It’s not easy growing up. Growing up can be a real “pain” for some of us. Sometimes we feel trapped, sometimes we feel sad, sometimes we are fearful, and sometimes we just don’t understand why we can’t stay young forever. But we should take a look back on all the hardships in life with a positive attitude and learn from them. We must overcome every obstacle one small step at a time. We should realize that all of our growing pains actually turn into growing gains! Throughout our lives we are going to face many challenges and pains, but we should never let these obstacles keep us from following our dreams. We must overcome every obstacle one small step at a time. As a young girl, my parents forced me to do so many things that I didn’t like. They made me learn to play the violin and then the piano. At that time I hated music and I also hated them. But looking back now, I am so glad that my parents encouraged me to take music lessons. Music has enriched(豐富) my life in so many ways. I now realize that my parents and teachers wanted me to have a better life than they did themselves. We are all going to experience growing pains, but they are just part of our life. They might seem so huge at the time, but we must be strong. Think about how we would feel if we had no challenges and lived a life like that. Life would be really boring and meaningless. The future is ours! A little hard work and sweat never hurt anyone! If we realize that these pains are just small bumps(碰撞) on our road to success, we will realize that our growing pains are actually growing gains!
1.
The underlined word “obstacles” (in Paragraph 2) roughly means things that ______.
A.
are related to your studies
B.
you easily achieve
C.
make you happy
D.
make it difficult for you to do something
2.
How does the author now feel when remembering what her parents did for her in the past?
A.
She is fearful
B.
She is grateful
C.
She feels trapped
D.
She feels hateful
3.
We can know from the last paragraph that _____________.
A.
life without challenges is dull
B.
life needs no pains but sunshine and happiness
C.
we should give up faced with challenges as the future is ours
D.
we shouldn’t easily pay a little hard work in growing up
4.
The purpose of the passage is to tell readers____________.
A.
life is full of hardships
B.
growing pains can turn into growing gains in a positive way
C.
everyone is painful in growing up
D.
everyone should do what they don’t like when young
Last Sunday, I waked into the house in the afternoon to find my brother rushing around in a hurry. As soon as I took my coat off, my little brother placed a bunch of papers in my hands and asked me to fold them up so they could fit into an envelope as quickly as possible. He said it needed to get done quickly before it turned dark. I was a little surprised that something could be so urgent on a Sunday. It wasn’t until I was halfway through that I actually looked at what I was folding. After I read it, it put the biggest smile on my face. It was a lovely letter to all the residents （居民）in my neighborhood. My brother was asking everyone to let him know if anyone needed help. He left his contact information and said that anyone that needed help should get in touch with him and he would figure something out. He also asked people to get in touch if they were able to help out. London received an unusual amount of snow last week, and the city was completely under- prepared for it. So it was quite difficult to get anywhere. Only the major roads had been cleared, and smaller roads and pavements could be quite treacherous. There are a good number of old people in our little community. So my brother thought that the snow may have posed （造成）some difficulty for some of them, particularly because we live on a hill. A few elderly people got in touch with him asking for help for things they needed. One of them was especially grateful because his caregiver couldn’t make it. To our surprise, he got more responses from people offering to help. Then he received help from people who wanted to help. Everyone was really touched and wrote to my brother wonderful email. One of our neighbors wrote email saying that although she wasn’t able to help, she was “very proud of having a neighbor like him who puts other people’s interests first.”
1.
The author’s brother wrote the letter to _______.
A.
ask for help from his neighbors
B.
give a hand to those in need of help
C.
require his neighbors to clear the snow
D.
raise money for the old people in his community
2.
What can we learn from the text?
A.
Few people were willing to help out.
B.
The snow was unexpectedly heavy.
C.
Most residents in the community are elderly people.
D.
The community was completely cut off from the outside world.
3.
The underlined word “treacherous” in Paragraph 3 probably means “_______”.
A.
dirty
B.
dangerous
C.
safe
D.
crowded
4.
One of their neighbors sent email to the author’s brother to ________.
