As a young boy my family was very poor. I would often help do something for the neighbors to  36  a little pocket money.

One day I  37  on the door of an elderly woman and asked  38  she needed me to clean the yard. She asked why I was not in  39  and I showed her my worn  40 , which no longer kept me warm. She  41  me to work in the yard. When I finished, she looked at me and said, “I suppose you want to be  42  now.” She then  43  a jar filled with dollar bills and said, “I’m glad you’ve done a  44  job today but that is not something you should be doing again. I want you to  45  new clothes and get back to school. I also want you to come back to  46  me with your report card and I will  47  you when I see you have worked hard and have some good  48 . Now reach out your little hands and take out as much  49  as you can.”

I put my hands in the jar and  50  so much money that it was  51  for me to buy what I badly needed. Later, I returned several times to see the woman and she did just as she  52 . She looked at my report card and gave me a handful of dollars and some delicious food every time I  53  her that I had an “A”.

I was twelve years old when I moved from that neighborhood. I will never forget the huge  54 this wonderful lady made over my life with her  55 . This is something I hope to do myself in this lifetime over and over again.

1.	A．save B．give C．earn D．change

 

2.	A．turned B．knocked C．worked D．looked

 

3.	A．how B．when C．why D．if

 

4.	A．school B．time C．trouble D．bed

 

5.	A．bag B．carpet C．coat D．sofa

 

6.	A．allowed B．forced C．helped D．stopped

 

7.	A．punished B．tested C．praised D．paid

 

8.	A．set up B．took out C．talked about D．put away

 

9.	A．boring B．new C．fine D．terrible

 

10.	A．keep B．buy C．remove D．make

 

11.	A．visit B．forgive C．welcome D．serve

 

12.	A．recognize B．reward C．understand D．protect

 

13.	A．goals B．stories C．marks D．ideas

 

14.	A．room B．money C．food D．time

 

15.	A．grabbed B．lost C．borrowed D．charged

 

16.	A．rare B．enough C．simple D．special

 

17.	A．promised B．discovered C．knew D．admitted

 

18.	A．asked B．required C．showed D．wrote

 

19.	A．decision B．progress C．mistake D．difference

 

20.	A．courage B．kindness C．honesty D．happiness

 

As a young boy my family was very poor. I would often help do something for the neighbors to   16   a little pocket money.

    One day I   17   at the door of an elderly woman and asked  18   she needed me to clean the yard. She asked why I was not in   19   and I showed her my worn   20  , which no longer kept me warm. She  21   me to work in the yard. When I finished, she looked at me and said, “I suppose you want to be   22   now.” She then   23   a jar filled with dollar bills and said, “I’m glad you’ve done a   24   job today but that is not something you should be doing again. I want you to   25   new clothes and get back to school. I also want you to come back to   26    me with your report card, and I will   27   you when I see you have worked hard and got some good marks. Now  28   your little hands and take out as much   29   as you can.”

    I put my hands in the jar and grabbed (抓住) so much money that it was  30   for me to buy what I   31  needed. Later, I returned several times to see the woman and she did just as she   32  . She looked at my report card and gave me a handful of dollars and some delicious food every time I  33   her that I had an “A”.

I was twelve years old when I moved from that neighborhood. I will never forget the big   34   this wonderful lady made to my life with her  35  . This is something I hope to do myself in this lifetime over and over again.

16．A．save	B．give	C．earn	D．change
17．A．knocked	B．turned	C．worked	D．looked
18．A．how	B．when	C．why	D．if
19．A．school	B．time	C．trouble	D．bed
20．A．bag	B．coat	C．carpet	D．sofa
21．A．allowed	B．forced	C．helped	D．stopped
22．A．punished	B．tested	C．praised	D．paid
23．A．set up	B．made up	C．took out	D．put away
24．A．boring	B．new	C．good	D．terrible
25．A．keep	B．buy	C．remove	D．make
26．A．serve	B．forgive	C．welcome	D．visit
27．A．recognize	B．reward	C．understand	D．protect
28．A．put up	B．show up	C．reach out	D．turn out
29．A．room	B．money	C．food	D．time
30．A．enough	B．rare	C．simple	D．special
31．A．slightly	B．gradually	C．naturally	D．badly
32．A．promised	B．discovered	C．knew	D．admitted
33．A．asked	B．showed	C．required	D．wrote
34．A．decision	B．progress	C．mistake	D．difference
35．A．courage	B．honesty	C．kindness	D．happiness

Kieron Williamson, a seven-year-old British boy, is being recognized as an art genius after selling 16 paintings for 18, 000 pounds in just 14 minutes. This boy has artistic skills that would be the envy of any serious painter and drawn comparisons to Pablo Picasso, a child prodigy（神童）who became one of the most recognized artists of the 20th century.

