Louis Braille was born in Coupvray, France. He was a very small child. Unluckily, at the age of four, he became blind by accident. Louis began attending school in his town when he was seven years old.
Three years later, Louis and his father traveled to Paris. There, he went to a school for blind children. One day a French soldier, Charles Barbier, visited the school. Barbier invented a system of night-reading. This system used small dots for the letters. Soldiers used this system in time of war. Barbier thought this system could help the blind to read.
Soon Braille discovered that there were some shortcoming (缺点) in Barbier’s system, but it gave Louis a brilliant idea. He improved Barbier’s system. By the age of fifteen, his new system was completed! Now he wanted blind schools to try his system. Luck went against him again. The school refused to use his system. Louis died in 1852 in Paris at the age of forty-three.
Two years after he died, the blind schools began to use his system. Today we call this system Braille in honour of Louis Braille. His system is used for all languages, and for maths, science, writing, music, and computers for the blind.

Louis Braille
Time	Place	Events
in 【小题1】	in Coupvray	was born
at the age of four	/	became 【小题2】
at the age of seven	in 【小题3】	started school
at the age of【小题4】	in Paris	studied in a school for blind children
by the age of 15	/	completed his new system
in 1852	in Paris	【小题5】

短文填空 先通读下面的短文，然后根据短文内容和所给首字母，在空格内填入一个适当的词，使短文意思完整。所填单词必须在答题卡标有题号的横线上完整写出。（本大题共6分，每格0.5分）
Who was Leonardo da Vinci? You may answer without t    【小题1】    : “He is the painter of the Mona Lisa.” What e    【小题2】  do you know about him? Da Vinci was more than just a great artist in history. He’s also f   【小题3】     as a scientist and an inventor.
Leonardo da Vinci was b    【小题4】   to a rich family in Florence, Italy, in 1452. From childhood, Leonardo was given a good e   【小题5】     and he showed talent at painting. By the age of 26, da Vinci had already become a famous painter.
He designed many i    【小题6】    machines. Da Vinci’s idea l  【小题7】    to the modern tank(坦克). Though da Vinci never b    【小题8】     many of the inventions he designed, some of the things he i    【小题9】    in the late 1400s are in use today.
As a scientist, da Vinci was very interested in the h【小题10】   body. He spent a whole year c 【小题11】 up dead bodies in hospitals to learn about human anatomy(解剖学). He made more than 200 d 【小题12】   of bodies.

The teacher stood before his class and was going to hand out the final exam papers. “I know how   1   you have all worked to prepare for this test,” he said. “And because I know you can do it well, I am willing to offer a B to anyone who would   2   not to take the test. ”
Many students jumped up to   3   the teacher and left the classroom.  The teacher looked at the   4   students and said, “Does anyone else want to get a B? This is your last   5   . ” Two more students decided to go.     Seven students remained.  The teacher then handed out the   6   .  There were only three sentences typed on the paper: Congratulations! You have just   7   an A in this class.  Keep believing in yourself.     I never had a teacher like that, but I think it is a test   8   any teacher could and should give.  Students who are not   9   in what they have learned are B students at best(充其量). The same is   10   in real life.  The A students are those who believe in what they are doing because they have   11   both successes and failures.  They have learned life’s lessons, either from normal education   12   from events in their lives, and have become   13   people.      Scientists say that by the age of eight, 80% of what we believe about ourselves has already been formed.  You are a big kid now, and you   14   that  you have some limits (限制).  However, there is   15   you can’t do or learn or be.  Sir Edmund Hillary, the first person to reach the summit of Mount Everest said, “It’s not the mountain we conquer(克服) but ourselves. ”
【小题1】A.  luckily        B.  terribly        C.  hard
【小题2】A.  dislike        B.  help            C.  prefer
【小题3】A.  thank         B.  praise          C.  fight
【小题4】A.  following     B.  relaxing      C.  remaining
【小题5】A.  chance        B.  trouble         C.  test
【小题6】A.  results        B.  presents        C.  papers
【小题7】A.  given         B.  sent            C.  received
【小题8】A.  where         B.  that            C.  what
【小题9】A.  confident     B.  necessary       C.  mysterious
【小题10】A.  unusual        B.  impossible      C.  true
【小题11】A.  broken off     B.  dreamed of      C.  learned from
【小题12】A.  and           B.  or            C.  but
【小题13】A.  ruder         B.  cuter           C.  better
【小题14】A.  decide        B.  forget          C.  realize
【小题15】A.  something     B. anything        C.  nothing

