I will never forget the very moment that caused me to leave my gift behind because I wanted the gift that my older sister Maria had.
My family was spending a week at the beach. One morning, Maria went to the beach early, but I stayed behind to finish a drawing of a seashell. After finishing the drawing, I walked to join Maria. She was a top gymnast (体操运动员). Her show was perfect as she wheeled along the beach. The beauty of that sight froze me, and I decided immediately that I too would become a gymnast like her.
I knew that I had never been very good at sports. However, when I told my parents I wanted to take a gymnastics class, they agreed with me in surprise. The next week, I went to a beginners’ class.
If only my parents had talked me out of this misguided plan! Five minutes into the first class, it was clear that I didn’t have the gift of a gymnast. But I kept at it.
During this time, drawing and painting—which had been my two favorites—all but left my mind. It must have been hurting for my family as they watched my hopeless efforts. I blindly decided to be like Maria. I just would not give up.
At the same time, on the advice of Ms. White, my art teacher, I hurriedly handed in my seashell drawing for an art contest in our town. One night as I was having a hard time practicing, the phone rang. It was Ms. White. “Alice, you won the contest!” she said loudly.
“Really?” was all I could reply.
“Yes,” Ms. White said. “They’re going to give you a prize. And that’s not all. The winner is also accepted into Wildale’s Summer Fine Arts Institute.” I couldn’t believe what I heard. Only a handful of young artists were accepted each summer.
That night I didn’t go back into the living room to continue practicing. Gymnastics was Maria’s gift, not mine. It had taken me a while, but I realized that I had a gift of my own.
小题1:Alice wanted to be a gymnast because ________.

A．she had been good at sports	B．her sister’s show was perfect
C．she hated drawing and painting	D．her parents wanted her to do so

小题2: How did Alice feel about learning gymnastics at last?

A．Satisfied.

B．Worried.

C．Hopeful

D．Regretful.

小题3: From the story, we can infer that ________.

A．Alice’s parents disagreed with her choice of gymnastics

B．Alice did not realize her gift in drawing and painting at first

C．Alice spent a hard time preparing for the art contest in the town

D．Alice couldn’t believe the news that she got the prize for painting

小题4: What does the writer want to tell us according to the passage?

A．We should value our own gifts.	B．It takes time to find one’s gifts.
C．We could develop different gifts.	D．It’s never too late to show our gifts.

My parents quarreled a lot, and I was really worried about it. I didn’t know who I should talk with about how I was feeling. So I asked Mom to allow me to stay the night at my best friend’s house. Though I knew I wouldn’t tell her about my parents’ situation, I was looking forward to getting out of the house. I was packing up my things when suddenly the power (电) went out in the neighborhood. Mom came to tell me that I should stay with my grandpa until the power came back on.
I was really disappointed(失望的) because I felt that we did not have much to talk about. But I knew he would be frightened alone in the dark. I went to his room and told him that I’d stay with him until the power was restored(恢复). He was quite happy and said.
“Great chance.”
“What is?” I asked.
“To talk, you and I,” he said. “To hold a one-to-one little meeting about what we’re going to do with your mom and dad, and what we’re going to do with ourselves and the situation we are in now.”
“But we can’t do anything about it, Grandpa,” I said, surprised that here was someone with whom I could share my feelings and someone who was in the same “boat” as I was.
And that is how the most amazing friendship between my grandfather and me started. Sitting there in the dark, we talked about our feelings and fears of life from how fast things change to how they sometimes don’t change fast enough. That night, because the power went out, I found a new friend, with whom I could safely talk about all my fears and pains, whatever they may be.
Suddenly, the lights all came back on. “Well,” he said, “I guess that means you’ll want to go now. I really like our talk. I hope the power will go out every few nights!”
小题1:Why was Grandpa happy to see the writer?

A．Because he felt quite lonely.

B．Because he could discuss the problem with him.

C．Because he was afraid of darkness.

D．Because he had not seen him for a long time.

小题2:In which order(顺序) did the story happen?
a. The lights came back on.
b. The writer went to his grandpa’s room and stayed with him.
c. The power in the neighbourhood suddenly went out.
d. The writer worried about the parents’ disagreement and wanted to leave his home.
e. The writer had a talk with his grandpa and started the most amazing friendship between them.

A．d-b-e-c-a

B．a-b-e-c-d

C．c-d-b-e-a

D．d-c-b-e-a

小题3:What can be inferred(推断) from the story?

A．The lights would go out again.

B．The writer wanted to leave very much.

C．They would have more chats.

D．It would no longer be dark.