homes when they were built way back in the 1800s. But now they’ve been divided up into apartments, so that there’s one—or sometimes even two or more families—per floor.
Not Mom’s sister Evelyn’s brownstone, though. Aunt Evelyn and Uncle Ted Gardiner own all four floors of their brownstone. That’s practically one floor per person, since Aunt Evelyn and Uncle Ted only have three kids, my cousins Tory, Teddy, and Alice.
Back home, we just have two floors, but there are seven people living on them. And only one bathroom. Not that I’m complaining. Still, ever since my sister Courtney discovered blow-outs, it’s been pretty frightful at home.
But as tall as my aunt and uncle’s house was, it was really narrow—just three windows across. Still, it was a very pretty townhouse, painted gray. The door was a bright, cheerful yellow. There were yellow flower boxes along the base of each window, flower boxes from which bright red—and obviously newly planted, since it was only the middle of April, and not quite warm enough for them.
It was nice to know that, even in a sophisticated (世故的) city like New York, people still realized how homey and welcoming a box of flowers could be. The sight of those flowers cheered me up a little.
Like maybe Aunt Evelyn and Uncle Ted just forgot I was arriving today, and hadn’t deliberately failed to meet me at the airport because they’d changed their minds about letting me come to stay.
Like everything was going to be all right, after all.
Yeah. With my luck, probably not.
I started up the steps to the front door of 326 East Sixty-Ninth Street, then realized I couldn’t make it with both bags and my violin. Leaving one bag on the sidewalk, I dragged the other up the steps with me. Maybe I took the steps a little too fast, since I nearly tripped and fell flat on my face on the sidewalk. I managed to catch myself at the last moment by grabbing some of the fence the gardeners had put up…
67. Why did the author go to New York?
A. She intended to go sightseeing there.
B. She meant to stay with her aunt’s family.
C. She was homeless and adopted by her aunt.
D. She wanted to try her luck and find a job there.
68. According to the author, some facts account for her bad luck EXCEPT that ________.
A. she was given a boy’s name in French
B. the cab driver didn’t help her with her bags
C. her sister Courtney discovered blow-outs  
D. nobody had come to meet her at the airport
69. The underlined phrase “rub off on” in Paragraph 3 probably means _________.
A. have an effect on    B. play tricks on     C. put pressure on      D. throw doubt on
70. From the passage, we can know that _________.
A. the author left home without informing her mother
B. the author arrived in New York in a very warm season
C. her aunt’s family lived a much better life than her own
D. her aunt and uncle were likely to forget about her arrival

In the year after my mother left us, my father was 42 and he knew that he wasn’t going to make it to 43. He wrote a letter to me and hoped that something in it would help me for the rest of my life.
Since the day I was 12 and first read his letter, some of his words have lived in my heart. One part always stands out. “Right now, you are pretending to be a time killer. But I know that one day, you will do something great that will set you among the very best.” Knowing that my dad believed in me gave me permission to believe in myself. “You will do something great.” He didn’t know what I would be, and neither did I, but at times in my life when I’ve felt proud of myself, I remember his words and wish he were here so I could ask, “Is this what you were talking about , Dad ? Should I keep going?”
A long way from 12 now, I realize he would have been proud when I made any progress. Lately, though, I’ve come to believe he would want me to move on to what comes next: to be proud of , and believe in somebody else. It’s time to start writing my own letters to my children. Our children look to us with the same unanswered question we had. Our kids don’t hold back because they’re afraid to fail. They’re only afraid of failing us. They don’t worry about being disappointed. Their fear ---- as mine was until my father’s letter---- is of being a disappointment.
Give your children permission to succeed. They’re waiting for you to believe in them. I always knew my parents loved me. But trust me: That belief will be more complete , that love will be more real, and their belief in themselves will be greater if you write the words on their hearts :“Don’t worry; you’ll do something great .”Not having that blessing from their parents may be the only thing holding them back.
【小题1】We learn from the text that the author__________.

A.lost his father when he was young
B.worked hard before he read his father’s letter
C.asked his father’s permission to believe in himself
D.knew exactly what great thing his father wanted him to do
【小题2】What does the author tell us in the 3rd paragraph?           
A.Children need their parents’ letters.
B.Children are afraid to be disappointed.
C.His children’s fear of failure held them back.
D.His father’s letter removed his fear of failing his parents.
【小题3】Which of the following is true of the author?
A.He got no access to success.
B.He wrote back to his father at 12.
C.He was sure his parents loved him.
D.He once asked his father about the letter.
【小题4】The main purpose of the text is to        .
A.describe children’s thinking
B.answer some questions children have
C.stress the importance of communication
D.advise parents to encourage their children

