More Than I Had Dreamed Of
From the time I was seven, I had a dream of becoming a member of the Student Union. I always ___1___my school leaders for taking responsibility for all of us. So I dreamed of being a leader.
Years flew by, and soon I was able to take part in the elections（选举）, ___2___I would win. But the reality struck that I hadn’t had a chance. I wasn’t pretty. Girls across the school hardly knew me. I just did not have what it took to ___3___a school election. I was ___4___.
As I cried in my room that evening, I ___5___took a deep breath and decided I wouldn’t stop dreaming. I decided that I would ___6___for elections again in my final year at school—and I would win. 
I recognized that my ___7___had a lot of advantages. What strengths did I have? I had good grades, and I was ___8___and helpful. And my biggest ___9___was the faith（信念）I had. I would not allow my ___10___appearance to hold me back from putting my best foot forward. That evening, I ___11___my election plans for the next year.
I realized that girls would have get to know me and recognize that I had the_12_to
speak for them. I love to making friends and I liked being helpful,__13_ decided that
perhaps I could use these qualities to work to my advantange.In order to learn how to
give an election__14_ ,I also took a course on successful public speaking.
The day after election,when the head teacher announced I won the second highest
number of votes,the students___15__.That joy on the faces of all my friends showed me that my success was__16__theirs.
Suddenly, I realized that I had ___17__much more than I had dreamed of. I had made many new friends and had helped people ___18___the way. I had won the ___19___and love of my schoolmates and they knew me as somebody who would stand by them. I was able to put a smile on their faces and ___20___their day.    

Beauty has always been regarded as something praiseworthy. Almost everyone thinks attractive(漂亮的) people are happier and healthier, have better marriages and have more respectable jobs. Personal advisors give them better advice for finding jobs. Even judges are softer on attractive defendants (被告). But in the executive (行政的；管理的) circle, beauty can become

 a liability.

 While attractiveness is a positive factor for a man on his way up the executive ladder, it is harmful to a woman. Handsome male executives were considered as having more honesty than plain(平常的，不漂亮的) men; effort and ability were thought to lead to their success. Attractive female executives were considered to have less honesty than unattractive ones; their success was connected not with ability but with factors such as luck. All unattractive women executives were thought to have more honesty and to be more capable than the attractive female executives. Interestingly, though, the rise of the unattractive overnight successes was connected more to personal relationships and less to ability than that of the attractive overnight successes.

Why are attractive women not thought to be able? An attractive woman is considered to be more feminine and an attractive man more manly than the less attractive ones. Thus, an attractive woman has an advantage in traditionally female jobs, but an attractive woman in a traditionally manly position appears to lack the "manly" qualities required.

This is true even in politics. "When the only clue is how he or she looks, people treat men and women differently," says Anne Bowman, who recently published a study on the effects of attractiveness on political candidates. She asked 125 undergraduate students to rank two groups of photographs, one of men and one of women, of attractiveness. The students were told the photographs were of candidates for political offices. They were asked to rank them again, in the order they would vote for them.

 The results showed that attractive males completely defeated unattractive men, but the women who had ranked most attractive unchangeably received the fewest votes.

The word "liability" most probably means __________.        

A. disadvantage     B. advantage         C. misfortune       D. trouble

In traditionally female jobs, attractiveness ________.       

A. makes women look more honest and capable  B. strengthens the qualifies required

C. is of no importance to women              D. often enables women to succeed quickly

Bowman's experiment shows that when it comes to politics, attractiveness _______.      

A. turns out to be a disadvantage to men  

B. is more of a disadvantage than an advantage to women

C. affects men and women alike       

D. has as little effect on men as on women

It can be inferred from the passage that people's views on beauty are often _____.      

A. practical     B. supportive      C. old-fashioned    D. one-sided

The author writes this passage to ________________.

A. give advice to job-seekers who are attractive 

B. discuss the disadvantages of women being attractive

C. demand equal rights for women    

D. state the importance of appearance

In this age of Internet chat, videogames and reality television, there is no shortage of mindless activities to keep a child occupied．Yet, despite the competition, my 8-year-old daughter Rebecca wants to spend her leisure time writing short stories．She wants to enter one of her stories into a writing contest, a competition she won last year．

As a writer I know about winning contests, and about losing them．I know what it is like to work hard on a story only to receive a rejection slip form the publishers. I also know the pressures of trying to live up to a reputation created by previous victories．What if she doesn't win the contest again? That's the strange thing about being a parent．So many of our own past scars and dashed hopes can surface．

A revelation （启示） came last week when I asked her, "Don't you want to win again?" "No," she replied, "I just want to tell the story of an angel （天使） going to first grade.”

I had just spent weeks correcting her stories as she naturally told them．Telling myself that I was merely an experienced writer guiding the young writer across the hall, I offered suggestions for characters, conflicts （冲突） and endings for her tales．The story about a fearful angel starting first grade was quickly "guided” by me into the tale of a little girl with a wild imagination taking her first music lesson．I had turned her contest into my contest without even realizing it．

Staying back and giving kids space to grow is not as easy as it looks．Because I know very little about farm animals who use tools or angels who go to first grade, I had to accept the fact that I was co-opting （借用） my daughter's experience．

While stepping back was difficult for me, it was certainly a good first step that I will quickly follow with more steps, putting myself far enough away to give her room but close enough to help when asked．All the while I will be reminding myself that children need room to experiment, grow and find their own voices．

1..

