When I was growing up，I had an old neighbor，Dr. Gibbs．He didn’t look like any  1   I __2  ．He never invited us to play in his yard，but he was a very   3    person．

When Dr. Gibbs wasn’t saving lives，he was planting trees．He owned a large field and wanted to make it a forest．

The good doctor had some interesting ideas about planting trees．He never watered his new trees．Once I asked why．He said that watering plants spoiled them，and that if you   4   them，each baby tree would grow weaker and weaker，so you had to make things difficult for them and  __5   the weaker trees early．

He talked about how watered trees grew shallow（淺的）roots，and how trees that weren’t watered had to grow deep roots in search of water   6    the earth by themselves．  7   roots were very important．

So he never watered his trees．He'd planted an oak and，  8   watering it every morning，he'd beat it with a rolled-up newspaper．I asked him why he did that，and he said it was to get the tree's attention．

Dr. Gibbs died several years   9   I left home．Every now and then，I walked by his house and looked at the trees   10   I watched him   11   about twenty-five years ago．They’re very big and strong now．I planted some trees a few years later and carried water to them for a whole summer．After two years of   12   too much，whenever a cold wind blows in，they  13  a lot．

Every night before I go to bed，I check on my two sons．Mostly I pray（祈禱）that their lives will be easy．But lately I've been thinking that it's time to change my prayer．I know my children are going to face difficulties．There's always a cold wind   14   somewhere，so   15   we need to do is to pray for roots that reach deep into the brave heart，so when the rains fall and the winds blow，we can face it strongly and won't be beaten down．

1．A．doctor                   B．farmer                 C．planter                   D．a(chǎn)dult

2．A．know                    B．knew                   C．have known           D．had known

3．A．healthy                  B．weak                   C．kind                       D．bad

4．A．developed              B．watered               C．created                  D．caught

5．A．pick out                 B．clean out              C．come out                      D．give out

6．A．over                      B．on                       C．towards                 D．under

7．A．Thick                    B．Thin                    C．Short                     D．Deep

8．A．because of             B．rather than                  C．instead of               D．instead

9．A．when                    B．a(chǎn)fter                    C．before                    D．so that

10．A．that                     B．who                    C．where                    D．whose

11．A．stick                    B．plant                    C．weigh                    D．beat

12．A．noticing               B．pulling                 C．caring                    D．worrying

13．A．fall                      B．increase               C．shook                    D．shake

14．A．a(chǎn)nnoying              B．continuing            C．blowing                 D．dropping

15．A．long as                B．far                       C．that                       D．what

Once there was a grasshopper（蚱蜢）, who was the best hopper（跳躍者） in the world．She taught other grasshoppers how to hop． Soon all grasshoppers were hopping well, so she felt very 1  

Then one day an eagle showed up．She immediately  2   to teach the eagle how to hop, as she was sure that hopping was the key to  3   , but every time she advised the eagle to hop, he just said, “There is no need．You are  4   with hopping, but I can fly． “

“Stop this silly talking of flying!” screamed the grasshopper．“Flying is  5   in your imagination． “

The next day, some of the grasshoppers went to talk to the eagle．“How is it that you don’t know how to hop, yet you still talk of flying? It  6   our teacher’s orders． “

“Hopping is useful, but when you can fly, it is no longer  7   ．” said the eagle．

“Tell us more, “ said the grasshoppers．

The eagle began telling them what the world  8   he grass fields was like．It was a world that included mountains, rivers and oceans（海洋）．

Then the eagle took one  9   grasshopper in his powerful talon to the sky．The grasshopper could see the mountains, rivers and oceans that the eagle had   10   ．

After the eagle landed, he saw a spark （閃光） in the grasshopper’s eyes． The grasshopper told others what he had seen in the sky．Therefore, the grasshoppers dreamt of flying in the sky．

1． A． angry                B． relaxed       C． stressed            D． proud

2． A． forgot               B． decided     C． failed                D． refused

3． A． business            B． weakness           C． happiness            D． sadness

4． A． satisfied               B． strict        C． patient             D． careful

5． A． just                  B． even         C． hardly             D． ever

6． A． turns down           B． puts off     C． goes against          D． works out

7． A． harmless              B． dangerous   C． necessary           D． safe

8． A． past                 B． through     C． under                     D． beyond

9． A． sad                  B． brave       C． attractive           D． frightened

10． A． imagined          B． created       C． changed             D． described

These days，cars arc designed using computers．Let’s look at how a new car is created．

    First，several   1   talk about the new car and any good ideas that they have．Then they sit down at their computers and   2   many sketches．The best two or three drawings are chosen and then more detailed drawings of   3   are developed on the computer．You can change the size，shape or colour of any part on the computer to see   4   the car would look and then you can choose the best design．

    Both the inside and the outside of the car have to be designed．Part of the inside of the car is 5  so that the designers can sit in it．They can feel if there is enough  6  inside and if they can reach  7  ．Then some cars are built-there are more than 15，000 parts of a car to8  ．

    When everything is known to be  9   ，the cars are made in the factory．Again，computers are used to make sure that all the parts are   10  as they are needed．The factory

usually stays open all through the night so that the car production never stops．

1．A．drivers                B．designers           C．workers            D．salesmen

2．A．draw                 B．order                 C．type               D．enjoy

3．A．bicycles              B．trains               C．cars                 D．buses

4．A．how                 B．if                 C．what              D．that

5．A．covered              B．painted              C．locked             D．built

6．A．metal                   B．glass                 C．leather             D．room

7．A．nothing               B．somebody          C．everything            D．nobody

8．A．choose                      B．test                C．show             D．repair

9．A．safe                  B．easy               C．cheap              D．fast

10．A．rare                  B．electronic           C．comfortable         D．ready

These days，it is easier for us to travel to other countries than ever before．However，there is a big difficulty that most of us   1    when we meet people in other countries—we cannot communicate with them．There are   2   where English is still not spoken，though it is the most widely known language．So，wouldn't it be   3   if there was one language that could be understood by anyone anywhere in the world?

Esperanto that was created in 1887 may be the world's  4  truly international language．In fact，although   5   artificial（人造的）languages have been already created，only Esperanto has had much success．Its learners say that it is about four times   6    to learn than other languages．Spelling and pronunciation are both easy，too．For example，it does not have silent __7_ like the “h” in “honest”．If you   8   a word，you can spell it without any difficulty．The grammar is also as simple as possible：only sixteen basic   9   ，no irregular verbs（不規(guī)則動詞），only six verb endings．

In short，Esperanto should be attractive（有吸引力的）as a language to learn，  10   there is a problem：how many people have met anyone who can really speak it? Anyway，we hope that some day one language can be mastered easily by anyone．

1．A．need                      B．miss                    C．face                       D．touch

2．A．offices                     B．schools                 C．cities                     D．places

3．A．safe                     B．nice                     C．funny                    D．difficult

4．A．first                     B．a(chǎn)nother                  C．last                        D．other

5．A．little                 B．a(chǎn) little                    C．few                       D．a(chǎn) few

6．A．better                      B．easier                    C．slower                    D．shorter

7．A．marks                     B．parts                    C．words                    D．letters

8．A．hear                     B．see                      C．watch                    D．notice

9．A．subjects                   B．sentences                      C．rules                      D．lessons

10．A．a(chǎn)nd                       B．but                      C．so                         D．because