What Is a Boy?

Between the innocence of babyhood and the seriousness of manhood we find a delightful creature called a “boy”. Boys come in different sizes, weights, and colors, but all boys have the same belief: to enjoy every second of every minute of every hour of every day and to fill the air with noise until the adult males pack them off to bed at night.

Boys are found everywhere –on top of, under, inside of, climbing on, swinging from, running around, or jumping to. Mothers spoil them, little girls hate them, older sisters and brothers love them, and God protects them. A boy is TRUTH with dirt on its face, BEAUTY with a cut on its finger, WISDOM with chocalate in its hair, and the HOPE of the future with a snake in its pocket.

When you are busy, a boy is a trouble maker and a noise. When you want him to make a good impression, his brain turns to jelly or else he becomes a wild creature bent on destroying the world and himself with it.

A boy is a mixture – he has the stomach of a horse, the digestion (消化力) of stones and sand, the energy of an atomic bomb, the curiosity of a cat, the imagination of a superman, the shyness of a sweet girl, the brave nature of a bull, the violence of a firecracker, but when you ask him to make something, he has five thumbs (拇指) on each hand.

He likes ice cream, knives, saws, Christmas, comic books, woods, water (in its natural habitat), large animals, Dad, trains, Saturday mornings, and fire engines. He is not much for Sunday schools, company, schools, books without pictures, music lessons, neckties, barbers, girls, overcoats, adults, or bedtime.

Nobody else is so early to rise, or so late to supper. Nobody else gets so much fun out of trees, dogs, and breezes. Nobody else can put into one pocket a rusty knife, a half eaten apple, a three-feet rope, six cents and some unknown things.

A boy is a magical creature – he is your headache but when you come home at night with only shattered pieces of your hopes and dreams, he can mend them like new with two magic words, “Hi, Dad!”

1.The whole passage is in a tone(调子) of  _________.     

A．humor and love                        B．respect and harmony

C．ambition and expectation                 D．confidence and imagination

2.The underlined sentence “he has five thumbs on each hand” probably means______.

A．he has altogether five fingers              B．he is slow, foolish and clumsy

C．he becomes clever and smart              D．he cuts his hand with a knife

3.According to the writer, boys appreciate everything in the following except   ________.

A．ice cream         B．comic books       C．Saturday mornings   D．Sunday schools

4.What does the writer feel about boys?

A．He feels curious about their noise.          B．He is fed up with these creatures.

C．He is amazed by their naughtiness.          D．He feels unsafe staying with them.

 

Our school sports meeting we had looked forward to______ in _______ fine weather, which was beyond our expectation.

A．falling; so         B．falling; such        C．fell; such          D．fall; so

 

When I was a teenager I volunteered to work at the water station at a 10,000m race. My job was to   34   water to the runners. I remember being so  35   to see all the different kinds of people who passed by and grabbed a cup of water. Some ran past, some walked past and a few wheeled past. I saw so many types of people doing it. I thought maybe I could do it too! So the next year I 36  up for the race.

That first 10,000m race was quite an experience. I jogged, I walked, I jogged and I walked  37  , I didn’t know if I could finish. Then came a defining (决定性)  38  .

At one point near the end, a 70-year-old man ran past me, very, very fast, and I felt  39  because I was 50 years younger than he but I couldn’t even keep up with him. I felt  40  for a second.

But then I realized something. He was running his race and I was running mine. He had  41   abilities, experience, training and goals for himself. I had mine. Remember my  42  was only to finish.

After a minute, it  43  me that this was a lesson I could draw from. I learned something about myself in that moment. I turned my embarrassment into 44    .

I decided that I would not give up on running races. In fact, I would run even more races and I would learn how to train and prepare  45 and one day I would be one of those 70-year-old persons who were still running. As I crossed the finish line, I was proud of my accomplishment. In life we all have those moments where we  46  ourselves to others. It’s only natural . Don’t allow those moments to  47  you. Turn them into motivation and let them inspire you. With the proper preparation and training, you can improve your result to 48  anything you want in life.

1.A. bring out    B. pass out    C. take out       D. pick out

2.A. excited      B. worried     C. concerned       D. anxious

3.A. gave       B. made         C. signed    D. dressed

4.A. At times   B. In time      C. In all      D. After all

5.A. victory   B. decision     C. moment      D. conclusion

6.A. embarrassed   B. annoyed    C. moved       D. thrilled

7.A. relaxed      B. defeated    C. puzzled  D. inspired

8.A. special    B. evident      C. common        D. different

9.A. motto      B. plan        C. goal         D. direction

10.A. worried      B. hit      C. reached    D. hurt

11.A. attraction    B. devotion     C. inspiration  D. expectation

12.A. slightly     B. hardly   C. clearly      D. properly

13.A. introduce   B. relate  C. present      D. compare

14.A. weaken     B. wound    C. amuse         D. cheer

15.A. reserve    B. deliver    C. achieve        D. abandon

 

Most students hate their endless homework. The students from Class 2, Senior 2 of the High School Affiliated to Peking University certainly did before they published their own collection of English novels at home.
Their small book contains stories about a holy (神圣的) war, the happy life of a self-taught artist and the story of a laid-off worker who devoted his last breath to playing his beloved accordion (手风琴). The book becomes an instant hit on campus. About 3,000 copies have been sold and the class is already working on the second volume.
"We’re up to our ears in homework. Exercises and exams make us out of breath. But to do something creative and full of imagination is such a great achievement," said Yu Xiaoxiao, 16.
"I took the writing as an ordinary homework at the beginning, but after I finished the first part of my story, I could not help but let it flow," said Wang An, who wrote "Accordion".
Inspired by "Lord of the Rings", Jiang Lu wrote his story about magic wars between angels from the light and the dark side. "The main message of the story was to look at the balance of the world. Both dark and light angels fight with love as their weapons. I want to tell people that selfish love might bring hate," Jiang said.
"I was shocked by their work and felt so proud to be the editor of my students’ book," said Nathaniel Timmermann, the oral English teacher at the school. Liu Xiuqin, an English teacher, started the project by asking students to write whatever was in their mind every week. "They have performed beyond expectation," Liu said. "They wrote interesting stories and their English has improved after they started to express their real minds."
"We never imagined that our homework would be so popular and profitable (盈利的). We sell the novels at five yuan, but many teachers pay more to encourage us," said Yuan Mengyao.
【小题1】 After Wang An finished the first part of his story, he _________.

A．couldn’t go on	B．had to put it aside
C．just wanted to express it freely	D．lost it

【小题2】What was not the outcome of the students’ homework of writing whatever was in their mind?

A．Being popular.	B．Being profitable.
C．Improving their English.	D．Winning prize.

【小题3】What is the reason for the students’ liking to write interesting stories?

A．It is creative and imaginative.

B．It is profitable.

C．Interesting stories are sure to be popular.

D．Interesting stories can be well sold.

【小题4】What is the best title of this passage?

A．Creative homework leads to a popular book

B．Writing interesting stories

C．Students’ new book

D．A popular book

—Did the film                     your expectation?

—Yes.In reality it is the best film that I have ever seen.

A.live on

B.live by

C.live up to

D.live through