Joe lost his arms in an accident that killed his father. Since then, he has had to depend on the     1   of his younger sister Ella. In order to take care of him, Ella became his shadow, never leaving him     2    for years. Except for writing with his toes, he was completely unable to do anything in his life.

As they grew up together, they had their share of     3   and they would often quarrel. Then one day, Ella wanted to separate from Joe, living    4    own life. So Joe was heart-broken and didn't know what to do.

A     5    misfortune (不幸) struck Rosa, too. One night her mother, who suffered(受苦) from mental illness,     6    . So her father went out looking for her mother. She tried to cook meals for her parents, only to overturn the kerosene light on the stove, resulting in a fire which took her hands away.

Though her elder sister Susan showed her willingness to take care of her, Rosa decided to be    7    independent. And most of all she learned to do things on her own. Once she wrote the following in her composition: “I’m lucky. Though I lost my arms, I still have legs. Though my wings are broken, my heart can still     8  .”

　　One day，Joe and Rosa were both invited to a television interview program. Joe told the TV host about his     9    future at being left on his own, while Rosa was full of hope for her life. They both were asked to write something on a piece of paper with their toes. Joe wrote：My younger sister's arms are my arms;     10     Rosa wrote: Broken wings, flying heart.

They had both stood the same sufferings, but their different     11    determined(决定) the nature of their lives. It is true that life is unpredictable. How you deal with misfortune is the true test of your character. If you choose only to complain and run away from the suffering，it will always     12    you wherever you go. But if you decide to be strong, the hardship will turn out to be a fortune on which new hopes will arise.

1.                A．legs           B．arms           C．eyes D．hands

2.                A．sad            B．afraid          C．worried  D．alone

3.                A．questions       B．accidents       C．problems D．business

4.                A．his            B．her            C．my  D．their

5.                A．serious         B．sudden         C．terrible   D．similar

6.                A．returned       B．disappeared     C．seriously  D．immediately

7.                A．break          B．beat           C．fly   D．jump

8.                A．unfair          B．uncertain       C．unsafe   D．undoubted

9.                A．and            B．so             C．while D．or

10.               A．opinions        B．values          C．senses    D．attitudes

11.               A．follow          B．catch          C．disturb    D．hurt

Chinese people call the Spring Festival“Nian”. But do you know that Nian
was once the name of a monster(妖怪)?
　　A long time ago, the monster Nian lived in the mountains. It ate
animals. But in winter, it could not find food. So it came to villages and
ate a lot of people. People were so afraid of Nian that they locked their
doors before evening came during the winter. One day, an old man came to a
village. He told people there that Nian was afraid of three things——the
color red, fire and noise. He told people to play drums and gongs, make
big fires and set off fireworks(放鞭炮)to make Nian go away.
　　On a moonless, cold night, Nian went to the village again. As soon as it
opened its big mouth, people made loud noises and made fires. Nian was
really afraid and ran away. wherever it went, there was noise and fire.
When Nian was tired and could not run anymore, people killed the monster.
　　After that, on the coldest day of winter, people beat drums and gongs,
and set off fireworks to celebrate the death of the monster of Nian. They
put up red lanterns and have a big dinner without sleeping during the
night.
　　In the morning people greet each other happily. So now we have the
Spring Festival.
【小题1】 From the story, Nian seemed to be       long, long ago.
A exciting    B  interesting    C boring   D terrible
【小题2】 The monster Nian ate people in winter because it          .
A  wanted to make people afraid    B  had no food to eat
C  celebrated the Spring Festival    D liked to eat people in a village
【小题3】Nian was afraid of          .
A red    B fire   C noise    D  A, B and C
【小题4】 The monster Nian wasn’t killed until          .
A it had eaten all the animals  B  the old man came to a village
C it was too tired to run away  D people knew what it was afraid of
【小题5】 What is the best title for the passage?
A How the Spring Festival Came  B What People did During Nian
C How People Celebrated Nian  D What the Spring Festival was