“ Are you too stupid to do anything right？”These words—said by a woman to a little boy who was obviously her son—were spoken   21    he had walked away from her．They boy returned, his eyes down-cast.

Not a   22     moment, perhaps,   23     small moments sometimes last a very long time．And a few words—though they mean   24    at the time to the people who say them—can have great   25    .

I recently heard a story from a man named Malcolm Dalkoff．For the last 24 years he has been a professional   26    ．Here is what he told me:

As a boy in Rock Island, Dalkoff was terribly   27    ．He had few   28    and no self-confidence．One day, his English teacher, Ruth Brach, gave the class an assignment（作业）．The students had been reading To Kill a Mockingbird．Now they were to write their own chapter that would   29     the last chapter of the novel.

Dalkoff wrote his chapter and turned it   30   ．Today he can not recall anything   31 

about the chapter he wrote, or what   32    Mrs．Branch gave him．What he does remember is the four words Mrs．Brach wrote in margin（空白处）of the paper：“This is   33   writing.”

    Four words．They   34     his life.

    “   35     I read those words, I had no idea of who I was or   36   I was going to be.”he said.“After reading her note, I went home and wrote a short story, something I had always been   37    of doing but never believed I could do.”

       Over the rest of that year in school, he wrote many short stories and always brought them to school for Mrs．Brach to evaluate．She was   38     , tough and honest.“She was just what I

   39   .”Dalkoff said.

       His confidence   40   ．Dalkoff believes that none of this would have happened if that woman had not written those four words in the margin of his paper.

A．where           B．why              C．because             D．when

A．wonderful          B．difficult            C．funny               D．big

A．yet             B．although           C．for                 D．therefore

A．much          B．little               C．more               D．most

A．meaning           B．power           C．force               D．sense

A．writer           B．player               C．poet               D．singer

A．sorry           B．proud               C．sick                D．shy

A．books            B．ideas                C．friends              D．chances

A．follow           B．match               C．decide              D．improve

A．on               B．in                C．out                D．down

A．more                 B．again               C．special           D．different

A．honors            B．remarks             C．prizes               D．grade

A．poor          B．serious              C．good                D．silly

A．changed          B．damaged            C．affected            D．improved

A．Unless          B．Until               C．When               D．While

A．what             B．how                C．where               D．which

A．tired             B．fond               C．proud               D．dreaming

A．strict                 B．kind                C．encouraging          D．praising

A．feared          B．needed            C．expected             D．loved

A．grew                 B．lifted               C．appeared            D．returned

I can still remember the first day when I met my best friend． I hid behind my mother and she hid behind her grandmother,   36   to look at each other． But we soon lost the   37    and started playing with each other． In the 7^th grade, I first lost touch with her． She was   38   family problems and I deserted her to be with the “cooler people．”   39   of my new friends liked her as much as I did   40   they knew she had “problems”． However, every summer we would   41   sit at each other’s home and watch soap operas and talk about everything we liked．

It was last year when I   42   the problem． I guess I was just too busy in high school to realize she needed someone there for her． Well, she made a new “best friend” and   43   did I． Then I didn’t know why, but she started cutting herself．

She was diagnosed with clinical depression(抑郁症)． I was very   44   at first, but with the late night calls, we still stayed in   45  ． I wanted to be there for her since her new best friend   46  deserted her, when people were calling her   47  , but I knew I still   48   her like a sister．

Yesterday she came   49   me and said this,” I never knew what a best friend was   50   I found you were the only person that would stop me from cutting, the only person that ever made me feel better about myself and my   51  ． You don’t know this but I was trying to kill myself one night when you   52   me． I   53   you so much, and you didn’t even know you were   54   me．” We both cried． And I guess a kind of lesson from my life so far is to never   55   your friends．

  Anyone who doubts that children are born with a healthy amount of ambition need spend only a few minutes with a baby eagerly learning to walk. No matter how many times the little ones stumble in their first efforts, most keep on trying, determined to master their amazing new skill. It is only several years later, many psychologists and teachers agree, that a good number of kids seem to lose their natural drive to succeed. For the parents of such kids, whose own ambition is often tied to their children’s success, it can be a painful experience.

  Figuring out why the fire went out is the first step. Assuming that a kid doesn’t suffer from a learning disability, or isn’t involved in some family crisis at home, many educators attribute a sudden lack of motivation to a fear of failure or classmate pressure. “Everything is within the kids’ control; their intelligence is changeable,” says Lisa Blackwell, a research scientist at Columbia University. “More than any teacher or workshop,” Blackwell says, “parents can play a key role in conveying this message to their children by praising their effort, and progress rather than emphasizing their ‘smartness’ or praising high performance alone. Most importantly, parents should let their kids know that mistakes are a part of learning.”

  Some experts say our education system, with its strong emphasis on testing and separation of students into different levels of ability, also bears blame for the disappearance of drive in some kids. “These programs shut down the motivation of all kids who aren’t considered gifted and talented. They destroy their confidence,” says Jeff Howard, a social psychologist. Howard and other educators say it’s important to expose kids to a world beyond homework and tests, through volunteer work, sports, hobbies and other extracurriculum activities.

