Time is very important in our life. However, I had never realized it until I received a beautiful gold watch from my father one day when I was 19 years old. This __1__ always tells me the importance of time in my life.
It was a cold rainy day. My father asked me to go to the __2__ to pick up my uncle and take him home. I should have arrived there __3__ 4:30 p.m. We had a basketball match at school that afternoon __4__ the match was too exciting. When the match was nearly over, I suddenly remembered my uncle and __5__ to the airport. It was too late. He had left the airport and taken a taxi to our house.
I was very worried that my father would be __6__ with me. As soon as I entered the living room, I saw my uncle in the sofa looking very tired. I dared not ­­__7__ my uncle and father. I said hello to them in a very low voice. My father didn’t say __8__. Instead, he asked me to sit next to him. “Peter, did you have a good time today?” He __9__ very disappointed, but his voice was still calm. I felt so sorry and answered in an even __10__ voice. “Yes, Dad, but I’m really sorry about not __11__ my uncle. This will __12__ happen again. I promise.” My father handed me a box with a beautiful gold watch inside. It was a gift my uncle bought for him. He gave it to __13__ and said, “I hope you have learned something important today, and this watch will help you remember the importance of him.”
The watch has been with me for 11 years. I wear it not because of its price, but because of __14__ I learned from it. It tells me to respect __15__ and never be late to do what I have promised to.

Time is very important in our life. However, I had never realized it until I received a beautiful gold watch from my father one day when I was 19 years old. This __1__ always tells me the importance of time in my life.

It was a cold rainy day. My father asked me to go to the __2__ to pick up my uncle and take him home. I should have arrived there __3__ 4:30 p.m. We had a basketball match at school that afternoon __4__ the match was too exciting. When the match was nearly over, I suddenly remembered my uncle and __5__ to the airport. It was too late. He had left the airport and taken a taxi to our house.

I was very worried that my father would be __6__ with me. As soon as I entered the living room, I saw my uncle in the sofa looking very tired. I dared not ­­__7__ my uncle and father. I said hello to them in a very low voice. My father didn’t say __8__. Instead, he asked me to sit next to him. “Peter, did you have a good time today?” He __9__ very disappointed, but his voice was still calm. I felt so sorry and answered in an even __10__ voice. “Yes, Dad, but I’m really sorry about not __11__ my uncle. This will __12__ happen again. I promise.” My father handed me a box with a beautiful gold watch inside. It was a gift my uncle bought for him. He gave it to __13__ and said, “I hope you have learned something important today, and this watch will help you remember the importance of him.”

The watch has been with me for 11 years. I wear it not because of its price, but because of __14__ I learned from it. It tells me to respect __15__ and never be late to do what I have promised to.

1.                A．watch          B．clock           C．bell  D．time

2.                A．hotel          B．station          C．bus stop  D．airport

3.                A．before         B．from           C．after D．to

4.                A．though         B．because        C．and  D．so

5.                A．moved         B．turned         C．hurried   D．flew

6.                A．happy          B．angry          C．sorry D．lucky

7.                A．look up         B．look for         C．look at   D．look after

8.                A．anything        B．something       C．nothing   D．everything

9.                A．is             B．was            C．does D．did

10.               A．funnier         B．louder         C．happier   D．lower

11.               A．waking up       B．giving up        C．picking up D．putting up

12.               A．always         B．never          C．often D．usually

13.               A．you           B．him            C．them D．me

14.               A．what           B．that           C．which D．who

15.               A．culture         B．friendship       C．time  D．family

My name is Ben Mansury. I’m fifteen years old and study in a middle school. In school, I never join in any group discussion or stage (舞台) program. So, I never knew what stage nervousness was.

Our community (社区) has a weekly “Students Ideas” program. About two years ago, I received a(n)   1   from the chairman of our community. He invited me to the “Students Ideas” talk the next morning to speak to the group.

The time between his call to the next morning was like several weeks for me. The whole night, I could not sleep. Many   2   were coming. One of them was to call the chairman, with regret, and tell him that I could not come. But finally, I thought, if I missed this   3  , the community would never invite me again to any of their programs. So, I decided to go.

