I used to watch her from my kitchen window when she played with boys on the playground. She seemed so small as she _______her way through the crowd of boys. A sea of children，and yet to me，she_______ from them a11.She _______ to shoot jump shots just over their heads and into the net and no one could stop her.
I began to notice her practicing dribbling and shooting alone over and over again， sometimes until dark. One day I asked her why she practiced so much. Without _______ ，she said. “I want to play college basketball. My father told me if I was good enough，I would get a _______，which was the only way for me to go to college. My Daddy said if the dream was big enough，the facts didn’t _______.”
Well，she was really _______ —I watched her practicing playing through those junior high years and into high schoo1.Every week，she _______her school team to victory.
One day in her senior year，I saw her _______ in the grass，head buried in her hands. I ________ her disappointment and I felt my own throat tighten. I sat down in the cool grass beside her and ________ asked what was wrong. “OH，nothing , ” came a soft ________ .“I am just too ________.”The coach told her that at 5.5 feet she would probably never get to play for a top ranked team. She was heartbroken.
But after a while，she ________ her head from her hands and told me that her father said those coaches were wrong. They just did not understand the ________of a dream. He told her that if she really wanted to play for a good college，if she ________ wanted a scholarship，nothing could stop her except one thing—her own ________ .
The next year，as she and her team went to the Northern California Championship game，she was ________ by a college recruiter(招聘员)。She was indeed ________a scholarship to a Division I，NCAA women’s basketball team and her dream came true. The words ________in my ears again: If the dream is big enough，the facts don’t count.
1.A. felt B. lost C. inched D. muscled
2.A. stood out B. came out C. figured out D. made out
3.A. intended B. managed C. expected D. pretended
4.A. satisfaction B. effort C. hesitation D. doubt
5.A. scholarship B. budget C. allowance D. reward
6.A. care B. count C. spread D. control
7.A. positive B. negative C. outgoing D. determined
8.A. led B. provided C. drove D. pushed
9.A. roiling B. standing C. sitting D. relaxing
10.A. expressed B. touched C. sensed D. grasped
11.A. quietly B. anxiously C. initially D. simply
12.A. step B. reply C. relief D. sound
13.A. over-weighted B. tired C. disappointed D. short
14.A. nodded B. turned C. 1ifted D. shook
15.A. meaning B. weight C. power D. principle
16.A. gladly B. truly C. patiently D. bravely
17.A. habit B. attitude C. height D. interest
18.A. seen B. deserted C. punished D. adopted
19.A. required B. obtained C. chosen D. offered
20.A. inspired B. received C. discovered D. rang
The Things That Keep Us From Succeeding
We have always been told not to fear failure because it is essential to success. So we should embrace failure or at least the possibility of failure.1..If you’re not reaching the kind of success you imagine，one or more of the following things might well be true of you，too.
NO.1: You don’t have a goal. A lot of time we find ourselves struggling through a day-to-day routine that isn’t getting us anywhere because we don’t know where we want to go. Sometimes we had goals when we set ourselves on a particular path，but we’ve changed along the way and those goal s are no longer that important.2.，figuring out what your goals are is important.
NO.2: You don’t have a vision. Setting goals is important but isn’t enough to drive you to the finish line；it’s important，too，to be able to imagine yourself as the achiever of your goals. If goal s are the end result of a journey，your vision is the fuel to get you there.
NO.3: You don’t have a plan. If goals are your destination and a vision is your fuel，your plan is the map to get you there.3..The world is full of people with goals they have never accomplished because they didn’t have a plan—don’t be one of them.
NO.4: You’re too certain or not certain enough. Too much certainty creates inflexibility. If you’re sure that your plan is correct，and refuse to accept the possibility of error，you may well find yourself stuck when an unexpected change comes about. However strong your plan and however sure you are of your goals，make room for periodic reassessment.
4..If you refuse to take a step because you aren’t positive that it will move you towards success，you won’t make any better progress than if you had no goals at a11.Keep your eyes open and be willing to change，but have faith in yourself，too.
NO.5:5..Often we close ourselves off from other people not because we’re afraid that they will influence us but that we will influence them. We are afraid that our brilliant ideas will be taken up by someone else and no longer be solely ours. So we avoid sharing our passions，and spend our energy jealously guarding our “secret” rather than simply moving forward. In the end，we turn our passions into burdens that are difficult to carry instead of a joy.
A. Whatever the case
B. Whatever the cause
C. You worry about being copied
D. You don’t learn from your mistakes
E. At the same time，too little certainty will fail you
F. However，fear isn’t the only thing that keeps us from succeeding
G. Without it，you have no idea what immediate steps to take to achieve your goals
Have you ever noticed that after about 6 months your perfectly new 1，000 dollar smartphone begins to slow down? What if I told you that it’s a sales strategy that pretty much all phone companies use to force people into buying new phones?
