Now most students are under a lot of pressure. Every year they look different and feel different. They are  16  year by year. They have to  17  things for themselves. They  18  to be unhappy. If they know the secret to be happy, it is  19  for them to be happy. Kate is a middle school student. She is much happier than before. “I couldn’t find any happiness for a  20  time. In the past, I cared too much  21 what other people thought of me,” said Kate.

“ At school I was very  22 . When I spoke in class, my face turned red.  23  I felt that my classmates were all looking at me. Now I feel a lot more  24  when I’m talking with people around me. I’m sure that if you  25  too much about what other people think of you, you will be unhappy.”　　

(    )16. A. showing up   B. turning up   C. growing up   D. standing up　　

(    )17. A. plan         B. think       C. care         D. look　

(    )18. A. find         B. seem       C. sound        D. think

(    )19. A. earlier       B. nicer        C. easier       D. harder

(    )20. A. much        B. few         C. little        D. long

(    )21. A. about        B. after        C. to          D. of　　

(    )22. A. kind         B. outgoing     C. shy        D. pretty

(    )23. A. before        B. until         C. so         D. because　

(    )24. A. interested     B. nervous      C. relaxed      D. upset

(    )25. A. think         B. worry       C. have           D. want

1 

Three kids have been learning chemistry for only a few months. But they have already begun to challenge (挑战) a world famous scientist!

Li Weichi, Huang Runling, and Xiao Yan are from Zhongshan Huaqiao Middle School in Guangdong. They have just found a red cabbage that could be a new kind of acid-base indicator (酸碱指示剂). They want it to take the place of litmus (石蕊) paper.

"We've learnt to think of and ask questions about life by ourselves," said Li, "We work well with each other."

British scientist Robert Boyle discovered the use of litmus paper over 300 years ago. Now it is used widely in experiments all over the world.

But when the kids did some experiments in class last winter, they saw that the litmus paper didn’t turn very blue with base matter. It's hard to get a clear result.

Will there be a better indicator than litmus paper? The three kids decided to try and find out!

How? They went to collect over 40 plants in parks, gardens and markets. Then they ground (研磨) leaves, flowers and stems (茎) to get the pigments (色素) from them.

The kids mixed pigments with acid and base. They spent months watching carefully to see which paper showed the best color change. They decided it was the litmus paper!

"It's our first scientific journey, Huang said, "But it makes me want to try harder."

1.Whom did the three kids want to challenge?

A. Their chemistry teacher.

B. Their headmaster.

C. Robert Boyle

D. Thomas Edison

2.From the text, a red cabbage is a kind of ____.

A. plant　　B. animal　　C. paper　　D. liquid

3.What is widely used as the acid-base indicator now?

A. red cabbage              B. litmus paper

C. any plant                D. any flower 

4.The story mainly tells us ____.

A. how to make litmus paper

B. about the three kids' spirit

C. scientists were wrong

D. the kids are heroes

I lost my sight when I was four years old by falling off a box and landing on my head. Now I am thirty-two. I can vaguely(模糊地) 　1　 the brightness of sunshine and what color red is. It would be wonderful to see things again, 　2　 a disaster can do strange things to people. It happened to me the other day that I might not have come to love 　3　 as I do if I hadn’t been blind. I believe in life now. I am not sure that I would believe in it so 　4　. I don’t mean that I would prefer to go without my eyes. I 　5　 mean that the loss of 　6　 made me enjoy more of 　7　 I have now.
Life asks us to keep making 　8　 to reality. If a person is able to get ready for anything changeable his world will 　9　 more meaningful. I became blind, but I was 　10　. My parents and my teachers saw 　11　 in me－a potential(潜力) to live, you might call it－which I didn’t see, and they make me fight it out with blindness.
The hardest 　12　 I had to learn was to believe in myself. That was what I had to do at least. If I hadn’t been able to do that, I would become a chair rocker for the 　13　 of my life. When I say I believe in myself I am not talking about simply the kind of self-confidence that helps me down an unfamiliar staircase 　14　. That is part of it. But I mean something bigger than that: A belief that I could deal with anything alone; that somewhere in the 　15　 there is a special place where I can make myself fit.
1. A. imagine       B. find             C. remember     D. guess
2. A. but           B. though               C. so           D. because
3. A. myself       B. life             C. eyes         D. blindness
4. A. that         B. therefore            C. happily      D. deeply
5. A. seldom        B. just             C. hardly           D. always
6. A. them      B. it                   C. blindness        D. light
7. A. that         B. what             C. which            D. where
8. A. moments      B. encouragements       C. improvements D. changes
9. A. become        B. change               C. look         D. end
10. A. brave        B. lucky                C. sad          D. wise
11. A. something    B. everything           C. nothing      D. anything
12. A. problem      B. experience           C. difficulty       D. lesson
13. A. rest     B. whole                C. need         D. last
14. A. lonely       B. alone                C. self         D. person
15. A. company  B. group                C. society  (社会)   D. family