I had been a happy girl until one day when I was fifteen months old．One of my eyes was badly hurt in an accident．I lost the sight of the eye，with an ugly scar l * around it．

Children refused to play games with me．It made me very sad．I always walked ，looking at the floor ，so that people would not see the ugly face．My mother encouraged me to be brave．She told me，"Alice ，hold your head up high and face the world．If you do ，it will be OK ，and people will see your beautiful soul *．"Mom's words meant different things to me over the years．

As a little child，I thought Morn meant，"Be careful or you will fall down．"When I grew up，I still wanted to look down to hide my shame．She repeated these words whenever I wanted to hide．Mom's words helped me realize that I should look at people in the eye and let them know me．When I tried，I found people were friendly to me．

In high school，I worked hard at my lessons and succeeded in my studies．Everybody began to like me and I had some friends．However，I still felt sorry about my scar，my ugly face．Sometimes when things got really bad，I would cry to my mom．She was always there for me．She would look at me and said，" Hold your head up high and face the world．Let them see the beauty that is inside．"I became confident" ．

At university，I took part in all kinds of activities．I joined a music club．We held concerts to raise money to help poor children．The club became so famous and I had more friends．Then John，a popular musician，came into my life．He didn't mind the scar．We soon fell in love with each other．Two years later，we got married．

My mother's words have been encouraging me to face my problems bravely and believe in myself．

1．What happened to Alice when she was fifteen months old?

A．She was badly ill．                        B．She hurt one of her eyes badly．

C．Her mom left her．                       D．She had a scar on one of her ears．

2．Which of the following is NOT TRUE?

A．Children refused to play with Alice．            B．Alice worked hard in high school．

C．Alice never worried about her problem．      D．Alice had lots of friends at university．

3．Why did John fall in love with Alice?

A．Because everyone liked her．                 B．Because he enjoyed her beauty inside． 

C．Because he wanted to help her．              D．Because Alice looked very beautiful．

4．What does the sentence" Hold your head up high" mean to Alice?

A．Walk carefully．                          B．Walk with your head up．

C．Be outgoing．                          D．Believe in yourself．

　 O. Henry, a famous American writer of short stories, was born in North Carolina in 1862. O. Henry was a pen name. His real name was William Sydney Porter. When he was a young boy, he did not go to school for long because of being born in a poor family, but he tried to teach himself everything he needed to know.

　　 When he was about 20 years old, O. Henry went to Texas. There he tried different jobs. He first worked on a newspaper, and then had a job in a bank. But he got himself into some trouble. Some money went missing from the bank. O. Henry was believed to have stolen it, so he was sent to prison(监狱). During the three years in prison, he learned to write short stories. After he got out of prison, he went to New York and went on writing.

　　 He wrote mostly about New York and the life of the poor there. People liked his stories, because almost all of them finished with a sudden change. This made the readers surprised.

(　　 )56. ___________ was the real name of the famous American writer.

　 　 A. O. Henry　　 B. William Sydney Porter　　　 C. Carolina　　 D. Texas

(　　 )57. O. Henry was sent to prison because _________________.

A. people thought he had stolen money from the newspaper.

B. People thought he had stolen money from the bank.

C. he wanted to write stories about prisoners.

D. he broke the law (法律) by not using his own name

(　　 )58. Which of the following is true?

A. O. Henry was from a rich family

B. O. Henry was in school for a long time.

C. O. Henry learned everything he needed by himself.

D. O. Henry liked writing stories when he was a little boy.

(　　 ) 59. O. Henry got most materials for his stories from ______________.

A. his happy life as a boy　　 B. New York and the poor of the city

C. the newspaper　　　　　　　　 D. his life in prison

(　　 )60. People enjoyed reading O. Henry’s stories because __________________.

A. they had surprising endings　　

B. they were easy to unders

C. they showed love for the poor

D. they were about New York

Mr. Black was working in a factory in a big town. He liked 　1　 very much, and was very good　2　 it. When he was free, he　3　 down to a small river behind the factory and tried 　4　 some fish, but there were very few there, 　5　 the water wasn’t clean. One summer he went to the seaside during his holiday and stayed at a small cheap hotel.
“I have never fished in the 　6　 before.” He thought. “It will be more interesting than fishing in our river.”
　7　 first he caught a lot of fish and was very 　8　 . He gave them to the hotel and they cooked them for guests, and he enjoyed himself very much. After　9　, he did this every day. But 　10　 he got his bill(账单) at the end of the week, he saw it, “For oil（油） to cook fish(7 days), 70 dollars（美元）.”