The greatest source of inspiration for me has always been my father. Though he’s been gone for 17 years, his   21   still resonate（产生共鸣）. He taught me how to run my own race in life. But the most inspiring thing he taught me was to   22  .

One incident is   23   in my mind. It happened when I was a teenager. My sister and I weren’t very fond of a so-called friend of   24  . Dad was a very generous man, and as he’d done with so many people, he’d given this fellow great help. But when he asked for a favor   25  , the guy didn’t deliver.

Dad’s outlook（人生观）on most things was “Live and let live.” In this case, however, his calmness   26   Terre and me, and we let him know it.

“How can you be nice to that man?” we said to him. “You’ve been so kind to him, and he’s not being kind back. Why would you want to give him the time of day again?”

My father shrugged（耸肩）and said to us, “I do not bend my back with   27  . ”

I didn’t get it at first, but over the years I came to understand the   28  . Holding a grudge（怨恨）doesn’t   29   the person you’re angry with, but it changes you. It makes you heavier and gives you more weight to drag around.

After my father died in 1991, a (n)   30   came from a fellow I’d had a quarrel with years before to   31   his sympathy. He wrote: “I thought I’d tell you how sorry I am   32   the loss of your father. I know he   33   the world to you. I just wanted to let you know that you are in my thoughts. ”

Much moved, I wrote back. I thanked him for his   34  . And then, because he’d   35   

our disagreement, I recalled Dad’s inspiring words. “I am my father’s daughter,” I wrote. “And like him, I do not bend my back with yesterday.”

A. lectures             B. suggestions             C. lessons           D. pictures

A. forgive              B. persuade                C. forget              D. excuse

A. vital               B. obvious                  C. visual              D. vivid

A. sister’s              B. mine                      C. father's             D. mother’s

A. in return           B. in turn                   C. by return                D. by turn

A. relaxed                  B. moved                        C. interrupted        D. bothered

A. anger            B. disappointment       C. worry             D. yesterday

A. reason               B. word                     C. philosophy         D. sentence

A. change              B. hurt                    C. upset              D. disturb

A. news                  B. letter                C. message             D. information

A. explain                B. express               C. produce                 D. present

A. in                    B. with                     C. about             D. at

A. showed               B. represented        C. equaled          D. meant

A. kindness            B. sympathy            C. understanding     D. consideration

A. referred               B. mentioned           C. reminded           D. retold

    I came to study in the United States a year ago. Yet I did not know the real American society until I was injured in a car accident because after the accident I had to see a doctor—and go to court(法庭).

     After the accident, my roommate called a doctor for me. I was very grateful

and determined to repay him one day. But the next day, he asked me to pay him $ 200 for what he had done. I was astonished. He had good reason to charge me, he said. And if I wanted to collect money from the person who was responsible for my injury, I'd have to have a good lawyer. And only a good doctor can help me get a good lawyer. Now that he had helped me find a good doctor, it was only fair that I should pay him.

    But every time I went to see the doctor, I had to wait about 50 minutes. He would see two or three patients at the same time, and often stop treating one so as to see another. Yet he charged me $ 115 each time. The final examination report consisted of ten lines, and it cost me $ 215.

     My lawyer was at all smiles the first time we met. But after that he avoided

 seeing me at all. He knew very well the other party was responsible for the accident, yet he hardly did anything. He simply waited to collect his money. He was so irresponsible that I decided to dismiss(解雇) him. And he made mepay him $ 770.

    Now I had to act as wn lawyer. Due to my inexperience,I told the insurance company the date I was leaving America. Knowing that, they played for time,… and I left without getting a cent.

   My experiences taught me two things about America:firstly,in a country like America money is everything. It is more important than friendship,honour or professional morality(职业道德). Secondly, foreigners are still being unfairly treated. So when we talk about America, we should see both its good and bad sides.

1.The author's roommate offered to help him because

A. he felt sorry for the author.

B. he thought it was a chance to make some money.

C. he knew the doctor was a very good one.

D. he wanted the author to have a good lawyer. 

2.A good doctor is essential for the author to  ________.

A. be properly treated

B. talk with the person responsible for the accident

C. recover before he leaves America

D. eventually get the responsible party to pay for his injury 

3.The word “charge” in this passage means________.

