When we are unfamiliar with something, we may feel nervous and fearful. The help of others is a good    36    to help us pull through.

I write for a big newspaper, and I wanted to    37    a story about parachute jumping（跳伞）. To make it a realistic as well as exciting    38   , I decided that I had to make a jump myself    39   . Unluckily, I’m not good at any    40   , let alone（更不用说）parachute jumping.

My friend Mr. Smith was willing to give me a    41   . He took me to a ground school. The first day’s    42    included several hours of instruction but not my first drop from a(n)   43 . For this, I had to wait until the following    44   .

The next morning, I was taken to the airfield.    45   , a heavy parachute was put on my back. Then I was    46    to make my way to a small plane which had just stopped slowly on the runway. Once on board, the plane was soon    47   . I began to feel nervous. As we reached one thousand meters, Harry, my teacher, hooked（钩）a    48    from my parachute to a steel ring inside the plane. The line was to pull my parachute    49   after I jumped.

“Get    50   , Henry,” Harry said. I moved carefully to the door. I wanted to    51   , “NO, no, no!” But no word came.

“Jump!” Harry called    52   . “Jump!”

Away from the plane, and down, down I fell, arms stretched. It worked All at once I was very happy. Then I felt a quick    53   . My big parachute had opened! It was the best    54    I ever had. I looked down. There were rivers, trees, fields and houses. I heard the soft sound of the air. This was    55   .

A. way              B. chance                            C. idea                         D. value

A. tell               B. write                        C. read                         D. copy

A. film             B. poem                       C. story                        D. program

A. secretly         B. instead                            C. finally                      D. first

A. sport            B. driving                     C. lesson                      D. drawing

A. try               B. hand                        C. gift                          D. suggestion

A. jumping        B. journey                    C. training                    D. entertainment

A. tree                     B. tower                       C. building                   D. airplane

A. week            B. month                      C. evening                    D. morning

A. Besides         B. Once                        C. There                       D. However

A. asked            B. invited                            C. forced                      D. taught

A. slowing        B. climbing                  C. landing                    D. filling

A. belt                     B. steel                         C. line                          D. seat

A. light             B. broken                            C. fixed                        D. open

A. ready            B. up                           C. on                           D. away

A. cry               B. rest                          C. laugh                       D. lie

A. softly           B. loudly                      C. nervously                 D. excitedly

A. comfort        B. wind                        C. pull                         D. push

A. failure          B. experience                C. competition                     D. danger

A. tiring            B. shocking                  C. true                         D. fun

In the fall of 1985．I was a bright-eyed girl heading off to Howard University, aiming at a legal career and dreaming of sitting on a Supreme Court bench somewhere．Twenty-one years later I am still a bright-eyed dreamer and one with quite a different tale to tell．

My grandma, an amazing woman, graduated from college an the age of 65．She was the first in our family to reach that goal．But one year after I started college, she developed cancer．I made the choice to withdraw from college to care for her．It meant that school and my personal dream would have to wait．

Then I got married with another dream: building my family with a combination of adopted and biological children．In 1999, we adopted our first son．To lay eyes on him was fantastic---and very emotional．A year later came our second adopted boy．Then followed son No．3．In 2003, I gave birth to another boy．

You can imagine how fully occupied I became, raising four boys under the age of 8! Our home was a complete zoo---a joyous zoo．Not surprising, I never did make it back to college full-time．But I never gave up on the dream either．I had only one choice: to find a way．That meant talking as few as one class each semester．

The hardest part was feeling guilty about the time I spent away from the boys．They often wanted me to stay home with them．There certainly were times I wanted to quit, but I knew I should set an example for them to follow through the rest of their lives．

In 2007, I graduated from the University of North Carolina．It took me over 21 years to get my college degree！

I am not special, just single-minded．It always struck me that when you’re looking at a big challenge from the outside it looks huge, but when you’re in the midst of it, it just seems normal．Everything you want won’t arrive in your life on one day．It’s a process．Remember: little steps add up to big dreams．

1.When the author went to Howard University, her dream was to be         .

A．a writer

B．a teacher

C．a judge

D．a doctor

2.Why did the author quit school in her second year of college?

A．She wanted to study by herself．	B．She fell in love and got married．
C．She suffered from a serious illness．	D．She decided to look after her grandma．

3.What dose the author mostly want to tell us in the last paragraph?

A．Failure is the mother of success．	B．Little by little ,one goes far．
C．Every coin has two sides．	D．Well begun ,half done．

4.Which of the following can best describe the author ?

A．Caring and determined．	B．Honest and responsible．
C．Ambitious and sensitive.	D．Innocent and single-minded．

 

For 52 years my father got up every morning at 5:30 am, except Sunday, and went to work. He returned home at 5:30 pm, for dinner at 6:00 pm. I never remember my father having a night out with his children. All he asked from me as a daughter was to hold his hammer while he repaired something, just so we could have some time to talk to each other.

For 22 years, after I left home for college, my father called me every Sunday. Nine years ago, my father, 67 years old, spent three days painting my house. He asked me to hold the paint brush for him and talk to him. But I was too busy and I could not take the time to hold the paint brush, or talk to my father.

Five years ago, my father spent five hours making a swing（秋千）for my daughter. Again, all he asked me to do was to give him a glass of tea, and talk to him. But again, I had some clothes to wash, and the house to clean.

