Life is not easy, so I’d like to say “When anything happens, believe in yourself.”

When I was 14, I was too ???? to talk to anyone. My classmates often???? me. I was sad but could do nothing. Later,???? happened. It changed my life.

It was an English speech（演讲）contest. My mother asked me to take part in it. What a terrible idea! It meant I had to ???? in front of all the teachers and students of my school!“Come on, boy. Believe in yourself. You are sure to ??? . ”Then, Mother and I talked about many different topics. At last I? ?? ? the topic“Believe in yourself”. I tried my best to remember all the speech and ???? it over 100 times. With my mother’s great love, I did well in the contest. I could hardly believe my ???? when the news came that I had won the first place. I heard the???? ? from the teachers and students. Those classmates who once ???? ? on me, now all said “Congratulations!”to me. My mother hugged me and cried excitedly.

Since then, everything has changed for me. When I do anything, I try to tell myself to be sure and I will find myself.

1.A. shy????????????? ????????????? ????????????? ??? B. excited????????????? ????????????? ????????????? C. happy????????????? ????????????? ????????????? D. interested

2.A. made faces at????????????? ??? B. looked after????????????? ????????????? ????????????? C. caught up with????????????? D. laughed at

3.A. something????????????? ????????????? B. nothing????????????? ????????????? ????????????? C. anything????????????? ????????????? D. everything

4.A. write????????????? ????????????? ????????????? B. speak????????????? ????????????? ????????????? ????????????? C. tell????????????? ????????????? ????????????? D. say

5.A. win????????????? ????????????? ????????????? ??? B. lose????????????? ????????????? ????????????? ????????????? C. beat????????????? ????????????? ????????????? D. pass

6.A. reached????????????? ????????????? ??? B. brought????????????? ????????????? ????????????? C. chose????????????? ????????????? ????????????? D. thought

7.A. wrote????????????? ????????????? ????????????? B. taught????????????? ????????????? ????????????? ????????????? C. listened????????????? ????????????? D. practised

8.A. eyes????????????? ????????????? ????????????? ??? B. ears????????????? ????????????? ????????????? ????????????? C. heart????????????? ????????????? ????????????? D. mouth

9.A. thanks????????????? ????????????? ??? B. noises????????????? ????????????? ????????????? ????????????? C. cheers????????????? ????????????? ????????????? D. wishes

10.A. looked for????????????? ????????????? B. looked after????????????? ????????????? ????????????? C. looked over????????????? ????????????? D. looked down

“I can’t believe what I’m hearing! ”I thought to myself. Jeff was the last candidate（候选人）for president of Student Union. I really thought I should be chosen.

Later that day, I happened to pass Jeff in the dining room. I offered       a polite “Congratulations” and walked to my usual table. To my      , Jeff came to me and put his plate beside mine.

“I’m, er-I’m just wondering if you would consider coming to work on my team, ”he said nervously. “You are really       and you would be a great partner.”

“I don’t think so,” I replied, feeling unsure.

“Well,       you change your mind, you can tell me tomorrow. ”He said before moving to another table.

All that night, I thought about the       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 decided to       Jeff.

      of all, I began to create a catchy advertisement. Within a few days, we       a poster with Jeff’s showing him in a number of activities. No one could walk through any hallway       passing Jeff’s smiling face.

My next step was to       what 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 agreed to add       we want to our school program.

With my help, Jeff and our ideas were well received at school.

An eighth grader said, “      will be exciting to have Jeff as president.”

      these words made my heart filled with pride. I had wanted to become president of Student Union to make a difference. Now I achieved that. Jeff became the most popular candidate and I was a large part of his      . The fact that it has made a       in other people’s lives is the real prize. What a great feeling!

