I grew up poor-living in a big family with six brothers, three sisters, my father and a wonderful mother. We had little money, but plenty of love and attention. I was very happy and energetic. I understood that no matter how poor a person was, he could still afford a dream.

My dream was sports. By the time I was sixteen, I could throw a ninety-mile-per-hour baseball and hit anything that moved on the field. I was also lucky: my high school coach was Ollie Jarvis who not only believed in me, but also taught me how to believe in myself. One-special incident（事件）with him changed-my life forever.

It was the summer between my junior and senior years, and I was offered a summer job. This meant a chance for money in my pocket—money for dates with girls, money for a new bike, new clothes, and I could begin to save money for a house for my mother.

Then I realized, to do that work, I would have to give up summer baseball training. When I told coach Jarvis, he was as angry as I expected him to be. "You have your whole life to work." he said, "Your time for playing isn`t long. You can't afford to waste it”.

I stood before him with my head banging, trying to think of the words that would explain to him why my dream of buying my mom a house and having money in my pocket was worth facing his disappointment in me.

"How much are you going to make at this job, son?" he asked.

"Three point five an hour." I replied.

"Well," he asked, "is $3.5 an hour the price of a dream?"

That simple question made me understand the difference between wanting something right now and having a goal for the future. I practiced hard that summer, and within the year I was chosen by a famous team to play baseball, and was offered $ 20,000 a year.

Later, I was given a baseball scholarship to the University of Arizona, which led me to an education. In 1984, I began to play the Denver Bronces for $ 1.7 million a year, And Certainly, I bought my mother the house of my dream!

1.When did the writer want to take a part-time job?

A.When he decided to buy his mother a louse.

B.When he graduated from junior high school.

C.When he found it difficult to play baseball well

D.When he thought his big family was too poor

2.Whom should the writer thank most for his success?

A.His coach B.His mother. C.His himself. D.His teammates

3.By writing the article, the writer tries to tell us that _________.

A.to buy a house for his family is the dream of most young people

B.trying to become a sport star is the easiest way to realize a dream

C.something we want now often has to give away to a long term long goal

D.to succeed without help from others is impossible for the young

4.What can be a proper title for the text?

A.Part-time Job B.A House for Mom

C.A Strict Coach D.A Priceless Dream

    We are looking for people to work as voluntary work for the local community.

There are many ways in which you can do voluntary work. You can volunteer to go shopping for old people or help organize a recycling project. Or you can become a member of a team. It might be about providing support to someone who has lost a family member, or who can’t deal with a change in their lifestyle. Or, it might be about looking after someone. Melissa has been helping the old people, “I didn’t think I’d have enough time at first, but when I saw how much difference I could make to people’s life, I managed to find the time to do that,” she says.

If you are interested in gardening or animals, then you might want to join in our new project to change waste gardens into places for growing fruit and vegetables, or care for local animals and wildlife. Jack is a volunteer at the Dogs and Cats Home.”I started volunteering when I was out of a job. It was a bad time for me. Then I found looking after the animals did a lot of good to me: for example, I began to feel light-hearted,” he says.

We also need volunteers to work at local hospital. Don’t worry-you don’t need any medical skills. Volunteer work might ask you to work with hospital staff, or spend time with parents. And there are also possibilities of being a police support volunteer.

If you are interested in volunteering, then get in touch with us. By spending just a few hours of your time each week, you can make a real difference to your local area. Write and tell us about your interest and how you think you can do something for the community.

1.What does Melissa think of her work to help the old?

A.It’s disappointing. B.It’s difficult. C.It’s meaningful. D.It’s interesting.

2.Volunteer work is good for Jack because       .

A.he found a new job soon. B.he’s not sad any longer

C.He found his life partner D.he’s stronger than before

3.Why is the article written in your opinion?

A.To call on people to be volunteers. B.To introduce a nice community.

C.To sell a certain kind of service. D.To organize a charity project.

    How much sleep is enough?

To stay in good health, some expert in the US say, adults should get seven to eight hours of sleep. Teenager need nine to ten hours. And pre-school children need more than 10 hours of sleep a night.

Experts say the quality(质量) of our sleep becomes poor as we grow older. This happens because the brain unit that controls sleep begins to weaken slowly as we age.

Experts say the change starts in our 30s. By the time we reach our 50s, a person may have lost 50 percent of their ability to have a restful sleep.

These people have trouble failing and staying asleep through the night. From middle age on, these problems only get worse, and they can have a bad effect on their health.

Signs that show you may not be getting enough sleep:

You’re always hungry or you’ve got unwanted weight. If you are in short of sleep, certain chemicals in your body will not work well and tell your brain in time that you have eaten enough.

You have trouble making decisions. Not having enough sleep may make your brain work slower in problem solving.

You have trouble remembering things. Sleep helps prepare the brain for new memories.

Your feeling changes unreasonably. People who don’t sleep well may feel unable to control their feelings.

You are having trouble seeing. If there is a shortage of sleep, you may not be able to see thing as clearly as usual.

How to improve your sleep? Here are a few things people can do to get better sleep.