A. be responsible    B. accuse     C. ask as a price        D. claim 

4.Both the doctor and the lawyer in this passage are very ________.

A. friendly          B. greedy     C. professional         D. busy 

5. What conclusion can you draw from the story?

A. Going to court is something very common in America.

B. One must be very careful while driving a car.

C. There are more bad sides in America than good sides.

D. Money is more important than other things in the US. 

I was a freshman in college when I met the Whites. They were completely different from my own family, yet I felt at home with them immediately. Jane White and I became friends at school, and her family welcomed me like a long-lost cousin.

In my family, it was always important to place blame when anything had happened.

“Who did this?” my mother would scream about a dirty kitchen.

“This is your entire fault, Katherine,” my father would insist when the cat got out or the dishwasher broke.

From the time we were little, my sister, brothers and I told to each other. We set a place for blame at the dinner table.

But the Whites didn’t worry about who had done what. They picked up the pieces and moved on with their lives. The beauty of this was driven home to me the summer Jane died.

In July, the Whites sisters and I decided to take a car trip from their home in Florida to New York. The two older sisters, Sarah and Jane, were college students, and the youngest, Amy, had recently turned sixteen. Proud of having a new drivers license, Amy was excited about practicing her driving on the trip. She showed off her license to everyone she met.

The big sisters shared the driving of Sarah’s new car during the first part of the trip, but when they reached less crowded areas, they let Amy take over. Somewhere in South Carolina, we pulled off the highway to eat. After lunch, Amy got behind the wheel. She came to a crossroads with a stop sign. Whether she was nervous or just didn’t see the sign no one would ever know, but Amy continued into the crossroads without stopping. The driver of a large truck, unable to stop in time, ran into our car.

Jane was killed immediately.

I was slightly injured. The most difficult thing that I had ever done was to call the Whites to tell them about the accident and that Jane had died. Painful as it was for me to lose a good friend, I knew that it was far worse for them to lose a child.

When Mr. and Mrs. White arrived at the hospital, they found their two daughters sharing a room. Sarah had a few cuts on the head; Amy’s leg was broken. They hugged us all and cried tears of sadness and of joy at seeing their daughters. They wiped away the girl’s tears and made a few jokes at Amy as she learned to use her crutches(拐杖).

To both of their daughters, and especially to Amy, over and over they simply said, “We are so glad that you are alive.”

I was astonished. No blame. No accusations.

Later, I asked the Whites why they never talked about the fact that Amy was driving and had run a stop sign.

Mrs. White said, “Jane is gone, and we miss her terribly. Nothing we say or do will bring her back. But Amy has her whole life ahead of her. How can she lead a full and happy life if she feels we blame her for her sister’s death?”

They were right. Amy graduated from the University of California and got married several years ago. She works as a teacher of learning-disabled students. She’s also a mother of two little girls of her own, the oldest named Jane.

How did the author’s parents differ from the Whites?

   A. The author’s parents were less caring.    B. The author’s parents were less loving.

   C. The author’s parents were less friendly   D. The author’s parents were less understanding

How did the accident happen?

   A. Amy didn’t stop at a crossroad and a truck hit their car.

   B. Amy didn’t know what to do when she saw the stop sign.

   C. Amy didn’t slow down so their car ran into a truck.

   D. Amy didn’t get off the highway at a crossroad.

The accident took place in _____.

   A. Florida     B. California       C. South Carolina       D. New York

The Whites did not blame Amy for Jane’s death because _____.

   A. they didn’t want Amy to feel ashamed and sorry for the rest of her life

   B. Amy was badly injured herself and they didn’t want to add to her pain

   C. They didn’t want to blame their children in front of others

   D. Amy was their youngest daughter and they loved her best

From the passage we can learn that _____.

   A. Amy has never recovered from the shock   B. Amy changed her job after the accident

   C. Amy lost her memory after the accident    D. Amy has lived quite a normal life

Is there a magic cutoff period when children become responsible for their own actions? Is there a wonderful moment when parents can become spectators （audiences） in the lives of their children and shrug, “It’s their life,” and feel nothing?