 1.A. us                           B. him                            C. her                           D. them

 2.A. surprise             B. luck                          C. fun                           D. love

 3.A. tired                            B. happy                      C. smart                       D. busy

 4.A. if                             B. because          C. after                        D. while

 5.A. message            B. present                   C. dream                     D. offer

 6.A. refuse                    B. leave                         C. agree                       D. join

 7.A. first                    B. second                    C. third                        D. Last

 8.A. sent                    B. invented                 C. designed                 D. bought

 9.A. for                          B. from                          C. with                         D. without

 10.A. take out          B. give out                   C. work out                 D. find out

 11.A. everywhere       B. somewhere             C. everything              D. nothing

 12.A. This                           B. It                               C. He                            D. We

 13.A. Hearing           B. Seeing                     C. Thinking                  D. Hoping

 14.A. exercise                   B. class                         C. family                      D. success

 15.A. friend                  B. difference               C. mistake          D. living

In many people’s eyes, middle school students are happy and carefree（无忧无虑）. But is it the truth? And what   students happy or unhappy?
To find out the answers, Li Jiahui, a student in Pinggu No. 3 Middle School, Beijing, spent six months   students’ sense(感受) of happiness last year. The  girl made a survey with questions such as “ Are you feeling happy?” and “What makes you unhappy?”
After studying the answers from 284 students, Li learned that  40 percent of the students feel unhappy, and the     from studies is the main reason for their unhappiness.
“More than 50 percent said they were under pressure and 70 percent  get enough sleep,” Li said. “It shows that middle school students are not as happy    people think. They worry a lot, and they can get angry easily.”
Li also said that over 90 percent say their happiness has  to do with how much money they have. Instead, they care about their relationships（关系）with friends, teachers and parents. “Students always feel better when they get  well with each other,” Li said.
After her survey, Li listed    tips that may make students happier, such as: Treat yourself better, be kind and polite to your friends and relatives, and try new things.

New York is one of the last large American cities to have some of its policemen on horseback. The New York police have 170 horses working in certain parts of the city. The horses are expensive to feed, but it is even more expensive to look after them. Because the horses must walk on the streets, they need special horseshoes. In fact , they need more than 8,000 of them each year. Every police horse in New York gets new shoes every month. Keeping these shoes in good repair is the job of six blacksmiths. There are only about thirty-five of these blacksmiths in the whole United States.
The cost of shoing a horse is between twenty dollars and thirty-five dollars, and it takes a good blacksmith two or three hours to do the job.
A blacksmith’s job is not an easy one. He must be able to shape a shoe from a piece of metal and then fit it to the horse’s foot. The blacksmith must bend over all the time when he is fitting the shoe and must hold the weight of the horse’s leg while he works. Clearly, a blacksmith must be very storng. But even more important, he must be able to deal with horses---for before the blacksmith can begin his work, he has to get the horse to lift its leg.
One of the blacksmiths in New York is James Corbin. He came to the country from Ireland in 1948. He not only makes horseshoes for the police but also works for a group of horse owners near the city. Corbin became interested in blacksmithing because his father did it, and,as the puts it, “It’s a good way to make a living.”
【小题1】According to the reading passage, a blacksmith must be likely a______ man.

Once upon a time, there was a little boy named Rakesh, he studied and lived in a boarding school(寄宿学校). Every night he jumped over the wall and played outside. He        returned before dawn (黎明) and lay on his bed again, so no one knew that Rakesh went out at        .
One night as usual, Rakesh found         asleep. He decided to play outside again. He went into his teacher—Mrs. Green’s room        and saw her        . Then Rakesh walked out towards the wall. Near the wall, there was a ladder in the bushes, he hid it there. He         the ladders and he climbed up it , then jumped over the wall.        at that time his teacher was awake and saw him going out.
      got up and took away the        from the wall. A few hours        , Rakesh returned. In the dark, he tried to climb        from the wall. Sadly, there was no ladder, instead, Mrs. Green was standing where the ladder was and waited for him. Rakesh was very        to be punished (处罚), but to his surprise, she just helped Rakesh to get onto the ground , said, "Rakesh, at least        a warm coat with you, when you go out at night."
Mrs. Green's        made Rakesh know his own faults. He apologized (道歉) and never went out at night again. It is the        lesson that he has ever had.