Health experts say that exercise and avoiding work on computers make people go to sleep more easily. A cool room is also a good choice for sleeping well.

1.What can we learn from the passage?

A.With the help of medicine, we can sleep better.

B.People begin to have sleep problems in their 40s.

C.Teenagers usually need more sleep than adults.

D.Few people have sleep problems in their late years.

2.The underlined word “effect” in the passage is close in meaning to              .

A.knowledge B.influence C.excuse D.activity

3.According to the passage, which of the following is NOT a sign that you are not sleeping well?

A.You often get hungry. B.Your eyesight is falling.

C.You have poorer memory. D.You always feel tired.

4.It is possible that the article is taken from              .

A.a middle-school textbook B.a scientific report

C.a magazine on health D.an ad in the newspaper

    Have you ever been on a student exchange program? How useful was it? We asked three people for their opinions.

Ellen

I spent 8 days in Germany when I was studying for my Level A. I went to school every day, and spent the evenings with a family. It was great because I had to speak German all the time. However, the most useful thing was that I was paying more attention to communicating in the language, instead of speaking perfectly correct German. I was really glad that people could understand what I was saying. I’d certainly introduce it to other students studying languages.

Frank

I went on an exchange with my class for a week in Japan. Before the exchange, I thought my understanding of grammar was pretty good, but I had much trouble listening and speaking. So, what I thought most meaningful was that I had no choice but to use everyday language skills, rather than the language from books. If I had the opportunity, I’d certainly take part in another language exchange.

Alice

I took part in a French exchange. It lasted two weeks and I stayed with my exchange family in a small town just outside Paris. I’m quite a shy person, so in the first few days, I was kind of nervous, but then it was fine. I love French and my French has always been good. But the exchange really helped develop my speaking skills, and made me a much more confident person. It felt great to be able to talk with French people. I also found that everyone who took part in the exchange did a lot better in their end-of-year exams.

1.How long did Frank stay in Japan?

A.A week B.Eight days. C.Two weeks. D.Half a year.

2.What did Alice think about her exchange?

A.It developed her listening skills. B.It made her more confident.

C.It taught her exam skills. D.It took too much of her time.

3.All three people would most likely describe their exchange as         .

A.tiring B.exciting C.boring D.helpful

4.Who will be interested in the passage above?

A.Students who are learning a foreign language.

B.Students who want to work as teachers later.

C.Students who are interested in traveling abroad.

D.Students who are not doing well in their studies.

    It was the final game for my eight-year-old son’s soccer team. Near the end of the match, the score was two to one, my son's team being ahead. Parents surrounded the playground, offering  _________.

There were less than ten seconds_________and the ball stopped in front of my son's teammate, Mickey. With cheering shouts_________the field, Mickey went back a little and kick the ball with everything he had. All around me the crowd became crazy and _______.Mickey had___________

Then there was a complete_________.Mickey had scored, but in the wrong gate, the_________went into the gate of my son’s team, ending the game in a draw(平局). You see, Mickey has a serious_________in his head, which makes his IQ lower than that of normal children of the same age. And for him, he didn’t understand what a wrong goal was. All goals were_________by a happy hug from Mickey. He had been known to hug the players whom he was fighting against when they scored.

The silence was__________broken when Mickey, his face________with joy, caught my son, hugged him and shouted,“I scored! I scored. Everybody won! Everybody won!”For a moment I held my breath, not sure how my son would do or say. In fact, I didn’t __________to worry at that time. I watched through tears. When I found my son raised his hand and started call out__________,“Well done, Mickey!” Soon, members from both teams got around Mickey, __________him on his goal．

Later that night, when my daughter asked __________ had won, “Everybody won”. I smiled and replied.

1.A.encouragement B.instruction C.management D.competition

2.A.useful B.alive C.gone D.left

3.A.between B.against C.across D.past

4.A.excited B.interested C.surprised D.embarrassed

5.A.checked B.scored C.returned D.tired

6.A.independence B.victory C.silence D.relation

7.A.ball B.guide C.player D.crowd

8.A.idea B.mistake C.illness D.sense

9.A.wasted B.celebrated C.remembered D.reminded

10.A.partly B.seriously C.deeply D.finally

11.A.covered B.filled C.appeared D.shared

12.A.choose B.forget C.mean D.need

13.A.strongly B.softly C.wildly D.privately

14.A.pushing B.complaining C.interviewing D.congratulating

15.A.who B.which C.when D.where

—How do you find the TV play In the Name of People?

—___________.

A.Just a minute B.That’s right C.By chance D.It’s fantastic

We'd better       when he is thinking, as he prefers to solve problems on his own.

A. let him down

B. cheer him up

C. leave him alone

D. ring him up

The program has helped out thousands of homeless children since the government ________it

A.starts B.had started C.will start D.started

一How about some more ice-cream?

一No, thanks. It's very good, but I have to       my weight, you know.

A. prevent    B. watch    C. refuse    D. keep

The population of our city has increased       40% compared with       of 3 years ago.

A.by; that B.to; those

C.with; ones D.of; it