I reached the hall in time. When my turn came and I started, my heartbeat increased and my mouth went dry. I wasn’t even able to   4   the words on the paper properly. I had no idea where I was standing and what I was talking. That was the day when I   5   my biggest weakness: public speaking.

After I finished, I met with the chairman and   6   what happened to me. He said that this happens to everyone. It is very   7  . He suggested that I should come again the next week.

I   8   a talk carefully. This time when I gave the talk, I was somewhat comfortable but not confident (自信的). Afterwards, I met with the chairman again and told him about the improvement I   9   I had made. He was kind enough to invite me again.

For around one month, I practiced a lot for my talk. This time I was feeling comfortable and both the chairman and my neighbors thought I did a good job.    

I learned that everything is   10   if we take the first step, as the saying goes: A journey of thousand miles begins with first step.

1.                A．letter          B．call            C．card D．email

2.                A．topics          B．regrets         C．thoughts D．words

3.                A．man           B．group          C．stage D．chance

4.                A．read           B．spell           C．see  D．recite

5.                A．had            B．forgot          C．realized  D．improved

6.                A．asked          B．checked        C．explained D．wondered

7.                A．useful          B．successful       C．difficult   D．common

8.                A．wrote          B．prepared        C．gave D．finished

9.                A．knew          B．felt            C．believed  D．hoped

10.               A．easy           B．great          C．helpful    D．possible

Many years ago, when I was fresh out of school and working in Denver, I was driving to my parents’ home in Missouri for Christmas. I stopped at a gas station(加油站) about 50 miles from Oklahoma City, where I was planning to stop and visit a friend. While I was standing in line at the cash register(收款台), I said hello to an older couple（夫妇）who were also paying for gas.
I took off, but had gone only a few miles when black smoke poured from the back of my car, I stopped and wondered what I should do. A car pulled up behind me. It was the couple I had spoken to at the gas station. They said they would take me to my friend’s. We chatted on the way into the city, and when I got out of the car, the husband gave me his business card.
I wrote him and his wife a thank-you note for helping me. Soon afterward, I received a Christmas present from them. Their note that came with it said that helping me had made their holidays wonderful.
Years later, I drove to a meeting in a nearby town in the morning. In late afternoon I returned to my car and found that I’d left the lights on all day, and the battery（电池） was dead. Then I noticed that the Friendly Ford dealership - a shop selling cars - was right next door. I walked over and found two salesmen in the showroom.
"Just how friendly is Friendly Ford?" I asked and told them my trouble. They quickly drove a pickup truck (小货车) to my car and started it. They would accept no payment, so when I got home, I wrote them a note to say thanks. I received a letter back from one of the salesmen. No one had ever taken the time to write him and say thank you, and it meant a lot, he said.
"Thank you" - two powerful words. They’re easy to say and mean so much

1. 1.

   The writer planned to stop at Oklahoma City ______

   1. A.
      to visit a friend
   2. B.
      to see his parents
   3. C.
      to pay at the cash register
   4. D.
      to have more gas for his car
2. 2.

   The words "took off" underlined in Paragraph 2 mean“______”．

   1. A.
      turned off
   2. B.
      moved off
   3. C.
      put up
   4. D.
      set up
3. 3.

   What happened when the writer found smoke coming out of his car?

   1. A.
      He had it pulled back to the gas station
   2. B.
      The couple sent him a business card
   3. C.
      The couple offered to help him
   4. D.
      He called his friend for help
4. 4.

   The battery of the writer’s car was dead because ______

   1. A.
      something went wrong with the lights
   2. B.
      the meeting lasted a whole day
   3. C.
      he forgot to turn off the lights
   4. D.
      he drove too long a distance
5. 5.

   By telling his own stories, the writer tries to show ______

   1. A.
      how to write a thank-you letter
   2. B.
      how to deal with（处理）car problems
   3. C.
      the kind-heartedness of older people
   4. D.
      the importance of expressing thanks