I used to be a very self-centered person, but in the past two years I have really changed. I have started to think about other people__36__I think about myself. I am happy that I am becoming a__37__person.
I think my __38__started when I was at Palomar College. At first, I just wanted to get my__39__and be left alone. I thought I was smarter than everyone else, so I hardly ever__40__ to anyone in my classes. By the end of my first semester, I was really__41__. It seemed as if everyone but me had made friends and was having fun. So tried a(n)  __42__. I started asking people around me how they were doing, and if they were having trouble I__43__ to help. That was really a big__44__for me. By the end of the year, I had several new friends, and two of__45__are still my best friends today. 
A bigger cause of my new__46__, however, came when I took a part-time job at a Vista Nursing Home. One old lady there who had Alzheimer’s disease became my__47__ . Every time I came into her room, she was so __48__  because she thought I was her daughter. Her real daughter never__49__her, so I took her place. She let me __50__that making others feel good made me feel good, too. When she died, I was__51__, but I was very grateful to her.
I think I am a much__52__ person today than I used to be, and I hope I will not__53__ these experiences. They have __54__ me to care about other people more than about myself. I __55__who I am today, and I could not say that a few years ago.

【小题1】
A.since B.before C.or D.unless
【小题2】
A.famousB.simpleC.different D.skilled
【小题3】
A.education B.careerC.tourD.change
【小题4】
A.balanceB.homeworkC.degreeD.interest
【小题5】
A.talked B.wrote C.lied D.reported
【小题6】
A.carefulB.lonelyC.curiousD.guilty
【小题7】
A.argument B.game C.experiment D.defence
【小题8】
A.dared B.offered C.hesitated D.happened
【小题9】
A.dream B.problemC.duty D.step
【小题10】
A.usB.which C.them D.whom
【小题11】
A.attitude B.hobbyC.hope D.luck
【小题12】
A.friendB.partnerC.guide D.guest
【小题13】
A.politeB.happy C.strange D.confident
【小题14】
A.bothered B.answered C.visited D.trusted
【小题15】
A.explainB.guessC.declareD.see
【小题16】
A.homelessB.heartbrokenC.bad-tempered D.hopeless
【小题17】
A.quieterB.busier C.better D.richer
【小题18】
A.forget B.faceC.improve D.analyze
【小题19】
A.forced B.preferred C.ordered D.taught
【小题20】
A.missB.like C.wonder D.expect

Wings of Angel
I used to hate myself because I wasn't "normal". Everyone else could play on the monkey bars and ride on a bicycle, but not 36 . I had a severe spinal cord disorder(脊髓病) and I knew I would always be much 37 than others. I hated going to school and I hated  others  38  at me. I hated seeing others smiling broadly and standing 39 and tall. And most of all, I hated looking in the 40 and seeing an ugly  hunchback(驼背).
My friends found me 41 because I didn't let other get close to me. I thought I was going to go on like this for the rest of my life 42 Angela appeared.
That afternoon, I was sitting by myself in a corner of the school—a spot where no one would 43 me. That's when I first heard your voice. "Hi. Can I sit down?"
I raised my head and there she was, with an irresistible smile on her round face. "What are you looking at?" you asked. "Ants." "What are they doing?" "No 44 ." "I bet they're playing games and make friends. Don't you think so?" That was how our 45 started and it didn't stop. We talked about everything under the sun—the ants, the clouds, my little niche(处境)—until it was sunset. Then suddenly, you saw my 46 . She just stared. My heart 47 . What I feared most had happened and I knew for sure she would 48 me now. She stood up, pointed at my back and said, "I know 49  your back is hunched." I closed my eyes like a criminal waiting to be 50 . I begged in my heart for her to 51 , but she just kept on going. "I know what you've got there. Do you?" "No," I answered 52 . She bent and whispered in my ears. "Your back is bunched because you've got a pair of wings from the angels."I was 53 . I looked into her eyes and her 54 touched my heart. From that day on, I started to learn to 55 myself because I have the wings of an angel and a kind_hearted friend.