The teacher stood before his class of 30 students and was going to hand out the final exam papers. “I know how hard you have all worked to get ready for this test. ” he said. “And because I know you are all able to understand these questions. I am ready to offer a B to anyone who would prefer not to take the test. ’’
A number of students jumped up to thank the teacher and left the classroom. The teacher looked at the rest students and said. “Does anyone else want to get a B? This is your last chance. ”Two more students decided to go. Seven students stayed. The teacher then handed out the papers. There were only three sentences on the paper： Congratulations! You have received an A in this class. Keep believing in yourself.
I never had a teacher who gave a test like that. but I think that it is a test that any teacher could and should give. Students who do not have confidence in what they have learned are B students at most.
The same is true for students in real life. The A students are those who believe in what they are doing because they have learned from both successes and failures. They have learned life’s lessons. whether from school education or from events in their lives，and have become better people. Scientists say that by the age of eight，80% of what we believe about ourselves has already been formed. You are a big kid now and you realize that you have some limits(局限). However，there is nothing you can’t do or leant to be. Sir Edmund Hillary, the first person to reach the top of Mount Qomolangma (珠穆朗玛峰)said，“We do not conquer the mountain, but ourselves. ”
【小题1】Some students left the classroom because _________.

A．they were happy with the grade the teacher would give them

B．they were allowed to take another easier exam later on

C．they knew the teacher didn’t like them to take the test

D．they thought the exam was so easy that they don’t need to have a try

【小题2】The teacher gave the rest students an A because __________.

A．they answered all the questions in the exam correctly

B．they didn’t believe themselves

C．they believed themselves in what they had learned

D．they had been working hard for each exam

【小题3】The underlined word “conquer’’ means __________ in the passage.

A．发现

B．控制

C．探索

D．征服

【小题4】What does the writer want to tell us in the passage?

A．He wants us to know what our limits are.

B．He wants us to learn to believe in ourselves.

C．He wants us to receive school education.

D．He wants us to1earn from B students.

The teacher stood before his class of 30 students and was going to hand out the final exam papers. “I know how hard you have all worked to get ready for this test. ” he said. “And because I know you are all able to understand these questions. I am ready to offer a B to anyone who would prefer not to take the test. ’’
A number of students jumped up to thank the teacher and left the classroom. The teacher looked at the rest students and said. “Does anyone else want to get a B? This is your last chance. ”Two more students decided to go. Seven students stayed. The teacher then handed out the papers. There were only three sentences on the paper： Congratulations! You have received an A in this class. Keep believing in yourself.
I never had a teacher who gave a test like that. but I think that it is a test that any teacher could and should give. Students who do not have confidence in what they have learned are B students at most.
The same is true for students in real life. The A students are those who believe in what they are doing because they have learned from both successes and failures. They have learned life’s lessons. whether from school education or from events in their lives，and have become better people. Scientists say that by the age of eight，80% of what we believe about ourselves has already been formed. You are a big kid now and you realize that you have some limits(局限). However，there is nothing you can’t do or leant to be. Sir Edmund Hillary, the first person to reach the top of Mount Qomolangma (珠穆朗玛峰)said，“We do not conquer the mountain, but ourselves. ”
【小题1】Some students left the classroom because _________.

A．they were happy with the grade the teacher would give them

B．they were allowed to take another easier exam later on

C．they knew the teacher didn’t like them to take the test

D．they thought the exam was so easy that they don’t need to have a try

【小题2】The teacher gave the rest students an A because __________.

A．they answered all the questions in the exam correctly

B．they didn’t believe themselves

C．they believed themselves in what they had learned

D．they had been working hard for each exam

【小题3】The underlined word “conquer’’ means __________ in the passage.

A．发现

B．控制

C．探索

D．征服

【小题4】What does the writer want to tell us in the passage?

A．He wants us to know what our limits are.

B．He wants us to learn to believe in ourselves.

C．He wants us to receive school education.

D．He wants us to1earn from B students.