Question

    Thirteen, for me, was a challenging year. My parents divorced and I moved to a new town with my father, far from my old family and friends. I was terribly lonely and would cry myself to sleep each night. To ease my sadness, my father purchased an old horse for me at a local auction. I named him Cowboy.

Cowboy was undoubtedly the ugliest horse in the world. But I didn’t care. I loved him beyond all reason.

I joined a riding club and suffered rude comments and mean snickersabout Cowboy’s looks. I never let on about how I felt, but deep inside, my heart was breaking. The other members rode beautiful, registered horses.

When Cowboy and I entered the events where the horse is judged on appearance, we were quickly shown the gate. No amount of preparation and love would turn Cowboy into a beauty. My only chance to compete would be in the speed events. I chose the jumping race.

One girl named Becky rode a big brown horse in the race events. She always won the blue ribbons. Needless to say, she didn’t feel threatened when I competed against her at the next show. She didn’t need to. I came in next to last.

The stinging memory of Becky’s smirks(得意的笑) made me determined to beat her. For the whole next month I woke up early every day and rode Cowboy five miles to the arena. We practiced running and jumping for hours in the hot sun and then I would walk Cowboy home totally exhausted.

All of our hard work didn’t make me feel confident by the time the show came. I sat at the gate and sweated it out while I watched Becky and her horse charge through the course and finish in first place.

My turn finally came. I put on my hat, rubbed Cowboy’s neck and entered the arena. At the signal, we dashed toward the first fence, jumped it without trouble and raced on to the next one. Cowboy then flew over the second, third and fourth fences like a bird and I turned him toward the finish line.

As we crossed the line the crowd was shocked into silence. Cowboy and I had beaten Becky and her fancy horse by two seconds!

I gained much more than a blue ribbon that day. At thirteen, I realized that no matter what the odds, I’d always come out a winner if I wanted something badly enough to work for it.

1.The underlined expression “shown the gate” (paragraph 4) most probably means “_________”.

A.told how to enter the arena B.shown how to make the horse beautiful

C.removed from the competition early D.told to enter the timed-speed events

2.Why was the writer not confident of victory?

A.He was an inexperienced rider.

B.He believed he was unpopular with the crowd.

C.He had not practiced enough.

D.He thought his horse wasn’t as good as the others.

3.What did the writer learn from his experience?

A.Life can sometimes be unfair.

B.Anything is possible if one tries hard enough.

C.A positive attitude will bring success.

D.One should not make judgments based on appearance.

4.The best title for the story is ________.

A.A Run to Remember B.A Horse’s Tale

C.Neck and Neck D.A Difficult Age

Answer

1.C

2.D

3.B

4.A

【解析】

本文为一篇记叙文。讲述了作者艰难地训练马匹，最后参加比赛获得第一名的故事。告诉我们只要努力，一切皆有可能的道理。

1.词句猜测题。由第四段When Cowboy and I entered the events where the horse is judged on appearance, we were quickly shown the gate.当牛仔和我走进了那个仅凭外表评价马匹的赛场，我们很快就被劝退。可知，因为作者的马匹品相不佳，得到了对手和观众的轻视，所以show the gate意思是劝退，C项“早点退出比赛”与之意思相近。故选C项。

2.细节理解题。由第三段The other members rode beautiful, registered horses.其他成员骑着漂亮的有血统的马。可知，作者没有信心赢得比赛的是因为他认为自己的马没有别人的好。故选D项。

3.推理判断题。由第十段At thirteen, I realized that no matter what the odds, I’d always come out a winner if I wanted something badly enough to work for it.在十三岁的时候，我意识到不管成功的几率有多大，如果我努力地去想得到他，我总是会成功的。由此判断出，作者从这次经历中学习到如果一个人足够努力，一切皆有可能。故选B项。

4.主旨大意题。结合全文，文章讲述了作者艰难地训练马匹，最后参加比赛获得第一名的故事，告诉我们只要努力，一切皆有可能的道理，A项“一次难忘的赛马”为短文最佳标题。故选A项。