In China, many people are leaving the countryside to find jobs in the cities, because the countryside is much poorer than the city, and often there isn't much work there. Services such as hospital and transport are usually much better in the city than in the countryside. They hope that their lives will improve when they move to the city. But in the big cities of Europe like London or Paris, people are moving out of the city. These rich families want to live a quieter life. They are tired of the noise and the dirt of the city, and they are tired of the crowded streets, crowded trains and buses. They don't want to live in the cities any more. They want a house with a garden in the countryside, and breathe the fresh air there. So they move out of the cities. Some don't go very far, just a little way out of the city, to the towns near the cities. Other people move to the real countryside with sheep, cows and green fields. There, they start new lives and try to make new friends. Not all those who move from the city to the countryside are happy. After two or three years, many people who have done this feel that it was a big mistake. They don't make so much money and there isn't much work to do. People in the countryside are very different and aren't always very friendly. As a result, quite a lot of people who have moved to the countryside move back to the city. "It's wonderful to see crowds in the streets and cinema lights," they say
1.
Which is NOT the reason for people moving to the cities in China?
A.
The countryside is much poorer than the city
B.
People in the countryside have nothing to eat
C.
People in the countryside don't have much work to do there
D.
Services in cities are usually much better than those in the countryside
2.
Why do some rich families in Europe move to the countryside?
A.
Because they will find good jobs
B.
Because they are tired of living in the city
C.
Because they can make more money there
D.
Because they like feeding sheep and cows in the green fields
3.
After moving to the countryside, some people in Europe feel unhappy because ___________
A.
they can't make much money
B.
there isn't much work for them to do in the countryside
C.
some people in the countryside aren't always very friendly to them
D.
A, B and C
4.
The underlined sentence in the last paragraph shows __________
A.
they are happy to move back to the city
B.
they miss their friends in the countryside
C.
they still want to move to the countryside
D.
they are tired of the noise and the crowded streets in the city
5.
The best title of this passage may be “__________”
How Good Are US Drivers? The CBS-TV“National Drivers’ Test”，showed that many US drivers have a lot to learn.Here’s why. CBS picked 1799 sample drivers to take the test in TV studios in New York，Philadelphia，Chicago，and Los Angeles.More than two out of five of the drivers failed the test.And the average score was the lowest passing mark—51 points out of a possible 80. Chicago drivers did best with an average of 53 points.Los Angeles drivers came next with 52 points.New York and Philadelphia drivers got 50 points—a failing score.Drivers with 50 points or less were rated“poorly informed”by the judges. Here are some of the test results: 1.Are men drivers better informed than women ones? Yes.Men averaged 52 points.Women got an average of 49. 2.Are older drivers better informed than younger drivers? No.Drivers under 26 averaged 52 points.Drivers from 27 to 45 averaged 51.Drives over 45 failed with a 48-point average. 3.Does education make a difference? Yes.College graduates averaged 52 points.High school graduates averaged 50.Those without high school diplomas(畢業(yè)證) got 48.And people who had taken driver education courses scored an average of 53 points—three more than those who hadn’t. 4.Does driving experience make a difference? Yes.Drivers with three or more years of experience averaged 51 points.Drivers with less experience averaged 49. Here are some surprising facts brought out by the test: 1.More than one out of three drivers did not know that a blinking red light means a full stop. 2.Three out of ten drivers did not know that an octagonal(eight-sided)sign means stop. 3.More than two out of three drivers did not know what to do when being“tailgated(追尾)”. The answer:slow down，drive to the right，and let the driver behind pass. The results of the test were turned over to the National Safety Council(委員會).They will help future safety planning.
1.
The author’s purpose is to_________.
A.
prove that men are better drivers than women
B.
give you safe driving directions
C.
tell you the results of a national drivers’ test
D.
require you to get an education
2.
From the information in this article，which of the following is TRUE?
A.
Older drivers are better informed than younger drivers.
B.
Experience makes a difference among drivers.
C.
Most drivers failed the test.
D.
Most people don’ t know what a blinking red light means.
3.
The test covered the following areas about drivers except_________.
A.
education
B.
years of driving experience
C.
sex
D.
health
4.
Which of the following as a group was rated“poorly informed”by the judges?
