The Price of a Dream I grew up poor-living with my wonderful mother. We had little money, but plenty of love and attention. I was 1 and energetic. I understood that no matter how poor a person was, he could still 2 to have a dream. My dream was 3 . By the time I was sixteen, I had started playing baseball. I could throw a ninety-mile-per-hour fastball and 4 anything that moved on the football field. I was also 5 : My high school coach was John, who not only believed in me, but also taught me 6 to believe in myself. He 7 me the difference between having a dream and remaining true to that dream. One particular 8 with Coach John changed my life forever. A friend recommended me for a summer job. This meant a chance for money in my pocket-money for a new bike, new clothes and the 9 of savings for a house for my mother. Then I realized I would have to 10 up summer baseball to handle the work schedule, and that meant I would have to tell John I wouldn"t be playing. When I told John, he was as 11 as I expected him to be."You have your whole life to work," He said. "Your 12 days are limited. You can"t afford to waste them." I stood before him with my head 13 , trying to think of the 14 to explain to him why my dream of buying my mom a house and having money in my pocket was worth facing his 15 in me. "How much are you going to make at this job?" He asked."3.5 dollars an hour," I replied. "Well," he asked,"is $3.5 an hour the price of a dream?" That simple question made 16 for me the difference between 17 something right now and having a 18 . I devoted myself to sports that summer and 19 the year I was chosen by the Pittsburgh Pirates to play baseball, and was 20 a $20,000 contract(合同). My baseball scholarship got me through university and in 1984 I signed with Denver Broncos for$1.7 million and bought my mother the house of her dreams. |
( )1. A. happy ( )2. A. live ( )3. A. athletics ( )4. A. throw ( )5. A. right ( )6. A. how ( )7. A. gave ( )8. A. accident ( )9. A. aim ( )10. A. keep ( )11. A. mad ( )12. A. living ( )13. A. moving ( )14. A. answers ( )15. A. sadness ( )16. A. direct ( )17. A. wanting ( )18. A. wish ( )19. A. by ( )20. A. paid | B. polite B. afford B. music B. play B. popular B. why B. taught B. matter B. idea B. end B. puzzled B. playing B. nodding B. excuses B. regret B. clear B. changing B. dream B. for B. got | C. shy C. make C. business C. pass C. lucky C. when C. brought C. problem C. start C. give C. frightened C. working C. shaking C. words C. hopelessness C. straight C. dreaming C. score C. over C. offered | D. honest D. need D. money D. hit D. wrong D. whether D. asked D. experience D. purpose D. pick D. shameful D. learning D. hanging D. ways D. disappointment D. bare D. living D. desire D. within D. presented | 阅读理解。 | "Mister D"Arcy is not a policeman. He is, however, very wise. He knew the police would search his apartment. He also knew how police think. So, he did not hide the letter where he knew they would look for it. "Do you remember how Germont laughed when I said the mystery was difficult for him to solve because it was so simple?" Dupin filled his pipe with tobacco and lit it."Well, the more I thought about it, the more I realized the police could not find the letter because D"Arcy had not hidden it at all. "So I went to visit D"Arcy in his apartment. I took a pair of dark green eyeglasses with me. I explained to him that I was having trouble with my eyes and needed to wear the dark glasses at all times. He believed me. The glasses permitted me to look around the apartment while I seemed only to be talking to him. "I paid special attention to a large desk where there were a lot of papers and books. However, I saw nothing suspicious there. After a few minutes, however, I noticed a small shelf over the fireplace. A few postcards and a letter were lying on the shelf. The letter looked very old and dirty. "As soon as I saw this letter, I decided it must be the one I was looking for. It must be, even though it was completely different from the one Germont had described. "This letter had a large green stamp on it. The address was written in small letters in blue ink. I memorized every detail of the letter while I talked to D"Arcy. Then when he was not looking, I dropped one of my gloves on the floor under my chair. "The next morning, I stopped at his apartment to look for my glove. While we were talking, we heard people shouting in the street. D"Arcy went to the window and looked out. Quickly, I stepped to the shelf and put the letter in my pocket. Then I replaced it with a letter that looked exactly like it, which I had made it the night before. "The trouble in the street was caused by a man who had almost been run over by a horse and carriage. He was not hurt. And soon the crowd of people went away. When it was over, D"Arcy came away from the window. I said goodbye and left. "The man who almost had an accident was one of my servants(雇员). I had paid him to create the incident." Dupin stopped talking to light his pipe. I did not understand."But, Dupin," I said,"why did you go to the trouble of replacing the letter? Why not just take it and leave?" Dupin smiled."D"Arcy is a dangerous man," he said."And he has many loyal servants. If I had taken the letter, I might never have left his apartment alive." | 1. What is Dupin probably? | A. An actor. B. A professor. C. An official. D. A detective. | 2. Which of he following about Dupin"s dropping one of his gloves is NOT true? | A. He dropped it intentionally. B. He dropped it carelessly. C. He dropped it in order to drop in on D"Arcy again. D. He dropped it to make an excuse. | 3. According to the text, we can infer _______. | A. the letter Dupin took away was exactly the one he wanted. B. the incident in the street was directed by Dupin. C. Mr. D"Arcy and Dupin were good friends. D. Dupin should have taken the letter away directly. | 4. Which would be the best title for the text? | A. The stolen letter B. An unexpected accident C. A dangerous man D. The frightening apartment | 完形填空。 | Billy is a boy of fifteen. His parents died three years ago. One day when he was walking in the street, he 1 a wallet. He returned it to the owner, Mr Baker. He gave his 2 to the boy. As the boy had no job, Mr Baker made him work for him in his 3 . Billy worked so hard that Mr and Mrs Baker were 4 with him. Mr Baker loved planting 5 . The week before last, he brought a few trees home, planted them in the 6 himself and watered them every day. Several days 7 , he had to leave for another city. Before he started, he said to Billy,"Take good care of these trees. Some boys near our house always want to steal them.""Don"t 8 about them, sir."answered Billy,"I"ll try my best to watch them."Six days passed and Mr Baker came back. He asked," 9 anyone ever come to steal the trees?" "No, sir."said Billy. "To stop someone from stealing the trees, I 10 them up six days ago. I have hidden them for almost a week!" | ( )1. A. bought ( )2. A. wallet ( )3. A. office ( )4. A. pleased ( )5. A. grass ( )6. A. garden ( )7. A. ago ( )8. A. think ( )9. A. Did ( )10. A. sent | B. found B. pity B. factory B. angry B. flowers B. office B. later B. talk B. Does B. pulled | C. carried C. thanks C. town C. bored C. vegetables C. city C. before C. learn C. Has C. put | D. wanted D. excuses D. home D. sad D. trees D. room D. after D. worry D. Will D. picked | 阅读理解。 | Mr. Briggs got a job with an insurance company (保险公司) after he left school and went around visiting people in their homes to sell them life insurance. One day, after he had been working for the company for about a year, the insurance manager sent for him and said,"Mr. Briggs, I have been looking at your record as a salesman with our company, and there is one thing that surprises me about it. Why have you been selling insurance only to people over 95 years old, and why have you been giving them such generous(宽厚的) conditions? You"ll ruin our company if you go on like that." "Oh, no, sir," answered Mr. Briggs at once,"Before I started work, I looked at the figures (数字) for deaths in this country during the past ten years, and I can tell you that few people die at the age of 95." | 1. Before he worked in an insurance company, what was Mr. Briggs? | A.He was a manager. B. He was an official. C. He was a student. D. He was a businessman. | 2. The underlined word "ruin" in the first paragraph means ______. | A. lose B. break C. leave D. destroy | 3. As a salesman with the company, Mr. Brigs ________. | A. visited people to ask them to work with him B. called on people to make them join the company C. saw old people in order to help them D. visited many people so as to offer insurance | 4. What was it that surprised the manager? | A. Mr. Briggs sold life insurance only to 95 people. B. Mr. Briggs sold insurance only to people of more than 95. C. Mr. Briggs had ruined the insurance company. D. Mr. Briggs gave people generous conditions. | 5. Which of the following is true according to the passage? | A. The number of the very old people who died every year is small. B. Mr. Briggs began to look at the figures after he started work. C. A great number of very old people die every year. D. Mr. Briggs had studied the figures for deaths for several years. | 完形填空。 | When I was a little girl, my mom liked to make breakfast food for dinner every now and then. And I remember one night when my mom placed a plate of eggs, sausage and extremely burnt toast in front of my dad. I remember 1 to see if anyone noticed! 2 all my dad did was to reach for his toast, 3 at my mom and ask me how my day was at school. When I got up from the table that evening, I remember hearing my mom 4 to my dad for burning the toast. And I"ll 5 forget what he said,"Baby, I love burnt toast." Later that night, I went to kiss Dad good night and I asked him if he really 6 his toast burnt. He wrapped me up in his 7 and said,"Debbie, your mom had a 8 day at work today and she"s really tired. And besides, a little burnt toast never 9 anyone! In bed that night, I thought about the scene at dinner and the 10 my dad showed to my mom. To this day, it"s a cherished (珍贵的) 11 from my childhood that I"ll never forget. And it"s one that came to mind just recently when Jack and I sat down to eat dinner. As I 12 the plate in front of Jack, I waited for a(n) 13 about the burnt toast. But all I got was, "Thank you, ! This is 14 . I know you had a hard day!" Just then, I thought about my parents, and was quitely 15 for having a marriage where burnt toast wasn"t a deal-breaker either! | ( )1. A. being encouraged ( )2. A. Yet ( )3. A. laugh ( )4. A. report ( )5. A. almost ( )6. A. liked ( )7. A. back ( )8. A. boring ( )9. A. hurts ( )10. A. interest ( )11. A. feeling ( )12. A. set down ( )13. A. answer ( )14. A. possible ( )15. A. amazing | B. being allowed B. Only B. smile B. shout B. never B. got B. heart B. hard B. comforts B. surprise B. story B. took away B. question B. true B. disappointed | C. waiting C. So C. shout C. apologize C. often C. cooked C. arms C. depressing C. invites C. kindness C. choice C. finished up C. comment C. terrible C. annoyed | D. refusing D. Certainly D. stare D. complain D. hardly D. made D. hands D. sad D. hates D. satisfaction D. memory D. washed up D. suggestion D. great D.thankful |
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