One day a young man named Gary went to see a wise old man. He wanted to know why he wasn’t able to reach all of his dreams in his life.

He found the old man by the river. With a smile, the wise man listened to Gary’s   (1)  and told him, “First, help me boil a kettle（壶） of water!”

Gary saw a big kettle in the corner next to a small stove（火炉）, but he didn’t find any wood. So he went out to  (2)   some.

He came back with some dry wood, and then he  (3)  the kettle with water and put it on the stove. After that, he put some wood in the stove and made a fire. But because the kettle was too  (4)  , when the wood was burned up, the water did not boil. So he ran off to get more wood.       (5)  he returned, the water had nearly turned cold. This time he learned the lesson and prepared     (6)  wood first and the water boiled very quickly.

 “If there is not enough wood,   (7)  will you boil the water?” the wise old man asked. Gary thought for a moment but didn’t know the answer.

 “Well, just pour  (8)  some water from the kettle! ” the wise old man said.“At first, you set so many goals and had so many  (9)  , ” said the wise old man. “It’s just like the large kettle full of water. You didn’t have enough  (10)  ,so you couldn’t boil the water. If you want to make the water boil, you will have to either pour some water out or prepare more wood. ”

Mr. Smith is fifty years old. He began to teach in a middle school twenty-six years ago. He works hard and always comes to his office on time. He wishes his students to be honest and is strict with them. Some of his students become famous people later, but they still remember his and often write to him. Of course the old man is proud of it.

This term he began to teach Grade One. Some of the new students learnt about him, but the others didn’t know him well. He told them how to be an honest man. He gave them several examples and said:“I hate telling a lie most.”

Before class was over, he told all his students to finish Exercise 8 in Unit 1. The next morning, he came to the classroom and asked, “Who’ s finished Exercise 8?”

A few students put up his hands. He shook his head and said, “Open your workbook and see whether there is Exercise 8 `in Unit 1 or not.”

The students had a look at their workbooks and their faces turned red at once..

Why did I come today? I wondered. My Christmas   (1)  contained(包含) several people that claimed they wanted nothing. But I knew their feelings would be hurt   (2)  I didn’t buy them anything, so gift buying was fun.

Hurriedly, I finished shopping and   (3)   the long checkout lines. In front of me were a boy of about 5 and a younger girl. She carried a beautiful pair of   (4)  shoes. When we finally reached the cashier’s desk, the girl   (5)  placed the shoes on the counter. She treated them as if they were a   (6)  .

“That will be $6.09,” the cashier said. The boy   (7)   his pockets. He finally came up with $3.12. “ I guess we will have to put them back,” he said. “ We will come back some other time, maybe tomorrow.”

“But Jesus (耶稣) would have loved these shoes,” a soft cry broke from the   (8)  .

“ We’ll go home and work some more. Don’t cry. We’ll surely   (9)  ,” he said.

Quickly I   (10)  $3.00 to the cashier. These children had waited in line for a long time. And, after all, it was Christmas. Suddenly a pair of   (11)   came around me and a small voice gratefully said, “ Thank you, lady.”

“What did you   (12)   when you said Jesus would like the shoes?” I asked. The boy answered,“ Our mommy is   (13)  and going to heaven. Daddy said she might go before Christmas to be with Jesus.” The girl spoke, “ My Sunday school teacher said the streets in heaven are shiny gold, just like these shoes. Won’t mommy be   (14)  walking on these streets in these shoes?”

My eyes flooded as I looked into her tear-streaked face. “Yes,” I answered, “ I am sure she will.” Silently I thanked God for using these children to  (15)   me of the true spirit of giving.

Little Tommy was doing very badly in math. His parents had tried everything—tutors (家庭教师), cards, special learning centers—in short, everything they could think of. Finally they took Tommy to a catholic (天主教的) school.

After the first day, little Tommy came home with a very serious look on his face. He didn’t kiss his mother hello. Instead, he went straight to his room and started studying. Books and papers were spread (铺开) out all over the room and little Tommy was hard at work. His mother was surprised. She called him down to dinner and as soon as he finished eating, he went back to his room, without a word. In no time he was back hitting the books as hard as before. This went on for some time, day after day while the mother tried to understand what was happening.
Finally, little Tommy brought home his report card. He quietly put it on the table and went up to his room and hit the books. His mom looked at it and to her surprise, little Tommy got an A in math. She could no longer hold her curiosity (好奇心). She went to his room and asked, “Son, what was it? Was it the nuns (修女)?”

Little Tommy looked at her and shook his head, “No. ”

“Well then,” she asked again. “WHAT was it?”

Little Tommy looked at her and said, “Well, on the first day of school, when I saw that man nailed (钉) to the plus sign (加号), I knew they weren’t joking. ”

(      )

Lang Lang is a world-class young pianist who grew up in Shenyang. He went to a piano school in Beijing when he was just eight. "You need fortune (运气)," his father said. "But  (1)  you work hard, no fortune will come."

What made him sad was that his piano teacher in Beijing didnˈt like him. "You have no  (2)  . You will never be a pianist." As an eight-year-old boy, Lang Lang was badly  (3)  . He decided that he didnˈt want to be a pianist any more. For the next two weekshe didnˈt touch the piano. Wisely his father didnˈt  (4)  , but wait.

Luckily, the day came when his teacher asked him to play some holiday songs. He didnˈtwant to, but as he placed his fingers on the piano keys, he（5） he could show otherpeople that he had the ability to do it well. That day he told his father that he wanted to  (5)  with a new teacher. From that point on, everything turned around.

