“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!

1.                A．heard          B．chosen         C．invited   D．followed

2.                A．polite          B．loud           C．warm D．cheerful

3.                A．proudly         B．quickly         C．nervously D．regretfully

4.                A．suggestion      B．chance         C．message  D．change

5.                A．print           B．invent          C．create    D．send

6.                A．with           B．by             C．through  D．without

7.                A．carry out       B．try out          C．work out  D．find out

8.                A．agreed         B．wanted         C．expected D．asked

9.                A．pride          B．surprise        C．patience  D．hope

10.               A．luck           B．spirit           C．life   D．success

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

The little boy entered the house, unhappy. His mother was  31     cakes in the kitchen. She smiled as she    32     but stopped when she saw his face. “Tyler,    33      happened? Is everything okay?”
“Nothing is okay, mom.” said the boy, “Today, in our science lesson, Mrs. Green was talking about the   34        .She said that the whole world is getting dirtier and that many animals and plants are dying. She wants us to think of something we can do to help. I thought all the way, but there is  35    I can do to make a difference.”
“Let me tell you    36    .” the mother said after thinking for a while. “One morning a man was walking down a beach, there he saw thousands of dying starfish covering the beach, they were pushed up by the     37   , and it was too far up for them to make their way back by    38       . The man shook his head as he walked along, ‘What a pity! So many starfish will die on the beach.’ The man felt very sorry    39     those starfish. He went on walking and just at that time he was    40      to find a boy in front who was throwing the starfish back into the sea as    41  as he could, ‘how silly you are! My     42  ,’ the man said, ‘There are so many starfish, can you throw all of them back?’ The boy didn’t stop but kept throwing, ‘ 43         I can’t help them all .I can make a difference to this one, and this one, and this one, and this one.”
“Thinking for a moment, the man    44      to help return the starfish to their home. He smiled and said to himself, ‘Sometimes the biggest lesson in life comes from the   45     person.

“I can't believe what I'm hearing!” I thought to myself. Jeff was the last candidate （候选人） for president of Students’ Union. My best friend Tony came to me and said, “I'm   1 , Mike. I really thought you should be   2 .”

Later that day, I happened to pass Jeff in the dining room. I offered him a polite “  3 ” and walked to my usual table. To my surprise, Jeff put his plate beside mine.
“I'm, er-I'm just wondering  4 you would…consider coming to work on my team,” he said  5 . “You are really smart, and you would be a great manager.”
“I don't think so,” I replied, feeling  6 .
“Well, if you change your mind, we are meeting tomorrow,” he said before moving to  7 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 chance to make important changes at our school. I  8 to join them.
My first goal was to 9 an attractive advertisement. Within a few days, we designed a
 10 with Jeff's pictures showing him in a number of activities. No one could walk through any hallway without passing Jeff's smiling face.
My next step was to  11  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  12 to add these activities to our school program.
With my help, Jeff and our ideas were well received at school.
An eighth grader said, “It'll be like attending a new school with Jeff as president.”
Hearing these words made my heart filled with  13 . 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 a large part of his 14 . The fact that it has made a（n）  15 in other people's lives is the real prize. What a great feeling!