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1
Everyone
wants
to
win
a
first-place
blue
ribbon,
to
be
the
best
in
something.
Even
kids
in
Kindergarten want that blue ribbon. In
sports, I was never a blue-ribbon person. In a
race, I was
always
11
. In baseball
I was likely to be hit on the head or drop the
ball. During the spring of
my
kindergarten
year,
our
class
had
a
field
trip
to
a
park
in
a
town
about
twenty
miles
away.
Making that drive now is no big
12
but when you’re six and you’ve lived in
a town of 300
people all your life,
going to a big town of a couple of thousand people
is really something.
I
don’t
remember
too
much
about
it.
But
there
was
one
that
I
will
never
forget
—
the
three-legged race. The
parents tied our feet together. One little boy got
me for a
13
. He was
the second most
14
boy in our class so he usually won at
everything and I knew that with me
tied
to him he didn’t have a chance. And I’m sure he
knew he was in trouble. The gun sounded
and we were off. Some couples were
falling and stumbling all around us,
15
we stayed on our
feet and
made it to the other side.
16
, when we
turned around and headed back for home, we
were in the lead! Only one couple had a
chance to win, and they were a good several yards
behind
us.
A few feet from the finish line,
disaster struck: I tripped and fell. We were
17
enough that
my partner could
have easily dragged me across the finish line and
won. But he didn’t. Instead he
stopped,
18
down and helped me up
—
just at the other couple
crossed the finish line. As a
result,
we received a small red ribbon for coming in
second.
I still
remember that moment when the young boy decided
that helping a friend get on her feet
was more important than winning a blue
ribbon. And 13 years later, I still have that
little ribbon
because it’s
a
19
that a friend like this boy
is one who really
20
.
11.
A. last
B. first
C. quick
D. successful
12. A. question
B. event
C. one
D. deal
13. A. partner
B. helper
C. supporter
D. competitor
14. A. tallest
B.
youngest
C. athletic
D.
handsome
15. A. but
B. therefore
C. however
D. and
16. A. Obviously
B. Unbelievably
C. Secretly
D. Undoubtedly
17. A. strong
B.
brave
C. clever
D. close
18. A.
lay
B.
slowed
C. moved
D. reached
19. A. warning
B. reminder
C. gift
D. notice
20. A. depends
B. counts
C. supports
D. worthy
Keys
ADACA
BDDBB
2
It was October and snow was falling
lightly over their part of Montana. “We shall have
to get
rid of Bay this year.” Muriel’s
dad said, “Bay can’t work another winter.”
Muriel knew the farm needed strong
11
to bring the sheep back
from pasture(
牧场
). Still,
she could
12
take in the cruelty of her father’s
words.
“I know Bay’s old”, Muriel told her
dad, “but he’s my favorite. Won’t you let me keep
him? He
won’t be a problem.”
“We use horses
for
labor,” her dad said,
“We don’t keep them as pets.”
Muriel understood. However, she knew
Bay was different. He had a personality all of his
own.
She went to Bay and
13
the old brown horse’s head. As Bay
touched her hand with his nose,
Muriel
couldn’t imagine what the pasture would be like
with
out him.
The snow was falling
faster, and dark gray clouds were settling over
the peaks. Then Muriel
had an idea. She
jumped onto Bay and dashed over the meadow. “We’ll
14
the sheep and
show Dad how well you work.” Muriel
said.
The sheep
15
in a high pasture,
bleating(
咩咩地叫
) at the storm
clouds. Suddenly, Muriel
heard a
lone(
单个的
) bleat from above.
She got off Bay and began to climb up the steep
wall. She
was almost at the top when
the heel of her boot slipped into a crack. She
lost her
16
and fell
onto a rock. She tried to stand, but
her foot hurt too much.
Then
Bay
got
into
17
under
the
rock.
He
was
telling
Muriel
to
crawl
onto
his
back!
Painfully,
Muriel
got
onto
the
horseback
and
Bay
carried
her
down
the
snow
trail,
18
and
carefully.
On
the way down, they met Dad riding his gray horse.
“What
happened?” he asked in a(n)
19
voice.
“Bay saved me.” Muriel told
him what happened. Dad’s voice
20
when he said, “What a
horse!” He wouldn’t get rid of that
horse for anythi
ng.
11. A. farmers
B. workers
C. horses
D.
dogs
12. A.
fully
B. hardly
C. easily
D. nearly
13. A. scratched
B. raised
C. beat
D.
patted
14. A. wake up
B. split up
C. round up
D.
cheer up
15. A. stood
B.
wandered
C.
lay
D.
played
16. A. way
B. breath
C.
temper
D. balance
17. A. ground
B.
position
C. trouble
D. point
18. A.
hurriedly
B. quickly
C. slowly
D. happily
19.
A. anxious
B.
angry
C.
careful
D. polite
20. A. dropped
B. broke
C. changed
D. shook
Keys
CBADCA
DBCAB
3
When my
daughter was very
young, we went on
holiday to Portugal. One day, she found a
starfish(
海星
)
that
had
been
baked
hard
in
the
sun.
We
looked
at
it
together
wondering
how
wonderful these
creatures were. Then I threw it aside on the beach
and got back to reading my
book.
11
, she got the
starfish back, filled her Frisbee
(
飞盘
) with sea water and put
the little
fellow
in
there.
After
about
an
hour,
she
brought
the
Frisbee
over
to
me
to
announce
that
the
starfish
was
12
.
I had previously seen it as stiff as a board and
so, at first, I just thought
that
this
was
a
bit
of
her
childhood
13
at
work.
But
she
pointed
out
that
the
fish
was
moving
toward
the
edge
of
the
Frisbee
that
was
in
the
shadow.
She
then
turned
the
Frisbee
to
expose
the fish to the sun and very
14
the starfish
made its way back to the shadow on the
other side.
With the logic
of a girl of five years old, she then asked if she
could keep it as a pet. After I
had
15
why
she couldn’t, I told her to throw him back into
the sea. She then asked me if
she could
have it just for one night. I thought she had
earned the right, so I
16
.
She brought
some fresh sea water in her
bucket and
17
it as best she could.
The
next day, we took it down to the harbor where the
water was deepest and I
18
it
as far as I
could out to sea. We both felt really
19
that she had saved it and given it a
second
chance.
Sometimes, the world can indeed be
changed by ordinary people, just like you,
20
the
tiny and unimportant actions. Everyone
can make a difference just like the starfish
thrower.
11. A. Carefully
12. A. lovely
13. A.
imagination
B. Angrily
B.
lonely
B. importance
C.
Thankfully
C. dead
C.
intelligence
C. slowly
C. suggested
C. agreed
C. researched into
C. laid
C. pleased
D. Skillfully
D. alive
D. independence
D. happily
D. described
D. admitted
D. worked on
D. threw
D. disappointed
14. A.
hurriedly
B
. quickly
15. A.
reminded
16. A. refused
17.
A. stared at
18. A. brought
19. A. worried
B. explained
B. hesitated
B.
looked after
B.
carried
B. amused
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