If you do not use your arms or your legs for   (1)   , they become weak; When you start using them again, they slowly become strong again. Everybody knows that. Yet many people do not seem to know that memory works   (2)   the same way.

When someone says that he has a good memory, he really means that he keeps his memory in practise by   (3)   it often. When someone else says that his memory is poor, he really means that he does not give it enough chance to become strong.

If someone says that his arms and legs are weak, we know that it is his own fault(责任). But if he   (4)   us that he has a poor memory, many of us think that his parents are to blame（责备）．But   (5)   of us know that it is just his own fault, too.

Have you ever found that some people can’t read or write but usually they have       ___(6)___ memories? This is because they cannot read or write and they have to remember things. They cannot write them down in a little notebook. They   (6)   remember days, names, songs and stories, so their memory is always being exercised. As a result, they have a better memory.

So if you want to have a good memory, learn from the people: practise remembering.

Some people believe that dreams can tell them what will happen in the future. Nobody knows ____  (1)  ___, but there are many stories about people’s dreams that came true. One of these people was a man called John Chapman, who lived in the small town ofSwaffhamin England. He dreamed that he was standing on London Bridge and that a man told him how to become___  (2)  ___. John Chapman was a poor man and he needed money, so the next day he set out for London. He walked for three days and three nights and at last arrived at London Bridge. There were plenty of ___  (3)  ___ on the bridge, but they were not interested in him. They all ignored(不理睬) him. After three days, he decided to go home, but before he could do this, a shopkeeper came towards him.

“I’ve been watching you,” the shopkeeper said. “Are you ___  (4)  ___ someone?’

“Yes,” said John. “I had a dream about a man on London Bridge. He was going to ___  (5)  ___me a lot of money.”

“Oh,” said the shopkeeper. You shouldn’t believe in dreams. If I believed in dreams, I’d be in Swaffham right now. I had a dream a few days ago about a man from Swaffham. His name was John Chapman and he had gold in his garden near an old apple tree.”

It was really amazing! John immediately ____  (6)  ____ for his house. As soon he arrived, he dug in his garden near the old apple tree. He soon found many pieces of gold. He was so delighted that he gave some of the gold to his local church. He was a rich man for the rest of his life.

A. Choose the words or expressions and complete the passage（选择最恰当的单词或词语完成短文):（7分）

Gilbert joined the Science Club last summer. One day he was given a piece of paper, a block of wood and four wheels; he was told to go home and give them all to “dad”.   (1)  , Gilbert’s mum knew that Gilbert’s dad wasn’t good at making things and decided that she would read the   （2）_  and let Gilbert do the work. A few days later, he and his mother went to a car race with their car. But when they got there, Gilbert found that his car was the only one that had not been made by a “father-son” partnership (合作) and all the fathers joined in the race except his father.

The race began. One by one the cars were knocked out until it came to the final between Gilbert and Jimmy. Just before the race, Gilbert asked   (2)   they could stop for a minute so that he could make a wish. After a long minute, Gilbert said that he was   (3)  .

People cheered as the race began. Jimmy stood with   (4)   and watched their car racing down the road while Gilbert was surprised at the great speed of his car as it rushed over the finishing line less than a second   (5)   Jimmy’s. Gilbert jumped up and down   (6)  .

Soon the club manager came over and asked him, “So, Gilbert, your wish was to win, right?” “Oh no, sir,” he replied. “I just wished that I wouldn’t cry if I lost.”

Beautiful pictures of mountains and forests, clear skies, flying birds, wild animals, silly faces-you can find them all in one place.   (1)  ?On a postcard! Have people always sent postcards? No! Before postcards, people   (2)  sealed (密封的) letters.

The   (3)   for the first decorated postcard came to John P. Charlton in 1861. He thought a simple card with a border would be a great way to send a note. Then in the late 1800s, postcards which had pictures on them   (4)  .By law, people had to write their note on the front-on the picture! The back was   (5)  for the address. Several years later, England allowed a divided-back (背面隔开的) postcard. Then people could write their note on the back left side. And they put the address   (6)  . During the early 1900s, the golden age of postcards, people around the world were more and more   (7)   picture postcards. In 1908, Americans alone mailed over 677 million postcards.

Today, postcards are the   (8)  most popular collection in the world after stamps and coins. You can always see or get a lot of newly-designed postcards, especially on New Year's Day.

Do you often think of your parents? You may say, “Of course, I do. I buy a present for my mother on Mother’s Day and on Father’s Day I give my father ___(1)____, too.” But what about the other days of the year? I have a friend whose parents live in another city. One day I went to see her. We had a nice conversation. Then she wanted to ___(2)___. So she dialed(拨号)the number, but then she put down the phone. After about fifteen seconds, she dialed the number again “ Hi, Mon…”.

