When I was young, I had an old neighbor named Dr. Gibbs. He didn’t look like any doctor I’d ever known. He never shouted at us for playing in his yard. I remembered him as a neighbor who was nicer than anyone else in the neighborhood.

When Dr. Gibbs was happy, he was planting trees. And his life’s goal was to make it a forest.

Dr. Gibbs had some interesting theories about planting. He talked about trees that weren’t watered would grow deep roots in search of water. So he never watered his trees. He planted an oak (橡树) and, instead of watering it every morning, he beat it with the rolled-up newspaper. I asked him why he did that, and he said it was to get the tree’s attention.

Dr. Gibbs died a couple of years. Every now and again, I walk by his house and look at the trees that he planted twenty-five years ago. They’re very strong now.

I planted a couple of trees a few years later. I watered them regularly and took good care of them. Whenever a cold wind blows, they shake their leaves and branches.

The funny thing about those trees of Dr. Gibbs was that difficulty seemed to help them in ways comfort and ease never could.

1.What was Dr. Gibbs’ life goal?

A．To build a forest.                        B．To save more lives.

C．To make a lot of money.                   D．To study plants.

2.One of Dr. Gibbs’ theories about planting was that ______.

A．he often talked to the trees               B．he kicked the trees heavily

C．he never watered the trees               D．he buried the leaves around the roots

3.What does the writer mainly want to tell us?

A．Trees are not as weak as we think.

B．We should listen to others’ advice.

C．Difficulty is necessary for growth.

D．Planting trees is good for the environment.

阅读下面短文，根据上下文填入适当的词语，或使用括号中的词语的适当形式填空，并将答案填写在答案标号为31—40的相应位置。

One evening, I came across one of my son’s papers with a failing grade. I almost started to yell his name   31   I suddenly remembered he was in bed asleep. It was his   32  (nine) year of school and his academic career seemed to be in ruins, so I was angry. But I put the paper aside and turned to the   33   one, at the top of which were written “My dad”. It was a poem about me,   34   included the time I had to leave work to take him to the hospital because he   35  (break) his finger. So careless was I   36   I had forgotten all about that.

He talked about how I wrestled with him in the evenings and   37   good many other things. That paper was suddenly not nearly as important as it had been a few minutes   38  . I don’t know if he planted the poem next to the failing grade to   39  (soft) the blow, but it worked. Instead of a severe lecture, I talked to him about the poem as well as the failed homework, and it began to make sense to me that I could include praise along   40   constructive criticism.

When I was growing up, I had an old neighbor named Dr. Gibbs. He didn’t look like any doctor I’d ever known. He never yelled at us for playing in his yard. I remember him as someone who was a lot nicer than most of the adults in our community.

　　When Dr. Gibbs wasn’t saving lives, he was planting trees. His house sat on ten acres, and his life’s goal was to make it a forest.

　　The good doctor had some interesting theories concerning plant care and growth. He never watered his new trees, which flew in the face of conventional wisdom. Once I asked why. He said that watering plants spoiled them so that each successive tree generation would grow weaker and weaker. So you have to make things rough for them and weed out(淘汰) the weaker trees early on.

He talked about how watering trees made for shallow roots, and how trees that weren’t watered had to grow deep roots in search of moisture. I took him to mean that deep roots were to be treasured.

　　So he never watered his trees. He planted an oak and, instead of watering it every morning, he’d beat it with a rolled-up newspaper. Smack! Slap! Pow! I asked him why he did that, and he said it was to get the tree’s attention.

Dr. Gibbs passed away a couple of years after I left home. Every now and again, I walked by his house and looked at the trees that I’d watched him plant some twenty-five years ago. They’re extremely tall, big and robust since they have deep roots now. However, the trees in my garden trembled in a cold wind although I had watered them for several years.

It seems that adversity(逆境) and suffering benefit these trees in ways comfort and ease never could. I stood there deep in thought.

　　Every night before I go to bed, I check on my two sons. I stand over them and watch their little bodies, the rising and falling of life within. I often pray for them. Mostly I pray that their lives will be easy. But I think it’s time to change my prayer(祷词) because now I know my children are going to encounter hardship..

1.According to Dr. Gibbs’ theories, trees will become weaker if they______

    A. are lack of care   B. are watered   C. are weeded out    D. are beaten

2..According to Para.3 and Pare.4, we can infer that Dr. Gibbs’moto（座右铭）may be_____

     A. “seeing is believing”        B.“Put everything in proper use”

     C. ”Practice makes perfect”     D. “No pains, no gains”

3..The underlined word robust in Para.5 most probably means______

      A. strong         B. strange         C. deep        D. old

4. Which of the following may be the author’s best prayer for his two sons now ?

  A. I wish them strong wings, with which they can fly higher and touch the sky.

  B.I wish them nice fortune so that they can meet people like Dr. Gibbs in the future.

  C.I wish them deep roots into the earth since the rains fall and the winds blow often.

  D.I wish them great shades under the tree since the sunlight is always sharp and bitter.

5. Which of the following can be the best title of the passage?

   A. A Nice Doctor                      B. The Deep Roots  

C. Adversity and Suffering              D. My Childhood Memory

No one knows for sure when advertising first started.It is possible that it grew out of the discovery that some people did certain kinds of work better than others did them.That led to the concept of specialization，which means that people would specialize，or focus，on doing one specific job.

