The poor are very wonderful people. One evening we went out and picked up four people from the street. One of them was in a most  15  condition, and I told the others: You look after the other three. I take care of this one who looked  16 . So I did for her all that my love can do. I put her in bed, and there was such a beautiful  17  on her face. She took hold of my   __18__as she said “thank you” and she died. I asked myself what I would say if I was in her  19. And my answer was very simple. I would have tried to draw a little 20  to myself. I would have said I am hungry, that I am dying, I am cold, I am in pain, or something else, but she gave me much more---she gave me her grateful love. And she 21  with a smile on her face. As did that man whom we picked up from the drain (下水道), half eaten with worms, and we brought him to the home. “I have lived like an  22 in the street, but I am going to die like an angel, loved and cared for.” And it was so  23 to see the greatness of that man who could speak like that, who could die like that without complaining, without cursing(诅咒) anybody, without comparing anything. Like an angel---this is the 24  of our people.

Robby was 11 years old when his mother (a single mom) sent him to have his first piano lesson. I prefer that students begin at an earlier age, but Robby said that it had always been his mother’s   1  to hear him play the piano. So I   2  him as a student.
Although Robby worked very hard, he didn’t have a basic   3  of music. However, he never   4  up and continued. And at the end of each weekly lesson he’d always say: “My mom is going to hear me   5  some day.” But it seemed   6 . He didn’t have a natural talent or ability for music.
One day Robby   7  to our lessons very late. He told me that his mom had been 8  and unable to take him to piano lessons, but he was still   9  in class. He asked if he could take part in my concert and I   10 .
The night of the concert came. The high school gym(体育馆) was   11  with parents, friends and relatives. The concert was going well. Then, Robby came up on stage. He announced (宣布) that he had chosen Mozart’s Concerto No 21 in C Major. I was not prepared for what I heard next.   
His   12  danced on the keys…
He played so   13  that everyone was on his feet, clapping excitedly. In tears, I ran up on stage, “Oh, Robby! How could you do it?”
“Well, Miss Hondorf... remember I told you my mom was sick? Well, actually she had cancer(癌) and   14  away this morning. And well… she was born deaf, so tonight was the first time she ever heard me play at the   15 . I wanted to make it special and show her I could do it! My mother’s dream came true at last.”

词汇运用 (共l0小题；每小题l分，计l0分)
【小题1】Tsim Sha Tsui is regarded as the _______ center of Hongkong (文化).
【小题2】He has ______the book with many pictures in it since two weeks ago. (借)
【小题3】I’m afraid you should pay more _______ to your study of English grammar. (关注)
【小题4】Are you sure this is a task well _______(在……范围内)your ability?
【小题5】Would you please list all the _______ names on the paper?.(邮递员)
【小题6】One of the secrets of our success is to believe in ________ (we).
【小题7】For ________ information, you can contact Amy on 55560678 (far).
【小题8】You have changed a lot and I can feel your _________ (improve).
【小题9】It’s ________ for us to finish the work in such a short time. (hope)
【小题10】The children all screamed _______ when they saw their favourite Disney characters(excite).

It was the first day of school. I stood up to look around when a gentle hand touched my shoulder. I turned around to find a little old lady smiling at me.

She said, “Hi handsome. My name is Rose. I’m eighty-seven years old. Can I give you a hug?”

I laughed, enthusiastically responding, “Of course!” And she gave me a giant squeeze. “Why are you in college at such an age?” I asked.

“I’m here to meet a rich husband, get married, have children, and then retire and travel.”

“No seriously.”

“I always dreamed of having a college education and now I’m getting one!”

We became instant friends. Over the course of the year, Rose made friends wherever she went. She loved to dress up and she took great delight in the attention given to her from the other students. She was living it up. At the end of the term we invited Rose to speak at our football banquet (宴会) and I’ll never forget what she taught us.

