There are a few spelling mistakes;         , it’s quite a good essay.

A．a(chǎn)ll in all           B．a(chǎn)bove all           C．if so         D．even so

—I am not going to play football this year, Mum.

—That’s music to my ears. I was so afraid you            .

A．will be hurt          B．would get hurt        C．had got hurt                D．were hurt

—It was a red light, William. You          the car.

—Sorry. I didn’t see it.

A．must stop                        B．should stop

C．must have stopped                  D．should have stopped

Failure is never pleasurable , but it can make a positive contribution to your life         you learn to use it.

A．since          B．once             C．until             D．unless

—Where did you get to know the professor over there?

—It was at the workshop           we did research together two years ago.

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

Most stores say that they daren’t           prices         for fear of losing their customers.

A．put ; up          B．set ; up          C．make ; up         D．turn ; up

Learn to Meet Challenges   

My classmates called me“the alien”,and they avoided me like the plague（瘟疫）.As a young boy, I  1  from a serious skin disease ,which filled my arms with scars. The true   2   of my condition, however, was social : I lived a life of loneliness.

Doctors predicted that I would never fully recover, but my parents encouraged me to hope for the future, teaching me that any difficulty could be overcome. I therefore took a / an   3   role in fighting against my disease, trying many medications and herbs, and my health   4   greatly before I graduated. I realized that my personal   5   had led to this improvement. I regained self-confidence and made many friends at school.

Years later,   6   my personal battle against disease, I learned a great deal about   7   by overcoming difficulties.

    I joined the Culture Club as a Special Event Director. I   8   a group of six students in organizing various activities. I was the most advanced ESL student among the group, so I considered myself the most capable. But I quickly learned my   9  , While preparing for our first presentation, I was   10   with my team members and often rejected their   11  . I performed most of their tasks myself, allowing them to   12   me only with small details. As a result, the presentation was not very successful. The setback   13   me , and I spoke of it to the club’s director. She responded that she   14   my ability to succeed in the future. This comment filled me with   15, for I realized that I had never trusted my own team members. 16   they were weak in English, they had many valuable talents. I immediately   17   my policy, allowing my team members to choose the tasks they desired and to complete them on their own. For our program, we had many meetings, which gave   18   to many good ideas. Most importantly, the atmosphere among us improved dramatically. We were   19   and eager to devote time to the program, and I learned what true leadership is.

    My experiences   20   improved my ability to handle challenging situations.

1．A．judged                  B．suffered              C．prevented            D．separated

2．A．pain                      B．sign                    C．value                   D．meaning

4．A．developed              B．improved             C．increased             D．removed

5．A．joy                       B．goal                    C．will                     D．life

6．A．over                     B．like                     C．for                      D．in

7．A．a(chǎn)bility                   B．quality                 C．leadership            D．friendship

8．A．taught                   B．found                  C．managed             D．followed

9．A．mistake                 B．method                C．effort                  D．right

10．A．satisfied              B．familiar                C．patient                 D．strict

11．A．desires                B．talents                 C．ideas                   D．tasks

12．A．remind                B．guide                   C．show                  D．help

13．A．discouraged         B．disturbed             C．encouraged          D．educated

14．A．a(chǎn)dopted               B．a(chǎn)dmired               C．trusted                D．tested

15．A．surprise               B．delight                 C．pride                   D．hope

16．A．As                      B．If                        C．Because              D．Although

17．A．deleted                B．changed              C．regretted             D．considered

18．A．birth                   B．hand                   C．gift                     D．rise

19．A．crazy                  B．happy                  C．successful           D．independent

20．A．instantly              B．indirectly             C．unusually             D．undoubtedly

There were two things in the world that Ghagra Geeta Bali hated. The first was the way, Rani, The domestic help , combed her hair. The second was, you guessed it, her name. She hated her name so much that she prayed to god every night: Dear god, let me be born again. So I can have a name like Rita or Preeti. A short , smart one-word name.

On Tuesday , Ghagra Geeta Bali and her mother went for their usual shopping. There was a Long queue of children just outside the record store. They went closer to look. It was yet another scheme to sell a few audio cassettes. Everyone who bought a cassette qualified for the scheme. In this case , the artist whose songs were featured on the cassette was a young sensation called Malik Faridabadi , a great favorite with teenagers. Ghagra Geeta Bali was no exception.

A friendly young man was writing down the names of the people who wanted to participate in the scheme. Out of this long list Malik would pick one name , and the chosen one would get to meet him , plus of course , win many freebies（贈品）.

But when her mother asked her to participate, Ghagra Geeta Bali said no. she didn’t want to speak out her name in front of so many people and make herself the bull（笑料）of amusement. But mothers being mothers , she just went up to the man and told him in firm tones：“Please enter my daughter’s name. It is Ghagra Geeta Bali.”

    “It is what?”the man asked , naturally a little taken aback.

“G-h-a-g-r-a G-e-e-t-a B-a-l-i. There she is,” she replied while pointing to her daughter. The crowd standing around also turned to stare. All Ghagra Geeta Bali wanted then was for the earth to open up and swallow her.

That did not happen . But the following week she received a call. It was from the recording company that had announced the scheme. And they told her that she was the chosen one.

“It is all because of your name,” said the public relations man who had called, “Mr. Faridabadi took one look at it in the list and said that he couldn’t wait to meet the brave girl bearing it.”

1．Ghagra Geeta Bali didn’t like her name because             .

       A．it would bring her a lot of trouble

       B．it was too long and not beautiful

       C．it would make her angry

       D．it was too ugly and dull

2．When the girl saw the crowd turn to stare at her , she felt           .

