We tried so hard to make things better for our kids but we made them worse. For my naughty boys, I’d know better. I’d really like for them to know about hand-me-down clothes and home-made ice cream and leftover meatloaf. I really would.

My cherished boys, I hope you learn humility (谦逊) by surviving failure and that you learn to be honest even when no one is looking. I hope you get a black eye fighting for something you believe in. I hope you have to share a bedroom with your younger brother. And it is all right to draw a line down the middle of the room, but when he wants to crawl (爬) under the covers (被子) with you because he’s scared, I hope you’ll let him. And when you want to see a Disney movie and your kid brother wants to tag along, I hope you take him.

　　I hope you have to walk uphill with your friends and that you live in a town where you can do it safely. I hope you learn to dig in the dirt and read books, and when you learn to use computers, you also learn how to add and subtract (减) in your head.

May you skin your knee climbing a mountain, burn your hand on the stove and stick your tongue on a frozen flagpole (旗杆). I hope you get sick when someone blows smoke in your face. I don’t care if you try beer once, but I hope you won’t like it.

I sure hope you make time to sit on a porch with your grandpa or go fishing with your uncle.

I hope your father punishes you when you throw a baseball through a neighbor’s window, and that your mother hugs you and kisses you when you give her a plaster of pared mold (一个石膏模型) of your hand.

　 These things I wish for you—tough times and disappointment, hard work and happiness.

1.Who wrote the letter?

A．A grandmother.     B．A grandfather.      C．A father.          D．A mother.

2.What does the author hope for the boys?

A．they learn a lesson from a fight with others.

B．they know how to calculate with computers.

C．they get on well with family members.

D．they burn their hand on the stove and stick their tongue on a frozen flagpole.

3.It can be inferred from the text that the boys _________________.

A．often fight with others                   B．are to develop good qualities

C．always keep their grandpa company         D．score high in the exam

4.Why does the author write the letter?

A．To show the boys it’s not easy growing up.

B．To teach the boys dos and don’ts on the way growing up.

C．To help the boys to avoid making mistakes on the way growing up.

D．To encourage the boys to fully experience life on the way growing up.

完型填空 （共20小题，每小题1分，满分20分）
The sun didn’t come out. The 15 – year – old girl Razeena said goodbye to her mother and left for school. She was thinking about the coming Christmas and   21  the holiday lights at the nearby senior citizens’ apartment   22  she noticed some smoke through the door.
The building is on fire ! She looked around wildly,  23   not a soul was in   24    .
Razeena   25  .“Fire ! ” she yelled, running into the hallway and striking on every door she saw, “Everybody get   26  !” The building had two floors, she pulled herself   27  ,where the thick   28  was hanging just a few feet   29  the floor. She could see pairs of slippered feet——but no one was moving. She   30  they couldn’t see where to go ! “Down here ! and follow me !” she yelled.   31  a sleeve over her mouth, she led the elderly residents (居民) down the stairs.
So she pounded up and down the stairs, weaving through the smoke and heat to   32  more people. “ Take my arm,” she told the extremely   33  residents. Her eyes burned and flames were hissing louder. Finally, she led the last person out.   34  stood on the side walk, dazed and crying. “Thank you so much,” they told her over and over, “ Without you, we never would have   35 .”
When Razeena walked home, shaking and   36  with dirt, mother cried, “ What happened?!”
“ There was a fire…so many people … I think I   37  them all.” She burst into tears, “ I   38  my uniform. I thought you might be mad! ” Mother   39  her head, tears in her eyes, “Oh honey, I’m so   40  of you,” she whispered.

It was pouring outside. We all stood there   26   , some patiently , others annoyed   27   nature messed up (弄糟) their hurried day . I got lost in the sound and sight of the heavens  28    away the dirt and dust of the world.
“Mom, let’s run through the rain,” a girl’s voice    29  me.
“No, honey. We’ll wait until it   30   down a bit,” Mom replied.
The young girl waited about another minute and    31  : “Mom, let’s run through the rain.”
“We’ll get wet if we do,” Mom said.
“No, we won’t, Mom. That’s not what you said this morning,” the young girl said as she  32    her Mom’s arm.
“This morning?   33   did I say we could run through the rain and not get wet?”
“Don’t you remember? When you were talking to Daddy about his cancer, you said,” If God can get us through this, he can get us through   34  .”
The entire crowd turned   35  . Mom paused and thought for a moment about    36  she would say. Now some would laugh it off and scold her for being   37   . But then we heard, “Honey, you are   38  . Let’s run through the rain. If we get wet, maybe we just need washing,” Mom said. Then    39  they ran.
We all stood    40 , smiling and laughing as they ran past the cars. Yes, they got wet. But they were   41   by a few who screamed and laughed like children all the   42   to their cars. Circumstances (境况) or people can take away your material possessions, and they can even take away your   43  . But no one can ever take away your precious   44  . So, don’t forget to make time and take the   45   to make memories every day! I hope you still take the time to run through the rain.

