When I was fifteen months old．I fell on a glass rabbit which cut my eye badly enough to blind it．And as I grew，this sightless eye , in so many ways controlled me that I walked with my face looking at the floor so people would not see the ugly me．

Yet Mama would hold me in her arms and stroke my hair and say，“If you hold your head up high，it will be OK．And people will see your beautiful soul．”She continued this message whenever I wanted to hide．

As a little child，I thought Mama meant，“Be careful or you will fall down or bump into something because you are not looking．”As a teenager, I found that my mama’s words helped me begin to realize that by letting people look at my face，I let them recognize the intelligence and beauty behind my eyes．

In high school I was successful both academically and socially．I was even elected class president，but inside me I still felt like a freak(畸形人)．When things got really bad，I would cry to my mama and she would look at me with loving eyes and say, “Hold your head up high and face the world．Let them see the beauty that is inside．”

When I met the man who became my partner for life，we looked each other straight in the eye，and he told me I was beautiful inside and out．Mama’s love and encouragement were the spark that gave me the confidence to overcome my own doubt．

“Hold your head up high” has been heard many times in my home．Each of my children has felt its invitation．The gift my mama gave me lives on in another generation．

1.What is TRUE of the writer’s eyes?

     A．She was blind in one eye when she was born．

B．Her blindness was caused by a traffic accident．

     C．She became blind in one eye because of a fall．

D．She lives unhappily because of her blindness．

2.When the writer was a high school student，she ________ ．

      A．was proud of her beauty that was inside

B．was active in taking part in social activities

      C．was filled with doubts and worries about her sightless eye

      D．was good at her study but sometimes lacked confidence

3.What does the underlined word “invitation” mean?

      A．encouragement    B．a(chǎn)dvantage    C．warmth    D．weight

4.What’s the author’s purpose in writing the passage?

      A．To show the power of confidence．          

B．To express her attitude to her mom．

      C．To explain how to build confidence．          

D．To inspire people to face difficulties

 

 With parents who taught at school, Sophia received a fairly good education. She would have achieved   36    in a career, but she   37    to spend most of her marriage in the   38    role of wife and mother,   39    herself to her husband and her three children.

At the beginning of their family life, Sophia took on the   40   for running the house in order for her husband to   41    his personal interest: writing novels. However, things weren’t going as   42    as expected. Nate’s writing failed to     43   the whole housekeeping. He had to take a position in the government to    44    for his family. Sophia tried to persuade Nate to give up his    45    for full-time writing, but he didn’t listen to her. He took his job   46     because it promised the family would be prevented from being   47  . That accounted for the shocking   48   he suffered when he lost his job. That day, he said to Sophia in a    49   , “I got fired. I am a    50    failure.” “Now you can focus your mind   51  your writing.” she responded. To make Nate believe money was no longer the major   52   ， Sophia took out a box that was full of   53   . She explained that she got the money for their hand-painted lampshades.

The unemployed husband did   54    a book that was a(n)   55   hit and is a long-lasting literary masterpiece. The story of Sophia’s turning her husband into a world famous writer has been widely talked about ever since then.

1.A. only a little        B. quite a lot        C. quite a few        D. a great number

2.A. proved           B. required       C. selected       D. preferred

3.A. central          B. false          C. traditional    D. additional

4.A. devoting         B. supporting     C. deciding       D. forcing

5.A. responsibility   B. approach       C. amusement      D.occupation

6. A. observe         B. reduce         C. change         D. follow

7. A. generally       B. satisfactorily C. unfortunately  D. quickly

8. A. preserve        B. cover          C. include        D. overcome

9.A. support          B. search         C. provide        D. comfort

10. A. aid            B. interest       C. job            D. share

11. A. strictly       B. truly          C. carefully      D. seriously

12. A. well off       B. badly off      C. straight away  D. right now

13. A. cut            B. loss           C. disease        D. defeat

14.A. whisper         B. voice          C. sense          D. manner 

15.A. free            B. close          C. complete       D. necessary

16. A. on             B. for            C. in             D. to

17. A. connection     B. discovery      C. task           D.concern

18. A. gold           B. cash           C. jewelry        D. silver

19.A. pick out        B. react to       C. turn out       D. build up

20. A. ordinary       B. instant        C. short          D. humorous

 

A successful life is a life ____ challenges are met and difficulties overcome.