 It all began on a family holiday to Cornwall on the southwest English coast when Kieron was five. Inspired by the view, he asked his parents for his first sketch-pad （速寫紙）. From that moment on, he became deeply interested. While supportive, Kieron’s parents are careful not to push their son. He only paints when and what he wants.

 He has a waiting list of hundreds and requests for his works have been flooding in. His father said a sale of Kieron’s works held in November even drew a buyer from Japan. “We had people driving down that night, there were people on the door waiting to come in the morning who had been standing outside, the phones were going mad as soon as the door opened at nine o’clock and within 14 minutes all the 16 pictures had gone, ” he said.

All this talent, money and high praise could so easily go to a young boy’s head, but Kieron said his friends keep him grounded. “Some of them want to be as good as me and some of them think. . . Umn, ‘you are not too special’, ” he said.

    Kieron’s favourite painter is British artist Edward Seago and he has spent some of his earnings buying a work by his hero. The rest is being invested by his parents until he reaches 25. Kieron’s parents and his younger sister Billi-Jo don’t see him as anything other than a normal seven-year-old boy who likes to tear around the house and who’s mad about football. But for now, with so much still to learn, there’s only one thing he wants to be when he grows up. He said, “I think I’ll definitely be an artist. ”

26. According to Paragraph 1, we can know Kieron Williamson ________.

A. painted 16 paintings in only 14 minutes

B. draws as well as Picasso did

C. is one of the most recognized artists

D. has unusual ability in painting

27. What made Kieron Williamson begin to love painting?

A. His first sketch-pad.

B. His parents’ encouragement.

C. The view at the seaside.

D. His swimming near the coast.

28. In Kieron Williamson’s friends’ opinion, he ________.

A. is famous but a little proud

B. isn’t very special from other children

C. isn’t worth praising at all

D. is hard to get along with

29. It can be inferred from the last paragraph that ________.

A. Edward Seago thinks highly of Kieron’s painting

B. Kieron likes doing sports and painting instead of studying

C. Kieron’s family is very poor

D. Kieron wants to be a great painter

30. The passage mainly tells us________.

A. a seven-year-old painting genius

B. how to be a great painter

C. Kieron Williamson may become the second Picasso

D. the painting changed Kieron Williamson’s life greatly

Kieron Williamson, a seven-year-old British boy, is being recognized as an art genius after selling 16 paintings for 18, 000 pounds in just 14 minutes. This boy has artistic skills that would be the envy of any serious painter and drawn comparisons to Pablo Picasso, a child prodigy（神童）who became one of the most recognized artists of the 20th century.

 It all began on a family holiday to Cornwall on the southwest English coast when Kieron was five. Inspired by the view, he asked his parents for his first sketch-pad （速寫紙）. From that moment on, he became deeply interested. While supportive, Kieron’s parents are careful not to push their son. He only paints when and what he wants.

 He has a waiting list of hundreds and requests for his works have been flooding in. His father said a sale of Kieron’s works held in November even drew a buyer from Japan. “We had people driving down that night, there were people on the door waiting to come in the morning who had been standing outside, the phones were going mad as soon as the door opened at nine o’clock and within 14 minutes all the 16 pictures had gone, ” he said.

All this talent, money and high praise could so easily go to a young boy’s head, but Kieron said his friends keep him grounded. “Some of them want to be as good as me and some of them think. . . Umn, ‘you are not too special’, ” he said.

