Some people bring out the best in you in a way that you might never have fully realized on your own. My mom was one of those people.

My father died when I was nine months old. Mom and I lived a very hard life. We had little money, but my mom gave me a lot of love. Each night, she spoke the words that would change my life, “Kemmons, you are certain to be a great man and you can do anything in life if you work hard enough to get it.”

At fourteen, I was hit by a car and the doctors said I would never walk again. Every day, my mother spoke to me in her gentle, loving voice, telling me that I could walk again if I wanted strongly enough. She drove that message so deep into my heart that I finally believed her. A year later, I returned to school — walking on my own!

When the Great Depression (大萧条) hit, my mom lost her job. Then I left school to support  both of us. At that moment, I decided never to be poor again.

Over the years, I experienced various levels of business success. But the real turning point happened on a vacation I took with my wife and five kids in 1951. I wasn’t satisfied with the second-class hotels available for families and was angry that they asked me an extra $2 for each child. That was too expensive for many American families. I told my wife that I was going to open a motel (汽车旅馆) for families that would never ask extra for children. There were plenty of doubters at that time.

Of course mom was one of my strongest supporters. She worked behind the desk and even designed the room style. But with my mother’s support and encouragement, I never doubted we would succeed. Fifteen years later, we had the largest hotel system in the world — Holiday Inn. In 1979 my company had 1,759 inns in more than fifty countries with an income (收入) of $ 1 billion a year.

You may not have started out life in the best situation. But if you can find a task in life worth working for and believe in yourself, nothing can stop you.

1.According to the writer, who played the most important role in making him walk back to school again?

2.What caused Kemmons to start a motel by himself?

3.Which of the following best describes Kemmons’ mother?

4.Which of the following led to Kemmons’ success according to the passage?

任务型阅读
Do you like chocolate? Maybe most people do. A box of it can be a great gift. Buy one for a friend and give it as a surprise. See how happy that person gets.
Say you’ve just got a box of chocolate. Which piece would you pick first? A man has studied people’s choices(选择). He says they tell something about the person. What if you choose a round piece? You are a person who likes to go to the party. What if you choose an oval(椭圆形的)shape? (1)You are a person who likes to make things. Picking a square shape shows something else: The person is honest and truthful, and you can depend on(依靠)him or her.
(2)What kind of ________do you_______? Maybe you pick milk chocolate. This shows you have warm feelings about the past. Dark chocolate means something else. A person who chooses it looks toward the future. What about white chocolate? Would you choose it? If so, you may find it hard to make up your mind. Some people like chocolate with nuts(果仁). These are people who like to help others.
Different choices may show different characters(性格). Do you believe these ideas? Can candy tell all these things? It doesn’t really matter. There is one sure thing about eaters of chocolate. They eat it because they like it.
【小题1】将(1)句译成中文：_____________________________________________________________
【小题2】在(2)句的空白处填入适当的词使句意完整、上下文通顺：_________ _________
【小题3】回答问题：What may you like to think of if you enjoy eating milk chocolate?
_____________________________________________________________________________
【小题4】在文中找出与You enjoy taking part in parties.意思相近的句子：
_____________________________________________________________________________
【小题5】在文中找出最能表达该短文主题的句子：
_____________________________________________________________________________

1.That boring film made all of us feel ________ (sleep).

2.The car must be one of those _________ (direct).

3.I hope the 2012 Olympic Games in London will be a great _________ (successful).

4.You should learn to look after ______ (you) since all of you have grown up.

 Want to say "hello" from Disneyland? Send a post card!

Beautiful scenes of paradise (乐园), wild animals, silly pictures — you can find them all in one place. Where? On a post card! Have people always sent post cards? No. Before post cards, people liked sealed letters.

The idea for the first decorated (装饰) post card came to John P. Charlton in 1861. He thought a simple card with decorations would be a great way to send a note. Then in the late 1800s, post cards with pictures appeared. By law, people had to write their note on the front ——on the picture! The back was only for the address. Several years later, England allowed a divided-back post card. Then people could write their note on the back left side and put the address on the right. During the early 1900s, the golden age of post cards, picture post cards became a craze of the world. In 1908, Americans alone mailed over 677 million post cards. Today, post cards are the third most popular collection in the world after stamps and coins.

1.We can see some silly pictures on the post cards.

2. Post cards were produced before sealed letters.

3.In 1861, the first decorated post card appeared.

4.Post cards were most popular during the early 1900s.

5.Stamps, coins and post cards are the most popular collections in the world.

“I can’t believe what I’m hearing!” I thought to myself. Jeff was the last candidate (候选人)for president of Student Council. My best friend Tony came to me and said, “I’m sorry, Mike. I really thought you should be  1 .”
Later that day, I happened to pass Jeff in the dining room. I offered him a   2 “Congratulations” and walked to my usual table. To my surprise, Jeff put his plate beside mine.
“I’m, er…I’m just wondering if you would …consider coming to work on my team,” he said  3 . “You are really smart, and you would be a great manager.”
“I don’t think so,” I replied, feeling unsure.
“Well, if you change your mind, we are meeting tomorrow,” he said before moving to another table.
All that night, I thought about the offer from Jeff. Maybe being a part of the election process(选举过程) would give me a   4  to make important changes at our school. I decided to join them.
My first goal was to   5  an attractive advertisement. Within a few days, we designed a poster with Jeff’s pictures showing him in a number of activities. No one could walk through any hallway  6  passing Jeff’s smiling face.
My next step was to   7  which new activities students would like to have at our school. Many of them wanted a chess club and a volleyball team.
With the information I had collected, Jeff met with the headmaster. The headmaster   8 to add these activities to our school program.
An eighth grader said, “It’ll be like attending a new school with Jeff as president.”
Hearing these words made my heart filled with   9 . I had wanted to become president of Student Council to make a difference. I achieved that and more by working as a member of Jeff’s team. He became the most popular candidate and I was large part of his   10 . The fact that it has made a difference in other people’s lives is the real prize. What a great feeling!