A. which        B. where            C. what                 D. that

 

On the first day of my new high school, I almost had a nervous breakdown. Everything about the school seemed so difficult. When I got home, my parents said, “You're nervous and that's okay. Everyone is afraid of high school. ”I denied it. I wanted to be strong, so I refused to let anyone know about my fear, even my closest friends.

On the first day I was late for every class and was constantly lost. The school seemed like a puzzle that I couldn't figure out. Was this how the whole year was going to be？ I didn't think I could rise to this challenge, especially carrying a huge backpack that I could hardly lift. It was so big that I could knock someone out with it！The schoolmates seemed to regard me as a fool, and they were probably right.

Despite my fears, after the first week I finally had my schedule figured out.

With the exception of falling up and down the stairs a couple of times and getting laughed at, high school was turning out to be not so bad.  It was actually much better than middle school and much more challenging.

Since then, I've been elected vice president of my class, which wasn't much of a victory since only three people ran for the four positions.

It is normal to be scared about a new school. Take a deep breath and relax. High school is something that any student can overcome. Make sure you participate in some out-of-class activities because you’ll find it easier to make friends. Try to do your best, even if it isn't straight A’s.

Most important of all, be who you are , whether you're a “fool”, an athlete, or a lower grader. Don't try to pretend to be someone you're not. Now you know the true secrets of high school.

60. The main reason for the authors fear on his first day is that          .

A. he was unable to work out the puzzle

B. his schoolmates were unfriendly to him

C. he was not familiar with the new surroundings

D. his schoolbag was too heavy for him to carry

61. From the author's first day experience we can infer that          .

A. his home was far from the school

B. he got to school after classes began  

C. he didn’t get any school schedule

D. he didn't know the right way to class

62. After his first week at school, the author          .

A. was still not accustomed to the schedule

B. gradually adjusted himself to the new school

C. found high school not so challenging as he had imagined

D. ran for president of his class against three other students

63. According to the passage, the secret of the author’s success lies mainly in          .

A. making more friends                                        B. getting more A’s at school

C. being who he really is                             D. joining in out-of-class activities

 

 閱讀表達(dá)（共5小題；每小題3分，滿分l 5分）

Do you want to work with people or animals or machines or tools? Do you want to work indoors or outdoors, directly serve people in need or serve people behind the scenes? These are the typical questions that a volunteer service agency would ask.

   Every year, thousands and thousands of people in the west offer volunteer services. Volunteering greatly strengthens the community partly because it helps the old, the young, the weak, the sick, the disabled and the injured to overcome difficulties.

   Volunteers usually help in many different ways. They may give people advice, offer friendship to the young, drive the elderly to church, counsel kids against drugs. Work as an assistant in a school or nursing home, raise funds, plant trees, help out in local libraries and do many other things.

Volunteering can be a few hours a week or a few hours a month, time during the day, evenings or weekends, either part time or full time. Anybody __________ can become a volunteer.

The art of volunteering is a process of both giving and receiving. Volunteering allows volunteers to meet new people and make new friends and mix with people from all walks of life. Volunteering is an excellent way to experiment, practice and try out new techniques and skills. It is much more effective to practice a skill than to read about it or study it in a classroom. Volunteering is a great way to develop good teamwork skills, discover your individual talents and explore career choices. Being a volunteer takes individuals on a wonderful journey and helps them learn many important things beyond their school.

76. What is the best title of the passage? (Please answer within 10 words)

_______________________________________________________________________77. Which sentence in the passage can be replaced by the following one?

Volunteer service can provide chances for volunteers to make acquaintance of all kinds of people.

_______________________________________________________________________78. Please fill in the blank in the fourth paragraph with proper words, phrases or sentences to complete the sentence. (Please answer within 10 words.)

______________________________________________________________________

79. What kind of volunteer jobs would you like to take? Why? (Please answer within 30 words)

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

80. Translate the underlined sentence in the fifth paragraph into Chinese?

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