When other nine-year-old kids were playing games, she was working at a petrol station. When other teens were studying or going out, she struggled to find a place to sleep on the street. But she overcame these terrible setbacks to win a highly competitive scholarship（奖学金）and gain entry to Harvard University. And her amazing story has inspired a movie, “Homeless to Harvard: The Liz Murray Story”, shown in late April.

　Liz Murray, a 22-year-old American girl, has been writing a real-life story of willpower and determination. Liz grew up in the shadow of two drug-addicted（吸毒）parents. There was never enough food or warm clothes in the house. Liz was the only member of the family who had a job. Her mother had AIDS and died when Liz was just 15 years old. The effect of that loss became a turning point in her life. Connecting the environment in which she had grown up with how her mother had died, she decided to do something about it.

　Liz went back to school. She threw herself into her studies, never telling her teachers that she was homeless. At night, she lived on the streets.“What drove me to live on had something to do with understanding, by understanding that there was a whole other way of being. I had only experienced a small part of the society,”she wrote in her book Breaking Night.

　She admitted that she used envy to drive herself on. She used the benefits that come easily to others, such as a safe living environment, to encourage herself that “next to nothing could hold me down”. She finished high school in just two years and won a full scholarship to study at Harvard University. But Liz decided to leave her top university a couple of months earlier this year in order to take care of her father, who has also developed AIDS. “I love my parents so much. They are drug addicts. But I never forget that they love me all the time.”

　　Liz wants moviegoers to come away with the idea that changing your life is “as simple as making a decision”.

1.In which order did the following things happen to Liz?

　　a. Her mother died of AIDS.   　b. She worked at a petrol station.

　　c. She got admitted into Harvard.　d. The movie about her life was put on.

　　e. She had trouble finding a place to sleep.

A．b, a, e, c, d

B．a, b, c, e, d

C．e, d, b, a, c

D．b, e, a, d, c

2.The main idea of the passage is ________.

A．how Liz managed to enter Harvard University	B．what a hard time Liz had in her childhood
C．why Liz loved her parents so much	D．how Liz struggled to change her life

3.What actually made her go towards her goal?

A．Envy and encouragement.	B．Willpower and determination.
C．Decisions and understanding.	D．Love and respect for her parents.

4.When she wrote “What drove me to live on...I had only experienced a small part of the society”, she meant that ________.

A．she had little experience of social life	B．she could hardly understand the society
C．she would do something for her own life	D．she needed to travel more around the world

 

　　Trudy, an American girl, tried swimming across the English Channel. That was August 6,1962. Her father had 1 her two things. One was not to pull her out of the water 2 she asked. The other was to give her a red sports 3 if she made it.

　　In gay spirits Trudy 4 out, swimming strongly. All the swimmers started at 7:09 in the morning. Her father and trainer were 5 along in a boat beside her.

　　At ten o'clock, rain began falling. At midday, Trudy trod (踩) water while 6 and eating a chicken leg. Then she started swimming again. The wind was 7 and the sea became rougher.

　　Late 8 the wind became even worse. The trainer decided it was 9 trying to finish. He called to Trudy to 10 .“No human being could do it in this 11 ,” he said,“It's stupid to go on.”

　　However, her father shouted,“Don't grab (抓住) her. Let her 12 .”

　　At seven o'clock the tides turned 13 her. It was more difficult to move ahead. But Trudy still swam on. She 14 victory was possible now, for the 15 coast was in sight.

　　It was getting dark. A sound could be heard over the 16 ; hundreds of car horns (喇叭) were cheering her on. With the remaining 17 , she finished the last 200 yards. At 18 p.m., Trudy got out of water. She had swum some 35 miles in 19 the 21-mile-wide Channel, 20 a strong storm. But she had made it in 14 hours and 30 minutes.

　　“Well, Pop,” she said to her father,“I guess I get my car this time, don't I?”

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As Christmas is coming, there are presents to be bought, cards to be sent, rooms to be cleaned. Parents are  with difficult jobs of hiding presents from curious young children. If the gifts are large, this is sometimes a real . On Christmas Eve, young children find the  almost unbearable（难以忍受的）. They are  between the wish to go to bed early so that Father Christmas will bring their presents quickly and the wish to  up late so that they will not  the fun. The wish for gifts usually proves stronger. But though children go to bed early, they often lie  for a long time, hoping to get a short look at Father Christmas.

　　Last Christmas, my wife and I  managed to hide a few large presents in the storeroom. I feared the moment when my son, Jimmy, would  me where that new bike had come from, but  he did not see it.

　　On Christmas Eve, it took the children hours to go to sleep. It must have been nearly  when my wife and I went quietly into their room and began  stockings. Then I pushed in the  I bought for Jimmy and left it beside the Christmas tree. We knew we would not get  sleep that night, for the children were  to get up early. At about five o'clock the next morning, we were woken by loud sounds coming from the children's room － they were shouting excitedly!  I had time to get out of bed, young Jimmy came  into the room on his new bike, and his sister, Mary,  close behind pushing her new baby carriage. Even the baby arrived, he moved  the hands and knees into the room dragging a large balloon behind him. Suddenly it burst. That woke  up completely. The day had really begun with a bang（巨响）.

1.A. faced　　　　 B. met　　　　　 C. filled　　　D. pleased

2.A. question　　　B. matter　　　　C. problem　　　D. business

3.A. joy   　　　B. excitement      C. presents     D. parents

4.A. pulled　　　B. divided　　　C. separated　　  D. torn

5.A. get　　　　 　B. stay　　　　　C. stand　　　 D. wake

    6.A. lose　　　　　B. break　　　　 C. miss　　　　 D. leave

7.A. awake　　　　B. wake　　　　　C. asleep　　　　D. sleep

8.A. hopefully　　B. busily      C. gladly　　D. successfully

9.A. answer　　　 B. tell　　　　　  C. ask　　　　　 D. search

10.A. sadly　　　　B. unluckily   C. possibly　　D. fortunately

11.A. morning　　　B. midnight    C. evening　　　D. daybreak

12.A. filling　　　　B. sewing　　C. mending　　D. preparing

13.A. present　　　 B. stocking　　　 C. bike　　　　　 D. tree

14.A. 1ittle　　　　 B. some　　　　　C. enough　　　 D. much

15.A. sorry　　　　 B. sure　　　　　C. glad　　　　　 D. eager

16.A. Before　　　　B. After　　　　 C. Until　　　　　D. Since

17.A. running　　　 B. laughing　　　 C. shouting　　　 D. riding

18.A. walked　　　　B. moved　　　　C. followed　　　D. jumped

19.A. with　　　　　B. on　　　　　　C. over　　　　 D. by

20.A. him　　　　　B. her　　　　C. me　　　　　　　D. us

 

_____ her mother had come, her face lit up.

A. Hearing　　　　B. Having heard C. When heard　　D. When she heard