My father was a St. Bernard (圣伯纳犬), and my mother was a collie (科利牧羊犬). This was what my mother had told me. I did not know these nice differences myself. My mother like to say them and see other dogs look surprised and jealous(嫉妒的), wondering how she got so much education. But, indeed, it was not real education.
She got the words by listening in the dining room and the sitting room when there were people talking, and by going with the children to school and listening there. Whenever she heard a word showing great knowledge, she said it to herself many times so that she could keep it until there was a meeting in the neighbourhood. Then, she would show off her knowledge and surprise them all, from small-sized dogs to large-sized dogs.
If there was a stranger being doubtful and getting his breath to ask her what it meant, she always explained to him in detail. He had never expected this but thought he would make fool of her. However, in the end, he was the one who was fooled. The others knew what was going to happen, because they had experienced that. When she explained the meaning of a big world, no dogs doubted if it was right. It was natural, because, for one thing, she answered very quickly and confidently, and for another, there were no knowledgeable dogs pointing out the answer was wrong.
When I was older, she brought home the word, “unintellectual”, and worked on it very hard all the week at different meetings. It was at this time that I realized she made up a fresh meaning of the same word every time. It showed that she was more calm than knowledgeable.
(From A Dog’s Tale, by Mark Twain)
1.Why were other dogs jealous of “my” mother?
A. Because her child was not a dog.
B. Because “my” mother knew everything.
C. Because they knew nothing about “me”.
D. Because they thought “my” mother was educated.
2.Where did “my” mother learn the words?
A. She made up the words by herself.
B. She learnt the words studying at school.
C. She listened and memorized when others were talking.
D. She attended meetings to learnt the words from other dogs.
3.How could “my” mother always fool other dogs?
A. Other dogs all liked to be fooled.
B. She could explain anything in detail correctly.
C. She learnt a lot of tricks to make fool of others.
D. Other dogs were not knowledgeable enough to find out her mistakes.
4.What words can be used to describe “my” mother?
A. friendly and cleverB. calm and confident
C. quick and experiencedD. devoted and knowledgeable
One day a young man was standing in the middle of the town claiming that he had the most beautiful heart in the whole valley. A large crowd gathered, and they all his heart for it was perfect.
Suddenly, an old man appeared and said, "Why, your heart is not as beautiful as mine!" The crowd and the young man looked at the old man's heart. It was full of . It had places where pieces had been and other pieces put in, but they didn't quite right. In fact, in some places whole pieces were .
The young man laughed, "Compared with your heart, mine is perfect and yours is a ." "Yes," said the old man, "Yours looks perfect but I would never swap with you. You see, every scar(伤疤) represents a person to whom I have given my . I tear out a piece of my heart and give it to them, often they give me a piece of their heart that fits into the place in my heart. So the scars have me remember the love we . Sometimes I have given pieces of my heart away, and the other person hasn't a piece of his or her heart to me. These are the empty — giving love is taking a chance. Although , they stay open. So now do you see what true is?"
The young man walked up to the old man, his perfect heart, and tore a piece out. He it to the old man. The old man placed it in his , then took a piece from his old scarred heart and placed it in the young man's heart. The young man looked at his heart, not perfect but more beautiful than ever, since love from the old man's heart into his.
How sad it must be to go through life with a whole untouched heart!
1.A. appreciated B. dislikedC. hatedD. broke
2.A. nearly B. hardlyC. honestlyD. widely
3.A. items B. scarsC. detailsD. tips
4.A. formed B. addedC. designedD. removed
5.A. feel B.fitC. sinkD. calm
6.A. amazing B. willingC. missingD. boiling
7.A. joke B. trapC. successD. goal
8.A. opinion B. powerC. voteD. love
9.A. so B. butC. orD. and
10.A. perfect B. emptyC. entireD. equal
11.A. wanted B. spentC. sharedD. ignored
12.A. lent B. returnedC. expressedD. left
13.A. holes B. boxesC. roomsD. seats
14.A. hopeful B. gratefulC. painfulD. peaceful
15.A. beauty B. angerC. mercyD. surprise
16.A. went through B. reached into C. gave upD. watched over
17.A. employed B. packedC. rewardedD. offered
18.A. pocket B. heartC. bagD. mind
19.A. over B. onceC. anymoreD. apart
20.A. flowed B. bentC. escapedD. burst
Although Diane survived the car crash, her arms and legs were badly injured and ______, her car was destroyed.
A.in all B. in return C.in relief D. in addition
A good friend is like a mirror. Don’t let a little agreement_____ a great friendship.
A.add up B.blow up C.take up D.break up
In our life, one question that ____ comes up is:“to be or not to be?”
A.briefly B.entirely C.fluently D.frequently
The Chinese river dolphin is one of the First-Grade State Protection animals, a (an) mammal with its name – water panda.
A. rareB. officialC. extremeD. universal