  “The problem of the issue is that many students experience education as irrelevant to their life goals and ambitions,” says Michael Nakkual, a Harvard education professor. The key to getting kids to aim higher at school is to free them of the idea that class work is irrelevant, to show them how doing well at school can actually help them fulfill their dreams beyond it. They need to understand that you have to learn to walk before you can run.

1.According to the passage, the parents of kids with no ambition        .

A. don’t do a very good job teaching them to walk

B. are to blame if the kids do poorly in school

C. feel pain because ambitions are connected to their success

D. should take part in extra-curriculum activities with kids

2.The underlined part “the fire went out” probably means        .

A. the motivation was suddenly lost

B. the fear of failure was suddenly gone

C. the learning disability was suddenly lost

D. the fire was suddenly gone

3.All the following can contribute to a sudden lack of ambition EXCEPT        .

A. learning disability                  B. classmate pressure

C. emphasis on testing                  D. extracurricular activities

4. What is the most important thing for parents in motivating their kids?

A. By punishing kids who don’t display ambition.

B. By emphasizing smartness and high performance.

C. By telling kids that mistakes are a part of learning.

D. By praising the effort and progress they have made.

5. We can infer from the passage that        .

A. children who have lost their ambition will never succeed in life

B. school performance has much to do with students’ later success

C. both the parents and the school are to blame for the lost ambition

D. younger kids learning to walk are more ambitious than older ones

    In June, 2007, a group of students from eight high schools in Winnipeg, the capital of Canada’s Manitoba province, will begin test-launching (试发射) a satellite the size of a Rubik’s cube.

    The one-kilogram Win-Cub satellite, named for its home city and its shape, will be put into low orbit. Once in space, it can perform for a few months or up to several years, communicating information that could help find the signs of earthquakes.

    There are 80 similar satellite projects worldwide, but this is the first high-school based program of its kind in Canada. 30 Manitoba high school students are having a hand in designing and building the satellite, in cooperation with aerospace (航空航天的) experts and 10 students from the University of Manitoba, and with support from two other organizations.

    The Win-Cube project is not something that goes on a piece of paper; it is real-world engineering, allowing high school students to have an opportunity to learn more about the exciting world of engineering through their participation in this challenging program. It is also taken as a wonderful example of the unique partnerships within Manitoba. Designing, building and launching a satellite with high-school participation will bring this world-class educational project into reality and Manitoba closer to space.

    “These Manitoba high school students deserve congratulations for their enthusiasm, innovation (创新), and a strong love for discovery,” said Education, Citizenship and Youth Minister Peter Bjomson. “We want to make science more relevant (相关的), interesting and attractive to high school students by showing them how classroom studies can relate to practical experience in the workplace or, in this case, in space,” Bjomson added.

    The Win-Cube program is mainly named at inspiring a strong desire for discovery on the part of the students. It also shows Manitoba’s devotion to research and innovation and the development of a skilled workforce—all important drivers of knowledge-based economic growth.

56. According to the passage, the Win-Cube satellite is _________.

   A. named after Manitoba and its shape               

  B. intended for international communication

   C. designed like a Rubik’s cube both in shape and size

   D. challenged by university students around the world

57. According to Mr. Bjomson, ___________.

   A. those Manitoba high school students are worth praising

   B. the study of space can be practically made in classrooms

   C. Manitoba high schools are famous for the study of space

   D. scientific research is too far away from high school students

58. The primary purpose of the project is to _________.

   A. find the early signs of earthquakes             B. relate studies to practical

   C. help high school students study real-world engineering

   D. inspire a strong desire for discovery among the students

59. The best title for this passage may be ________.

   A. Manitoba School        B. Win-Cube Program         C. Space Co-operation

   D. Satellite Launching

Of all the areas of learning the most important is the development of attitudes. Emotional reactions as well as logical thought processes affect the behavior of most people. “The burnt child fears the fire” is one example. Another  is  the  rise  of despots(独裁者) like Hitler. Both these examples also point out the fact that attitudes come from experiences. In the one case the experience was direct and impressive; in the other it was  indirect  and  cumulative(累积的). The Nazis got certain ideas largely by the speeches they heard and the books they read.
　 The classroom teacher in the elementary school is in a key position to influence(影响) attitudes. This is true partly because children obtain attitudes from those adults who they respect.
　 Another reason is that pupils are often curious about a subject in school that has only been touched upon at home or has possibly never occurred to them before. To a child who has previously got little knowledge of Mexico, his teacher’s method of dealing with such a unit will greatly affect his attitude toward Mexicans.
　　However, when children go to school with undesirable attitudes, it is unwise for the teacher to change their feelings by praising or scolding them. She can achieve the proper effect by helping them obtain good experiences.
For example, first-grade pupils afraid of policemen will probably change their attitudes after a classroom chat with the neighborhood officer in which he explains how he protects them. In the same way a class of older children can develop attitudes through discussion, research outside reading and all-day trips.
　　Finally a teacher must not constantly show her own attitudes because her influence can be no good if she has personal prejudices(偏见). This is especially true in respect to controversial(引起争议的) questions  on  which  children should be encouraged to reach their own decision as a result of objective analysis(分析) of all the facts.
【小题1】. The passage mainly tells us _____.

A．attitudes affect our actions

B．teachers play an important role in developing children’s attitudes

C．attitudes can be changed by some classroom experiences

D．teachers gradually affect pupils’ attitudes by their attitudes