A Leap（跳跃）to Honor

Leaping on a narrow balance beam（平衡木） is not easy. But Lola Walter, a 13-year-old gymnast, is an expert at it.

To perfect her skills, Lola   36   for four hours a day, five days a week. At the state championships in March, she finished seventh out of 16 girls.

That’s especially impressive,          37    she is legally blind, born with a rare condition that causes her eyes to shift constantly. She often sees double and can’t _38   how far away things are.

When she was little, her mom   39  that even though she couldn’t see         40   , she was fearless. So her mom signed her up for gymnastics when she was three. She loved the    41    right away and gymnastics became her favorite.

Though learning gymnastics has been more    42   for her than for some of her tournaments, she has never quit. She doesn’t let her _43  stop her from doing anything that she wants to.

She likes the determination it takes to do the sport. Her biggest          44_ is the balance beam. Because she has double vision, she often sees two beams. She must use her sense of touch to help her during her routine. Sometimes she even closes her eyes. “You have to          45_ your mind that it’ll take you where you want to go,” says Lola.

To be a top-level gymnast, one must be brave. The beam is probably the most   46  for anyone because it’s four inches wide. At the state competition, Lola didn’t fall      47  the beam. In fact, she got an 8.1 out of 10---- her highest score yet.

Lola doesn’t want to be          48    differently from the other girls on her team. At the competitions, the judges don’t know about her vision _49 _. She doesn’t tell them, because she doesn’t think they need to know. Her mom is amazed by her _50          attitude.

Lola never thinks about   51__. She is presently at level 7 while the highest is level 10 in gymnastics. Her   52         is to reach level 9. She says she wants to be a gymnastics coach to pass down what she’s learned to other kids    53  she grew up.

Lola is   54  of all her hard work and success. She says it’s helped her overcome problems in her life outside gymnastics, too. Her   55        for others is “just believe yourself”.

1.                A．runs           B．teaches         C．trains D．dances

2.                A．since           B．unless          C．after D．though

3.                A．tell            B．guess          C．assume   D．predict

4.                A．suspected       B．remembered    C．imagined D．noticed

5.                A．deeply         B．well            C．ahead    D．closely

6.                A．task           B．sport           C．event    D．show

7.                A．boring         B．enjoyable       C．difficult   D．unsatisfactory

8.                A．talent          B．quality          C．nature   D．condition

9.                A．doubt          B．advantage       C．challenge D．program

10.               A．examine        B．express        C．open D．trust

11.               A．fearful         B．harmful        C．unfair D．inconvenient

12.               A．to             B．on            C．off   D．against

13.               A．greeted        B．treated         C．served    D．paid

14.               A．pains          B．stresses        C．injuries    D．problems

15.               A．positive        B．friendly        C．flexible    D．caution

16.               A．defending      B．quitting         C．winning   D．bargaining

17.               A．standard        B．range          C．view  D．goal

18.               A．until           B．as             C．when D．before

19.               A．proud          B．tired           C．ashamed   D．confident

20.               A．plan           B．advice         C．reward    D．Responsibility

After forty-three years I have forgotten the name of the old lady, who was a   16   on the newspaper route in my hometown when I was a twelve-year-old boy. Yet it remains in my memory that she taught me a lesson in     17   that I shall never forget.

On a winter afternoon, my fellows and I were throwing stones onto the slanted (倾斜的) roof of the old lady’s house to observe how the stones    18    off the roof’s edge and shot out like missiles. I found a   19   smooth rock and threw it out, but it  20  straight not for the roof but for a small window of the old lady’s house.   21   the sound of broken glass, we knew we were in trouble. We ran faster than any of our   22    flew off her roof.

I was so   23   about getting caught that first night   24   I was not concerned about the old lady with the broken window in winter.    25  , a few days later I started to feel guilty for her misfortune. She    26   greeted me with a smile when I gave her the newspaper, but I was no longer able to act    27   in her presence.

I    28   my mind that I would save my newspaper delivery money, and in three weeks I had seven dollars. I put the money in an envelop with a    29   explaining that I was sorry for breaking her window and hope that the seven dollars would    30   the cost for repairing it.

I waited until it was     31     to avoid being seen, and put the letter I didn’t    32   into her yard. To my relief, I could have the   33  of, once again, looking straight into the old lady’s kind eyes.