In the fall of 1985, I was a bright-eyed girl heading off to Howard University, aiming at a legal career and dreaming of sitting on a Supreme Court bench somewhere. Twenty-one years later I am still a bright-eyed dreamer and one with quite a different tale to tell.
My grandma, an amazing woman, graduated from college at the age of 65. She was the first in our family to reach that goal. But one year after I started college, she developed cancer. I made the choice to leave college to care for her. It meant that school and my personal dream would have to wait.
Then I got married with another dream: building my family with a combination of adopt and biological children. In 1999, we adopted our first son. To lay eyes on him was fantastic—and very emotional. A year later came our second adopted boy. Then followed Son No. 3. In 2003, I gave birth to another boy.
You can imagine how busy I became, raising four boys under the age of 8! Our home was a complete zoo—a joyous zoo. Not surprising, I never did make it back to college full-time. But I never gave up on the dream either. I had only one choice: to find a way. That meant taking as few as one class each term.
The hardest part was feeling guilty about the time I spent away from the boys. They often wanted me to stay home with them. There certainly were times I wanted to give up, but I knew I should set an example for them to follow through the rest of their lives.
In 2007, I graduated from the University of North Carolina. It took me over 21 years to get my college degree!
I am not special, just single-minded. It always struck me that when you’re looking at a big challenge from the outside it looks huge, but when you’re in the midst of it, it just seems normal. Everything you want won’t arrive in your life on one day. It’s a process. Remember: little steps add up to big dreams.
【小题1】When the author went to Howard University, her dream was to be ______.

A.a writerB.a teacherC.a judgeD.a doctor
【小题2】The author quit school in her second year of college because she ______.
A.wanted to study by herself
B.fell in love and got married
C.suffered from a serious illness
D.decided to look after her grandma
【小题3】What can we learn about the author from Paragraphs 4 and 5?
A.She was busy yet happy with her family life.
B.She ignored her guilty feeling for her sons.
C.She wanted to remain a full-time housewife.
D.She was too confused to make a correct choice.
【小题4】What does the author mostly want to tell us in the last paragraph?
A.Failure is the mother of success.
B.Little by little, one goes far.
C.Every coin has two sides.
D.Well begun is half done.
【小题5】Which of the following can best describe the author ?
A.Caring and determined.B.Honest and responsible.
C.Ambitious and sensitive.D.Innocent and single-minded.

 

阅读下面短文,从短文后各题所给的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中,选出可以填入空白处的最佳选项,并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。

We arrived in Spain for the first time a few weeks ago.I decided to   1a car because we had sold the one we had in England before  2home.Yesterday the sales office rang us to say the car was  3.I had tried out a model like it before,but as I was not yet  4driving in this city,my wife did not want me to collect it   5so we went together to   6it.We paid for the car and   7the papers.They told us that there was   8petrol(汽油) to take us to a garage,where we could fill up.The   9garage to the office was about 100 yards away and we got there   10.But when I turned into the main road I suddenly saw a lot of cars racing  11me.I got out of   12as fast as I could by backing into the garage  13and the man behind   14me.

“It’s such a problem to   15to drive on the right side,isn’t it?”my wife said.“Yes,if only I had had a few lessons for   16,”I replied.“You had better go   17on the way home,”my wife said.“You’d be sorry if you had   18on the first day,wouldn’t you?”While we were talking,the man behind got out of his car and said in good English,“Would you mind telling me   19you are thinking of leaving?   20are you going to sit in your car all day?”

1.A.borrow          B.drive             C.buy               D.choose

2.A.leaving         B.making                C.returning         D.getting

3.A.right           B.ready             C.fixed             D.sold

4.A.sure of                             B.satisfied with

C.interested in                             D.used to

5.A.on my own       B.right away            C.in a hurry            D.on the way

6.A.receive         B.bring             C.order             D.fetch

7.A.accepted            B.wrote             C.signed                D.copied

8.A.little          B.enough                C.much              D.no

9.A.best                B.nearest               C.quickest          D.cleanest

10.A.lately         B.directly              C.safely                D.slowly

11.A.after          B.with              C.around                D.towards

12.A.their way          B.the garage            C.their sight           D.the car

13.A.at last            B.once more         C.as usual          D.as well

14.A.caught         B.cheered           C.shouted at            D.chatted with

15.A.prepare            B.continue          C.choose                D.remember

16.A.discussion     B.adventure         C.experiment            D.practice

17.A.carefully          B.smoothly          C.quickly               D.differently

18.A.an error                               B.a problem

C.an accident                               D.a headache

19.A.when           B.why               C.how               D.what

20.A.For                B.Or                    C.But               D.So

 

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