Before I even started school, people felt that I was not going to amount to much. At the age of four, I started speech lessons because even I could not speak well enough to be understood.
First grade was a struggle. I not only had difficulty speaking, but I was expected to learn to read and I just couldn't do it. My parents grew more and more frustrated. They bought books and offered great rewards if I could read one of them from start to finish to them. Well, with my speech problems and now my reading problems, I did not like to do reading and so refused to do it whenever possible.
Second grade was not much better. It was in the second grade that the teacher decided that I needed special education. I remember the days of taking the physical exams. However, after all that, they decided that I did not qualify for special education.
It was in third grade that a new school was built close to where I lived. I remember going there with my parents and helping to get the school ready so that we could transfer(转学). It was a happy day that we started school at Vandalia. However, things did not get better as my parent expected.
It was now time for fifth grade. Mrs. Wakefield was my teacher, and if ever there was a teacher that deserved a gold star, it was her. She did not make me feel upset. Instead, she helped me in so many ways and built my self-confidence so that I actually did believe that I could do something special. And that is just what I did.
For the past 22 years, I have been a fifth grade teacher. Because of Mrs. Wakefield's influence in my life, I am now encouraging students who have had difficulties in their lives to believe that they can overcome and become someone. I have won a large number of awards but I know that all of them belong to one fifth grade teacher who believed in me and challenged me to be all that I could be.
I still have a class picture of her with her fifth grade class hanging on the wall of my office, encouraging other teachers to reach out to their students.
【小题1】 What does the underlined phrase “amount to much” mean in Paragraph l?

Liam works in Sydney. Last week he had 1holiday, but he didn’t know 2to go. He said to his friend Robert, “I 3 the hot weather here, but I can’t find a cool place in Australia. How will I spend my holiday?”
“That. ’s 4” said Robert. “You’d better go to Moscow. It’s 5 there because it is covered with snow and ice now.”
Liam 6with his friend. He bought an air ticket and soon 7Moscow. He made a8 journey there. But one day he got into trouble. After lunch he went outside the city. He saw a dog 9him while he 10by a house. It was 11and wanted to get some food to eat. Bad luck! He had no pieces of bread or cake with him. He tried to send it away. But it began to shout at him. He wanted to 12 something to make the dog go away, but he couldn’t find anything13 snow and ice. Suddenly he saw a stone(石头) on the ground. He tried to14but he failed.
“ How strange the Russians are!” Liam said to himself. “They do not tie(拴)their dogs, but firmly(紧紧地)tie the 15.

1. 1.
   1. A.
      two-week
   2. B.
      two weeks
   3. C.
      two weeks’
   4. D.
      a two-week
2. 2.
   1. A.
      how
   2. B.
      what
   3. C.
      where
   4. D.
      if
3. 3.
   1. A.
      like
   2. B.
      unlike
   3. C.
      hate
   4. D.
      not like
4. 4.
   1. A.
      right
   2. B.
      easy
   3. C.
      exciting
   4. D.
      interesting
5. 5.
   1. A.
      hot
   2. B.
      cold
   3. C.
      warm
   4. D.
      humid
6. 6.
   1. A.
      agreed
   2. B.
      disagreed
   3. C.
      liked
   4. D.
      hated
7. 7.
   1. A.
      arrived in
   2. B.
      got
   3. C.
      left
   4. D.
      returned
8. 8.
   1. A.
      sad
   2. B.
      happy
   3. C.
      tired
   4. D.
      boring
9. 9.
   1. A.
      to follow
   2. B.
      is following
   3. C.
      following
   4. D.
      followed
10. 10.
    1. A.
       was walking
    2. B.
       walked
    3. C.
       was crossing
    4. D.
       crossed
11. 11.
    1. A.
       full
    2. B.
       thirsty
    3. C.
       happy
    4. D.
       hungry
12. 12.
    1. A.
       have
    2. B.
       discover
    3. C.
       look for
    4. D.
       look out
13. 13.
    1. A.
       besides
    2. B.
       except
    3. C.
       beside
    4. D.
       without
14. 14.
    1. A.
       look for it
    2. B.
       put it up
    3. C.
       throw it away
    4. D.
       pick it up
15. 15.
    1. A.
       dogs
    2. B.
       stones
    3. C.
       food
    4. D.
       sticks