Hestarted  (6)  competitions. In the 1994 International Young PianistsCompetition when it was announced that Lang Lang had won, he was too  (7)  to holdback his tears. Soon it was clear that he couldnˈt stay in China forever—he had to play on theworldˈs big stages. In 1997 Lang Lang  (8)  again, this time to Philadelphia, U. S.

There he spent two years practicing and by 1999 he had worked hard enough for fortune to takeover. After his  (9)  performance at Chicagoˈs Raviniu Festival, gigs(演奏会)inLincoln Center and Carnegie Hall started pouring in. Lang Lang finally worked to reach the place where fortune spots (找到) him, and lets him shine.

Long long ago there was a great man who married the woman he loved so much. Soon they had a little girl. She was a bright and happy little girl and the great man loved her very much.

When the little girl was growing up, the great man sang and danced with her. The man told her daughter, "I love you, my little girl." When the little girl got older, the man still loved her and called her little girl. Then she shouted and said, "I'm not a little girl anymore." Every time the man laughed,"But to me, you'll always be my little girl."

Later the little girl left her home and went into the outside world. As she learned more about the world, she learned more about the man. She understood that he truly was great and strong, for now she knew hisstrengths. One of his strengths was to show his love to his family. No matter where she was, the man would call her and say, "I love you, my little girl."

The terrible thing came when the little girl got a phone call. The great man was badly ill. He had a stroke(中风). So she went back home, When she walked into the room and saw him. he looked small and not strong at all. He looked at her and tried to speak, but he could not. He could no longer smile, dance or tell the girl he loved her.

The little girl did the only thing she could do. She climbed up on the bed next to the great man.Tears ran from both of their eyes and she hugged(拥抱) her father,At that time she thought of many things. She remembered the wonderful times together with her father. With the beat of his father's heart, she seemed to hear, "I love you, my little girl."

The girl told her father not to call her little girl because         .

When the girl went back home, she found her father         .

What may the underlined word strengthsmean in the passage?

Which statement isTRUEaccording to the story?

A few minutes before 6 o’clock, Mr. Smith began to leave. He was about to start the car when a gunman ___（1）___ up from the back seat. He ____（2）___ a gun to Mr. Smith’s head. “Drive me to Paris!” he shouted.

   “All right,” Mr. Smith answered. He started the engine (发动机), pulled away from the side of the street and _____（3）__ down . Being 81 years old, he knew he could not ___（4）____ the gunman. He knew he needed help. Where were the police? As he drove ___（5）______ each crossing, he looked up and down the side streets, hoping to meet a police car. But he could see ___（6）___. “Just my luck,” he thought. “If I was ____（7）__too fast, there would be a police car on every corner.”

   Suddenly, he pushed his foot down on the accelerator (油门), and the car ran ____（8）_____ faster . “___（9）_____ are you doing?” shouted the gunman. “Keeping off the police,” Mr. Smith answered. “I thought I saw a police car ____（10）_____ there.”

   He ran red lights, drove the wrong way on one-way streets. On the two-way streets, he drove on the wrong ___（11）_____ of the road. Not one of the policemen saw him. Again Mr. Smith’s plan was not working. He had to try a ____（12）____ plan .

   He turned a corner and saw the police station. Then he drove his car as fast as he could towards the police gate. The car __（13）______ a police motorbike and stopped. Mr. Smith shouted: “Help! Help!” Then he ____（14）___ back to grab the man’s gun. At the, same time the policemen heard the ____（15）___ and quickly caught the gunman.

  It was a cold snowy morning after the winter vacation. And it was my first   (1)   at my new school. I was walking alone slowly and   (2)  about lots of things. It was early and there weren’t many people on the road. Suddenly a girl who was   (3)   a bike on ice fell down. She was trying hard to get up but fell again.   (4)   thinking, I went over and helped her. She said “  (5)  ” with a smile and then rode away. Her words warmed me a lot.

  Finally, I got to school. The teacher led me to the   (6)   and introduced me to the class. Then he asked me to sit down beside a girl. I felt so   (7)   that I didn’t dare to look at her. Soon the first class,   (8)  , started. Their textbooks were different from those in my old school. As I was wondering   (9)   to do, an English book appeared in front of me. “Let’s share,” the girl beside me said, “Hi, I’m Carrie.” I  (10)  . It was the girl I helped this morning. Later on, we became good friends.

  From that I learned: to help others is actually to help ourselves!

Growing up is not always easy.Courage and independence can be more useful than crying for help.That’s what a man’s story   (1)   me.

    The young man was born in a poor family in a small   (2)   .When he was only 11, his father becameMentally(精神上地) ill and one day he came back with an abandoned baby(弃婴) girl.A year   (3)   his mother left home with his younger brother, because she couldn’t stand the hard life and her mad husband. The 12-year-old boy had to support the whole family only by   (4)  . He took care of not only his sick father, but also the little girl.  (5)  , he didn’t give up studying. Later he went to collage. To care for the little girl, he rented a room near his college and   (6)   studying in college while doing part—time jobs. People from his town were deeply moved by his behaviors.

    Although his life was hard, he didn’t abandon(抛弃) his father and sister, because they need his help very much.And he refused donations(捐助) from   (7)   .With his own money, he even helped some students in   (8)   .

     Today when many young people care more about their own happiness, this young man’s behaviors reminds us of what we don’t usually   (9)  : love people around us . It is love that makes us   (10)  . Nobody could live without love.