On January 16, 1996, my father telephoned me as usual, this time from my sister’s home in Florida. I had to get to church, and I cut the conversation short.

The call came at 4:40 pm. That day, my father was in hospital in Florida. I got on an airplane immediately, and on the way, I made up my mind that when I arrived, I would make up for the lost time, and have a nice long talk with him.

I arrived in Florida at 1:00 am, but my father had passed away at 9:12 pm. This time it was he who did not have time to talk, or time to wait for me.

1.

When the author was young, her father ______.

A. was busy with his work               B. disliked his children 

C. often talked to his children         D. never cared about his children

2.

 How old was the author’s father when he made a swing for his granddaughter?

A. 45.   　　　　　　B. 67.   　　　C. 71.    　　　　　　　D. 76.

3.

When painting the house, the father asked the author to hold a paint brush because ______.

A. he wanted to make his work easy        

B. he was too old to work all by himself

C. he just wanted his daughter to help him

D. he wanted to have a talk with his daughter

4.

The underlined phrase “passed away” in the last paragraph probably means “______”.

A. arrived   　　　　B. lost    　　　C. left    　　　　D. died

 

I was in a department store with my mom, aunt, and my sister a few days ago.  36 , I am one of those people who do not like to go shopping with my family. However, I decided this time to 37 them.

   My aunt and I were 38 for some things to buy for our family when I noticed two 39 on the side. One of them had a little girl sitting on it with her 40 nearby and the other one was 41 . So, I decided to sit down. While I was 42  my own thing there, I 43 that the family were not in front of the  44  anymore. I saw the girl 45 and look around for her family. She came back and I saw her in 46, crying.

   I knew that she 47 her family and was all by herself . Now, I am sure that almost everybody has been lost in a department store or 48 big before and we all know that feeling. 49 I went up to her and asked what was 50 and in between tears she told me she was lost. I 51 her a smile card I just bought. You should have seen the 52 on her face when she read it. Then I went up to customer service center and 53 them what happened. People there promised to 54 her. After I left, the little girl’s parents went there and I could see them looking around for the person who had found their daughter and given her the 55. Little did they know it was a regular teenager who did it.

A. Luckily            B. Usually              C. Sadly         D. Surprisingly

A. help               B. encourage            C. join          D. support

A. answering          B. looking              C. preparing       D. calling

A. chairs             B. children            C. signs         D. toys

A. friends            B. book                C. family        D. bags

A. clean              B. large                C. empty        D. beautiful

A. studying           B. carrying            C. buying        D. doing

A. noticed            B. believed              C. doubted        D. understood

A. shop              B. gift                  C. girl           D. lady

A. get up             B. come up              C. give up       D. make up

A. return             B. detail                C. vain           D. tears

A. hated             B. raised                C. lost          D. lived

A. somewhere         B. something            C. everywhere    D. everything

A. If                B. As                  C. So            D. Or

A. important          B. wrong               C. strange        D. different

A. lent               B. gave                 C. sent           D. posted

A. smile             B. hope                C. puzzle         D. worry

A. reminded        B. warned            C. asked           D. told

A. look out for      B. take care of         C. wait for       D. call up

A. courage           B. money              C. explanation     D. card

In the fall of 1985．I was a bright-eyed girl heading off to Howard University, aiming at a legal career and dreaming of sitting on a Supreme Court bench somewhere．Twenty-one years later I am still a bright-eyed dreamer and one with quite a different tale to tell．
My grandma, an amazing woman, graduated from college an the age of 65．She was the first in our family to reach that goal．But one year after I started college, she developed cancer．I made the choice to withdraw from college to care for her．It meant that school and my personal dream would have to wait．
Then I got married with another dream: building my family with a combination of adopted and biological children．In 1999, we adopted our first son．To lay eyes on him was fantastic---and very emotional．A year later came our second adopted boy．Then followed son No．3．In 2003, I gave birth to another boy．
You can imagine how fully occupied I became, raising four boys under the age of 8! Our home was a complete zoo---a joyous zoo．Not surprising, I never did make it back to college full-time．But I never gave up on the dream either．I had only one choice: to find a way．That meant talking as few as one class each semester．
The hardest part was feeling guilty about the time I spent away from the boys．They often wanted me to stay home with them．There certainly were times I wanted to quit, but I knew I should set an example for them to follow through the rest of their lives．
In 2007, I graduated from the University of North Carolina．It took me over 21 years to get my college degree！
I am not special, just single-minded．It always struck me that when you’re looking at a big challenge from the outside it looks huge, but when you’re in the midst of it, it just seems normal．Everything you want won’t arrive in your life on one day．It’s a process．Remember: little steps add up to big dreams．
【小题1】When the author went to Howard University, her dream was to be         .

A．a writer

B．a teacher

C．a judge

D．a doctor

【小题2】Why did the author quit school in her second year of college?

A．She wanted to study by herself．	B．She fell in love and got married．
C．She suffered from a serious illness．	D．She decided to look after her grandma．

【小题3】What dose the author mostly want to tell us in the last paragraph?

A．Failure is the mother of success．	B．Little by little ,one goes far．
C．Every coin has two sides．	D．Well begun ,half done．

【小题4】Which of the following can best describe the author ?

A．Caring and determined．	B．Honest and responsible．
C．Ambitious and sensitive.	D．Innocent and single-minded．