After giving a talk at a high school, I was asked to pay a visit to a special student. An illness had kept
the boy home, but he had expressed an interest in meeting me. I was told it would mean a great deal to
him, so I agreed.
     During the nine-mile drive to his home, I found out something about Matthew. He had muscular
dystrophy  (肌肉萎縮癥). When he was born, the doctor told his parents that he would not live to five,
and then they were told he would not make it to ten. Now he was thirteen. He wanted to meet me
because I was a gold-medal power lifter, and I knew about overcoming obstacles and going for my
dreams.
     I spent over an hour talking to Matthew. Never once did he complain or ask, "Why me?" He spoke
about winning and succeeding and going for his dreams. Obviously, he knew what he was talking about.
He didn't mention that his classmates had made fun of him because he was different. He just talked about
his hopes for the future, and how one day he wanted to lift weights with me. When we had finished talking, I went to my briefcase and pulled out the first gold medal I had won and put it around his neck. I told him
he was more of a winner and knew more about success and overcoming obstacles than I ever would. He
looked at it for a moment, then took it off and handed it back to me. He said, "You are a champion. You
earned that medal. Someday when I get to the Olympics and win my own medal, I will show it to you."
     Last summer I received a letter from Matthew's parents telling me that Matthew had passed away.
They wanted me to have a letter he had written to me a few days before:
Dear Dick,
     My mum said I should send you a thank-you letter for the picture you sent me. I also want to
let you know that the doctors tell me that I don't have long to live any more, but I still smile as
much as I can.
     I told you someday that I would go to the Olympics and win a gold medal, but I know now I
will never get to do that. However, I know I'm a champion, and God knows that too. When I get
to Heaven, God will give me my medal and when you get there, I will show it to you. Thank you
for loving me.
                                                                                                                      Your friend,
                                                                                                                        Matthew

1. The boy looked forward to meeting the author because _________.  

A. he was also good at weight lifting    
B. he wanted to get to the Olympics and win a medal  
C. he was one of the author's students    
D. he admired the author very much

2. From the passage we learn that _________.  

A. Matthew was an athlete                              
B. Matthew was an optimistic and determined boy  
C. The author used to have the same disease as Matthew had  
D. Matthew became a champion before he died

3. Matthew didn't accept the author's medal because _________.

A. he thought it was too expensive                        
B. he was sure that he could win one in the future
C. he thought it was of no use to him as he would die soon    
D. he would not be pitied by others

4. What would be the best title for this passage?  

A. A sick boy.                          
B. A special friend.      
C. A real champion.                      
D. A famous athlete.

     I was feeling a little blue because my mother had been laid off from her job and she had lots of bills to
pay. It left me wondering what was going to happen to us now. But it reassured me some when my mother told me she was relieved to be leaving since her boss wasn't the nicest person to be around.
     I got off the college shuttle bus and started walking. That's when I heard piano music and singing
rising above the noise of the people and the traffic. I walked a little slower so I could find out to where it
was coming from. Through the crowd I saw a young lady sitting at a piano with a carriage next to her.
     She was singing songs about love, keeping on trying, and not underestimating the power within
yourself. The way she was singing comforted me a bit. I stood there watching her play for about fifteen
minutes, thinking that it must take courage to perform on your own in the middle of a crowded New York
ferry terminal.
     So I stood there listening.
     She must have felt my presence because she would occasionally look in my direction. By now I was
telling myself that if she could perform in front of hundreds of people she didn't know then I could at least
tell her how good she sounded. I walked over and put some money in her carriage and she said, "Thank
you." Instead of continuing my way home, I said to her, "I have been going through a rough time lately,
but you've made me hopeful again."
     "I'm happy that I could help," she replied. "Why are you so sad?"
     "Well, my mum told me she had got fired from her job, and that made me sad. I'm not so sure what
to do ..."
     "You see, here's the problem," she explained. "The way you were walking, your head was down.
Don't look defeated, because opportunity comes in different ways and if your head is down you might
never see it. You should smile more ... lift your head up."
     I smiled faintly, amazed by how she was encouraging me. So, I asked her, "Why are you playing the
piano in the middle of a crowded place? I've seen you do this more then once."
      She explained to me that she sees a lot of negative people in the world and she tries to alleviate the
pain and bring more positivity by sharing motivational music. She told me that when she wasn't making
music she studied psychology. So, that was how she knew some of the things she was telling me.
     I smiled a little wider because I knew that she was doing a good thing. So, after that we parted, my
heart touched and lightened by a musical soul!

