I still remember --- my hands and my fingers still remember --- what used to lie in store for us on our return to school from the holidays. The trees in the school yard would be in full leaf again and the old leaves would be lying around like a muddy sea of leaves.
“Get that all swept up!” the headmaster would tell us. “I want the whole place cleaned up, at once!” There was enough work there, to last over a week. Especially since the only tools with which we were provided were our hands, our fingers, our nails. “Now see that it’s done properly, and be quick about it,” the headmaster would say to the older pupils, “or you’ll have to answer for it!”
So at an order from the older boys we would all line up like peanuts about to cut and gather in crops. If the work was not going as quickly as the headmaster expected, the big boys, instead of giving us a helping hand, used to find it simpler to beat us with branches pulled from the trees. In order to avoid these blows, we used to bribe(贿赂) the older boys with the juicy cakes we used to bring for our midday meal. And if we happened to have any money on us, the coins changed hands at once. If we did not do this, if we were afraid of going home with an empty stomach or an empty purse, the blows were redoubled. They hit us so violently and with such evil enjoyment that even a deaf and dumb person would have realized that we were being whipped so much not to make us work harder, but rather to beat us into a state of obedience(服从) in which we would be only too glad to give up our food and money.
Occasionally one of us, worn out by such calculated cruelty, would have the courage to complain to the headmaster. He would of course be very angry, but the punishment he gave the older boys was always very small --- nothing compared to what they had done to us. And the fact is that however much we complained, our situation did not improve in the slightest. Perhaps we should have let our parents know what was going on, but somehow we never dreamed of doing so; I don’t know whether it was loyalty or pride that kept us silent, but I can see now that we were foolish to keep quiet about it, for such beating were completely foreign to our nature.
【小题1】The statement “my hands and my fingers still remember” (Para.1) means that___________.

—Are you ready for Spain?
—Yes, I want the girls to experience that        they’re young.

阅读下面短文，按照句子结构的语法性和上下文连贯的要求，在空格处填入一个适当的词或使用括号中词语的正确形式填空，并将答案填写在答卷标号为1-10的相应位置上。

We are all in the position of the farmer. If we plant a good seed, we ____（get） a good harvest. If our seed is poor and full of weeds, we’ll get a ____ (use) crop. If we don’t plant anything, we’ll harvest nothing at all. I want the future to be better ____ the past. I don't want it ____ (pollute) by the mistakes and errors ___ which history is filled. We should all ____ (concern) about the future because that is ____ we will spend the rest of our lives. The past is gone and static. Nothing we can do will change it. The future is ___ us and it is dynamic. Everything we do will affect it. Each day it will bring us new frontiers in our homes and in our businesses as long as we recognize ____. We are just at ___ beginning of the progress in every field of human efforts.

It was time for Mr. Rocco to shut up shop when I hurried into the florist’s. “Now, what is it you want?” Mr. Rocco turned to me. “I want the most beautiful flower you have.” I replied. “And just how much do you have to pay for this most beautiful flower?” I held out a wet hand showing a quarter and dime. He nodded, and then showed me a plant on the counter. “I can give you this one for 35 cents.” he said. “Aw, gee,” I protested, “it looks like a weed!” About 18 inches high, the plant was in a small pot covered with faded red paper. “Now trust me, boy—I promise that tomorrow morning when you get up, you will find your most beautiful flower.” said Mr. Rocco. I knew him to be a good honest man, so I agreed to take it.

It was almost midnight when I arrived home. Mom was seriously sick and using the front bedroom. I looked in to see if she was asleep, and then quietly tiptoed in and set the plant on the table beside her bed. I wanted her to be surprised when she woke on Mother’s Day.

The next morning, I dressed and hurried downstairs. The sun was shining through kitchen window as I looked into Mom’s room. She motioned for me to come in, then glanced over at the table where the plant was. Holy mackerel! There were three big yellow trumpet-shaped（喇叭状的）blooms. It was just like Mr. Rocco said—the most beautiful flower I ever saw! When I looked at Mom, she was smiling as tears streamed down her cheeks. She held out her hand for me to come near, then pulled me close and hugged till it hurt. Then, remembering her contagious condition and that she wasn’t supposed to touch me, she quickly let me go.

My dear mom died the next night. The moment she hugged me turned out to be the most wonderful moment of my life. Not only had that beautiful plant helped show just how much I loved her, but I’d always know how much she loved me.

1.  The author didn’t like the plant recommended by Mr. Rocco at first because ______.

A. the packing of the plant was shabby

B. the plant was more a weed than a flower         

C. the plant appeared too ordinary to be the most beautiful

D. he thought Mr. Rocco was reluctant to do the deal with him

2.  Mother’s condition was contagious (Line 6, Para.3) for ______.

A. she was at the death’s door         B. she suffered from the illness

C. others were sick of her appearance   D. virus might spread from her to others 

3. When mother hugged the author tightly, she was showing that ______.

A. she liked being given gifts             

B. she valued what the author had done for her

C. she was aware of the approaching of death   

D. she was touched by the beauty of the flower

4. The story is mainly developed by______________.

A. time        B. logic            C. comparison       D. cause and result

5.Which may be the best title of the passage?

A. Flowers of Love                          B. A Son’s Love for Mother

C. Low Price, High Value              D. A Special Mother’s Day 

Once there was a piano player in a bar. People came just to hear him play. But one night, a lady asked him to sing a song.
"I don't sing." said the man.
But the lady told the waiter, "I'm tired of listening to the piano. I want the player to sing!"
The waiter shouted across the room, " Hey, friend! If you want to get paid, sing a song!"
So he did. He had never sung in public before. Now he was singing for the very first time! Nobody had ever heard the song Mona Lisa sung so beautifully!
He had talent (天赋）he was sitting on! He may have lived the rest of his life as a no-name piano player in a no-name bar. But once he found, by accident, that he could sing well, he went on working hard and became one of the best-known singers in the US. His name was Nat King Cole.
You, too, have skills and abilities. You may not feel that your talent is great, but it may be better than you think. With hard work, most skills skills can be improved. Besides, you may have no success at all if you just sit on your talent.
【小题1】The lady asked the player to sing a song because          .