It’s not easy growing up. Growing up can be a real “pain” for some of us. Sometimes we feel trapped, sometimes we feel sad, sometimes we are fearful, and sometimes we just don’t understand why we can’t stay young forever. But we should take a look back on all the hardships in life with a positive attitude and learn from them. We must overcome every obstacle one small step at a time. We should realize that all of our growing pains actually turn into growing gains!

Throughout our lives we are going to face many challenges and pains, but we should never let these obstacles keep us from following our dreams. We must overcome every obstacle one small step at a time.

As a young girl, my parents forced me to do so many things that I didn’t like. They made me learn to play the violin and then the piano. At that time I hated music and I also hated them. But looking back now, I am so glad that my parents encouraged me to take music lessons. Music has enriched(丰富) my life in so many ways. I now realize that my parents and teachers wanted me to have a better life than they did themselves.

We are all going to experience growing pains, but they are just part of our life. They might seem so huge at the time, but we must be strong. Think about how we would feel if we had no challenges and lived a life like that. Life would be really boring and meaningless. The future is ours! A little hard work and sweat never hurt anyone! If we realize that these pains are just small bumps(碰撞) on our road to success, we will realize that our growing pains are actually growing gains!

1.The underlined word “obstacles” (in Paragraph 2) roughly means things that ______.

A. are related to your studies   

B. you easily achieve

C. make you happy           

D. make it difficult for you to do something

2.How does the author now feel when remembering what her parents did for her in the past?

A. She is fearful                 B. She is grateful

C. She feels trapped              D. She feels hateful

3.We can know from the last paragraph that _____________.

A. life without challenges is dull   

B. life needs no pains but sunshine and happiness

C. we should give up faced with challenges as the future is ours

D. we shouldn’t easily pay a little hard work in growing up

4.The purpose of the passage is to tell readers____________.

A. life is full of hardships 

B. growing pains can turn into growing gains in a positive way

C. everyone is painful in growing up

D. everyone should do what they don’t like when young

People have been burying the dead at Salem’s Hope Cemetery since 1833. The place is filled with old gravestones and gothic mausoleums(哥特式陵墓), the spirits of the dead hanging over the land like an early morning fog.

Keeping watch, a few steps from the road with her skirt over the pedestal (基座), is Goldie Belle Taylor, her face weathered but otherwise in good condition. On this day, she is holding a bunch of pink rises because Goldie Belle always holds flowers. Someone makes sure of that.

“And she has had fresh flowers in her hands for the last 150 years.” Karen Biery lives in Damascus, about five miles west of Hope Cemetery. She’s written a book based on the legend of Goldie Belle Taylor titled Believe. In 1886, at the age of two, young Goldie Belle used her hands to sop up (抹去) the left over elderberry juice from her father’s iron kettle. She died not long after from poisoning. She was the love of her dad’s life, and he was so upset that he sold the family farm to buy the Italian made statue, which today marks her grave.

At first, it was her father who brought the flowers and laid them in her hands. When he died in 1896, the flowers kept coming. Her flowers are different per season. Why do the flowers keep miraculously appearing? People have tried to find out by having camped by the statue, but not even the groundskeepers have been able to catch the criminal.

It’s said that a fairy arrives at Hope Cemetery looking for the grave of her birth mother. She comes across Goldie Belle’s statue.

1.The underlined word “that” in paragraph 2 probably refers to________.

A. her face in good condition     

B. her bunch of pink roses

C. Goldie Belle Taylor is holding pink roses 

D. Goldie Belle Taylor always holds flowers

2.It can be inferred from the third paragraph __________.

A. her father was poisonous       

B. the iron kettle was poisonous

C. elderberry juice was poisonous  

D. it was her father that hated her

3.After her father died, the flowers in the hands of Goldie Belle Taylor_______.

A. usually change               

B. were stolen

C. are no longer fresh            

D. come from a criminal

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

A. A fairy brings the flowers.      

B. The mystery of Goldie’s flowers.

C. What happens to the girl?       

D. How do the flowers get there?

One of my fondest memories as a child is going by the river and sitting idly on the bank. There I would   16   the peace and quiet, watch the water rush   17   and listen to the singing of birds and the rustling of   18   in the trees. I would also watch the bamboo trees   19   under pressure from the wind and watch them   20   gracefully to their original position after the wind had   21   .

   When I think about the bamboo tree's ability to bounce back to its original position, the word "resilience" comes to mind. When used in   22   to a person this word means the ability to readily   23   from shock, depression or any other situation that stretches the limits of a person's   24   .

   Have you ever felt like you are at your   25   point? Thankfully, you have survived the experience to live to talk about it.

   During the   26   you probably felt a mix of emotions that threatened your health. You felt emotionally drained,   27   exhausted and you most likely stood   28   physical symptoms.

   Life is a   29   of good times and bad times, happy moments and unhappy moments. The next time you are experiencing one of those bad times or unhappy   30   that take you close to your breaking point, bend,   31   don't break. Try your best not to let the situation get the best of you.

   A   32   of hope will take you through the unpleasant ordeal (考验). With   33   for a better tomorrow or a better situation, things may not be as bad as they seem to be. The unpleasant ordeal may be easier to   34   if the final result is worth having.

   If life gets   35   and you are at your breaking point, show resilience. Like the bamboo tree, bend, but don't break!

1.A. see           B. hear          C. enjoy          D. touch

2.A. downstream    B. smoothly      C. uphill             D. peacefully

3.. A. fruits        B. branches      C. roots            D. leaves

4.A. move         B. bend         C. fall             D. decline

5.A. go            B. turn          C. return          D. suffer

6.A. died down     B. died off       C. died away       D. died out

7.A. honor of       B. reward to      C. reference to     D. favor of

8.A. recover        B. suffer         C. come          D. escape

9.A. thoughts       B. mind          C. body          D. emotions

10.A. starting        B. breaking       C. standing       D. tiring

11.A. practice        B. experiment     C. victory        D. experience

12.A. possibly        B. terribly        C. mentally       D. probably

13.A. unpleasant      B. unreasonable    C. exciting       D. good

14.A. result          B. change         C. wonder        D. mixture

15.A. events         B. moments        C. adventures     D. changes

16.A. but            B. however        C. though        D. and

17.A. little           B. number         C. measure       D. little

18.A. idea           B. hope           C. imagination     D. search

19.A. deal with       B. look into        C. depend on      D. get stuck

20.A. acceptable      B. wrong          C. tough          D. cozy

----Mary Beth, here you are! _________!

----Thank you for meeting me here, Betty.

A. You are welcome to my hometown    

B. Welcome to my hometown

C. Welcomed to my hometown           

D. You are welcome

______ fired, your health care and other benefits will not be immediately cut off.

A. Would you be   B. Should you be     

C. Could you be     D. Might you be

Surely it doesn’t matter where the student associations get their money from; what _______ is what they do with it.

A. counts        B. applies             C. stress           D. functions

The situation forced my mother and I exchanged our roles as child and caretaker, making me grow up much faster than the _____ child.

A. average     B. ordinary           C. common           D. usual

I’m sorry not to have replied to your letter earlier, ______, I must say , I apologize.

A. which      B. for which          C. to which           D. whom

Tom raised his hands as if ______ something．

  A. saying       B. said                C. says               D. to say

When you ______with the dictionary, don’t forget to put it back on my desk, will you?

A. will finish    B. are finishing     C. will have finished    D. have finished