The next day, I handed the old lady her newspaper. She thanked me and gave me a bag of cookies she had made herself.   34  eating cookies, I felt an envelope and pulled it out of the bag. After opening it, I was shocked. Inside were the seven dollars and a short note    35  , “I’m proud of you.”

1.                A．teacher        B．customer        C．relative   D．friend

2.                A．happiness       B．carelessness     C．forgiveness    D．kindness

3.                A．rolled          B．flowed         C．ran  D．floated

4.                A．simply          B．mostly          C．fairly D．roughly

5.                A．followed        B．came           C．lay  D．headed

6.                A．At             B．On             C．For  D．From

7.                A．athletes        B．missiles         C．windows  D．fellows

8.                A．excited         B．disappointed     C．embarrassed   D．frightened

9.                A．as             B．that            C．when    D．though

10.               A．Therefore      B．Meanwhile      C．However  D．Besides

11.               A．yet            B．still            C．even D．already

12.               A．cautiously       B．constantly       C．cheerfully D．comfortably

13.               A．take up         B．made up        C．set up     D．put up

14.               A．paper          B．notice          C．note D．message

15.               A．cover          B．offer           C．afford D．pay

16.               A．rainy          B．fine            C．cloudy    D．dark

17.               A．sign           B．read           C．expect    D．want

18.               A．ability          B．freedom        C．chance    D．desire

19.               A．Unless         B．Until           C．Because   D．While

20.               A．saying          B．writing         C．telling D．explaining

Zigfried, a little mouse, blew his breath on the frosty window of the farmhouse and rubbed it to see the outside. Still nobody came. Maybe today, he thought  31 . It was only a few days before Christmas and he was watching for a miracle (奇迹).
This farmhouse had been  32  too long. It needed a family. Zigfried’s  33  made a noise. He realized that he hadn’t eaten anything since yesterday. He jumped from the windowsill (窗沿), grabbed a  34  from his home, and went next door to Farmer Mike’s.
Farmer Mike’s house had been a great place for the little mouse  35  the farmer married a wife who had a cat. Zigfried  36  when he thought of it. He looked around cautiously as he 37  into the room where grain was stored and was quite  38  as he filled his bag with wheat. He was turning to leave when suddenly he  39  a hot breath about his ear. His heart beat  40  , and without thinking he started to run and luckily  41  the cat’s paws (爪子).
The next afternoon Zigfried heard some good news: a  42  family would be moving into the farmhouse soon. Zigfried’s granny would arrive on Christmas Eve to  43 with him. He hoped that the family would come before his granny came. Before long, a car came  44  the road leading to the house, with butter sandwiches, cheese and chocolate.
Zigfried’s Christmas miracle did arrive!
The house came  45  the next few days. Zigfried  46  every single hour of them.  47 , the day before Christmas when he was drinking hot chocolate with a  48  smile at the door of his home, he heard the  49 of the children of the family about what they might get for Christmas. What? A cat? The  50  froze on his face； his mouth fell wide open. After a long while, he at last found his voice: “Hey! Whose Christmas miracle is this?”

As a saying goes, when life gives you lemons, then make lemonade. But how is delicious lemonade made from sour lemons?

Singer-actor Yu Haoming knows how. He’s   36__ difficulties by returning to the stage. After a   37___ left him scarred, the 25-year-old man   38___ for the first time on Hunan TV’s New Year Concert on Dec. 31, 2012.

His comeback captured (吸引) audiences’   39___. They went to his Weibo page and left messages such as, “You’ve taught me what toughness means.” and “I’m   40___ of your courage. You moved me to tears by taking off your mask and    41___ onward in confidence. ”

Only Yu himself knew how   42 __it was to stand on his feet again after disaster   43 __When his career as a handsome Super Boy singer and   44   actor took off, Yu got seriously burnt. He was hurt in 2010 when an explosive scene in the TV drama I Have a Date With Spring went wrong   45__ His wounds became worse because of delayed   46___ .

The bums were far more than just wounds and pain for Yu. “You can’t   47___ what kind of sufferings he’s been through and how hard he’s been working to get well，” said his father on the singer’s blog.

His recovery has been long and difficult. Some people might have   48 __during such a process, but Yu has   49  _ not to. He says he still has his dreams.

__ 50   medicine, checkups and therapy (治疗）exercises, he plays the piano a bit every day, reads books about acting and learns English.

The idiom, “  51__ bitten, twice shy”，doesn’t really apply to him. In August he restarted to film his   52__ in the drama，although he admitted that fears still haunted (萦绕) him sometimes.

