I am my mother’s third girl. When I was born, the doctor gently explained to my mother that my left arm was missing, below the elbow(肘). Then he gave her some advice, “Don’t treat her any differently from the other girls.” And she did!
There were five girls in our family and we all had to help out. Once when I was about seven, I came out of the kitchen, “Mum, I can’t peel(削……皮)potatoes. I only have one hand.” “You get back to peel those potatoes, and don’t ever use that as an excuse for anything again!”
Of course I could peel potatoes—with my good hand and my other arm. “Jenny, if you try hard enough,” she said, “you can do anything.”
Once in the second grade, our teacher had each of us race across the monkey bar(攀爬架).When it was my turn, I said no, Some kids laughed. I went home crying.
The next afternoon Mum took me back to the school playground. “Now, pull up with your right arm,” she advised. She praised me when I made progress. I’ll never forget when I was crossing the bar, the kids were standing there with their mouths open.
It was the way with everything. Mum had the courage to face anything. And she taught me I could, too.
【小题1】How many younger sisters do I have?

用方框中所给单词的适当形式填空，使短文完整正确。（每个单词限用一次）

I took the bus to school every day when I was in primary school. Alvin, our bus  1.   , picked us up every morning. We were all from 2.      families. My parents could hardly support the family with 3.     children.

Once a month, Alvin stopped at a local bus-stop. Then someone came out and 4.      each of us if we wanted an ice cream or a drink. Alvin paid for it. At the end of school year, he took us to 5.      home for dancing. The 6.       that he showed was amazing. We didn’t get treats like that too often, so what he did for us was 7.    remembered.

Twenty years later, I called him and 8.      him for us. I told him that he probably couldn’t remember me, but I sure9.      him! And I could hear the smile in his voice when he said he was happy that I called.

He is the reason why I do my 10.     to show kindness to everyone I meet. He has had a big influence on my life. And I am very pleased that I was able to tell him.

I have a neighbor we call “Happy”. I have never seen her angry at anything and never heard her say a harsh word to anyone or about anyone.

Happy and her husband Ben, 70, have a huge garden. They spent many happy hours together working on it. Most of the neighbors watched interestingly as Ben doubled the size of their garden. As the cost of food climbed faster than Ben’s beans, we all wished we also had such a large garden. As the rest of us spent our dollars at the market, Happy could be seen picking beans in her back yard.

Last month, Happy and Ben invited most of the neighborhood over for an “all-day food festival”. We were told to bring gloves and arrive very early in the morning. We didn’t know what was about to take place.

By 9:00 am, there were nine of us in the garden picking tomatoes, beans, okra, and squash. By 10:00 am, there was lots of laughter. We shared a lot of stories. By five o’clock, everyone was a little drunk from the wine and beer. After dinner, we played games. As we were leaving, Happy and Ben handed each of us a shopping bag filled with the bounty of the day, already packaged and frozen. What a delightful gift!

Well, the point wasn’t so much about the food. The true gift was a day of friends enjoying one another’s company. None of it would have happened if it had been for Happy and Ben’s garden. Now they have a blog about gardening in case we decided to plant a garden. And I am so proud of my tomato plants!

1.According to paragraph 2, people wished they also had a garden so that                  .

A．they could spend happy times together with their family in it

B．they could grow vegetables and sell at the market

C．they could invite their neighbors and hold parties in it

D．they didn’t have to spend so much money on food

2. Which of the following is the same as the underlined word “bounty”?

A．Present.          B．Kindness.          C．Laughter.          D．Happiness.

3.For what purpose did Happy and Ben invite the neighbors to their garden?

A．To ask them to attend a birthday party

B．To help them get to know each other.

C．To let them enjoy what they grew in the garden.

D．To ask them to share some interesting stories.

4.What did the writer most probably think of the time he spent in the garden?

A．He thought it was too short but enjoyable.

B．He thought it was wonderful.

C．He thought it was not as good as he thought.

D．He thought it was too terrible.

5.We can infer that                     .

A．Happy and her husband Ben don’t like spending time with others

B．Happy and her husband Ben sometimes quarrel with each other

C．Happy and her husband Ben are a generous and warm-hearted couple

D．Happy and her husband Ben live on the food they grow in their garden

A wise man used to go to the ocean to do his writing. He had a habit of walking on the beach every morning.

One day, when he was walking along the shore（海岸）, he saw a young man moving like a

dancer. He smiled to himself at the thought that someone would dance on the beach. So he began to walk faster to catch up.

As he got closer, he saw that the young man wasn’t dancing, but instead he was reaching down to the shore, picking up something and very gently throwing it into the ocean.

He called out, “Good morning! What are you doing?” The young man stopped, looked up and replied, “Throwing starfish in the ocean.” “I guess I should have asked, why are you throwing starfish in the ocean?”

“The sun is up and the tide（潮汐）is going out. And if I don’t throw them in, they’ll die.”

“But, young man, don’t you realize that there are miles and miles of beach and starfish all along it. You can’t possibly make a difference!”

The young man listened politely. Then he bent down, picked another starfish, and threw it into the sea, and said, “It made a difference for that one.”

There is something very special in each and every one of us. We have all been gifted（赋予）

with the ability to make a difference.

We must each find our starfish. And if we throw starfish wisely and well, the world will be better.

1.What was the wise man used to doing every morning?

A．Taking a walk on the shore.

B．Watching the young man dance.

C．Meeting up with the young man.

D．Helping the young man pick up starfish.

2.Why did the young man throw the starfish into the ocean?

A．To have fun.

B．To study starfish.

C．To feed some fish.

D．To save starfish.

3.What can we learn from the story?

A．Each of us should learn to protect starfish.

B．People living on the shore always try to save starfish.

C．Each of us has the ability to make an important effect on something.

D．People can come up with some good ideas when walking on the shore.