阅读理解

　　Think back to a time in your life when you tried something new．

　　When I was a teenager I volunteered to pass out water at a local race．I was so excited to see all the different runners who passed by and quickly took a cup of water．Some ran past, some walked past and a few wheeled past．

　　I saw so many types of people doing it．I thought maybe I could do it too! The next year I decided to run for the race, but I had little running practice．I just wanted to finish．

　　On the day of the race, it was terribly hot．After running for about 5 miles, I was thinking, “I must be crazy．Why did I do this? What was I thinking？” And at one moment, I said to myself, “I am never doing this again！”

　　That first 10 km race was quite an experience．I jogged (慢跑), I walked, I jogged and walked．At times, I didn’t know if I could finish．

　　Near the end, a 70-year-old man ran past me, very fast, and I felt a little embarrassed (尴尬的) that I was more than 50 years younger than he and I couldn’t even keep up with him．But then I realized something．He was running his race and I was running mine．How often in life do we compare(比较) ourselves to others when we really shouldn’t? I decided that I would not give up on running races, and that one day I would be one of those 70-year-olds who were still running．

　　As I crossed the finishing line, I was proud of myself．I didn’t regret (后悔) having such an experience．

阅读理解。

　　All of the people have ambitions．An ambition is something we want to do, want to have, or want to be．A student’s ambition, for example, might be to pass his or her exams．An athlete’s(运动员的)ambition could be to win an important competition．A businessman’s ambition is usually to make a lot of money．

　　Not all ambitions are about success at work, however．Some people just want to be good people, have a happy family or help others．

　　Ben’s ambition is to be a sports writer．He writes the sports reports for his class newspaper．He likes sports, but swimming and football are his favorites．

　　Trudy’s ambition is to be a concert pianist．She is very serious about it and practices every day with her best friend Lily．It is very important to her．

　　Harry’s ambition changes every day! One day he wants to be an astronaut．The next day he wants to be a pop singer．Then he wants to drive a racing car．His mother would be happy if his ambition was to get up in time for school every day!

　　What is your ambition?

阅读短文内容选择最佳答案。

完型填空：

　　Once, in a small village, lived a family with eight children．Two of the children loved 　　1　　 very much, but the family was so poor that it was impossible to send 　　2　　 of them to study at the art college at the same time．After many discussions, the two boys finally 　　3　　 a plan．They would toss(抛)a coin．The loser would 　　4　　 down into the mines(煤矿)and, with his earnings(赚得的钱), 　　5　　 his brother studying at the college．Then, when the brother who won the toss finished his studies, after four years, he would support 　　6　　 brother studying at the college．

　　James won the toss and Jack went down into the mines．James worked with all his heart and his paintings were much 　　7　　 than those of most of his teachers, and by the time he 　　8　　, he was beginning to make a lot of money for his paintings．

　　　　9　　 James returned, the family held a big dinner for his great success．Soon after the meal began, James 　　10　　 up from his seat to drink a toast to his dear 　　11　　．He said, "Jack, now you can go to the art college and your 　　12　　 will come true．I will take care of you．"

　　But Jack said 　　13　　, "Brother, the four years in the mines has done too much to my hands, so it' s too 　　14　　．Now I can' t even hold a glass．"

　　To show his great love and respect, James drew his brother' s hands with 　　15　　 towards the sky．He called his drawing "The Praying Hands", which became very famous years later．