In my profession as an educator and health care provider, I have worked with numerous children
infected with the virus that causes AIDS. The relationships that I have had with these special kids have
been gifts in my life. They have taught me so many things, but I have especially learned that great courage
can be found in the smallest of packages. Let me tell you about Tyler.
     Tyler was born infected with HIV: his mother was also infected.From the very beginning of his life, he
was dependent on medications to enable him to survive. When he was five, he had a tube surgically
inserted in a vein in his chest. This tube was connected to a pump, which he carried in a small backpack on his back. Medications were hooked up to this pump and were continuously supplied through this tube to
his bloodstream.At times, he also needed supplemented oxygen to support his breathing.
     Tyler wasn't willing to give up one single moment of his childhood to this deadly disease. It was not
unusual to find him playing and racing around his backyard, wearing his medicineladen backpack and
dragging his tank of oxygen behind him in his little wagon. All of us who knew Tyler marveled at his pure
joy in being alive and the energy it gave him.Tyler's mom often teased him by telling him that he moved so
fast that she needed to dress him in red.That way, when she peered through the window to check on him
playing in the yard, she could quickly spot him.
     This dreaded disease eventually wore down even the likes of a little dynamo like Tyler. He grew quite ill and, unfortunately, so did his HIVinfected mother. When it became apparent that he wasn't going to s
urvive, Tyler's mom talked to him about death. She comforted him by telling Tyler that she was dying
too, and that she would be with him soon in heaven.
     A few days before his death, Tyler beckoned me over to his hospital bed and whispered,"I might die
soon. I'm not scared. When I die, please dress me in red.Mom promised she's coming to heaven,too. I'll
be playing when she gets there, and I want to make sure she can find me." 

1. What is the boy Tyler's attitude towards death?

A. pessimistic  
B. optimistic  
C. sorrowful  
D. fearful

2. Tyler requested the writer to dress him in red when he died simply because _____.

A. red is a lucky color
B. red might help to cure him
C. his mom could spot him easily
D. he could find more mates by wearing red 

3. Which of the following might serve as a possible title for this passage?

A. My unusual profession  
B. A caring mother
C. Mother and son  
D. Dying in red 

4. The underlined word "dynamo" in the fourth paragraph here means _____.

A. a promising and helpful youth
B. an extremely energetic person
C. a rare and beautiful flower
D. a magic and understanding superstar

     I first went to Harrow in the summer term. The school had the biggest swimming pool I had ever seen. I
t was a good joke to come up behind a naked(裸體的) boy, and push him into the pool. I made quite a
habit of this with boys of my own size or less.
     One day I saw a boy wrapped in a towel(毛巾) on the side of the pool. He was no bigger than I was,
so I thought him a fair game. Coming secretly behind, I pushed him in, holding on to his towel so that it
would not get wet, I was surprised to see an angry face come out from the water, and a being of great
strength making its way by force strokes (猛力地劃)to the shore. I fled, but in vain.(徒勞的) He
overtook me, seized me violently, and threw me into the deepest part of the pool. I soon climbed out on
the other side, and found myself surrounded by a crowd of younger boys." Do you know what you have
done?" they said," It's Amery; he is in Grade Six. He is champion(冠軍) at gym, he has got his football
honor."
     I was frightened and felt ashamed. How could I tell his position when he was wrapped in a bath towel
and so small." He didn't seem pleased at all, so I added in a most brilliant word," My father, who is a great
man, is also small." At this he laughed, and after some general words about my rude behavior and how I
had better be careful in the future, signified(說明) the incident was closed.

1. The writer thought Amery "a fair game" because the boy _____ .

A. looked like an animal      
B. was fond of games
C. was of similar size        
D. was good at sports

2. The writer felt" ashamed" because _____.

A .he was laughed at by other boys  
B. Amery turned out to be in the same grade
C. he pushed Amery hard and hurt him  
D. he played a joke on an outstanding athlete

3. By saying "My father, who is a great man, is also small", the writer_____.

A. tried to please Amery      
B. challenged Amery
C. threatened Amery          
D. admired his father

4. Which of the following is TRUE?

A. The writer could run faster than Amery.
B. The writer liked playing on boys of all sizes.
C. Amery was a student in Grade Four.
D. Amery forgave(原諒) the writer for his rude behavior.

                                                          Thanks a Million, Dad
     I was born disabled. A difficult birth, feet first, my head stuck. By my first birthday, I couldn't stand
or walk.
     When I was three, the doctor told dad I had cerebral palsy (腦癱). A loss of oxygen to my brain had
destroyed brain signals to the right side of my body.
     But no son of my dad' s was going to be disabled. Every morning before breakfast and every evening
before bed, my dad placed me on the bedroom floor to exercise my right leg. The muscles were shrunk
and twisted together. Back and forth up and down, my dad pushed and pulled the muscles into shape.
      But my dad' s exercise of passion didn't stop there. For my 13th birthday, he threw me a special
party. When everybody was gone, he brought me to open a large box, it was a-set of boxing gloves. We
put them on. My dad kept on beating me mercilessly. Each time I tried to get up, leather kissed my nose,
eyes and jaw. I "begged him to stop. He said he beat me to get me ready for the tough world.
     That same year, I was the only kid in my neighborhood that wasn't picked for Little League. Two
weeks later. Dad started the Shedd Park Minor League, and every kid played. Dad coached us and
made me a pitcher (棒球投手).
     The power of my dad' s love guaranteed I walked and more. In high school, I became a football star.
     In 1997, a brain surgeon in San Jose told me I didn't t have cerebral palsy after all. He explained how
and where the doctor' s forceps (鑷子) at birth had damaged my brain.
      My dad never knew the whole truth since he passed away years ago. But all that counts is the bottom
line. After all his madness, on this Father' s Day, like every Father' s Day, I' m no longer disabled.

1. What caused the author' s disability?

A. A failed operation.
B. The doctor's forceps.
C. An accident in a game.
D. Shrunken and twisted muscles.

2. What do we learn from the passage?

A. The author has a talent for boxing.
B. The author achieved a lot thanks to his father' s love.
C. The author became a baseball star with the help of his father.
D. The author doesn't think his father should be so strict with him.

3. Paragraph 3 suggests that the author' s father____.

A. wouldn't give up hope easily
B. believed his son was a normal child
C. blamed the doctors for his son' s disability
D. couldn't accept the truth that his son was disabled

4.  The author wrote the passage to ____.

A. remember his father
B. encourage disabled children
C. show the difficulty the disabled face
D. give advice to the parents of disabled children