In late 2015，when Lisa Young was in charge of iOS security and beta software testing teams，her boss revealed a dark secret to her，saying that they were using a new strategy that would purposely slow down older phones every time the phone would upgrade to the latest opera ting system. This new method would force customers to buy the latest phone model，increasing sales by 70％.
She was a little disturbed to hear the news，but she just kept her head down and continued to do her job. After a while，the guilt of being involved with such a shady sales model started to weigh heavy on her. “How could a multi—billion dollar corporation continue to take advantage of the public like this?” she thought. In March of 2017，she contacted a reporter from CNN to finally leak the information concerning Apple slowing down phones.
The scandal(丑闻)went viral overnight，and every media outlet in the world，in every language was talking about it，making it one of the biggest controversies in consumer electronics history. A week later，she was secretly let go after her 8 years of service. Although she was taking a huge risk going against one of the most powerful corporations in the world，she felt a sense of relief exposing them. The public deserved to know and the fear became her motivation to find a way to destroy their shady sales model.
Several of her colleagues were fired with her. They quietly united，and after a year of extensive research they designed a unique product called Circa Charge that would reverse the negative effects of “software updates.” Phone companies have recently caught wind of their overnight success with CircaCharge and are trying to do everything they can to make this product illegal and ban it forever. Lisa and her team have ma de unbelievable progress in increasing battery life，battery health，and optimizing phone performance，and they will continue to develop new technology that will beat phone companies at their own game until they change their ways.
1.What can we learn about the new method mentioned in paragraph 2?
A. It is essential in the 1atest operating system.
B. It benefits users in upgrading their old phone.
C. It fool s customers into buying the latest model on purpose.
D. It is a successful sales strategy for advertising new soft wares.
2.What does the underlined phrase “kept her head down” in paragraph 3 refer to?
A. Lowered her head.
B. Nodded to show approval.
C. Pretended to know something.
D. Tried not to show she knows something.
3.How did Lisa Young feel after leaking the secret?
A. Disturbed. B. Relieved. C. Frightened. D. Disappointed.
4.From the passage，we know______________.
A. it's too tough for Lisa and her team to increase battery life
B. CircaCharge helps phone companies with software updates
C. Lisa struggles to force phone companies to change their current ways
D. phone companies find it essential to ban their illegal software for updating
What are dreams for? A handful of theories have the most influence. Sigmund Freud famously claimed that they reveal hidden truths and wishes. Despite being largely unsupported by evidence，researchers found that students in the U.S.，South Korea，and India were much more likely to accept the view. In the same study，respondents said that dreaming about a plane crash would cause them more anxiety than an official warning about a terrorist attack. More recent research suggests that they may help us process intense emotions，or perhaps sort through and strengthen memories，or rehearse responses to threatening situations.
Even if dreams can’t foretell the future，they seem to expose our shared fascinations. The majority of dreams occur during REM sleep cycles，of which the average person has four or five a night. A study of Canadian university students found the most common dream topics to be school，falling，being chased，and arriving too late for something.
For all the commonalities dreams exhibit，they vary across time people who grew up watching black-and-white TV are more likely to dream in black and white—and culture. A 1958 study determined that compared with Japanese people，Americans dreamed more about being locked up，losing a loved one，finding money. Japanese people were more likely to dream about school，trying repeatedly to do something，being paralyzed with fear，or “wild，violent beasts.”
If human dreams sound boring，bear in mind that even negative ones can have positive effects. In a study of students taking a French medical—school entrance exam，60 percent of the dreams they had beforehand involved a problem with the exam，such as being late or leaving an answer blank. But those who reported dreams about the exam，even bad ones，did better on it than those who didn’t.
1.What do you know about Freud’s view on dreaming?
A. It will cause people more anxiety.
B. It is already been proved by evidence.
C. It is popular with some American and Asian students.
D. It can reveal the hidden truth and predict the future.
2.According to recent research，dreams may________.
A. make emotions intense B. help prepare for special situations
C. reduce our memories D. help us take notes
3.According to paragraphs 2 and 3，which of the following is true?
A. The average person has four or five sleep cycles a night.
B. Canadian students aren’t worried about being late for schoo1.
C. Americans usually share the same dream topics with Japanese.
D. Films about wild beasts may be widely shown in America in 1958.
4.If you dream that you failed the exam，____________.
A. your dream will come true
B. you will be depressed with fear
C. you are supposed to take it seriously
D. it shows that you care a lot about the exam
Clara Daly was seated on an Alaska Airlines flight from Boston to Los Angeles when a flight attendant asked an urgent question over the loudspeaker: “Does anyone on board know American Sign language?” She knew she needed to help.
