One midnight, a little girl woke up to pass water. She by herself got up and down her bed, walked to the bedroom door and opened it. She looked outside and walked back, for it was so dark in the hall that she feared.

Her mother said, “Don’t be afraid, honey. Take courage!”

“What’s courage?” she asked, running to her mother’s bed.

“Courage is the brave breath,” her mother answered.

“Mum, do you have courage?”

“Certainly.”

The girl held out her little hands, saying, “Mum, blow some of your breath of courage to me.”

After her mother blew out two mouthfuls of breath into her little cold hands, the little girl clenched her fists(握拳) nervously, afraid that the “breath of courage” would run away. Then with her fists clenched, she walked out of the bedroom towards the bathroom with nothing to fear.

Her mother said to herself, “It will be nice if someone can blow some kind of ‘breath’ to me. Then I can hold it in my hands too when I feel terrified or lost.”

In fact, mostly, what we are terrified of is nothing but the fear in our mind. Who we should defeat(战胜) is nobody but ourselves.

1.We learn from the reading that ___________.

A．the girl went to the bathroom by herself

B．the girl pretended to be terrified of nothing

C．the girl’s mother was able to blow brave breath

D．the girl’s mother was very proud of herself

2.To stop “mother’s breath” from running away, the girl __________.

A．held out her little hands

B．clenched her fists

C．talk to her mother

D．held her own breath

3.The writer mainly wants to tell us that ___________.

A．adults are always brave enough

B．children learn to be brave quickly

C．the fear in one’s mind is the real problem

D．the mother can deal with anything with breath

4.Which is the best title of the passage?

A．The Fearless Mother                     B．One Lonely Girl

C．One midnight                          D．The Breath of Courage

In 1993 an unknown American called Clarence Nash went to see the filmmaker Walt Disney. He had an unusual voice and he wanted to work in Disney’s cartoon(动画片) film for children. When Walt Disney heard Nash’s voice, he said”Stop! That’s our duck!”

The duck was the now-famous Donald Duck, who first appeared in 1934 in the firm The Wise Little Hen. Donald lived in an old houseboat(水上住家) and wore his sailor jacket and hat. Later that year he became a star after an eight – minute Mickey Mouse film. The cinema audience liked him because he was lazy and greedy(贪婪的), and because he lost his temper (发脾气) very quickly. And they loved his voice when he became angry with Mickey’s eight nephews(侄子). Soon Donald was more popular than Mickey Mouse himself, probably because he wasn’t a goody-goody like Mickey.

In the 1930S, ‘ 40s and ‘ 50s Donald and his friends Mickey, Goofy and Pluto made hundreds of Disney cartoons. He also made educational films about the place of the USA in the world, and safety in the home. Then in 1966 Donald Duck and his voice disappeared – there were no more new cartoons.

Clarence Nash died in February, 1985. But today’s children can still see the old cartoons on television and hear that famous voice.

1.Who made Donald Duck film? ______

2. When was the first Donald Duck film made? ______

3.Who was Clarence Nash? ______

4.Where do today’s children see Donald Duck ? ______

5. The underlined word”audience” in the second paragraph means______ .

Please stop ______.It’s time for class.

1. A.
   to talk
2. B.
   talk
3. C.
   talking
4. D.
   speaking

Music can be a great power (力量) to change people’s lives. Regina del Carmen Sanchez, 14, always believes this. The girl from Kansas City, US, leads a hard life. She lives in a small house with her mom and grandparents. Her mom gets a very low pay.
But it doesn’t stop Sanchez’s love of music. She wrote her first song Keep Your Head Up when she was 12. It described the bad situation(情况) at her home, but it also sent the message of hope: “My house is old and poor, but it beats (胜过) being homeless… Love yourself and never give up. You’ll see a better life if you keep your head up…”
It took Sanchez several months to finish the song. Sometimes during a break in class, when lyrics (歌词) came into her head, “I would have to write them down right then,” she told the local newspaper The Kansas City Star.
Jeremy Lillig was a spokesman for Bright Futures, a charity fund. When he saw the video of the song, he was moved. He shared it through social media (社交媒体). The fund has provided money for poor students in Kansas City.
Now Sanchez often plays the song in public. “I want to help people understand what is happening in the world in an easy way,” she said.
【小题1】 There are          people in Sanchez’s family.

NOT all memories are sweet. Some people -- all their lives trying to forget bad experiences. Violence and traffic accidents can leave people with terrible physical and emotional scars (伤痕).

Now American researchers think they are close to developing a pill, which will help people forget bad memories. The pill is designed to be taken immediately after a frightening experience. They hope it might reduce, or possibly erase, the effect of painful memories.

In November, experts tested a drug on people in the US and France. The drug stops the body producing chemicals that fix memories in the brain (大脑). So far the research has suggested that only the emotional effects of memories may be reduced, not that the memories are erased.

The research has caused a great deal of discussion. Some think it is a bad idea, while others support it.

Supporters say it could lead to pills that prevent or treat soldiers' troubling memories after war. They say that there are many people who suffer from terrible memories.

"Some memories can destroy people's lives. They come back to you when you don't want to have them in a daydream or nightmare (噩梦). They usually come with very painful emotions," said Roger Pitman, a professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. "This could relieve a lot of that suffering."

But those who are against the research say that changing memories is very dangerous because memories give us our identity (特质). They also help us all avoid the mistakes of the past.

"All of us can think of bad events in our lives that were horrible at the time but make us who we are. I'm not sure we want to wipe those memories out, "said Rebecca Dresser, a medical ethicist.

1.The passage is mainly about          

A．a new medical invention

B．a new research on the pill

C．a way of erasing painful memories

D．a discussion about the research on the pill

2.The drug tested on people can           

A．cause the brain to fix memories

B．stop people remembering bad experiences

C．prevent body producing certain chemicals

D．erase the emotional effects of memories

3.We can infer from the passage that            

A．people doubt the effects of the pills

B．the pill will stop people's bad experiences

C．taking the pill will do harm to people's health

D．the pill has probably been produced in America

4.Which of the following does Rebecca Dresser agree with?

A．Some memories can destroy people's lives.

B．People want to remove bad memories.

C．Experiencing bad events makes us different from others.

D．The pill will reduce people's sufferings from bad memories.