One very cool day in the spring of the year, my father, who was a farmer, was ploughing, and I, nine years old, was1 the horse.I didn't do the2 very well as it was rather cold.It was a little3 than I could do to manage the task.
"Dad," said I, "how long4 I stay in field?"
"About an hour，" he answered.
An hour5 a great while and I said, "I6 I could go home now-my7 aches."
"I am very sorry," said my father, "but can't you8 till it is time to go home for dinner?"
"I think not-my headache is getting to be pretty9 ."
"Well," said he,10 me off the horse, doubting my disease was rather in my heart than my head, "you may go home.I don't want you to work11 you are sick.Go straight home, and tell your mother that I say you must take a large bowl of rhubarb(大黄).Tell her that I think it will12 you much!"
There was no choice.I went home, of course, and I had to offer the13 to my mother.I told her,14 , that I thought my head was better,15 not to take the terrible16.But it was of no use and it was too late.She understood my case as17 as my father did.She knew well enough my18 was laziness.So she prepared a large bowl of rhubarb and I had to swallow all of it.Dear me! How bitter it was! I am sure I would rather ride the horse all day than to be doctored in that way.Since then I never told another19 .
Honesty is the best policy.20 it, though there is another and a better reason.

1. 1.
   1. A.
      feeding
   2. B.
      riding
   3. C.
      handling
   4. D.
      controlling
2. 2.
   1. A.
      adventure
   2. B.
      situation
   3. C.
      career
   4. D.
      task
3. 3.
   1. A.
      less
   2. B.
      better
   3. C.
      more
   4. D.
      rather
4. 4.
   1. A.
      must
   2. B.
      can
   3. C.
      should
   4. D.
      would
5. 5.
   1. A.
      seemed
   2. B.
      kept
   3. C.
      waited
   4. D.
      equaled
6. 6.
   1. A.
      think
   2. B.
      wish
   3. C.
      believe
   4. D.
      plan
7. 7.
   1. A.
      hand
   2. B.
      leg
   3. C.
      head
   4. D.
      heart
8. 8.
   1. A.
      argue
   2. B.
      develop
   3. C.
      work
   4. D.
      stay
9. 9.
   1. A.
      serious
   2. B.
      normal
   3. C.
      simple
   4. D.
      pleasant
10. 10.
    1. A.
       putting
    2. B.
       taking
    3. C.
       falling
    4. D.
       seeing
11. 11.
    1. A.
       because
    2. B.
       if
    3. C.
       before
    4. D.
       unless
12. 12.
    1. A.
       make
    2. B.
       protect
    3. C.
       devote
    4. D.
       benefit
13. 13.
    1. A.
       news
    2. B.
       excitement
    3. C.
       match
    4. D.
       message
14. 14.
    1. A.
       but
    2. B.
       and
    3. C.
       however
    4. D.
       then
15. 15.
    1. A.
       hoping
    2. B.
       deciding
    3. C.
       considering
    4. D.
       expressing
16. 16.
    1. A.
       drink
    2. B.
       medicine
    3. C.
       juice
    4. D.
       soup
17. 17.
    1. A.
       soon
    2. B.
       long
    3. C.
       well
    4. D.
       total
18. 18.
    1. A.
       opinion
    2. B.
       similarity
    3. C.
       difficulty
    4. D.
       disease
19. 19.
    1. A.
       lie
    2. B.
       speech
    3. C.
       story
    4. D.
       joke
20. 20.
    1. A.
       Bring in
    2. B.
       Watch out
    3. C.
       Depend on
    4. D.
       Get away from