       When I was in my twenties, I stood in a hospital  passage waiting for doctors to put a few stitches（缝线） in my son’s head．I asked, “When do you stop worrying?” The nurse said, “When they get out of the accident stage．” My mother just smiled faintly and said nothing．

      When I was in my thirties, I sat on a little chair in a classroom and heard how one of my children talked continually and disrupted the class．As if to read my mind, a teacher said．“Don’t worry．They all go through this stage and then you can sit back, relax and enjoy them．” My mother just smiled faintly and said nothing．

      When I was in my forties, I spent a lifetime waiting for the phone to ring, the cars to come home, the front door to open．A friend said, “They’re trying to find themselves．Don’t worry; in a few years, you can stop worrying．They’ll be adults．” My mother just smiled faintly and said nothing．

    By the time I was 50, I was sick and tired of being weak．I was still worrying over my children, but there was a new wrinkle．There was nothing I could do about it．My mother just smiled faintly and said nothing．

     I continued to suffer from their failures, and be absorbed in their disappointments．My friends said that when my kids got married I could stop worrying and lead my own life．I wanted to believe that, but I was haunted（萦绕心头） by my mother’s warm smile and her occasional “You look pale．Are you all right? Call me the minute you get home．Are you depressed about something?” Can it be that parents are sentenced to a lifetime of worry?

    One of my children became quite anxious about me recently, saying, “Where were you? I’ve been calling for three days, and no one answered．I was worried．”

     I smiled a warm smile．

The author intends to tell us in the passage that_______．

     A．parents long for a period when they no longer worry about their children

     B．there is no time when parents have no worry about their children

     C．it’s parents’ duty to worry about their children

     D．there should be a period when parents don’t have to worry about their children

We can infer from the underlined sentence “My mother just smiled faintly and said nothing．” that ______．

     A．her mother shared the same idea as the nurse

     B．her mother didn’t agree with the nurse

     C．her mother thought the nurse was lying

     D．her mother wouldn’t express her opinion upon the matter

The author mentioned her ages of twenties, thirties, forties and fifty in order to show_______．

      A．the hard times she experiences in her life

      B．the different stages of her children

      C．the support she received from her mother

      D．she had been worrying about her children in her life

What can we infer from the last sentence?

      A．The mother was happy that her child began to worry about her, too

      B．Finally the mother didn’t have to worry about her children

      C．At last the mother could live her own life without worry．

      D．The mother succeeded in turning her children into adults．

Which of the following should be the best title?

     A．Life             B．Parents   C．Worry          D．Children

How to Be a Winner

Sir Steven Redgrave

Winner of 5 Olympic Gold Medals

       “In 1997 I was found to have developed diabetes （糖尿病） ．Believing my career （职业生涯）was over, I felt extremely low．Then one of the specialists said there was no reason why I should stop training and competing．That was it----the encouragement I needed．I could still be a winner if I believed in myself．I am not saying that it isn’t difficult sometimes．But I wanted to prove to myself that I wasn’t finished yet．Nothing is to stand in my way．”

Karen Pickering

Swimming World Champion

       “I swim 4 hours a day, 6 days a week．I manage that sort of workload by putting it on top of my diary．This is the key to success—you can’t follow a career in any field without being well-organized．List what you believe you can achieve．“Trust yourself, write down your goals for the day, however small they are, and you’ll be a step closer to achieving them．”

Kirsten Best

Poet ＆ Writer

       “When things are getting hard, a voice inside my head tells me that I can’t achieve something．Then, there are other distractions, such as family or hobbies．The key is to concentrate．When I feel tense, it helps a lot to repeat words such as ‘calm’, ‘peace’ or ‘focus’, either out loud or silently in my mind．It makes me feel more in control and increases my confidence．This is a habit that can become second nature quite easily and is a powerful psychological （心理的） tool．”

What does Sir Steven Redgrave mainly talk about?

       A．Difficulties influenced his career．

       B．Specialists offered him medical advice．

       C．Training helped him defeat his disease．

       D．He overcame the shadow of illness to win．

What does Karen Pickering put on top of her diary?

       A．Her training schedule．       B．Her daily happenings．

       C．Her achievements．          D．Her sports career．

What does the underlined word “distractions” probably refer to?

       A．Ways that help one to focus．

       B．Words that help one to feel less tense．

       C．Activities that turn one’s attention away．

       D．Habits that make it hard for one to relax．

According to the passage, what do the three people have in common?

       A．Courage．     B．Devotion．    C．Hard work．        D．Self-confidence．