  Later I asked , “Why did you dial the number twice?” She smiled, “My parents are old and ____(3)___. They can’t get close to the telephone quickly. I always do so when I call them. I just want to give them ___(4)___ time to answer the call.

  My friend is a good girl. She is ____(5)___ thinking about her parents. You also want to be a good child, right? Please         remember to think of your parents in every situation, not just on some important days.

Choose the words or expressions and complete the passage(选择最恰当的单词或词组完成短文6分)

It was getting dark. Some children and two Canadian women were still ____  (1)  ______on the ice near a big hotel. They were having a good time. Suddenly the ice _____  (2)  _____. One of the boys fell into the water. The children shouted, “Help! Help! They didn’t know what to do. The two Canadian friends heard them and skated over to get the boy out of the water.

The ice was ____  (3)  ______. The two Canadians fell into the water, too. But they tried their best to save the little boy. They knew they must be____  (4)  ______. If they didn’t push him up onto the ice, he would soon die.

Many people ran over to help. Some of them had ropes and poles. A young man jumped into the water to save the_____  (5)  _____people. The boy and two Canadian women were out of water at last. Everyone felt very _____  (6)  _______because the boy was safe.

Life is not easy, so I’d like to say, “When anything happens, believe in yourself.”

When I was a young girl, I was too shy（害羞）to talk to anybody, so my classmates  (1)  laughed at me. I was sad but could do nothing. Later, something happened, and it changed my life. It was a Chinese speech contest. My mother asked me to take part in it. What a terrible idea! It meant I   (2)   speak before all the teachers and students of my school.

“Come on, girl. Believe in yourself. You are sure to win the contest.” Then mother and I talked many different topics.  (3)  I chose the topic “Believe in yourself”. I tried my best to remember all the speech . With the help of my mother, I did well in the contest. I could hardly（几乎不）believe myself when the  (4)  came that I won the first place, I heard the cheers from the teachers and all students. My mother hugged（拥抱）me and cried   (5)  .

Since then, everything has changed for me. When I do anything, I try to   (6)   myself to be sure and I will find myself. This is not only for a person but also for a country.

On 26 December, 2004, more than 270,000 people lost their lives in a tsunami(海啸).As the 2004 Tsunami hit areas with tourists, people from over 50   (1)   were among the dead. This made it a truly world disaster.

The 2004 Tsunami disaster shook the world. Before it happened, most people did not even know what a tsunami was. But after the first killer waves hit the coast of 13 Southeast Asian and African countries,   (2)   began to talk about tsunami.

The 2004 Tsunami was caused by a 9.15 earthquake. The earthquake was so powerful that the ocean floor split into a1,000 kmlong crack (裂缝). The two sides of this crack moved   (3)   about 10 meters. This caused the movement of about30 km³ of water.

270,000 humans lost their lives in the 2004 Tsunami, but   (4) , not a single animal in the Yala National Park was killed. How did the animals know the tsunami was coming? Nobody knows, but they had moved to   (4)   ground or climbed up hills and big trees and were saved. Scientists say that studying animal behaviour could serve as an early warning system for humans in the future.

Natural disasters are unexpected.   (5)   you often hear about them and their terrible effects, you never imagine one happening to you. Neither did any of those 270,000 people. Knowledge is the only way to protect yourself.

Nowadays more and more people are keeping pets. Some pets are very pretty, lovely and helpful. They can help people do a lot of things. ___（1）__ cats can help catch mice, dogs can help policeman to find the thieves or help people who can’t see the street. Walking dogs is a good exercise and dogs can make children feel  （2） . Children love dogs best. It’s fun when you first have a pet dog in your family, but a few days later, you may cry, “He won’t stop barking!” or “Why does he eat everything?” So, do you really know _____（3）___ to take care of a puppy?

   You can teach your dog to sit, lie down, and even play games with you , but you shouldn’t be cruel to him or ____（4）___ him. It’s not a good habit for your pet to ask for food from the table. When he looks ill, you should ___（5）__ him to the animal hospital.

  It’s not easy to ___（6）__ your pet well. Some people believe that their pets are becoming part of their families. Some people spend ___（7）____ money and time on their pets. British people even spend as much as 660 million pounds on dog food in one year.

John is a famous writer now. But he said he was not a good student when he was young. He was often late for _____  (1)  ____ and didn’t like doing his homework. Sometimes, he slept in class while the teacher was teaching. He didn’t understand much, __  (2)  _____ he always thought he understood everything. One day the teacher asked the students a question. “When Jack was ten years old, _____  (3)  _____ brother Bob was twenty. Jack is fifteen now and how old is Bob?” John said, “That’s easy. Bob is ____  (4)  _____ as old as Jack, so he is now thirty.

  Another time, the teacher in a science class asked, “When it thunders(雷电), ____  (5)  ____ do we always see the light before we hear the sound?”

  “But, Miss,” said John____  (6)  ___, “Don’t you know our eyes are in front of our ears?”