Thirteen, for me, was a challenging year. My parents divorced and I moved to a new town with my father, far from my old family and friends. I was terribly lonely mad and would cry myself to sleep each night. To ease my sadness, my father purchased an old horse for me at a local auction. I named him Cowboy.?
Cowboy was without a doubt the ugliest horse in the world. But I didn’t care. I loved him beyond all reason.?
I joined a riding club and suffered rude comments and mean snickers(窃笑) about Cowboy’s looks. I never let on about how I felt, but deep inside, my heart was breaking. The other members rode beautiful, registered horses.?
When Cowboy and I entered the events where the horse was judged on appearance, we were quickly shown the gate. No amount of preparation and love would turn Cowboy into a beauty. My only chance to compete would be in the speed events. I chose the jumping race.?
One girl named Becky rode a big brown horse in the race events. She always won the blue ribbons. Needless to say, she didn’t feel threatened when I competed against her at the next show. She didn’t need to. I came in next to last.?
The stinging memory of Becky’s smirks made me determined to beat her. For the whole next month I woke up early every day and rode Cowboy five miles to the arena (赛马场). We practiced running and jumping for hours in the hot sun and then I would walk Cowboy home totally exhausted.?
All of our hard work didn’t make me feel confident by the time the show came. I sat at the gate and sweated it out while I watched Becky and her horse charge through the course and finish in first place.?
My turn finally came. I put on my hat, rubbed Cowboy’s neck and entered the arena. At the signal, we dashed toward the first fence, jumped it without trouble and raced on to the next one. Cowboy then flew over the second, third and fourth fences like a bird and I turned him toward the finish line.?
As we crossed the line the crowd was shocked into silence. Cowboy and I had beaten Becky and her fancy horse by two seconds!?
I gained much more than a blue ribbon that day. At thirteen, I realized that no matter what the odds, I’d always come out a winner if I wanted something badly enough to work for it.?
【小题1】 The underlined expression "shown the gate" (paragraph 4) most probably means "     __________".?

How many people have I met who have told me about the book that they have been planning to write but have never yet found the time? Far too many．

This is Life, all right, but we do treat it like a rehearsal （排演) and, unhappily, we do miss so many of its best moments．

We take jobs to stay alive and provide homes for our families, always making ourselves believe that this style of life is merely a temporary state of affairs along the road to what we really want to do． Then, at 60 or 65, we are suddenly presented with a clock and several grandchildren and we look back and realize that all those years waiting for Real Life to come along were in fact real life．

    In America they have a saying much laughed at by the English：“Have a nice day!” They speak slowly and seriously in their shops, hotels and sandwich bars． I think it is a wonderful phrase, reminding us, in effect, to enjoy the moment: to value this very day．

How often do we say to ourselves, "I'll take up horse-riding （or golf, or sailing) as soon as I get a higher position," only to do none of those things when I do get the higher position．

    When I first became a reporter, I knew a man who gave up a very well paid respectable job at the Daily Telegraph to go and edit a small weekly newspaper． At the time I was astonished by what appeared to me to be his completely abnormal （反常的) mental state． How could anyone turn his back on Fleet Street in central London for a small local area？I wanted to know．

Now I am a little older and possibly wiser, I see the sense in it． In Fleet Street the man was under continual pressure． He lived in an unattractive London suburb and he spent much of his life sitting on Southern Region trains．

The first paragraph of the passage tells us that           ．

    A．we always try to find some time to write a book

    B．we always make plans but seldom fulfill them

    C．we always enjoy many of life's best moments

    D．we always do what we really want to do

The underlined phrase "turn his back on" （paragraph 6) most probably means        ．

    A．leave for    B．return to    C．give up      D．rely on

The man （ paragraph 6) left his first job partly because he was           ．

    A．in an abnormal state         B．under too much pressure

    C．not well paid                    D．not respected

What is probably the best title for the passage?

    A．Provide Homes For Our Family     B．Take Up Horse-riding

C．Value This Very Day              D．Stay Alive

 完形填空：（包括20个小题，每小题1。5分， 共30分）

It was a bitter, cold evening in northern Virginia many years ago. The old man was waiting for a ride across the   36  . The wait seemed   37  .

       At last he heard the slight, steady rhythm of approaching hooves (马蹄) coming along the frozen path. Anxiously, he   38   as several horsemen came around the bend (转角处). He let the first one   39  . Then another, and another. Finally, as the   40   rider neared the spot where the old man sat like a snow statue, the old man   41   the rider’s eye and said, “Sir, would you mind giving an old man a ride to the other side? There doesn’t appear to be a passage way by  42  .”

       The rider replied, “Sure.” Seeing the old man was unable to  43   his half-frozen body from the ground, the horseman got down and helped the old man onto the horse. The horseman took the old man not just across the river, but to his destination.

