I will never forget the very moment that caused me to leave my gift behind because I wanted the gift that my older sister Maria had.

My family was spending a week at the beach. One morning, Maria went to the beach early, but I stayed behind to finish a drawing of a seashell. After finishing the drawing, I walked to join Maria. She was a top gymnast (体操运动员). Her show was perfect as she wheeled along the beach. The beauty of that sight froze me, and I decided immediately that I too would become a gymnast like her.

I knew that I had never been very good at sports. However, when I told my parents I wanted to take a gymnastics class, they agreed with me in surprise. The next week, I went to a beginners’ class.

   If only my parents had talked me out of this misguided plan! Five minutes into the first class, it was clear that I didn’t have the gift of a gymnast. But I kept at it.

   During this time, drawing and painting—which had been my two favorites—all but left my mind. It must have been hurting for my family as they watched my hopeless efforts. I blindly decided to be like Maria. I just would not give up.

   At the same time, on the advice of Ms. White, my art teacher, I hurriedly handed in my seashell drawing for an art contest in our town. One night as I was having a hard time practicing, the phone rang. It was Ms. White. “Alice, you won the contest!” she said loudly.

 “Really?” was all I could reply.

“Yes,” Ms. White said. “They’re going to give you a prize. And that’s not all. The winner is also accepted into Wildale’s Summer Fine Arts Institute.” I couldn’t believe what I heard. Only a handful of young artists were accepted each summer.

That night I didn’t go back into the living room to continue practicing. Gymnastics was Maria’s gift, not mine. It had taken me a while, but I realized that I had a gift of my own.

1.Alice wanted to be a gymnast because ________.

A. she had been good at sports                  B. her sister’s show was perfect

C. she hated drawing and painting               D. her parents wanted her to do so

2. How did Alice feel about learning gymnastics at last?

A. Satisfied.           B. Worried.             C. Hopeful          D. Regretful.  

3. From the story, we can infer that ________.

A. Alice’s parents disagreed with her choice of gymnastics

B. Alice did not realize her gift in drawing and painting at first

C. Alice spent a hard time preparing for the art contest in the town

D. Alice couldn’t believe the news that she got the prize for painting

4. What does the writer want to tell us according to the passage?

A. We should value our own gifts.           B. It takes time to find one’s gifts.

C. We could develop different gifts.        D. It’s never too late to show our gifts.

根据短文内容和所给中文提示，写出空白处各单词的正确形式。每空限填一词。

I am a middle school student. I used to spend too much time __1.__(闲聊) on line at night. The next day, I often felt. __2._(困倦的) in class, and I couldn’t .__ 3.__(回答) correctly to the teachers when they asked me questions. I made lots of ___4._(错误) in the tests. I didn’t know the __5._(重要) of studying hard. And my mother always __6._(担心) about my school. At __7.___ (现在)  I have ___8.__(认识到) that it’s silly of me to do that. I listen carefully in class and do my homework__9.__(小心地) every day. At night I read some books after finishing the homework to be knowledgeable。I have good grades now. I will be more careful and __10.__(耐心)。 My mother and my teachers are very impressed.

Top student Liu Weijian had a problem recently. The 14-year-old from Xiamen used to get marks of over 110 points (out of 120 points) on his math tests. ①But during last semester’s final exams, his math score was only 90 points.
“I didn’t know what happened,” said Liu, who kept feeling nervous and frustrated about math during the following month.
Like Liu, many of us experience setbacks (挫折) in life. ②你会怎样应对这些挫折呢？ Would you just let them be and give up?
Liu chose to face his problem. His parents and teacher also gave him help. After some hard work, he now gets marks between 100 and 110 points on his math tests. “Don’t be afraid of setbacks,” he said. “You will beat them.”
Guo Xingjuan in Shenzhen also has a story to tell. The 15-year-old girl is not good at doing sit-ups (仰卧起坐), ③which is necessary for the coming high school P.E. entrance test (体育中考). One has to do at least 35 sit-ups in a minute to pass the test. However, she could only do 20.
Feeling worried, Guo decided to do something. She did sit-ups for half an hour every day after school. Now, after a month, she can do 30 sit-ups a minute. “I finally found what made me slow through practice, and then I improved the skill little by little,” said Guo. “I believe next month I will be able to do 40!”
根据短文内容，完成下列任务。
【小题1】将文中划线的句子①翻译成汉语。
_____________________________________________________________
【小题2】将文中划线的句子②翻译成英语。
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【小题3】指出文中③处划线的关系词which指代的内容。
____________________________________________________________
【小题4】猜测词义。
The underlined phrase “little by little” means “_____________” in Chinese.
【小题5】回答问题。
What did both Liu Weijian and Guo Xingjuan do when they met with setbacks?
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阅读下面的短文，根据短文内容，回答下列问题。

I was a girl born with a problem in my spine(脊柱). Moving was a big problem for me. But because of my teachers and my friends, my school life was great.

My friends and I sat together. When we were free, we often played games. We often had lunch together. If I didn’t go to school that day, my friends would help me with my notes(笔记)

All my teachers were nice. My English teacher was very tall. When she entered the classroom, we would all be quiet and open our books. She would sit down and listen to me speaking English. My English improved a lot because of her help.

It was the same with my maths teacher, my science teacher and my P.E. teacher. My teachers were very nice and very sweet. They would always help me when I had a problem. They also gave me important project work and I felt happy when I finished it quickly and correctly.

I really want to show my thanks to all my wonderful teachers and friends. Without them, my school life would not have been so happy.

1.What would the girl’s friends do if she didn’t go to school?

____________________________________________________________

2.How did the girl feel when she finished her project work quickly and correctly?

____________________________________________________________

3.How many teachers does the girl mention (提到) in the passage? Who are they?

____________________________________________________________

4.What was the girl’s problem?

____________________________________________________________

5.What does the writer write this passage for?

____________________________________________________________

任务型阅读。阅读短文，根据其内容完成下列任务。

Yesterday evening I went to see a film. After I went into the cinema, I began to look for my seat. It was Number 18, Row 18. I found it easily, but I saw a soldier(士兵) sitting on it. I walked to him and told him that the seat was mine. He said with a smile, “Oh, sorry. My seat is next to yours. Would you like to take that seat and leave this one to me?”

I looked at his seat. It was broken and had no back, so I disagreed. But he still wanted to change our seats. I was   ①   and said loudly, “I don’t want to do that. Are you trying to bully (欺负) me as a soldier?” After   ②   this, the soldier stood up and moved to his seat.

Then I saw my seat was much worse than his seat. There was only a piece of wood (木头) left. It would be very uncomfortable to sit on it. Now I knew why the soldier wanted to change his seat with me. I felt very sorry. The soldier again asked me to take his seat, but I didn’t do that. I sat on the piece of wood till the film finished.

1.请根据短文内容，分别写出①、②两处所缺单词。（每空限填一词）

① ________________  ② ________________

2.判断下列句子正 (T) 误 (F)。

A. It was a little difficult for the writer to find his or her seat in the cinema. (    )

B. The soldier wanted to take the writer’s seat because it was worse than the solder’s seat

(    )

3.把上文中画线的句子译成汉语。

________________________________________

4.根据短文内容，回答下列问题。

Did the soldier want to bully the writer?

_______________________________________

5.What was the soldier’s seat like?

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