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 snickers about Cowboy’s looks. I never let out 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 beating Becky?

A.He had not practiced enough.

B.He was an inexperienced rider.

C.He believed he was unpopular with the crowd.

D.Becky and her horse performed well in their turn.

3.What did the writer learn from his experience?

A.Life can sometimes be unfair.

B.A positive attitude will bring success.

C.Anything is possible if one tries hard enough.

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.C

4.A

【解析】

这是一篇记叙文。本文通过讲述作者和他的马经过努力赢得比赛的故事，告诉了我们有志者事竟成的道理。

1.词义猜测题。根据划线词所在的段落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，“再多的准备和爱也不能把牛仔变成美人。我参加比赛的唯一机会是参加速度项目。我选择跳跃比赛”。可知作者选择了竞争没那么激烈的跳跃赛。由此推知，When Cowboy and I entered the events where the horse is judged on appearance, we were quickly shown the gate. “当Cowboy 和我进入评判马的比赛时，我们很快就被比赛中除名。”所以划线词的意思是“被提前从比赛中除名”，故选C。

2.细节理解题。从第五段的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“在节目开始的时候，我们所有的努力都没有让我感到自信。我坐在大门口，看着贝基和她的马跑完全程，获得第一名，我出了一身冷汗”可知，Becky 和她的马在比赛中表现的很好使作者对打败Becky不自信，故选D。

3.推理判断题。从最后一段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“我意识到，不管机会有多大，如果我非常想要某样东西，并为之努力，我总会成为赢家”。由此判断出，作者从他的经历中学到只要足够努力，一切皆有可能。故选C。

4.主旨大意题。通读全文可知，短文作者和他的马经过努力赢得比赛的故事。再根据最后一段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.“那天我得到的远远不止一条蓝丝带。十三岁的时候，我意识到，不管机会有多大，如果我非常想要得到某样东西，我总会成为赢家。”由此可知，作者从他的经历中学到只要足够努力，一切皆有可能。所以短文的最佳标题为“一次值得铭记的赛马”故选A。