       As they neared the tiny but cozy (舒适的) cottage, the horseman’s   44   caused him to ask, “Sir, I notice that you let several other riders go by without making a(n)   45   to get a ride. Then I came up and you   46   asked me for a ride. I’m curious why, on such a bitter winter night, you would wait and ask the last rider.   47   I had refused and left you there?”

       The old man replied, “I’ve been   48   here for some time. I think I know people pretty good.” He continued, “I looked into the eyes of the other riders and immediately saw there was no   49   for my situation. But when I looked into your eyes,   50   was evident. I knew,   51  , that your gentle spirit would   52   the opportunity to give me help in my time of   53  .”

       Those heartwarming comments   54   the horseman deeply.

       “I’m most grateful for what you have said,” he told the old man. “May I never get too busy in my own affairs that I   55   to respond to the needs of others with kindness and compassion.”

       With that, Thomas Jefferson turned his horse around and made his way back to the White House.

1.A. town                     B. river                 C. country                    D. island

2.A. meaningless    B. useless              C. careless                    D. endless

3.A. watched         B. asked         C. waved                   D. approached

4.A. come over      B. get off                  C. pass by                     D. take off

5.A. coming          B. leaving              C. next                         D. last

6.A. missed           B. caught            C. avoided                    D. saw

7.A. bus                B. car                    C. foot                         D. horse

8.A. feel                      B. push                 C. lift                           D. stand

9.A. honesty          B. courage             C. enthusiasm            D. curiosity

10.A. choice          B. stop                  C. effort                       D. scene

11.A. immediately  B. hurriedly           C. friendly                    D. strangely

12.A. What about   B. What if             C. How come                D. If only

13.A. in                B. out                   C. around                         D. beyond

14.A. concern B. doubt                C. chance                         D. reason

15.A. meaning              B. kindness            C. seriousness            D. help

16.A. then and there                           B. for a moment 

            C. all of a sudden                 D. sooner or later

17.A. offer            B. create                C. find                         D. welcome

18.A. need             B. danger                  C. fortune                     D. happiness

19.A. influenced    B. excited              C. touched                    D. hit

20.A. happen         B. try                    C. disagree                   D. fail

完形填空（共20小题；每小题1.5分，共30分）

A long time ago, there was an Emperor who told his horseman that if he could ride on his horse and cover as much land area as he liked, then Emperor would give him the area of land he had covered. Sure enough, the horseman__36__ jumped onto his horse and rode as fast as possible to cover as much land area as he could.He__37__ riding and riding, whipping the horse to go as fast as possible. When he was   38__ or tired, he did not stop   39__ he wanted to cover as much area as possible. He came to a   40__ when he had covered a great area and he was very tired and was   41__. Then he asked himself, “Why did I  42__ myself so hard to cover so much land area? Now I am dying and I only   43__ a very small area to bury myself.”

The above story is   44_  to the journey of our   45__. We push very hard every

day to make more _ 46__ to live a better life. We _ 47__ our health and time with our family to_ 48__ the surrounding beauty and the   49__ we love to do. One day   50__ we look back we will   51__ that we don’t really need that much, but then we cannot turn back time for what we have  52__.

Life is not about making money. Life is   53__ not about work! Work is only   54__ to keep us living so as to enjoy the beauty and   55__ of life.

36. A. quickly            B. carefully          C. simply            D. finally

37. A. kept on            B. asked for          C. gave up         D. succeeded in

38. A. sad               B. excited            C. tense             D. hungry

39. A. but               B. so                C. because           D. if

40. A. house             B. point              C. sea              D. hospital

41. A. sleeping           B. arguing            C. dying            D. smiling

42. A. push              B. control            C. punish            D. prove

43. A. need              B. destroy            C. find              D. show

44. A. useful             B. precious           C. similar            D. special

45. A. future            B. progress           C. history            D. life

46. A. friends            B. products           C. discoveries         D. money

47. A. forget             B. consider           C. want              D. doubt

48. A. describe          B. admire           C. protect             D. appreciate

49. A. jobs              B. things             C. lessons             D. sports

50. A. before            B. when              C. unless              D. since

51. A. realize            B. regret             C. apologize           D. explain

52. A. saved             B. missed            C. valued             D. won

53. A. hardly           B. probably           C. absolutely          D. extremely

54. A. practical          B. attractive           C. necessary         D. particular

55. A. pleasures         B. dreams             C. stories             D. secrets