1. The writer's felt sad because ______ .

A. her mother was injured while at work and a lot of money was needed  
B. her mother resigned because she disliked her boss
C. her mother made a serious mistake and had to pay for it
D. her mother lost her job and had difficulty paying for her bills

2. We can learn from Paragraph 3 that the young lady sang to ______ .

A. show her love for life                  
B. rid herself of low spirits  
C. earn money for her schooling           
D. inspire others to live positively

3. What did the singer recommend to avoid negative mood?

A. smiling and raising your head            
B. looking for opportunities
C. underestimating the power within yourself  
D. playing music in public

4. Which word may best describe the young lady?

A. helpful            
B. outgong      
C. ambitious      
D. humorous

5. Which do you think is the best title of the passage?

A. A Unforgettable Experience            
B. A Heart Touched By A Musical Soul
C. Music Can Do Wonders                
D. A Good Deed Helped Me Out

     Until I was twelve years old, I thought everyone in the world knew about the grinnies, if I thought
about the term at all - which is unlikely. After all, everyone in my family used the word quite naturally,
and we understood each other. So far as I knew, it was a word like any other word  - like bath, or
chocolate, or homework. But it was my homework which led to my discovery that grinnies was a
word not known outside my family.
     My last report card had said that I was a "C" student in English, and my parents, both teachers,
decided that no child of theirs would be just an average student of anything. So nightly I spelled words
aloud and answered questions about the fine points of grammar. I wrote and rewrote and rewrote every
composition until I convinced my mother that I could make no more improvements. And the hard work
paid off. One day the teacher returned compositions, and there it was - a big fat, bright red "A" on the
top of my paper. Naturally, I was delighted, but I didn't know I was attracting attention until the teacher
spoke sharply, "Helen, what are you doing?"
     Called suddenly out of my happy thoughts, I said "Oh, I've got the grinnies!" The teacher and my
classmates burst into laughter, and then I understood that grinnies were used inside my family. Other
people were not so lucky.
     And it is really lucky to have the grinnies, an uncontrollable, natural state of great pleasure. Grinnies
are shown on the outside by sparkling eyes and a wide, wide smile - not just any smile, but one that
shows the teeth and stretches the mouth to its limits. A person experiencing the grinnies appears to be
all mouth. On the inside grinnies are characterized by a feeling of joyful anxiety. Grinnies usually last just
a few seconds, but they can come and go. Sometimes, when life seems just perfect, I have occasional
attacks of the grinnies for a whole day.
     The term originated in my mother's family. Her younger sister, Rose, who had deep dimples (酒窩),
often expressed her pleasure with such a grin that the dimples appeared to become permanent. When
Rose was about four, she started explaining her funny look by saying, "I have the grinnies". The term
caught on, and it has been an important word in our family now for two generations.
     The occasion doesn't matter. Anything can bring on the grinnies - just so long as one feels great
delight. When my brother finally rode his bicycle - without training wheels - from our house to the corner
and back, he came home with the grinnies. When I was little, my mother's announcement that we would
have homemade ice cream for dessert always gave me the grinnies. My father had the grinnies when I
was chosen to make a speech at the end-of-school-year ceremony. Grinnies can be brought on by a
good meal, a sense of pride, a new friend, a telephone call from someone special, an achievement. Or
sometimes one gets the grinnies for no reason at all: just a sudden sense of happiness can bring on a
case. Whatever brings them on, an attack of the grinnies is among life's greatest pleasures.
     In fact, now that I look back on the experience, I feel sorry for my seventh-grade teacher. I think it's
a pity that she didn't know the word grinnies. It's such a useful term for saying, "I'm really, really pleased!"

