Are you nervous when you stand in front of the public? Are you afraid to make a speech?
Li Jun, a middle school boy, felt shy when he was making a speech the other day. Li had thought it would be quite easy to speak in front of   1  classmates.
"I was wrong. It was very different and much  2  than talking to my classmates during playtime," Li said. "I tried, but it was really difficult to speak. I felt like a mute (哑巴) and wanted to leave the classroom   3  "
Li is not alone. Many middle school students now have the same   4  : they can talk about their ideas freely   5  their best friends after class, but can't speak in public. According to Zhou Hong, a teacher from a university, the main reason is that schools in China pay more attention to writing instead of  6 .
Zhou hopes schools can give students more chances to open their   7 , such as speech competitions, English corners and class discussions. Students can join in any one they want to. 8  he also gives some advice to students. "During your free time you should  9  more. When you're speaking in public, take it easy. Just imagine you're talking to nobody and speak up your ideas clearly," Zhou said. "That   10  a fine public speech and you'll feel confident. "

The teacher stood before his class and was going to hand out the final exam papers.  “I know how  1   you have all worked to prepare for this test,” he said.  “And because I know you can do it well, I am willing to offer a B to anyone who would    2 not to take the test. ”

Many students jumped up to   3 the teacher and left the classroom.  The teacher looked at the   4  students and said, “Does anyone else want to get a B? This is your last  5    . ” Two more students decided to go. Seven students remained.  The teacher then handed out the 6  .  There were only three sentences typed on the paper: Congratulations! You have just  7  an A in this class.  Keep believing in yourself.    

I never had a teacher like that, but I think it is a test  8  any teacher could and should give.  Students who are not   9  in what they have learned are B students at best(充其量). The same is  10   in real life.  The A students are those who believe in what they are doing because they have  11  both successes and failures. 

They have learned life’s lessons, either from normal education   12  from events in their lives, and have become   13  people.     

Scientists say that by the age of eight, 80% of what we believe about ourselves has already been formed.  You are a big kid now, and you   14  that  you have some limits (限制).  However, there is   15  you can’t do or learn or be.  Sir Edmund Hillary, the first person to reach the summit of Mount Everest said, “It’s not the mountain we conquer(克服) but ourselves. ”

1.A.  luckily        B.  terribly        C.  hard

2.A.  dislike        B.  help            C.  prefer

3.A.  thank         B.  praise          C.  fight

4.A.  following     B.  relaxing       C.  remaining

5.A.  chance        B.  trouble         C.  test

6.A.  results        B.  presents        C.  papers

7.A.  given         B.  sent            C.  received

8.A.  where         B.  that            C.  what

9.A.  confident     B.  necessary       C.  mysterious

10.A.  unusual       B.  impossible      C.  true

11.A.  broken off       B.  dreamed of      C.  learned from

12.A.  and          B.  or             C.  but

13.A.  ruder        B.  cuter           C.  better

14.A.  decide           B.  forget          C.  realize

15.A.  something     B. anything        C.  nothing

US teenagers may be facing a challenge (挑战) today. A recent survey suggests (表明) that they are less honest than previous generations (上一代人).
The survey was done among 29,760 students at 100 US high schools. The results suggest that in the past year, 30 percent of US high school students have stolen from a store. And 64 percent may have cheated on a test.
However, 93 percent of the students said they were satisfied (满意) with their honesty. And 77 percent said,“when it comes to doing what is right, I am better than most people I know.”
Some teachers were unhappy about the survey results. Some, however, defended (为……辩护) today’s students.
“The competition is greater and the pressures (压力) on kids have increased greatly,”said Mel Riddle, who was a high school teacher and headmaster for 40 years.“It is the pressures that make it easy for students to be dishonest.”
“I think these students are better than other generations,”he said.“I find them more active, better to work with and more thankful for support.”“ We have to create situations where it’s easy for kids to do the right things, ”he added.“We need to create classrooms where learning is more important than having the right answer.”
【小题1】According to the survey, what challenge do US teenagers face today?

How can I get good grades at school? How can I finish so much homework every evening? What should I do if I’m not interested in my classes ? Who will teach us this term ? Maybe you have such questions in your mind before school starts.

Well, I want to give you some good advice on these problems.

First, keep calm．Don’t worry about all the question you have. Put your heart into learning，and you can find something you are interested in．Do it actively．

Second, try your best to finish your homework quickly．Don’t spend a lot of time on it．Do more reading or writing in English．Think about the problems you have and solve them at once．Don’t stay up late，or you can’t study well the next day．

Third, think of something instead of copying or repeating．If you can remember the words in your way，you can tell your teachers you don’t like the way of copying them again and again．Be sure you can pass the test．I think your teachers will agree with you．And they can give you something interesting to do．

School is really a good place for you to learn．Believe in your teachers and yourself．You are the best one and you can do everything well．

1.The writer writes the passage to       

A．give students some good ways of learning．

B．ask students not to listen to their teachers．

C．ask students not to do their homework

D．tell students what a good teacher is．

2.What does the writer tell students to do about their homework?

A．They should spend a lot of time on it．

B．They should stay up late doing it．

C．They should do more reading or writing in English．

D．They should have boring work to do．

3.What’s the third piece of advice about?

A．How to get on with friends?

B．How to get high grades．

C．What kind of schoolwork is better for students．

D．How to finish the homework in a short time．

4.According to the passage, students should believe in    ．

A．themselves and their teachers

B．themselves and their parents

C．their parents and teachers

D．themselves and their classmates

Two students started quarreling at school. One student shouted dirty words at the other, and a fight began.

What can be done to stop fights like this at school? In some schools, disputants(争执者) sit down with peer mediators (同龄调解者). Peer mediators are usually students with special training in this kind of problems.

Peer mediators help disputants to talk in a friendly way. Here are some of the ways they use.

1. Express what you think clearly but don't say anything to hurt the other. Begin with "I feel" instead of "You always".

2. Listen carefully to what the other person is saying. Don't stop the other person's words.

3. Keep looking at the other person's eyes when he or she speaks.

4. Try to see the problems on the other person's side.

5. Never put anyone down. Saying things like "You are foolish (愚蠢的)" makes the talk difficult.

6. Try to find a result that makes both people happy.

Peer mediators never decide on the winner. They don't decide who is right or who is wrong. Instead they help disputants to find their own "win-win" result. A "win-win" result can make everyone feel good.

Peer mediators' work is often successful just because it gets disputants to talk to each other. And getting disputants to talk to each other is the first step in finding a "win-win" result.

1. Peer mediators' work is _.

A. to teach lessons to disputants

B. to help find a way to make both disputants happy

C. to find out who starts the quarrel

D. to give students some special training

2.What does the underlined phrase "put anyone down" mean in Chinese?

A. 贬低任何人  b. 落后于任何人     

C. 奉承任何人  d. 向任何人低头

3. What's the first step in finding a "win-win" result?

A. Letting disputants be afraid of peer mediators.

B. Letting disputants feel peer mediators are kind.

C. Getting disputants to talk to each other.

D. Making disputants feel good by telling funny stories.

4. During the talk, if peer mediators say "You are a fool."

A. disputants will realize they are wrong

B. disputants will understand peer mediators better

C. it is easy for peer mediators to decide who is right

D. it is hard for peer mediators to get a "win-win" result

5.Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?

A. All schools have peer mediators.

B. Peer mediators are usually students.

C. When disputants are speaking, peer mediators can stop their words at any time.

D. Peer mediators can make disputants get a "win-win" result every time.