Although it was only autumn，everything outside was covered in white．Unexpectedly, we were hit with a big 1  storm and no one was prepared．
We have two apple trees in our backyard．Prana，our dog，loves  2．When she goes outside，she usually grabs a dirty apple from the ground to eat later on．Prana knows that when she brings her treasure into the house，I am not always  3，so she tries to hide it from me．It is our little game．
On the day that it snowed too  4  in the season，Prana went outside and I  5 her from the window．I noticed that she was  6 lots of holes and bringing out the apples buried beneath the snow．She seemed to be  7 to dig up as many apples as she could．
But when she came back inside，she brought back only one．About five minutes later,I looked outside．The yard was completely  8 with birds．Prana had dug up all those apples for her bird friends to eat．She knew that they hadn’t prepared  9 food for the early winter.
This beautiful act of unconditional love from a(an)  10 taught me what real kindness was．

Learning to Accept

I learned how to accept life from my father.  1 , he did not teach me to learn to accept when he was strong and healthy, but when he was   2 and ill.

My father was 3  a strong man who loved being active, but a terrible illness  4 all that away. Now he can   5  walk, and he must sit quietly in a chair 6 . Even talking is  7 . One night, I went to visit him with my sisters. We started   8  about life, and I told them about one of my  9 . I said that we must very often give things up as we grow —our youth, our beauty, our friends -- but it always seems that after we give something up, we get  10  in its place. Then suddenly my father spoke up. He said, “But Peter, I gave up   11 ! What did I get?” I thought and thought, but I could not think of anything to say. 12 , he answered his own question: “I 13 the love of my family.” I looked at my sisters and saw tears in their eyes,  14 hope and thankfulness, I was also  15  by his words.

1.                A．Although       B．So             C．However  D．When

2.                A．tired           B．weak           C．poor D．slow

3.                A．already         B．still            C．only D．once

4.                A．took           B．threw          C．sent D．put

5.                A．any longer      B．no longer       C．not more D．not longer

6.                A．a day          B．all night         C．all day    D．any day

7.                A．impossible      B．difficult         C．stressful  D．hopeless

8.                A．worrying        B．caring          C．talking    D．asking

9.                A．decisions       B．experiences     C．instructions    D．beliefs

10.               A．anything new    B．new anything    C．new something  D．something new

11.               A．something      B．anything        C．nothing   D．everything

12.               A．To my surprise   B．In surprise      C．Be surprised    D．To his surprise

13.               A．had           B．accepted       C．got   D．enjoyed

14.               A．without        B．in             C．of    D．with

15.               A．surprised       B．moved         C．excited    D．attracted

One afternoon, my son came home from school and asked me, “Are all people the same even if their skin color is different?” I thought for a moment, then I said, “I’ll explain. Let’s go to a fruit store first. I have something interesting to show you.”

At the store, I told him that we needed to buy apples. And we bought some red apples, green apples and yellow apples.

After we got home, I told Adam, “It’s time to answer your question.” I put one of each type of apple on the table: first a red apple, followed by a green apple and then a yellow apple. Then I looked at Adam, who was sitting on the other side of the table.

“Adam, people are just like apples. They come in different colors, shapes and sizes. See, some may not even look as delicious as others.” As I was talking, Adam was examining each one carefully.

Then, I took each of the apples and peeled them, placing them back on the table, but in a different place.

“OK, Adam, tell me which one is the red apple, the green apple and the yellow apple.”

He said, “I can’t tell. They all look the same now.”

“Take a bite(一口) of each one. See if that helps you tell which one is which.”

He took big bites, and then a huge smile came across his face. “People are just like apples! They are all different, but if you take off the outside, they’re pretty much the same on the inside.”

“Right,” I agreed. “Just like everyone has their own features but they are nearly the same.”

He completely got it. I didn’t need to say or do anything else.

Now, when I eat an apple, it tastes a little sweeter than before. What perfect fruit it is!

1. I took Adam to buy apples for         .                    

   A. supper           B. his question          C. a party     D. a present

2. As soon as we got home, I put          on the table.

A. all the apples                    B. three apples of different colors

C. three red apples                  D. three peeled apples

3.After Adam took big bites, he found they         .

A. looked the same     B. tasted good           C. tasted the same    D. weren’t delicious

4.In the end, Adam understood that         .

A. people are much the same even if their skin color is different

B. people are different if their skin color is different

C. the apples look the same after they are peeled             

D. apples of different colors taste different

5. I feel that apples taste a little sweeter than before because         .

A. they are delicious enough           B. they are perfect fruit for thinking

C. they are safe fruit                D. my son falls in love with them

When Susan told me that she was terribly ill and probably would die. I cried. I didn’t understand why this happened to my best friend. Then Susan   35  me a red ribbon(丝带) without saying anything.
A month later, Susan was at a hospital about two hours away from where we lived. I asked my dad to take me to see her. I wanted to give my best friend a   36 . So I took out the ribbon and cut it into two pieces with scissors(剪刀). I put one in my pocket and the other in an envelope(信封), along with a letter explaining it to her. I told her to keep her   37  beside her bed, and I would keep mine near me, too. Then I went to the hospital one Friday afternoon, wondering (想知道) if the ribbon would   38  anything to her. I walked into the room and ran over to give her a big hug. Then I gave her a teddy bear and the envelope. We talked for a while and then she started looking   39 , so I asked her to get some rest and left the hospital. All the way home I   40 the ribbon close to me.
For the next four months, the ribbon was with me  41 I went: school, home, shopping, and at friends’ houses. Where I went, it went. It was something to remind(提醒)me that I had a friend who would   42  home very soon. Susan said that she wore her ribbon   43  her arm all the time and she always had it close to her when she was being tested and treated.
Finally, Susan came home! I was so happy. That night, I looked at the ribbon which was still with me. I had a feeling it would never   44 , that I would remember what had happened during the time she had been ill.