【小题1】
A.them B.it C.me D.her
【小题2】
A.sadder B.shorter C.weaker D.slower
【小题3】
A.looking B.smiling C.aiming D.glaring
【小题4】
A.still B.alone C.straightD.together
【小题5】
A.street B.sunC.cornerD.mirror
【小题6】
A.distant B.stubbornC.hopelessD.unfortunate
【小题7】
A.afterB.before C.since D.until
【小题8】
A.disturbB.seek C.interruptD.ignore
【小题9】
A.wonder B.idea C.sign D.action
【小题10】
A.connectionB.competitionC.conversationD.comprehension
【小题11】
A.face B.back C.eyes D.shoulders
【小题12】
A.sank B.beatC.broke D.ached
【小题13】
A.care forB.rely on C.look down uponD.put up with
【小题14】
A.thatB.how C.whether D.why
【小题15】
A.accusedB.arrestedC.punished D.sentenced
【小题16】
A.relax B.leave C.stop D.pause
【小题17】
A.shyly B.weakly C.proudly D.firmly
【小题18】
A.astonishedB.ashamedC.annoyedD.amused
【小题19】
A.wisdom B.generosityC.honestyD.kindness
【小题20】
A.controlB.like C.comfortD.enjoy

Mr. Flower was well-known around for growing the best flowers of the year and his four glass-houses were taken good care of. These glass-houses were close to a public path, which was always used ___36__ children and young people walking to and from __37__. Boys of about thirteen years of age, especially, were often tempted(尝试) to throw a stone or two at one of Mr. Flower’s __38_ . They managed to resist the temptation(抵制诱惑) when Mr. Flower was around, but the temptation often seemed to be too __39__ when Mr. Flower was __40__ to be seen. For this reason, Mr. Flower did his best to be __41__ his glass-houses at the beginning and end of the school days.
However, it was not always possible for him to be on guard at these times. Mr. Flower had tried __42__ to prevent the damage to his glass; but nothing that he had done had been__43__. He had been to the school to complain(抱怨) to the headmaster, but this had not done any__44__. He had hidden in the bushes(灌木丛)and __45__ those boys that threw stones __46__ his garden, but the boys could run __47__ faster than he, and they even __48__ at him at a distance. He had even walked along the path and picked up all those __49__ that he could find so that the boys would have nothing to __50__, but they soon found others, or threw lumps of earth instead.
Then just as he had given __51__ hope of winning the battle, a truly wonderful __52_ came up to him. He set up a large notice board made of good strong wood, some meters away from the glass-houses __53__ it could be clearly seen from the path. On the board he painted the __54__ : DO NOT THROW AT THIS NOTICE. After this, Mr. Flower had no __55__ . The boys were much more tempted to throw stones at the notice board than at the glass-houses.

【小题1】
A.toB.byC.ofD.with
【小题2】
A.factoryB.officeC.schoolD.work
【小题3】
A.bed-roomsB.living-roomC.reading-roomD.glass-houses
【小题4】
A.strongB.weakC.limitedD.strange
【小题5】
A.impossibleB.unableC.possibleD.somewhere
【小题6】
A.far away fromB.in or close toC.into or out ofD.at or out
【小题7】
A.in no wayB.in a wayC.in the wayD.in many ways
【小题8】
A.successfulB.cheerfulC.wonderfulD.careful
【小题9】
A.harmB.wrongC.goodD.wonder
【小题10】
A.watchedB.walked toC.waited forD.run after
【小题11】
A.towardsB.overC.out ofD.into
【小题12】
A.manyB.muchC.moreD.lots of
【小题13】
A.laughedB.lookedC.calledD.surprised
【小题14】
A.earthB.sticksC.stonesD.branches
【小题15】
A.pick upB.catchC.play withD.throw
【小题16】
A.inB.offC.outD.up
【小题17】
A.ideaB.friendC.guestD.word
【小题18】
A.whereB.there whereC.on whichD.there
【小题19】
A.announcementB.wordsC.sentencesD.message
【小题20】
A.peaceful timesB.further troubleC.more happinessD.questions