    Kieron’s favourite painter is British artist Edward Seago and he has spent some of his earnings buying a work by his hero. The rest is being invested by his parents until he reaches 25. Kieron’s parents and his younger sister Billi-Jo don’t see him as anything other than a normal seven-year-old boy who likes to tear around the house and who’s mad about football. But for now, with so much still to learn, there’s only one thing he wants to be when he grows up. He said, “I think I’ll definitely be an artist. ”

26. According to Paragraph 1, we can know Kieron Williamson ________.

A. painted 16 paintings in only 14 minutes

B. draws as well as Picasso did

C. is one of the most recognized artists

D. has unusual ability in painting

27. What made Kieron Williamson begin to love painting?

A. His first sketch-pad.

B. His parents’ encouragement.

C. The view at the seaside.

D. His swimming near the coast.

28. In Kieron Williamson’s friends’ opinion, he ________.

A. is famous but a little proud

B. isn’t very special from other children

C. isn’t worth praising at all

D. is hard to get along with

29. It can be inferred from the last paragraph that ________.

A. Edward Seago thinks highly of Kieron’s painting

B. Kieron likes doing sports and painting instead of studying

C. Kieron’s family is very poor

D. Kieron wants to be a great painter

30. The passage mainly tells us________.

A. a seven-year-old painting genius

B. how to be a great painter

C. Kieron Williamson may become the second Picasso

D. the painting changed Kieron Williamson’s life greatly

It’s just a small, white envelope stuck among the branches of our Christmas tree. No name, no address. It has peeked through the branches of our tree for the past 10 years.
It all began because my husband Mike hated Christmas. He didn’t hate the true meaning of Christmas, but the commercial aspects of it; overspending, running around at the last minute to get a tie for Uncle Harry and powder for Grandma…
Knowing he felt this way, I decided one year to bypass the usual shirts, sweaters, ties and so forth. I reached for something special for Mike. The inspiration came in an unusual way.
Our son Kevin, at 12 that year, was wrestling at the junior level at the school he attended and before Christmas, there was a non-league match against a team sponsored by an inner-city church, mostly black.
As the match began, I was alarmed to see that the other team was wrestling without headgear to protect a wrestler’s ears. They obviously could not afford.
Mike shook his head sadly, “I wish just one of them could have won,” he said. “They have a lot of potential, but losing like this could take the heart right out of them.”
Mike loved kids—all kids—and he knew them, having coached little league football, baseball and lacrosse. That’s when the idea for his present came.
That afternoon, I went to a local sporting goods store and bought an assortment of wrestling headgear and shoes and sent them anonymously to the inner-city church.
On Christmas Eve, I placed the envelope on the tree, the note inside telling Mike what I had done and that this was his gift from me. His smile was the brightest thing about Christmas that year. For each Christmas, I followed the tradition.
The envelope became the highlight of our Christmas. It was always the last thing opened on Christmas morning and our children, ignoring their new toys, would stand with wide-eyed anticipation as their dad lifted the envelope from the tree to reveal its contents.
The tradition has grown and someday will expand even further with our grandchildren standing around the tree with wide-eyed anticipation watching as their fathers take down the envelope. Mike’s spirit, like the Christmas spirit, will always be with us.
【小題1】Which of the following is the best title for the passage?

A．Precious Present	B．Christmas Gift
C．The Small White Envelope	D．The Good Old Tradition

【小題2】Why did Mike hate Christmas according to the passage?

A．He didn’t like the true meaning of Christmas

B．He didn’t like people spending too much money on presents

C．He hated buying presents for Uncle Harry and Grandma

D．He didn’t want to receive gifts like shirts, sweaters or ties.

【小題3】Which is the closest meaning to the underlined phrase “take the heart right out of them”?

A．make them excited

B．make them inspired

C．make them lose confidence

D．make them kill themselves

【小題4】Why was his smile the brightest thing about Christmas that year? ( paragraph 9)

A．He received some sporting goods

B．He found a potential wrestling team

C．His son won the wrestling match

D．His wife sent presents to those poor kids

【小題5】What can we infer from the passage?

A．The tradition of sending presents will pass from generation to generation.

B．The children were eager to get their new toys ignoring the envelope.

C．With the presents, the poor kids will surely win the match one day.

D．Mike’s spirit, like the Christmas spirit, will always be with us.