       A．scared                 B．shocked              C．embarrassed             D．disappointed

3．What is the message of the story?

       A．Mother’s love makes all the difference.

       B．Children should always trust their parents.

       C．One should be brave to meet anything strange.

       D．Something that one thinks is bad may turn out good.

11-year-old Courtney Thompson was so passionate about gymnastics that she would practice five hours a day until her arms were sore and her elbows swollen. She rarely complained about her tough schedule, and for good reason. Courtney was ranked the best gymnast in the state for her age , and she dreamed of going to the Olympics. But on January 12^th,2005, while practicing a routine exercise, she felt an unbearable pain in the left elbow. The medical examination then revealed a severe injury, resulting in an immediate surgery and a slow, painful recovery. 

      What happened to Courtney Thompson is a  red flag   in America’s growing epidemic of youth sports injuries. Across the country, younger and younger athletes are injuring themselves in the pursuit of sports achievement. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission reports that 2.8 million Americans aged 5 through 24 received medical treatment for a sports-related or recreation-related injury in 2003,Severe injuries that used to be limited to professionals are now showing up in high school and even junior high athletes.        

      There are many reasons behind the outbreak in sports injuries, but most experts agree on one: the extreme culture of organized youth sports. Gone are the days when children played a variety of games on playgrounds. Child kidnapping and street crime have ended casual neighborhood athletics in many places, leading parents to enroll their children in organized sports under the watchful, though demanding, eyes of adult volunteers and coaches. And movies like Friday Night Lights glorify the thrill of victory for young athletes with single-minded dedication to athletic achievement.

      From high school gyms to county ball fields, 41 million children younger than 19 participated in organized youth sports in 2005, according to the latest research by the National Council of Youth Sports. The figure represents a 25 percent increase since 1997.

      Parental involvement in youth sports has also made childhood games less about having fun and more about training and competing for the top spot , landing a college scholarship or launching a promising career. Hoping to nurture the next Michelle Kwan or Apolo Ohno, some parents guide their children into specializing in one sport. But the repetitive training required to master a sport places enormous stresses on bones and muscles that are still developing.

1．The passage is mainly about     

      A．children’ s participation in organized sports

      B．the main causes of the youth sports injuries

      C．the way to train children in organized sports

      D．the common occurrence of youth sports injuries

2．The underlined part  “red flag”  in the second probably means “     ” .

      A．warning             B．problem                   C．symbol                 D．mark

3．Why is the number of sports injuries among children in America growing?

      A．Because of their increasing fondness for sports.

      B．Because children are not professional enough for sports.

      C．Because more children are seeking for sports achievements.

      D．Because of the involvement of the parents and more organized sports.

4．We can learn from the passage that        .

      A．a(chǎn)bout 10.25 million youngsters participated in organized sports in 1997

      B．parents give limited chances for children to choose their sports

      C．serious injuries often happened to young students in the past

D．Courtney Thompson will never become a famous gymnast

Many children first learn the value of money by receiving an allowance(pocket money). The purpose is to let children learn from experiences at an age when financial mistakes are not very costly.

The amount of money that parents give to their children to spend as they wish differs from family to family, Timing is another consideration. Some children get a weekly allowance. Others get a monthly allowance.

In any case, parents should make clear what , if anything, the child is expected to pay for with the money. At first, young children may spend all of their allowance soon after they receive it. If they do this, they will learn the hard way that spending must be done within a budget. Parents are usually advised not to offer more money until the next allowance. 

The object is to show young people that a budget demands a choice between spending and saving. Older children may be responsible enough to save money for larger costs, like clothing or electronics. Many people who have written on the subject of allowances say it is not a good idea to pay you child for work around the home. These jobs are a normal part of family life.

Paying children to do extra work around the house, however, can be useful. It can even provide an understanding of how a business works.

Allowances give children a chance to experience the three things they can do with money. They can share it in the form of gifts or giving to a good cause. They can spend it by buying things they want. Or they can save it.

Saving helps children understand that costly goals require sacrifice. You have to cut costs and plan for the future. Requiring children to save part of their allowances can also open the door to future saving and investing . Many banks offer services to help children and teenagers learn about personal finance.

         A saving account is an excellent way to learn about the power of  compound interest .

         Compounding works by paying interest，So, for example , one dollar invested at two percent interest for two years will earn two cents in the first year. The second year, the money will earn two percent of one dollar and two cents, and so on. That may not seem like a lot, But over time it adds up.

1．Giving an allowance, parents should consider all the following EXCEPT      

A．how much the child should get each time

B．whether the child has made a budget

    C．where the money really goes

D．how often a child can get it

2．According to the passage, how can a child learn to have a budget?      

A．Through their own experiences.            B．Through parents’ instruction.

C．By spending allowance.                        D．By receiving allowance. 

3．The author of the passage holds the opinion that        .

A．what children learn by handling allowances may be beneficial in the future

B．children can learn to set up their own business with their allowances

C．keeping allowances in the bank is the best choice for children

D．it is not a good idea to pay children to do housework at home 

4．The underlined words  “compound interest”  in the passage probably means      .

A．increasing curiosity to learn how to make more money

Ｂ．stronger power to hold one’s attention to saving money

C．money paid by the bank on your original money and the gain from it

D．the sum of money that you earn from keeping your money in the bank

 5．What is the best title for the passage?       

A．Be Generous To Pay Your Children

B．Be Wise To Avoid Financial Mistakes

C．Saving Allowances Does Good To Children

       D．Allowances Help Children Learn About Money