As she began to deliver her prepared speech, she dropped her note card on the floor. A little embarrassed she simply said, “I’m sorry. This whiskey is killing me! I’ll never get my speech back in order so let me just tell you what I know.” As we laughed, she cleared her throat and began: “We do not stop playing because we are old; we grow old because we stop playing; There are only four secrets to staying young, being happy and achieving success. You have to laugh and find humor every day. You have got to have a dream. When you lose your dreams, you die. We have so many people walking around who are dead and don’t even know it! There is a huge difference between growing older and growing up. If you are nineteen years old and lie in bed for one full year and don’t do one productive thing, you will turn twenty years old. Anyone can grow older. That doesn’t take any talent or ability. The idea is to grow up by always finding the opportunity in change. Have no regrets. The elderly usually don’t have regrets for what we did, but rather for things we did not do.”

At the year’s end Rose finished the college degree. One week after graduation Rose died peacefully in her sleep. Over two thousand college students attended her funeral(葬礼) to honor the wonderful woman.

1.While meeting Rose at the college for the first time, the author was curious about

    ________.

  A. her age          B. her dream      C. her life       D. her motivation

2.The underlined sentence “She was living it up” in the text most probably means

   ________.

  A. she did as well as she was expected

B. she spent much money in her college life

  C. she did things that she enjoyed

D. she deserved(应得) praise due to her study

3.In Rose’s opinion, one can learn to grow up by __________.

  A. getting new ideas

B. regretting his mistakes

  C. gaining new knowledge every day

D. finding chances to do productive things

4.What else did Rose most probably say at the football banquet?

  A. “It seems my young days are over.”  

 B. “The only people who fear death are those with regrets.”

 C. “When we are old, we can’t do anything. So enjoy in time!”

 D. “Have a good time and don’t do much in order to stay young.”

5.The story of Rose in the text shows that __________.

 A. it is never too late to learn in your life.

 B. it is good for old people to have friendship.

 C. it is never too late to be all you can possibly be.

 D. it is very important to have a healthy body when people are old.

Denny Crook was a famous photographer. He traveled all over the world, taking pictures for magazines and newspapers, and won many prizes.

“I’ll do ___1___ to get a good photo,” he often said. “I’ll go anywhere at any time, even if it is dangerous.”And he told the truth. He had photos of earthquakes, forest fires, floods and even wars. If something interesting happened, Denny went to   2  it.

His wife often asked him to take her with him, but he always  3  .” I’ll travel for my work, not for   4 ,” he told her, “You won’t enjoy yourself, and I won’t have   5   to look after you. Sometimes there’s not even anywhere to   6  , and I have to sleep outside. I often don’t have a good   7  or a bath for days. You won’t like it.”

“Denny, I’m not a child,” his wife didn’t   8  , “I can look after myself. Please take me with you the next time you go overseas.”

Denny did not say anything, but he   9  about it, and when he was asked to go to Africa he said to his wife, “You can come to Africa with me if you want to. I’ll go to take photos of wild   10  there. It should be interesting and not too uncomfortable.” His wife was very   11  .

When they got to Africa, the first day she had a very enjoyable time. The next day Denny went   12   to find some lions to photo. His wife went with him, but soon they became separated (分开). She walked down one path while he walked down the other.

Suddenly, Denny heard her   13  . He ran back and saw her running toward him. A huge lion was chasing her.

Quickly Denny took his camera out of its case and   14   it at his wife and the lion. Then he shouted, “   15  , woman! I can’t get you both in the picture!”

1.                A．anything        B．nothing         C．something D．none

2.                A．advise          B．read           C．write D．photo

3.                A．allowed         B．refused         C．failed D．joked

4.                A．wealth         B．prize           C．pleasure D．luck

5.                A．money         B．time           C．interest   D．ability

6.                A．meet          B．work           C．shop D．stay

7.                A．meal           B．picnic          C．room D．party

8.                A．agree          B．understand      C．reply D．complain

9.                A．worried        B．forgot          C．asked    D．thought

10.               A．land           B．flowers         C．animals    D．people

11.               A．confused       B．excited         C．surprised  D．disappointed

12.               A．out            B．in             C．back  D．up

13.               A．singing         B．crying          C．laughing   D．cheering

14.               A．threw          B．fired           C．showed   D．pointed

15.               A．Hurry up       B．Look out        C．Slow down D．Go ahead