Bertie knew there was something in the wind. His mother had been sad in recent days, not sick, just strangely sad. The lion had just lain down beside him, his head warm on Bertie’s feet, when Father cleared his throat and began, “You’ll soon be eight, Bertie. A boy needs a proper education. We’ve found the right place for you, a school near Salisbury in England. ”
His heart filled with a terrible fear, all Bertie could think of was his white lion. “But the lion,” he cried, “What about the lion?”
“I’m afraid there’s something else I have to tell you, ” his father said. Looking across at Bertie’s mother, he took a deep breath. Then he told Bertie he had met a circus owner from France, who was over in Africa looking for lions to buy. He would come to their farm in a few days.
“No! You can’t send him to a circus!” said Bertie. “People will come to see him. He’ll be shut up behind bars. I promised him he never would be. And they will laugh at him. He’d rather die. Any animal would! ” But as he looked across the table at them, he knew their minds were quite made up.
Bertie felt completely betrayed (出卖). He waited until he heard his father’s deep breathing next door. With his white lion at his heels, he crept (蹑手蹑脚地移动) downstairs, took down his father’s rifle (步枪) and stepped out into the night. He ran and ran till his legs could run no more. As the sun came up over the grassland, he climbed to the top of a hill and sat down, his arms round the lion’s neck. The time had come.
“Be wild now”, he whispered. “You’ve got to be wild. Don’t ever come home. All my life I’ll think of you. I promise I will. ” He buried his head in the lion’s neck. Then, Bertie climbed down the hill and walked away.
When he looked back, the lion was still sitting there watching him; but then he stood up, yawned, stretched, and sprang down after him. Bertie shouted at him, but he kept coming. He threw sticks. He threw stones. Nothing worked.
There was only one thing left to do. With tears filling his eyes and his mouth, he lifted the rifle to his shoulder and fired over the lion’s head.
1.Bertie’s mother was sad probably because she _____.
A.had been seriously ill recently
B.had decided to send Bertie to school
C.knew Bertie would hate to go to England
D.knew selling the lion would upset Bertie
2.The underlined word “they” in Para. 4 probably refers to _____.
A.other animals B.some audience C.Bertie’s parents D.circus owners
3.In the last paragraph, the boy lifted the rifle to _____.
A.threaten the lion back to the wild B.kill the lion out of fear
C.protect himself from the lion D.show his anger towards his father
4.The passage intends to show that _____.
A.animal-hunting is popular in Africa
B.parents are sometimes cruel to their children
C.people and animals can be faithful to each other
D.animals usually lead a miserable life in circuses
I was the fool at school, regarded as a special needs student. I was termed as such, obviously, because I was not interested in school and did not care for my _______.
Over time, I started to believe in my stupidity. I _______ the fact that I was in special needs classes and poured it out as anger and depression. But one activity _______ this view of myself chess.
I started to play chess with my father after school simply because I wanted to _______ him at something. My father was a _________ man, fond of physics, writing, religion…, almost every _______. He was called a walking dictionary. So, winning in chess against my father would be a _______ that I had intellectual power. On the small chessboard, I had a chance to _______ my so-called inability.
Game after game, I wanted to beat my father even more. I started to study chess books and play against a chess computer to _______ my skills. One weekend, I finally checkmated(将杀) my father on a ferry ride, which made me feel ________.
Two years later, I became the second board on my school chess team, with our top board being the best high school player in the state. But before the tournament season, our top player ________ to come. There came my chance to play as top board against the best players in other states.
I was determined to show who I had become: a(n) ________ person able to win with calculation, logic and will. My most ________ game came in the final round. Our team was facing a high school which only excellent students attended. It was ________ a match between a special needs student and a smart soul. My opponent(对手) was playing well and kept ________ while I kept defending to keep my king safe. He spent long trying to break down my defenses, but could not find the final push. I ________ with more defensive moves, trying to make it as difficult for him as possible. With little ________ left, he started to make rapid moves. ________ he could make the final decision, he ran out of time. Honestly, as his clock flag fell, I jumped up out of my seat and kissed the floor out of excitement. Of course it was not the most sportsmen—like ________, but I could not control my emotions.
While holding my winner’s cup, I knew I was not ________. The inferiority complex (自卑感) had melted away, and I realized that underneath our thoughts, each person is a genius.
1.A.habits B.grades C.plans D.benefits
2.A.noticed B.explained C.accepted D.ignored
3.A.changed B.supported C.questioned D.showed
4.A.please B.comfort C.beat D.disturb
5.A.smart B.strict C.quiet D.strong
6.A.method B.topic C.event D.field
7.A.dream B.lesson C.theory D.sign
8.A.prove B.expose C.overcome D.promote
9.A.teach B.sharpen C.choose D.invent
10.A.overjoyed B.disappointed C.puzzled D.interested
11.A.promised B.managed C.happened D.failed
12.A.brave B.lucky C.active D.intelligent
13.A.terrible B.memorable C.dangerous D.popular
14.A.normally B.possibly C.actually D.partly
15.A.attacking B.smiling C.pausing D.escaping
16.A.returned B.quit C.won D.exchanged
17.A.patience B.time C.energy D.wisdom
18.A.Once B.Until C.Before D.Unless
19.A.spirit B.thought C.comment D.behavior
20.A.proud B.stupid C.bright D.lazy
—When will you come to see me, Dad？
—I will go to see you when you______ the training course.
A.will have finished B.will finish
C.are finishing D.finish
That is ___________ I was born and grew up.
A.there B.when C.where D.the place
____he will go to work in a mountain village surprises all of us.
A.What B.That C.Whether D.If
You will succeed in the end ____ you give up halfway．
A.even if B.as though C.as long as D.unless