Clara，15 at the time，pressed the call button. The flight attendant came by and explained the situation. “We have a passenger on the plane who’s blind and deaf，” she said. The passenger seemed to want something，but he was traveling alone and the flight attendants couldn’t understand what he needed，according to PEOPLE magazine.
Clara had been studying ASL for the past year to help with her dyslexia and knew she’d be able to finger spell into the man’s palm. So she unbuckled her seat belt，walked toward the front of the plane，and knelt by the aisle seat of Tim Cook，then 64.Gently taking his hand，she signed，“How are you? Are you OK/” Cook asked for some water. When it arrived，Clara returned to her seat. She came by again a bit later because he wanted to know the time. On her third visit，she stopped and stayed for a while.
“He didn’t need anything. He was lonely and wanted to talk,” Clara said. So for the next hour，that’s what they did. She talked about her family and her plans for the future (she wants to be a politician).Cook told Clara how he had gradually become blind over time and shared stories of his days as a traveling salesman. Even though he couldn’t see her，she “looked attentively at his face with such kindness，”a passenger reported.
“Clara was amazing.” a flight attendant told Alaska Airlines in a blog interview. “You could tell Tim was very excited to have someone he could speak to，and she was such an angel. “Cook’s reaction: “Best trip I’ve ever had.”
Looking for ways to give back yourself? Start with this random act of kindness that can change someone’s life right now.
1.The flight attendant asked an urgent question because ______________.
A. the passenger was traveling alone
B. the plane was in a dangerous situation
C. the passenger asked for something urgently
D. They couldn’t communicate with the passenger
2.Why did Clara talk about her plans for the future?
A. Because the flight attendant asked her to do so.
B. Because she needed topics to go on talking with Cook.
C. Because Cook expected to understand teenagers better.
D. Because she wanted to show her ambition for the future.
3.Which of the following words can best describe Clara?
A. Kind and caring. B. Warm-hearted and cautious.
C. Generous and amazing. D. Ambitious and attentive.
4.The passage is mainly written to ______________.
A. tell a touching story of an amazing girl
B. appeal to readers to lend a hand kindly and randomly
C. stress the great importance of American Sign Language
D. show how considerate the flight attendant was to help Cook
You’ll find it amazing to support people when you go out to eat! Just look for restaurants that hire people with disabilities，which are making the world a more inclusive place. Each bakery，café and restaurant below has a wonderful and heartwarming story.
Hugs Care: McKinney，Texas
Ruth Thompson once had a vision to create a nonprofit café that would be run and operated primarily by adults with special needs. With hard work，a strong passion and an amazing team，Hugs Café opened its doors in 2015.“Hugs Café is now so much more than a job to our 23 teammates，which is enhancing the meaningful lives of adults with special needs through training and employment at Hugs Café. Thompson says.
Vinny＆Bay’s Coffee and Eatery: Panama City，Florida
“A lot of people plan their vacations around coming to this coffee shop，”says café owner Kara Rigby. Vinny ＆ Bay’s Coffee and Eatery was established “so that Baylee had a place to work，”Rigby adds. Baylee is Rigby’s daughter’s friend who has a disability. The coffee shop’s goal become training for individuals like Baylee. Some workers have even started at Vinny ＆ Bay’ s and were able to work in a regular workplace. Rigby says that her employees” have a whole lot more abilities than disabilities. They love unconditionally，and it changes the whole environment and business.” Rigby believes that incorporating even just one or two disabled individuals into a business can change the whole atmosphere—for the better!
Sugar Pl um Bakery: Virginia Beach，Virginia
Head to Sugar Plum Bakery to find a delicious carrot cake and see people with disabilities successfully working alongside none—disabled workers. Sugar Plum has been promoting the integration of adult s with developmental disabilities by providing training and employment opportunities to more than 1，000 people with disabilities since 1987.Whether they’re scooping cookies or making cupcakes，Sugar Plum’s disabled employees are the backbone of the bakery.
1.What do the three restaurants have in common?
A. They are established by adults with special needs.
B. They are supported by charities or local government.
C. The provide training and employment to disabled individuals.
D. The employers and employees there are all individuals with disabilities.
2.It can be known from the passage that ______________.
A. Hugs Café set up in 1987 now has 23 teammates
B. Rigby founded her coffee shop to help Baylee，her daughter
C. Disabled individuals are not able to work in a regular workplace
D. Sugar P1um Bakery hires both normal people and people with disabilities
3.What does the underlined sentence in the last paragraph suggest?
A. Disabled workers there are the most important part.
B. The bakery get s support and strength from backbone.
C. The customers are always backing the disabled workers.
D. The employees have a whole lot more abilities than disabilities.