A very little boy was spending his Saturday morning playing in his sandbox. He had with him a plastic pail (桶) and a shiny, red plastic shovel (铲). In the  1  of creating roads and tunnels in the sand, he   2  a large rock in the middle of the sandbox.

The boy dug around the rock,  3  to move it off the dirt. At first, he wanted to carry it out of the sandbox with his hands; however, it was too heavy. Later, with much   4 , he pushed the rock across the sandbox by   5  his hands. When the boy got the rock to the   6  of the sandbox, he found that he couldn’t roll it up and   7  the little wall.   8 , the little boy pushed, but every time he thought he had made some   9 , the rock tipped (翻滚) and then fell back into the sandbox. The little boy pushed and pushed, but his only   10  was to have the rock roll back.

Finally he  11  tears. All this time the boy’s father watched from his living room window   12  the drama was unfolded. The moment the tears fell, a large   13  appeared across the sandbox. It was the boy’s father. Gently but   14 , he said, “Son, why didn’t you use all the strength that you had?”

Defeated, the boy   15  back, “I did! I did! I used all the strength that I had!”

“No, you didn’t. You didn’t ask me for help.” The father   16  down, picked up the rock and dropped it off the sandbox.

Do you have “rocks” in your life that need to be   17 ? Are you discovering that you don’t have   18  it takes to lift them? There is someone who is willing to give us the  19  we need. Maybe, it’s sometimes a good idea to ask others for   20  when we meet difficulties we can’t overcome.

1.                A．method        B．step           C．practice  D．process

2.                A．created        B．set            C．discovered    D．brought

3.                A．trying          B．managing       C．deciding  D．competing

4.                A．thought        B．struggle         C．movement D．worry

5.                A．touching        B．shaking         C．using D．controlling

6.                A．bottom         B．center          C．edge D．front

7.                A．over           B．down          C．through  D．into

8.                A．Doubted        B．Surprised       C．Pleased   D．Determined

9.                A．attempt        B．progress        C．effort    D．decision

10.               A．hope          B．reward         C．point D．purpose

11.               A．made out       B．broke out       C．burst into  D．rushed into

12.               A．so             B．as             C．until  D．before

13.               A．rock           B．picture         C．figure D．shade

14.               A．surprisingly     B．doubtfully       C．kindly D．firmly

15.               A．shouted        B．smiled         C．called D．asked

16.               A．reached        B．looked         C．fell   D．put

17.               A．pushed         B．dropped        C．carried    D．removed

18.               A．who           B．what           C．which D．where

19.               A．minds          B．spirits          C．force D．strength

20.               A．help           B．tips            C．advice D．ideas

People often say that money talks. They mean that a person with a lot of money can say how he or she wants things done. But it is not easy to earn enough money to gain this kind of power. Ask anyone in a business, they will tell you that it is a jungle out there. The expression probably began because the jungle is filled with wild animals and unknown dangers that threaten people. Sometimes people in business feel competing businesses are as dangerous as wild animals. And they feel that unknown dangers in the business world frighten the survival of their business.

People in business have to be careful, if they are to survive the jungle out there. They must not be led into making bogus investments. Bogus means something that it is not real. Nobody is sure how the word got started. But it began to appear in a American newspapers in 1800s. A newspaper in Boston Massachusetts said the word came from a criminal whose name was Bogazy. The newspaper said Bogazy wrote checks to people, although he did not have enough money in the bank. After he wrote the checks, he would flee from town. So people who were paid with his checks received nothing. The newspaper said Americans shortened and changed to the criminal's name Bogazy to bogus.

People try to earn money also must be aware of being ripped off. A person who is ripped off has had something stolen or at least has been treated very unfairly. A writer for the magazine American Speech said he first saw the expression used in 1971. It was on a sign that a student carried during a protest demonstration at a university. The message on the sign was that the student felt ripped off or cheated. Perhaps the best way to prevent getting ripped off in business is to not try to get rich quickly.

To be successful, a person in business works hard and tries to get down to brass tacks. This expression means to get to the bottom or most important part of something. For example, a salesman may talk and talk about his product without saying the price. You get down to brass tacks when you say it sounds good but how much does it cost？

Word expert Charles Funk thinks the expression comes from sailors on ships. They clean the bottom of a boat. When they have removed all the dirt, they are down to the brass tacks, the copper pieces that hold the boat together. So if we get down to brass tacks, we can prevent rip-offs and bogus ways of earning money in that jungle out there. And some good luck will help too.

1.This passage is mainly written to________.

A. explain several expressions related to money

B. tell us some skills of learning English words

C. tell us the secret of how to do business

D. tell us the power of money

2.People compare doing business to being in a jungle because________.

A. doing business is as exciting as living in a jungle

B. businessmen are as dangerous as animals in a jungle

C. doing business is as difficult as living in a jungle

D. businessmen are as careful as people living in a jungle

3.If we say something is bogus, we probably mean it is not________.

A. real                          B．beautiful                        C．good                               D．new

4.According to Paragraph 2,where did the word "bogus" come from? _________

A. The name of a very successful businessman.

B. The name of a criminal who cheated others.

C. The name of a famous newspaper in Boston.

D. The name of a check written by a criminal.