It was Saturday when the entire summer world was bright and fresh. Tom looked at the fence, which was long and high, feeling all enthusiasm leaving him. He dipped his brush into the whitewash before moving it along the top board of the fence. He knew other boys would arrive soon with all minds of interesting plans for this day. As walking past him, they would tease him for having to work on a beautiful Saturday—which burnt him like fire.
He, putting his hands into his pockets and taking out all he owned with the expectation of letting someone paint, found nothing that could buy half an hour of freedom. At this dark and hopeless moment, a wonderful idea occurred to him, pouring a great bright light into his mind. He took up his brush and continued to work pleasantly with calm and quietness.
Presently, Ben Rogers came in sight—munching an apple and making joyful noises like the sound of a riverboat as he walked along. Tom went on whitewashing, paying no attention to the steamboat. 
“Hello!” Ben said, “I’m going swimming, but you can’t go, can you?”
No answer. Tom moved his brush gently along the fence and surveyed the result. Ben came nearer. Tom’s mouth watered for Ben’s apple while he kept painting the fence.
Ben said, “That’s a lot of work, isn’t it?”
Tom turned suddenly saying “Here you are! Ben! I didn’t notice you.”
“I’m going swimming,” Ben said. “Don’t you wish you could go? Or would you rather work?”
Tom said, “Work? What do you mean ‘work’?”
“Isn’t that work?”
Tom continued painting and answered carelessly, “Maybe it is, and maybe it isn’t. All I know is it suits Tom Sawyer.”
“Do you mean that you enjoy it?”
“I don’t see why I oughtn’t to enjoy it.”
“Does a boy have a chance to paint a fence frequently” said Tom.
Ben stopped munching his apple.
Tom moved his brush back and forth—stepped back to note the effect—added a little paint here and there. Ben watched every move, getting more and more interested, more and more absorbed1. After a short time, he said, “Tom, let me whitewash a little.”
Tom seemed to be thinking for a moment before he said, “No, Aunt Polly wants this fence to be perfect. If it was the back fence, maybe you could do it. But this fence beside the street is where everybody can see it. It has to be done right.”
“Oh, come on, let me try. I’ll be careful. Listen, Tom. I’ll give you part of my apple if you let me paint.”
“No, Ben, I’m afraid—”
“I’ll give you all the apple!”
Tom handed the brush to Ben with unwillingness on his face but alacrity in his heart. While the riverboat worked and sweated in the hot sun, Tom, an artist sat in the shade close by, munching his apple, and planning how he could trick more of the boys.
Before long there were enough boys each of whom came along the street; stopped to laugh but soon begged to be allowed to paint. By the middle of the afternoon, Tom had got many treasures while the fence had had three layers of whitewash on it. If he hadn’t run out of whitewash, he would have owned everything belonging to the boys in the village.
Tom said to himself that the world was not so depressing after all. He had discovered a great law of human action: in order to make a man cover a thing, it is only necessary to make the thing difficult to attain.

1. 1.

   By using “Tom continued painting and answered carelessly”, the author shows Tom ______ when he was talking to Ben.

   1. A.
      made mistakes
   2. B.
      damaged things
   3. C.
      was natural
   4. D.
      wasn’t concentrating
2. 2.

   The underlined word “alacrity” in the last but two paragraph most probable means “______”.

   1. A.
      kindness
   2. B.
      discouragement
   3. C.
      sympathy
   4. D.
      eagerness
3. 3.

   Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage? ________

   1. A.
      Tom did not want to go swimming at all
   2. B.
      Tom was asked to help Aunt Polly paint the fence
   3. C.
      Tom did not get along well with his friends
   4. D.
      Tom was very busy that Saturday afternoon.
4. 4.

   We can draw a conclusion from the last paragraph that _______.

   1. A.
      forbidden fruit is sweet.
   2. B.
      a friend in need is a friend indeed.
   3. C.
      all good things must come to an end.
   4. D.
      a bad excuse is better than none.

It is a hot summer day，and you feel thirsty．A friend gives you a glass of cold lemonade．How do you feel when you see the glass? Will you describe your feeling as happiness or as pleasure? I believe you will say it is a feeling of pleasure．There is a connection between these two kinds of feelings，and sometimes one causes the other，but they are not the same．Pleasure is a more dependent on the five senses while happiness is independent of them．   

    When you are happy，little unpleasant events usuallv do not disturb you．When you are unhappy，you feel as if everything is against you．You may compensate for it by eating chocolate and sweets because this gives you pleasure，yet you stay unhappy．A person may smoke cigarettes because it gives him pleasure，yet this does not make him happier，especiallv if he knows the fact that it is not good for his heahh．   

    The physical world is always in a changing state．At each moment a new thing is being created，changed，transformed and then destroyed．This is the normal state of things and no one  can change it．If we stay still in a certain state，we are sure to experience unhappiness sooner or later．0n the other hand, if

 we adjust to the environment，nothing can influence our moods．Then outer events have nothing to do with our inner joy of mind．  

    The room of the mind is filled with worry or fear．If you are free of thinking about them，the room has been emptied，and  then you will see what is happening and experience it．When your mind stays quiet，you will see that happiness comes from the inside．   

What does the underlined phrase”compensate for“in Paragraph 2 most probably mean?  

    A．to make a suitable payment for  

    B．to let out your anger for   

    C．to provide with a balancing effect for  

    D．to solve the problems for  

According to the passage，in which of the following situations can you feel happy?  

