When I was in my first year of middle school, my father died. And my mother was ill just after I got into the high school. I had to   29   going to school because my mother had no money to pay my school bills.

We began to work in people’s gardens to save up money for me to go back to school. Finally I re­turned to school. 30  my mother __31  the next year. And my world went dark. I asked my headmaster if I could work for the   32  this summer vacation, so I could pay my bills. He was a nice man and let me work in the school garden during the  33  . I can’t study well because of my mother’s death. At the end of my second year, I didn’t         34  most of my exams and the teacher told me I had to re­peat the year. After _35   summer working in the school garden, I went   36   to lessons again. But suddenly I fell ill.

Because of my disease (疾病) I was  37   and couldn’t work at school. I was hopeless(无望的). My headmaster told me not to give up. And my teachers and classmates      38   me a lot. Now, I’m feeling better and will finish my third year.

My life is still not   39  . A few students laugh at my poor clothes. They also call me “farmer” because I work in the school garden. But I   40   hard days will always be followed by sunshine.

1.A. stop           B. start            C. keep         D. finish

2.A. and            B. but         C. so               D. although

3.A. go             B. die          C. gone         D. died

4.A. school         B. zoo          C. park              D. museum

5.A afternoon       B year              C. weekends       D. holidays

6.A. pass           B. take         C. have              D. give

7..A .others         B. the other       C another         D other

8. A. along         B. back         C. down              D. up      

9.A fine           B weak          C healthy         D strong

10. A. helped           B. gave         C. worried           D. taught

11.A. terrible          B. hard             C. easy          D. difficult

12.A. find         B. makes        C. thinks            D. believe

I got up early this morning. After I walked the dogs, I went to work. On my way to work I passed my neighbor (邻居), Stanley. Stanley is old and has lived in the neighborhood for about eighty years. His parents were from Poland. After I passed Stanley, I came to a little store. The owner (店主), Victor, came from Mexico twenty-five years ago and opened the food store. Then I walked to Ashland Avenue. Ashland was very busy. There were cars, buses, restaurants and a lot of people. After work I rushed (奔) home to see the dogs and took them for a walk. I took them to Chicago Avenue because there are many clothes stores and shoe stores. I went to see what was for sale. After I got home, I stood in front of my house with my dogs and talked to my neighbors. I heard lots of kids playing after school. After the sun set (落下), my stre et got a little quieter.

1.Before the writer went to work, he _____.

A. walked his dogs             B. went to visit Stanley

C. did morning exercises         D. went to the store to buy some food

2.Victor is the store’s owner and he ______.

A. comes from Poland             B. comes from Mexico

C. is a bout eighty years old         D. is twenty-five years old

3.Where can you buy shoes in the writer’s neighborhood?

A. In Stanley’s house.      B. In Victor’s store.

C. On Ashland Avenue.      D. On Chicago Avenue.

4.We can learn from the passage that ____.

A. the writer’s neighborhood is very old

B. it’s dangerous to live in  the writer’s neighborhood

C. it’s difficult to buy food in the writer’s neighborhood

D. the writer doesn’t like his neighborhood

5.What is the best title for the passage?

A. My Dogs and Me        B. My Friendly Neighbors

C. My Neighborhood Story   D. The History of a Little Store

When I was in my first year of middle school, my father died. And my mother was ill just after I got into the high school. I had to   1  going to school because my mother had no money to pay my school bills.
We began to work in people’s gardens to save up money for me to go back to school. Finally I returned to school. 2 my mother __3  the next year. And my world went dark. I asked my headmaster if I could work for the   4 this summer vacation, so I could pay my bills. He was a nice man and let me work in the school garden during the  5 . I can’t study well because of my mother’s death. At the end of my second year, I didn’t  6 most of my exams and the teacher told me I had to repeat the year. After _7  summer working in the school garden, I went   8  to lessons again. But suddenly I fell ill.
Because of my disease (疾病) I was  9  and couldn’t work at school. I was hopeless(无望的). My headmaster told me not to give up. And my teachers and classmates     10  me a lot. Now, I’m feeling better and will finish my third year.
My life is still not   11 . A few students laugh at my poor clothes. They also call me “farmer” because I work in the school garden. But I   12  hard days will always be followed by sunshine.