Sometimes I really doubt whether there is love between my parents. Every day they are very busy trying to earn money in order to pay the high tuition for my brother and me. They don’t act in the romantic ways that I read in books or I see on TV. In their opinion, “I love you” is too luxurious for them to say. Sending flowers to each other on Valentine’s Day is even more out of the question. Finally my father has a bad temper. When he’s very tired from the hard work, it is easy for him to lose his temper.　
　　One day, my mother was sewing a quilt. I silently sat down beside her and looked at her.　
　　“Mom, I have a question to ask you,” I said after a while.　
　　“What?” she replied, still doing her work.　
　　“Is there love between you and Dad?” I asked her in a very low voice.　
　　My mother stopped her work and raised her head with surprise in her eyes. She didn’t answer immediately. Then she bowed her head and continued to sew the quilt.　
　　I was very worried because I thought I had hurt her. I was in a great embarrassment and I didn't know what I should do. But at last I heard my mother say the following words:　
　　“Susan,” she said thoughtfully, “Look at this thread. Sometimes it appears, but most of it disappears in the quilt. The thread really makes the quilt strong and durable. If life is a quilt, then love should be a thread. It can hardly be seen anywhere or anytime, but it’s really there.”
　　I listened carefully but I couldn’t understand her until the next spring. At that time, my father suddenly got sick seriously. My mother had to stay with him in the hospital for a month. When they returned from the hospital, they both looked very pale. It seemed both of them had had a serious illness.
　　After they were back, every day in the morning and dusk, my mother helped my father walk slowly on the country road. My father had never been so gentle. It seemed they were the most harmonious couple. Along the country road, there were many beautiful flowers, green grass and trees. The sun gently glistened through the leaves. All of these made up the most beautiful picture in the world.
　　Once I thought love meant flowers, gifts and sweet kisses. But from this experience, I understand that love is just a thread in the quilt of our life, making life strong and warm.
　　thread: 线　　　 quilt: 被子
　　1. Why did the parents try to earn a lot of money?
　　A. To pay for the food.
　　B. To pay off the debt.
　　C. To pay for the hospital.
　　D. To pay the high tuition.

　　2. Which of the following is TRUE?
　　A. The parents sent flowers on Valentine’s day.
　　B. The parents liked to say “I love you.”
　　C. The father was too tired to have a good temper.
　　D. The mother had no job.

　　3. From the passage, we can know that _________.
　　A. the father made much money from his work
　　B. Susan couldn’t understand her mother
　　C. the parents always loved each other
　　D. the mother was worried about her husband

　　4. How did Susan feel towards her parents at last?
　　A. sad　　　　　 B. glad　　 　　C. worried　　　 D. easy

　　5. Which is the best title?
　　A. Love is inside.　　　　　　　　 B. Love is outside.
　　C. Love is seen everywhere.　　 　 D. Love is seen anytime.
　

Mr. Wise,

I’m a slow student. Most of my classmates are much better than me, so I usually get stressed out. I spend much time studying for the tests but I can’t get good grades. Sometimes my father gives me some help. He tells me not to worry about it, but it doesn’t work. What do you think I should do? 　　

Li Lei

Dear Li Lei ,

　　Many famous people were not so good when they were young. Edison, a famous scientist, did poorly in his studies when he was a young boy. But, as an adult, he made many inventions that helped a lot of people. When I was at young age, I didn't do well at school. I just kept working hard and, at last, I succeed. You should take it easy and try your best. Tomorrow is another day. I believe you can do better.

Mr. Wise  

(    ) 41. Li Lei feels worried because _____.

A. he doesn’t like going to school   

B. he is not as good as most of his classmates 　　

C. his father doesn’t like him           D. he doesn’t want to work hard

(    )42. Li Lei writes this letter to _____ .

A. ask for some help                               B. find a pen friend

C. tell his father his problem             D. let all his classmates know it

(    )43. Mr. Wise writes about a famous person to ______.　　

A. show how much he knows about his problem   

B. show that he hates Edison　　

C. make Li Lei angry                          

D. make Li Lei feel better　　

(    )44. In Mr. Wise’s letter , “Tomorrow is another day” means “ ______”.

A. Tomorrow is the weekend.       B. One can get good friends tomorrow.

C. Tomorrow is the same as today. D. There are a lot of hopes in our lives.

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

When I was about 12, I had an enemy, a girl who liked to point out my shortcomings(缺点). Week by week her list grew: I was very thin, I wasn’t a good student, I talked too much, I was too proud, and so on. I tried to hear all this as long as I could. At last, I became very angry. I ran to my father with tears in my eyes.                       He listened to me quietly, then he asked. “Are the things she says true or not? Janet, didn’t you ever wonder what you’re really like ? Well, you now have that girl’s opinion. Go and make a list of everything she said and mark the points that are true. Pay no attention to the other things she said.”                                                                         

I did as he told me. To my great surprise, I discovered that about half the things were true. Some of them I couldn’t change (like being very thin), but a good number I could—and suddenly I wanted to change. For the first time I go to fairly clear picture of myself.            

I brought the list back to Daddy. He refused to take it.“That’s just for you,” he said.“You know better than anyone else the truth about yourself. But you have to learn to listen, not just close your ears in anger and feeling hurt. When something said about you is true, you’ll find it will be of help to you. Our world is full of people who think they know your duty. Don’t shut your ears. Listen to them all, but hear the truth and do what you know is the right thing to do.”                   

Daddy’s advice has returned to me at many important moments. In my life, I’ve never had a better piece of advice.                                                          

1.What does “Week by week her list grew” mean?                                   

A. Week by week she discovered more shortcomings of mine and pointed them out to me.  

B. She had made a list of my shortcomings and she kept on adding new ones to it so that it was growing longer and longer.                                                 

C. I was having more and more shortcomings as time went on.                        

D. Week by week, my shortcomings grew more serious.                         

2.Why did her father listen to her quietly?                                          

A. Because he believed that what her daughter’s “enemy” said was mostly true.          

B. Because he had been so angry with his daughter’s shortcomings that he wanted to show this by keeping silent for a while.                                                

C. Because he knew that his daughter would not listen to him at that moment.            

D. Because he wasn’t quite sure which girl was telling the truth.                        

3.Which do you think would be the best title for this passage?                          

A. Not an Enemy, but the Best Friend   

B. The Best Advice I’ve Ever Had                             

C. My Father                      

D. My Childhood