My father woke me up early one summer morning when I was fourteen and announced: “Get up, you're going with me to cut the grass in the garden. ”

　　The idea that my father thought I was old enough to help him in his business made me feel proud and excited. From sunup to sundown, my father, my younger brother and I worked in the large garden. By the end of the day I was too tired to say a word but I felt good. This was my first time to help my father in his business. I got $ 6 for my work that day.

　　One day my father found some leaves I had missed and pulled me aside. “Take away these leaves! ”he said, “and don't make me have to tell you to do it again.” The message was clear. Today I value(珍视)the importance of doing a job well the first time. It will never fail to impress(给……留下印象） the person you are working for.

　　After two years, my father told me and my brother that he felt we were old enough to cut the grass by ourselves. Every Saturday during my last two years of high school, we set off early in the morning with the same strong wish we had gained while working under our father.

　　Looking after the garden was neither exciting nor high paying, but that didn't matter. It taught me that any job was a good job and that whatever I was paid was more than I had before.

　　A newspaper reporter once asked me how someone could possibly live with hard work and low pay. “If you're only thinking about hard work and money, you probably don't want to do any better than you are doing.” I answered. In every job, from cutting the grass to washing dishes, I've learned much. I've learned something that helps me in my next job.

　　If you work hard enough, you can learn from any job you do.

46. The writer felt proud and excited when he was asked to cut the grass because he thought______.

　　 A. he could cut the grass himself

　　 B. he could make much money

　　 C. he could enjoy sunup and sundown

　　 D. he could help his family

47. The underlined word "message" in the passage probably refers to_____.

　　 A. not leaving leaves behind

　　 B. giving no excuse for your mistakes

　　 C. doing a good job at the very beginning

　　 D. missing things which can be found out

48. When the writer finished high school, maybe he was _____ years old.

　　 A. fourteen     B. eighteen        C. twenty　　      D. twenty-two

49. Which of the following does the writer probably think is the most important?

　　 A. Keeping learning from any job you had.

　　 B. Asking no money for work.

　　 C. Finishing work as quickly as possible.

　　 D. Keeping looking for different jobs.

50. The writer probably thinks his father is_____.

　　 A. lazy　　      B. helpful　　    C. careless        D.interesting

　　It was early morning. Peter Corbett helped Mark Wellman out of his wheelchair and onto the ground. They stood before El Captain, a huge rock almost 1.2 kilometers high. Mark had long dreamed to climb El Captain when he was a child. At the age of twenty—one, he had fallen while climbing a mountain, losing his legs. But he never lost his love for life.

　　Mark knew he couldn’t finish the climb alone, but his friend Peter would be there to lend a helping hand. They thought it would take them seven days to reach the top. Now Peter climbed about 30 meters up and hit a piton(岩钉）into the rock. Tying one end of a 50—meter rope to the piton, he let the other end of the rope fall down. Mark caught the rope and tied it to his belt(腰带). He next readied above his bead and tied a T—bar(丁字铁）to the rope. Mark took a deep breath, pushed the T-bar up almost as far as his arms could reach, and began the first pull-up. High above，Peter let out a cheer, “You’re on your way.”

　　For the first four days the two men progressed upward without accident. But on the fifth day，a very strong wind began to blow, making it hard for Mark to hold on to his rope. But Mark kept on pushing up the T-bar and pulling himself up.

　　It took them one more day than they had expected. But as the two heads appeared, the group of people waiting on the top went wild with joy.

　　根据材料内容选择最佳答案。

46.The underlined word “readied” in the second paragraph means______.

       A.抵达      B.够到    C.完成    D.伸出

47.While climbing, Mark       _____.

　　       A.carried the T-bar on his back and stepped upward

　　   B.pushed up the T-bar and pulled himself up

　　   C.sat in his wheelchair and pushed himself up

　　   D.held on to the rope drawn up by his friend

48.The correct order of the steps before Mark’s climbing is______.

　　　a. push up the T-bar   b. tie the rope to his belt

　　　c. hit the piton into the rock      d. tie the T-bar to the rope

　　　e. tie the rope to the piton

  A. c-e-b-d-a       B. e-c-a-b-d C. e-b-d-c-a D. b-d-e-c-a

49.Which of the following is TRUE of Mark Wellman?

　　A.He realized his dream without anyone helping him.

　　B.He was badly injured when he climbed El Captain.

　　C.He climbed up the rock about 170 meters in height each day.

　　D.He had dreamed to climb up El Captain for a long time.

50.This passage mainly shows us that______.

　　A.a good beginning is half done     B. it is never too old to learn

　　C.doing is better than saying  D. where there is a will, there is a way

完形填空（共12分，每小题1分）
阅读下面的短文，掌握其大意，然后从短文后各题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选择最佳选项。
When I was in the third grade, I was picked to be the princess in the school play.
For weeks my mother had helped me   1  my lines. But once on stage, every word   2   from my head. Then my teacher told me she had written a narrator's (旁白) part for the play, and asked me to change   3  . Though I didn't tell my mother what had happened that day, she  4 my unhappiness  and asked if I wanted to take a walk in the yard.
It was a lovely spring day. We could see dandelions(蒲公英)popping（炸开）through the grass in bunches, I watched my   5  carelessly bend down by one of the bunches. “I think I am going to dig up all these weeds(杂草),” she said. “From now on, we’ll have   6 roses in this garden.”
“But I like dandelions,”I said.“All flowers are   7  —even dandelions!”
My mother looked at me seriously. “Yes, every flower gives pleasure in its own way, doesn’t it?”she asked thoughtfully. I nodded. “And that is   8  of people, too,”she added.
When I   9  that she had guessed my pain, I started to cry and told her the truth.
　“  10   you will be a beautiful narrator,” she said, reminding me of how much I loved to read stories aloud to her.
Over the next few weeks, with her continuous   11  , I learned to take pride in the role. The big day finally came. A few minutes before the play, my teacher came over to me. “Your mother asked me to give  12  to you,” she said, handing me a dandelion. After the play, I took the flower home, laughing that I was perhaps the only person who would keep such a weed.