What do we learn from the first paragraph?                 

A．Children do find lots of fun in many mindless activities．

    B．Rebecca is much too busy to enjoy her leisure time．

    C．Rebecca draws on a lot of online materials for her writing．

    D．A lot of recreations compete for children's time nowadays．

2..

What did the author say about her own writing experience?

    A．She didn't quite live up to her reputation as a writer．

    B．Her way to success was full of pains and frustrations．

    C．She was constantly under the pressures of writing more．

    D．Most her stories had been rejected by publishers．

3..

．The author took great efforts to correct her daughter's stories because ________．

    A．She believed she had the knowledge and experience to offer guidance

    B．she didn't want to disappoint her daughter who needed her help so much

    C．she wanted to help her daughter realize her dream of becoming a writer

    D．she was afraid her daughter's imagination might run wild while writing

4..

What's the author's advice for parents?

    A．A writing career, though attractive, is not for every child to pursue．

    B．Children should be allowed freedom to grow through experience．

    C．Parents should keep an eye on the activities their kids engage in．

    D．Children should be given every chance to voice their opinions

In this age of Internet chat, videogames and reality television, there is no shortage of mindless activities to keep a child occupied. Yet despite the competition, my 8-year-old daughter Rebecca wants to spend her leisure time writing short stories. She wants to enter one of her stories into a writing contest, a competition which she won last year.
As a writer, I know about winning contests – and about losing them. I know what it is like to work hard on a story only to receive a rejection letter from the publisher. I also know the pressure of trying to live up to a reputation created by previous victories. What if she doesn’t win the contest again? That’s the strange thing about being a parent. So many of our own past scars and destroyed hopes can resurface in our children.
A revelation (启示) came last week when I asked her, “Don’t you want to win again?” “No,” she replied, “I just want to tell the story of an angel going to first grade.”
I had just spent weeks correcting her stories as she spontaneously (自发地) told them. Telling myself that I was merely an experienced writer guiding the young writer across the hall, I offered suggestions for characters, conflicts and endings for her tales. The story about a fearful angel starting first grade was quickly “guided” by me into the tale of a little girl with a wild imagination taking her first music lesson. I had turned her contest into my contest without even realizing it.
Staying back and giving kids space to grow is not as easy as it looks. Because I know very little about farm animals who use tools or angels who go to first grade, I had to accept the fact that I was co-opting my daughter’s experience.
While stepping back was difficult for me, it was certainly a good first step that I will quickly follow with more steps, putting myself far enough away to give her room but close enough to help if asked. All the while I will be reminding myself that children need room to experiment, grow and find their own voices.
【小题1】What do we learn from the first paragraph?

In this age of Internet chat, videogames and reality television, there is no shortage of mindless activities to keep a child occupied. Yet, despite the competition, my 8-year-old daughter Rebecca wants to spend her free time writing short stories. She wants to enter one of her stories into a writing contest, a competition she won last year.
As a writer I know about winning contests, and about losing them. I know what it is like to work hard on a story only to receive a rejection slip (退稿条) from the publisher. I also know the pressures of trying to live up to a reputation created by previous victories. What if she doesn’t win the contest again? That’s the strange thing about being a parent. So many of our own past scars and ruined hopes can surface.
A revelation (启示) came last week when I asked her, “Don’t you want to win again?”
“No”, she replied, “I just want to tell the story of an angel going to first grade.”
I had just spent weeks correcting her stories as she spontaneously (自发地) told them. Telling myself that I was merely an experienced writer guiding the young writer across the hall, I offered suggestions for characters, conflicts and endings for her tales. The story about a fearful angel starting first grade was quickly “guided” by me into the tale of a little girl with a wild imagination taking her first music lesson. I had turned her contest into my contest without even realizing it.
Staying back and giving kids space to grow is not as easy as it looks. Because I know very little about farm animals who use tools or angels who go to first grade, I had to accept the fact that I was co-opting (借用) my daughter’s experience.
While stepping back was difficult for me, it was certainly a good first step that I will quickly follow with more steps, putting myself far enough away to give her room but close enough to help if asked. All the while I will be reminding myself that children need room to experiment, grow and find their own voices.
67. What do we learn form the first paragraph?
A. Now too many entertainments take up too much time.
B. Children do find lots of fun in many mindless activities.
C. Rebecca is much too occupied to enjoy her free time.
D. Rebecca draws on a lot of online materials for her writing.
68. What did the author say about her own writing experience?
A. She was constantly under pressure of writing more.
B. Most of her stories had been rejected by publishers.
C. She did not quite live up to her reputation as a writer.
D. Her way to success was full of pains and frustrations.
69. Why did Rebecca want to enter this year’s writing contest?
A. She had won a prize in the previous contest.
B. She wanted to share her stories with readers.
C. She was sure of winning with her mother’s help.
D. She believed she possessed real talent for writing.
70. What’s the author’s advice for parents?
A. Children should be given every chance to voice their opinions.
B. Parents should keep an eye on the activities their kids engage in.
C. Children should be allowed freedom to grow through experience.
D. A writing career, though attractive, is not for every child to pursue.