1. After the writer was twelve years old, she ______.

A. thought everyone knew the meaning of "grinnies"
B. equaled "grinnies" to bath or chocolate in meaning
C. got to know "grinnies" was used only inside her family
D. discovered the word "grinnies" through her mother

2. When her English teacher called her name, the writer was ______.

A. looking at the big "A" on the top of her paper
B. listening to her English teacher attentively
C. too happy to notice what's happening around her
D. busy rewriting and improving her compositions

3. According to the writer, the word "grinnies" originates from______.

A. her mother
B. her aunt
C. her brother
D. her father

4. The writer feels sorry for her seventh-grade teacher because the teacher______.

A. has no pity on her students
B. should not have laughed at her
C. doesn't have any luck to meet her parent
D. has no idea of what "grinnies" is

5. What method does the writer use to explain "grinnies"?

A. Cause and effect.
B. Examples.
C. Comparison and contrast.
D. Process.

     "Everything happens for the best," my mother said whenever I faced disappointment. "If you carry on,
one day something good will happen. And you'll realize that it wouldn't have happened if not for that
previous disappointment."
      Mother was right, as I discovered after graduating from college in 1932, I had decided to try for a job in radio, then work my way up to a sports announcer. I hitchhiked to Chicago and knocked on the door of every station-and got turned down every time. In one studio, a kind lady told me that big stations couldn't risk hiring an inexperienced person. "Go out in the sticks and find a small station that'll give you a chance," she said. I thumbed home to Dixon, Illinois.
     While there were no radio-announcing jobs in Dixon, my father said Montgomery Ward had opened a store and wanted a local athlete to manage its sports department. Since Dixon was where I had played high school football, I applied. The job sounded just right for me. But I wasn't hired. My disappointment must have shown. "Everything happens for the best." Mom reminded me. Dad offered me the car to hunt a job. I tried WOC Radio in Davenport, Iowa. The program director, a wonderful Scotsman named Peter MacArthur told me they had already hired an announcer.
      As I left his office, my frustration (挫折) boiled over. I asked aloud, "How can a fellow get to be a sports announcer if he can't get a job in a radio station?" I was waiting for the elevator when I heard MacArthur calling, "What was you said about sports? Do you know anything about football?" Then he stood me before a microphone and asked me to broadcast an imaginary game. The preceding (在前的) autumn, my team had won a game in the last 20 seconds with a 65-yard run. I did a 15-minute build-up to that play, and Peter told me I would be broadcasting Saturday's game! On my way home, as I have many times since, I thought of my mother's words: "If you carry on, one day something good will happen. Something wouldn't have happened if not for that previous disappointment."
      I often wonder what direction my life might have taken if I'd gotten the job at Montgomery Ward.

1. The writer shows his _____ by saying ""… if I'd not gotten the job at Montgomery Ward".

A. regret    
B. happiness    
C. gratefulness    
D. disappointment  

2. The underlined phrase "out in the sticks" probably means _____?    

A. in radio stations     
B. in the country     
C. in big cities         
D. in Dixon, Illinois 

3. Why did the writer mention his mother's words over and again? Because _____.     

A. it was his mother's words that encouraged him     
B. his mother was a person who talked a lot    
C. nothing good has happened to him up to now     
D. he got turned down every time he tried

4. Which of the following statements is true according to the passage?    

A. There was a small radio station in Dixon, Illinois.     
B. Peter MacArthur was a program director in Scotland.    
C. WOC Radio in Davenport broadcast imaginary games.     
D. Montgomery Ward had a store with a sports department.

5. When did the writer decide to take a radio-announcing job?     

A. When he hitchhiked to Chicago.    
B. After he graduated from college.     
C. Before he graduated from college. 
D. As soon as he was turned down.