“Why should I let the experience stop me going after my   53___ ?” he told the Southern Metropolis Entertainment Weekly in early December.

How did Yu make lemonade? “Life gave me the   54___ gift, and I’ve just got to get on with it and turn difficulties into    55   , ’’ he told the magazine.

1.                A．won           B．overcome       C．realized  D．left

2.                A．mistake         B．blow           C．fire  D．scene

3.                A．sang           B．showed         C．practiced D．tried

4.                A．praises         B．thoughts        C．messages D．hearts

5.                A．aware          B．afraid          C．proud    D．short

6.                A．walking         B．marching        C．living D．touring

7.                A．terrible         B．strong          C．harmful   D．hard

8.                A．beat           B．crashed         C．struggled D．struck

9.                A．promising       B．confident       C．simple    D．reliable

10.               A．unexpectedly    B．fiercely         C．completely D．surprisingly

11.               A．protection      B．examination     C．treatment  D．performance

12.               A．feel           B．imagine        C．understand D．believe

13.               A．broken down    B．given away      C．pulled through  D．died away

14.               A．hoped         B．managed       C．intended  D．decided

15.               A．Instead of       B．Except for       C．Apart from D．Regardless of

16.               A．Unless         B．Until           C．While D．Once

17.               A．part           B．appearance     C．play  D．talent

18.               A．happiness       B．careers         C．dreams    D．success

19.               A．meaningful      B．unusual        C．valuable   D．rewarding

20.               A．abilities        B．realities        C．actions    D．opportunities

Zigfried, a little mouse, blew his breath on the frosty window of the farmhouse and rubbed it to see the outside. Still nobody came. Maybe today, he thought  31 . It was only a few days before Christmas and he was watching for a miracle (奇迹).

This farmhouse had been  32  too long. It needed a family. Zigfried’s  33  made a noise. He realized that he hadn’t eaten anything since yesterday. He jumped from the windowsill (窗沿), grabbed a  34  from his home, and went next door to Farmer Mike’s.

Farmer Mike’s house had been a great place for the little mouse  35  the farmer married a wife who had a cat. Zigfried  36  when he thought of it. He looked around cautiously as he 37  into the room where grain was stored and was quite  38  as he filled his bag with wheat. He was turning to leave when suddenly he  39  a hot breath about his ear. His heart beat  40  , and without thinking he started to run and luckily  41  the cat’s paws (爪子).

The next afternoon Zigfried heard some good news: a  42  family would be moving into the farmhouse soon. Zigfried’s granny would arrive on Christmas Eve to  43 with him. He hoped that the family would come before his granny came. Before long, a car came  44  the road leading to the house, with butter sandwiches, cheese and chocolate.

Zigfried’s Christmas miracle did arrive!

The house came  45  the next few days. Zigfried  46  every single hour of them.  47 , the day before Christmas when he was drinking hot chocolate with a  48  smile at the door of his home, he heard the  49 of the children of the family about what they might get for Christmas. What? A cat? The  50  froze on his face； his mouth fell wide open. After a long while, he at last found his voice: “Hey! Whose Christmas miracle is this?”

1.                A．carefully        B．excitedly        C．hopefully D．proudly

2.                A．shabby         B．noisy           C．messy    D．empty

3.                A．mouth          B．nose           C．stomach D．throat

4.                A．bag            B．stick           C．bowl     D．coat

5.                A．although        B．until           C．whereas D．unless

6.                A．leapt           B．sniffed         C．trembled D．withdrew

7.                A．broke          B．marched        C．paced    D．stole

8.                A．curious         B．nervous         C．pitiful    D．sensible

9.                A．took           B．released        C．felt D．drew

10.               A．strongly        B．irregularly       C．slowly     D．wildly

11.               A．escaped        B．seized          C．rubbed    D．scratched

12.               A．close          B．happy          C．new D．young

13.               A．celebrate       B．communicate    C．compete  D．compromise

14.               A．across          B．from           C．off   D．up

15.               A．alive           B．loose          C．open D．still

16.               A．counted        B．enjoyed        C．missed    D．wasted

17.               A．However       B．Instead         C．Moreover D．Therefore

18.               A．bitter          B．forced         C．polite     D．satisfied

19.               A．introduction     B．discussion       C．comment D．debate

20.               A．blood          B．smile           C．tear D．sweat