Rising above the names

　　 I was shopping in the supermarket when I heard a young voice.

　 “Mom，come here！There's this lady here my size！”

　　 The mother rushed to her son；then she turned to me to apologize.

　　 I smiled and told her，“It's okay.”Then I talked to the boy，“Hi，I'm Darryl Kramer.How are you？”

　　 He studied me from head to toe，and asked，“Are you a little mommy？”

　 “Yes，I have a son，”I answered.

　 “Why are you so little？”he asked.

　 “It's the way I was born，”I said.“Some people are little.Some are tall.I'm just not going to grow any bigger.”After I answered his other questions，I shook the boy's hand and left.

　　 My life as a little person is filled with stories like that.I enjoy talking to children and explaining why I look different from their parents.

　　 It takes only one glance to see my uniqueness.I stand three feet nine inches tall.I was born an achondroplasia dwarf(侏儒)．Despite this，I did all the things other kids did when I was growing up.

　　 I didn't realize how short I was until I started school.Some kids picked on me，calling me names.Then I knew.I began to hate the first day of school each year.New students would always stare at me as I struggled to climb the school bus stairs.

　　 But I learned to smile and accept the fact that I was going to be noticed my whole life.I decided to make my uniqueness an advantage rather than a disadvantage.What I lacked in height，I made up for in personality.

　　 I'm 47 now，and the stares have not diminished as I've grown older.People are amazed when they see me driving.I try to keep a good attitude.When people are rude，I remind myself，“Look what else I have－a great family，nice friends.”

　　 It's the children's questions that make my life special.I enjoy answering their questions.My hope is that I will encourage them to accept their peers(a person of the same age，class，position，etc.)，whatever size and shape they come in，and treat them with respect.

1．Why did the mother apologize to the author?

A．Because the boy ran into the author.

B．Because the boy laughed at the author.

C．Because the boy said the author was fatter than him.

D．Because the mother thought the boy's words had hurt the author.

2．When did the author realize that she was too short?

A．When she grew up.

B．When she was 47 years old.

C．When she began to go to school.

D．When she met the boy in the supermarket.

3．Which of the following word can best replace the underlined word“diminished”？

A．Dismissed. 　　　　 B．Increased.

C．Decreased. 　　　　 D．Discriminated.

4．How does the author feel about people's stares?

A．Angry. 　　　　　　 B．Calm.

C．Painful. 　　　　　 D．Discouraged.

完形填空（共20小题；每小题1分，满分20分）

     One day a young man was standing in the middle of the town proclaiming that he had the most beautiful heart in the whole valley. A large crowd gathered．and they all admired his heart for it was 　41　. There was not a scar in it. Suddenly, an old man appeared and said, “Why, your heart is not nearly as beautiful as 　42　.”

　　The crowd and the young man looked at the old man’s 　43　. It was full of scars, it had places 　44　 pieces had been removed and other pieces 45　 in, but they didn’t fit quite right, and there were several 　46　 edges. In fact, in some places there were deep gaps where whole pieces were missing.

　　The young man laughed. “ 　47　 your heart with mine, mine is perfect and yours is a mess of scars.”

　　“Yes,” said the old man, “Yours  48　 perfect but I would never trade with you. You see, every　49　 represents a person 　50　 I have given my love. I tear out a piece of my heart and give it to them, and often they 51　 me a piece of their heart that fits into the  52　 place in my heart. But because the pieces aren’t exact, I have some rough edges, which I cherish, because they remind me of the love we 　53　.

　　“Sometimes I have given pieces of my heart 　54　, and the other person hasn’t returned a 　55　 of his or her heart to me. These are the empty gaps—giving love is 　56　 a chance. Although these gaps are painful, they 　57　 open, reminding me of the love I have for those people too, and I hope someday they may return and fill the space I have been waiting. So now do you see what true beauty is?’’

　　The young man walked up to the old man, 　58　 his perfect heart, and tipped a piece out. He 　59　 it to the old man.

　　The old man placed it in his heart, then took a piece from his old scarred heart and placed it in the wound in the young man’s heart. It 　60　, but not perfectly, as there were some jagged edges.

　　The young man looked at his heart, not perfect anymore but more beautiful than ever, since love from the old man’s heart flowed into his.

　　They embraced and walked away side by side.