More than three years after moving from Australia to this remote part of England, we are still learning how things are done here.
Not too long after we arrived and unpacked, we were invited for “a drink on Sunday morning” by a retired couple nearby. We got there about noon, to find the living-room crowded — lots of chat and discussions, and in all a very jolly occasion.
Trouble was, there was no food — no self-respecting Australian would regard a tray of crisps as food. In Sydney, when you are invited for a drink any time after midday on a Sunday, you know you will be fed as well as watered and you plan accordingly. Meaning the hardworked little woman makes no plans to cook lunch because you are eating out.
By one-fifteen my stomach was sending up “please explain” to me. Even the crisps had gone. There was nothing we could do except wait, and wonder if the hostess was going to perform some magic and feed us fashionably late. Then, as quickly as if word had spread that there was free beer at the local pub, the room emptied. By one-forty-five there were only a few guests left, so we decided to go home. Tinned soup for lunch that day because the little woman was not really interested in real cooking for us.
A few weeks ago we were invited out for “supper” and the hostess suggested 8:15. Ah, we thought greedily, “this is going to be the real thing.”
We dressed with some care — I putting on a dark suit — and arrived on time. My wife looked pretty good, I thought — a little black dress and so on. But when we walked in I had a terrible feeling we had got the night wrong because the hostess was dressed in a daytime kind of way and the husband was in jeans and an open-neck shirt. But no, we were greeted and shown into the sitting-room.
After a drink I looked around and saw that this was indeed a superior cottage because it had a (more or less) separate dining-room. But there were no signs of a table-setting. Not again! I thought. Were we meant to eat before we came? I decided that in future my wife and I would always carry a chocolate bar. About 9:28 our hostess went out of the room, saying something about food. Ten minutes later she returned and asked us to follow. We were led out to the kitchen. There on the table were country style plates and a huge bowl of soup, rough bread and all the makings of a simple meal. And that is what it was. In other words we had not read the signals right when we were invited for “supper”. If they want you to come to dinner, they say so, and you know that means dark suits and so on. If they mean supper, they say it, and you get fed in the kitchen.
1.When the author and his wife were invited out for “a drink on Sunday morning”, they thought _________.
A. they would be the only people there
B. they would be given lunch as well
C. they would be taken to a restaurant for lunch
D. they would be asked to take some food with them
2.The “party” had been going on for about an hour and three quarters when _________.
A. the hostess decided to feed her guests
B. everyone had tinned soup for lunch
C. most of the guests went to lunch at the pub
D. the author realized he would go home hungry
3.When invited out for “supper” a few weeks later, the writer _________.
A. expected to be served a proper dinner
B. arrived on the wrong evening
C. interpreted the invitation correctly this time
D. realized there was no dining-room in the cottage
4.As the evening wore on, the writer became aware that _________.
A. no one used their dining-rooms in the countryside
B. he should have had a meal before going out
C. “supper” meant a simple, informal meal
D. he should, in future, eat only chocolate in the evening


E
We might be surprised at the progress made in every field of study, but the methods of testing a person’s knowledge and ability remain as primitive as ever they were. It really is extraordinary that after all these years, educationists have still failed to design anything more efficient and reliable than examinations. For the claim that examinations test what you know, it is common knowledge that they more often do the exact opposite. They may be a good means of testing memory, or the knack(窍门) of working rapidly under extreme pressure, but they can tell you nothing about a person’s true ability and attitude.
As anxiety-makers, examinations are second to none. That is because so much depends on them. They are the marks of success or failure in our society. Your whole future may be decided in one fateful day. It doesn’t matter that you weren’t feeling very well, or that your mother died. Little things like that don’t count: the exam goes on. No one can give his best when he is in mortal terror, or after a sleepless night, yet this is precisely what the examination system expects him to do. The moment a child begins school, he enters a world of various competitions where success and failure are clearly defined and measured. Can we wonder at the increasing number of ‘drop-outs’: young people who are written off as failures before they have even started a career? Can we be surprised at the suicide rate among students?
A good education should, among other things, train you to think for yourself. The examination system does anything but that. What has to be learnt is rigidly laid down by a syllabus(教学大纲), so the student is encouraged to memorize. Examinations do not motivate a student to read widely, but to restrict his reading; they do not enable him to seek more and more knowledge, but induce cramming. They lower the standards of teaching, for they deprive(剥夺) the teacher of all freedoms. Teachers themselves are often judged by examination results and instead of teaching their subjects, they are reduced to training their students in exam techniques. The most successful candidates are not always the best educated; they are the best trained in the technique of working under pressure.
The results on which so much depends are often nothing more than a subjective assessment by some anonymous examiner. Examiners are only human. They get tired and hungry; they make mistakes. Yet they have to mark piles of hastily scrawled (潦草的)
scripts in a limited amount of time. They work under the same sort of pressure as the candidates. And their word carries weight. After a judge’s decision you have the right of appeal, but not after an examiner’s. There must surely be many simpler and more effective ways of assessing a person’s true abilities.
56.The main idea of this passage is _______.
A. examinations produce a harmful influence on education
B. examinations are ineffective
C. examinations are important to students’ development
D. examinations are a burden on students
57.The author’s attitude toward examinations is _______.
A. supportive       B. neutral          C. critical         D. indifferent
58.The fate of students is decided by _______.
A. education        B. examiners       C. examinations    D. students themselves
59.According to the author, the most important of a good education is _______.
A. to encourage students to read widely        B. to train students to think on their own
C. to teach students how to deal with exams        D. to master his fate
60.What does the author mean by saying “After a judge’s decision you have the right of appeal, but not after an examiner’s”(Para 4, Line 6) ?
A. Judges are not important.
B. The examiner has the final say concerning the result of the examination.
C. Prisoners are more powerful than students.
D. The court decisions are often inaccurate.

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