Let’s take a man we’ll call Mr.Fielder，for example.He did everything connected with farming.He planted seeds，tended the fields，and harvested and sold his crops.At the same time，he did many other jobs on the farm.However，he didn’t make the bricks for his house，cut his trees into boards，make the plows(犁), or any of the other hundreds of things a farm needs.Instead，he got them from people who specialized in doing each of those things.

Suppose there was another man we shall call Mr.Plowright.Using what he knew about farming and working with iron，Mr.Plowright invented a plow that made farming easier.Mr.Plowright did not really like farming himself and wanted to specialize in making really good plows.Perhaps，he thought，other farmers will trade what they grow for one of my plows.

How did Mr.Plowright let people know what he was doing？Why，he advertised，of course.First he opened a shop and then he put up a sign outside the shop to attract customers.That sign may have been no more than a plow carved into a piece of wood and a simple arrow pointing to the shop door.It was probably all the information people needed to find Mr.Plowright and his really good plows.

Many historians believe that the first outdoor signs were used about five thousand years ago.Even before most people could read，they understood such signs.Shopkeepers would carve into stone，clay，or wood symbols for the products they had for sale.

A medium，in advertising talk，is the way you communicate your message.You might say that the first medium used in advertising was signs with symbols.The second medium was audio，or sound，although that term is not used exactly in the way we use it today.Originally，just the human voice and maybe some kind of simple instrument，such as a bell，were used to get people’s attention.

A crier，in the historical sense，is not someone who weeps easily.It is someone，probably a man，with a voice loud enough to be heard over the other noises of a city.In ancient Egypt，shopkeepers might hire such a person to spread the news about their products.Often this earliest form of advertising involved a newly arrived ship loaded with goods.Perhaps the crier described the goods，explained where they came from，and praised their quality.His job was，in other words，not too different from a TV or radio commercial in today’s world.

1.What probably led to the start of advertising?

A．The discovery of iron.

B．The specialization of labor.

C．The appearance of new jobs.

D．The development of farming techniques.

2.To advertise his plows，Mr.Plowright________.

A．praised his plows in public

B．placed a sign outside the shop

C．hung an arrow pointing to the shop

D．showed his products to the customers

3.The writer makes up the two stories of Mr.Fielder and Mr.Plowright in order to________.

A．explain the origin of advertising

B．predict the future of advertising

C．expose problems in advertising

D．provide suggestions for advertising

4.In ancient Egypt，a crier was probably someone who ________.

A．owned a ship

B．had the loudest voice

C．ran a shop selling goods to farmers

D．functioned like today’s TV or radio commercial

5.The last two paragraphs are mainly about ________.

A．the history of advertising

B．the benefits of advertising

C．the early forms of advertising

D．the basic design of advertising

When I was growing up, I had an old neighbor named Dr. Gibbs. He didn’t look like any doctor I’d ever known. He never yelled at us for playing in his yard. I remember him as someone who was a lot nicer than most of the adults in our community.

When Dr. Gibbs wasn’t saving lives, he was planting trees. His house sat on ten acres, and his life’s goal was to make it a forest.

The good doctor had some interesting theories concerning plant care and growth. He never watered his new trees, which flew in the face of conventional wisdom. Once I asked why. He said that watering plants spoiled them so that each successive tree generation would grow weaker and weaker. So you have to make things rough for them and weed out(淘汰) the weaker trees early on. He talked about how watering trees made for shallow roots, and how trees that weren’t watered had to grow deep roots in search of moisture. I took him to mean that deep roots were to be treasured.

So he never watered his trees. He planted an oak and, instead of watering it every morning, he beat it with a rolled-up newspaper. Smack! Slap! Pow! I asked him why he did that, and he said it was to get the tree’s attention.

Dr. Gibbs passed away a couple of years after I left home. Every now and again, I walked by his house and looked at the trees that I’d watched him plant some twenty-five years ago. They’re extremely tall, big and robust since they have deep roots now. However, the trees in my garden trembled in a cold wind although I had watered them for several years.

It seems that adversity(逆境) and suffering benefit these trees in ways comfort and ease never could. I stood there deep in thought.

Every night before I go to bed, I check on my two sons. I stand over them and watch their little bodies, the rising and falling of life within. I often pray for them. Mostly I pray that their lives will be easy. But I think that it’s time to change my prayer(祷词) because now I know my children are going to encounter hardship.

According to Dr. Gibbs’ theories, trees will become weaker if they _________.

A. are lack of care　　　　　B. are watered      C. are weeded out　　　　　D. are beaten

According to Para.3 and Para.4, we can infer that Dr. Gibbs’ motto(座右铭) may be       .

A. “Seeing is believing”                                    B. “Put everything in proper use”

C. “Practice makes perfect”                               D. “No pain, no gain”

The underlined word robust in Para.5 most probably means _________.

A. strong　　                      B. strange　　       C. deep　　                        D. old

Which of the following may be the author’s best prayer for his two sons now?

A. I wish them strong wings, with which they can fly higher and touch the sky.

B. I wish them nice fortune so that they can meet people like Dr. Gibbs in the future.

C. I wish them deep roots into the earth since the rains fall and the winds blow often.

D. I wish them great shades under the tree since the sunlight is always sharp and bitter.

Which of the following can be the best title of this passage?

A Nice Doctor  B. The Deep Roots  C. Adversity and Suffering  D. My Childhood Memory