A．ugly　　　　　B．perfect　　　　　 C．beautiful　　　　D．hurt

A．mine　　　　 B．his　　　　　　　 C．theirs　　　　　D．ours

A．coat　　　　　B．appearance　　　　C．face　　　　　 D．heart

A．that　　　　　B．which　　　　　　C．where　　　　　D．whose

A．cut　　　　　 B．set　　　　　　　C．put　　　　　　 D．brought

A．smooth　　　 B．rough　　　　　　C．broken　　　　　D．pretty

A.Comparing　　　B．Compared　　　　C．Compare　　　 D．Compares

A．looks　　　　 B．seems　　　　　　C．is　　　　　　　D．fits

A．one　　　　　 B．heart　　　　　　 C．piece　　　　　 D．scar

A．on whom　　 B．in whom　　　　　C．with whom　　  D．to whom

A．take　　　　 B．give　　　　　　　C．lend　　　　　　D．pass

A．empty　　　 B．full　　　　　　　 C．original　　　　 D．first

A．had　　　　  B．gave　　　　　　 C．shared　　　　　D．owned

A．in　　　　　 B．away　　　　　　 C．off　　　　　　D．up

A．lot　　　　　 B．sheet　　　　　　 C．piece　　　　　D．pile

A．making　　　 B．taking　　　　　　C．keeping　　　　D．bringing

A．keep　　　　　B．cut　　　　　　　C．come　　　　　D．stay

A．carried away　　B．reached into　　　C．took out　　　 D．brought up

A．offered　　　　B．took　　　　　　C．passed　　　　　D．served

A．fit　　　　　　B．hit　　　　　　　C．beat　　　　　　D．set

Please remind me of the meeting again tomorrow ________I forget.

A．though　　　  B．so that         C．in case           D．until

“Imagine you are walking along the road. Suddenly you fall over and all the passers-by burst into laughter. You feel very　 1　 and think the world is laughing at you . But in fact, five minutes later, they have　 2　  it ever happened.” The other day when I came across these words in an article, I didn’t agree with the　 3　 .
The author thinks the best thing to do in this kind of　 4 is to pretend nothing has happened, and so avoid　 5　 trouble.
I admit that we should keep　 6　 because “Your tears will only remind others of what happened, while your　 7　 can let them forget it.” But this is far from satisfactory. We should do　8　 to make things better.
I used to be a(n)  9　 girl and not very good at maths. Our new maths teacher asked me a question and I still remember how I hung my head in  10  when I couldn’t answer it.
“If you don’t know the answer, just tell me.” the teacher said, “If you don’t how can I know 　 11　 you know the answer or not?” All of my classmates burst into laughter. My face turned red but the teacher　 12　 me to go to the blackboard and　 13　 what I knew. If I had　 14　 the words in the article, I would have given up. But I tried my best. And to everyone’s  15　, I succeeded! The teacher smiled and said, “Well done! I　 16　 you could do it!”
Since then, I have become active in maths as　 17　 as in other subjects. I used to think doing maths exercises was a waste of time. But now, I know　 18　 I do can make things better. Everyone is the　 19　 of his own fate.
If we make mistakes, we should take on an active　20　 . Laugh, and the world laughs with you; weep(哭泣), and you weep alone.

We were standing at the top of a church tower. My father had brought me to this spot in a small town not far from our home in Rome. I wondered why.
“Look down, Elsa,” father said. I gathered all my courage and looked down. I saw the square in the center of the village. And I saw the crisscross (十字形) of twisting, turning streets leading to the square. “See, my dear,” father said gently. “There is more than one way to the square. Life is like that. If you can’t get to the place where you want to go by one road, try another.”
Now I understood why I was there. Earlier that day I had begged my mother to do something about the awful lunches that were served at school. But she refused because she could not believe the lunches were as bad as I said.
When I turned to father for help, he didn’t say anything. Instead, he brought me to this high tower to give me a lesson. By the time we reached home, I had a plan.
At school the next day, I secretly poured my luncheon（午餐）soup into a bottle and brought it home. Then I asked our cook to serve it to mother at dinner. The plan worked perfectly. She swallowed one spoonful and sputtered（喷溅出）“ The cook must have gone mad！” Quickly I told her what I had done, and Mother stated firmly that she would take up the matter of lunches at school the next day!
In the years that followed I often remembered the lesson father taught me. I began to work as a fashion designer two years ago. I wouldn’t stop working until I tried every possible means to my goal. Father’s wise words always remind me that there is more than one way to the square.
【小题1】The author’s father took her to the top of a church tower to ____________.