    A．A friend gives you a glass of cold lemonade when you feel thirsty．   

    B．You eat chocolate and sweets when you feel as if everything is against you．  

    C．Smoke cigarettes even though you know the fact that it is not good for your health．  

    D．You are free from worry or fear when your mind stays quiet．

We call learn from the passage   

    A．happiness is more dependent on the five senses 

    B．pleasure sometimes arouses happiness   

    C．you feel happy when nothing around you changes in a certain state   

    D．you feel unhappy because you have to adjust to the environment   

Which can be the best title for the passage?    ]

A．Pleasure Leads to Happiness       

B．Happiness Changes Us  

C．Happiness Is Within Us           

D. Stay a Quiet Mind

Each year, prizes are presented to adults who make great achievements in art, writing, science, and economics. So why not give awards to kids?

Harry Leibowitz asked himself that question in 1996. As an answer, he and his wife, Kay, created the World of Children organization and began handing out awards to kids and adults whose work has helped kids all over the world. The awards the World of Children presents are nicknamed（给……起绰号）the “ Children’s Nobel Prize”.

“You know, children are so important,” Leibowitz, a retired business manager, told me. “ We should have prizes for children if we’re going to have prizes for everything else.”

Talia Leman, from Iowa, was awarded a Founder’s Youth Award for Leadership this year. She is only 13 years old, but she has completed a lot. In 2005, she founded “ RandomKid”. Since then, it has raised more than$10 million to help kids in 48 states in the U.S. and in 19 other countries.

One place helped by RandomKid was a school built in Cambodia to enable 300 kids to go to school. The organization has also helped fix a school for 200 kids in Louisiana, and provided interactive play centers that serve more than 500 kids in hospitals in Iowa. In faraway places like Africa, RandomKid has provided money to buy water pumps（水泵）.

Talia never thought that the organization she founded would be as successful as it has become. She said, “ My first goal was to raise $1million. That seemed really high, but when you reach a goal, you always wind up reaching higher, and we actually raised $10 million.”

I asked her what advice she would offer to other young people who want to help kids in need. “ Well, I’d say the first thing would be to find an adult and tell them your idea,” Talia said. “ They’re really the people who can help, and from there I think it can just really take off.”

The purpose of the first two paragraphs is to tell us     .

A. the origin of the Nobe1 Prize

B. the achievements Harry and his wife made

C. how the “ Children’s Nobe1 Prize” was started

D. how Harry and his wife helped kids

The World of Children presents awards to those who    .

A. help the kids in the U.S             B. realize the importance of education

C. raise a lot of money for the poor    D. do a lot to help kids in need

Which of the following is TRUE about Talia?

A. She founded a hospital for 500 kids in Iowa.

B. She offered money to buy water pumps for Africans.

C. She helped teach 300 kids in a school in Cambodia.

D. She built a school for 200 kids in Louisiana.

What advice is given by Talia to those who want to help kids in need?

A. To ask for an idea from adults.           B. To set a higher goal at first.

C. To win help from adults.                  D. To make an idea become popular.

A few weeks after my first wife, Georgia, was called to heaven, I was cooking dinner for my son and myself. For a   16 , I had decided on frozen peas. As I was cutting open the bag, it   17  from my hand and crashed to the floor. The peas, like marbles,   18  everywhere. I tried to use a broom,   19  with each swipe they just rolled across the kitchen．
For the next week, every time I was in the   20 , I found a pea---in a corner, or behind a table leg. They kept   21 . Eight months later I pulled out the refrigerator to clean behind it, and   22  12 frozen peas hidden underneath．
At the time I found those few remaining   23 , I was in a new relationship with a wonderful   24  I’d met in a support group. After we married, I was reminded 25  those peas under the refrigerator, and realized that my   26  had been like that bag of frozen peas. It had shattered（破碎. My wife had died; I was in a new city with a busy job, and with a son having trouble   27  his new surroundings and the  28  of his mother. I was a bag of spilled frozen peas; my life had come apart and scattered．
When life gets you   29 , when everything you know comes apart, and when you think you’ll never  30 , remember that it’s just a bag of scattered frozen peas. The peas can be  31 , and life will move on. You’ll find all the peas   32 , including the ones that are hardest to find. And when you’ve got them   33  you’ll start to feel whole again．
The life you know can break apart at any time. But you’ll have to   34 , and how fast you collect your peas depends on you. Will you keep scattering them around with a broom,  35  will you pick them up one by one and put your life back together?

A man worked in a post office. His job was to handle all  36  that had unclear addresses. One day he came across a letter which was  37  to God. He opened it and it  38  , "Dear God, I am an 83-year-old woman and I live on a very small pension (养老金). Yesterday someone stole my  39  . There was a hundred dollars in it, which was all the money I had  40  until my next pension comes. Next Thursday is Thanksgiving Day, and I have invited my last two friends for  41 . Without that money, I have  42  to buy food with. I have no family to  43  , and you are my only  44  . Can you please help me?" The man was  45  , and went around showing the letter to all the other workers. Each of them  46 their wallets and donated a few dollars. By the time he  47  his showing, he had collected 96 dollars.  48  then he sent it to the old woman. Thanksgiving Day came and went. The workers 49  forgot about it. Then one day, there came another letter from the old lady to God. All the 50  gathered around when the letter was  51 . It read, "Dear God, how can I ever thank you enough for what you did for me? Because of your kindness, I was able to  52  a lovely dinner for my friends. We had a very  53  day, and I told my friends about your  54 gift. Thank you very much!" Seeing this, all the workers felt 55  with the nice thing they had done. They looked into each other’s eyes and smiled.
【小题1】