Whenever the sun dropped and the blue sky came up, my father and I used to climb the mountain near my house. Walking together, my father and I used to have a lot of conversations through which I learned lessons from his experiences. He always told me," You should have goals like climbing the mountain." Without the mountain-climbing that we both enjoyed, we couldn't have enough time to spend together because my father was very busy. I really got a lot from the mountain-climbing. It gave me time to talk with my father and to be in deep thought as well as develop my patience（耐力）.

    Once we climbed a very high mountain. It was so challenging（挑战性的） for me because I was only ten years old. During the first few hours of climbing, I enjoyed the flowers and trees, and the birds' singing. But as time passed, I got a pain in both of my legs. I wanted to quit climbing, In fact, I hated it at that moment, but my father said to me, "You can always see a beautiful sky at the top of the mountain, but you can't see it before you reach the top. Only there at the top, can you see all of the nice things, which is just like your life."

    At that time, I was too young to understand his words. But later after that, I got new hope and confidence. I found myself standing at the top of the sky, which was as clear as crystal（水晶）.

    I’ve loved my mother’s desk since I was just tall enough to see above the top of it as mother sat doing letters. Standing by her chair, looking at the ink bottle, pens, and white paper, I decided that the act of writing must be the more wonderful thing in the world.

   Years later, during her final illness, mother kept different things for my sister and brother. “But the desk,”she’d said again, “it’s for Elizabeth.”

   I never saw her angry, never saw her cry. I knew she loved me, she showed it in action. But as a young girl, I wanted heart-to-heart talks between mother and daughter. They never happened. And agulf opened between us. I was “too emotional(易动感情的)”. But she lived “on the surface”.

   As years passed I had my own family. I loved my mother and thanked her for our happy family. I wrote to her in careful words and asked her to let me know in any way she chose that she did forgive(原谅) me. I posted the letter and waited for her answer. None came.

My hope turned to disappointment, then little interest and, finally peace, it seemed that nothing happened. I couldn’t be sure that the letter had even got to mother. I only knew that I had written it, and I could stop trying to make her into someone she was not.

   Now the present of her desk told, as she’d never been able to, that she was pleased that writing was my chosen work. I cleaned the desk carefully and found some papers inside --a photo of my father and a one-page letter, folded and refolded many times.

 Give me an answer, my letter asks, in any way you choose. Mother, you always chose the act that speaks louder than words.

根据短文内容，选择最佳答案。

I learned about life from an ant farm. It was when I was seven years old, my family created one. First, we put clean sand in a thin glass box, and then we waited for the live ants to arrive. Shortly after the ants were dropped into the glass structure, they got to work making tunnels. I was amazed that each of them knew exactly what to do .After hours of staring, I discovered that the ants hadassignedjobs.   

With the help of mom, I kept a diary of what happened each day and named the ants. One day an incident struck the ant farm. The pages of the diary, still wrinkled(皱巴巴的)where tear drops fell, indicate the great loss. I had put my face so close to the structure that I accidentally knocked it over and all the tunnels caved in. Although the ants survived(幸存) their earthquake, one by one they began to die. 

I was terrified as I watched them give up their tunnel-building to carry the bodies to a corner of the farm. My mom reported that the ants were dying of frustration. They simply could not stand the reality that their tunnels had been destroyed.   

Although much time has passed, I still think of that ant farm. Mom had hoped it would teach me about the natural world, but it taught me much more. Over the years, I came to realize the ants were a study in the benefits of teamwork. Working together, they were able to create an amazing world for themselves. I also learned that they should be admired for their hard work. Day in and day out, each worked hard at their task.   

The ant farm showed that teamwork and perseverance(持之以恒）are indeed two keys to success. But there was an even larger lesson that I did not realize until recently: Adversity is a natural part of life, and must be accepted. Unlike the ants, humans cannot give up when they face disappointment. Unlike the ants, we have to realize that if a tunnel caves in, we just have to build another. Giving up, I say, is not a choice.

John, a famous musician, took his priceless violin and played it in the crowded subway station. The music from the violin was streaming throughout the whole station. However, during the one-hour play, only six or seven people were truly appreciating the music. A three-year-old kid was so fascinated by the music that he forgot everything around. John only got 52 dollars for his work that day.

However, in normal days, when John is about to hold a concert, one ticket can be sold at more than 100 dollars and it is really hard to buy a ticket even at such a high price. Therefore, later, many passers-by in the station that day felt deeply regretful for not recognizing the famous musician and missing such a valuable but cheap music feast(盛宴).

I have a very busy friend called Charles. He had totally changed after knowing that his wife came down with incurable illness. He cooked by himself for the family and took a walk with his wife every day. But even so, his wife still did notconquerthe illness and passed away. After that, he often sighed. Due to his past busy life, he had missed a lot of beautiful time with his wife. But now, it is impossible to make up for it.

   But It is no use crying over spilt milk. We have missed a lot of precious things without knowing to treasure them. The reason is less than simple :we had thought that we could still own them tomorrow.

There was a famous Buddhist monk saying that in many people’s lives, they have only done two things: waiting and regretting. The result is that they were always too late to treasure what they had before they lost it. We should often expect to do something when we grow up, or when we have money or when we become old, ect. However, when we reach the condition we have expected, we could no longer realize our wish, because we have lost it by then.

Have you ever noticed that you’re treated (对待) differently in stores based on your sex (性别), age, race (种族) and even the way you dress? I certainly have, so I wanted to see exactly what happens inside these stores that are meant to be run with “customer (顾客) service”.

A young man in ripped (撕破的) jeans and an old jacket went into a car shop and asked for a price on the top of the line vehicle (汽车). The salesman looked him up and down and said, “I don’t think you can afford a car like this. Have a look at theinferiorcars over here.” 

As you can imagine, the young man was angry and left the showroom. Two days later, the young man walked back in, and he walked up to the salesman who had served him two days before and asked, “Hi, do you remember me? You said I should look at the inferior cars the other day.” The salesman nodded and said yes.

The young man then asked him to just quickly come outside and have a look at something. They walked out and the young man pointed to the brand-new (全新的) top of the line Ford and said, “I paid with cash (现金), do you like my new car?” And then the salesman quickly left.

Maybe many businesses don’t understand a fact if they don’t treat their customers equally, they will lose business. Not every one of the above people will ever go back to those companies and they won’t recommend them to anyone. You will not only lose repeat business but also lose up to 10 customers, for every person you treat badly will not recommend your companies and will tell people not to go to these places.

When I was eleven, my mother worked all day. As a sister, I had to look after my younger sister on weekends. At that time, my little sister was about three years old and she missed Mum all the time.

   One day, she started crying for Mum after lunch. She was so young and really needed Mum. To make her stop crying, I dressed her up, helped her to put on the shoes, carried her on my back and walked out to the park. Soon she fell asleep (入睡) on my back.

   Before we got to the park, I found one of her shoes lost. I took her off my back and put her down.

   I knew we needed to find that shoe, for our mother didn't have enough money to buy her new shoes. I had to go back to find it, so I told my sister to wait right there.

   A man happened to hear my words and stopped me just before I walked off. He asked me, "Are you leaving your sister here to find the shoe? What will you do if she is not here when you return?" I didn't know how to answer that question. "It's OK if you can't find the shoe, but it is not OK to lose your sister," he added. Then he sent us to Mum's workplace by taxi and left without another word.

   People always say, "Do not believe in strangers (陌生人)." But during my whole life, the kindness of the man is always in my mind. I feel regretful that I can't find him and say "Thank you". I do not even remember what he looked like, but he taught me a lesson－people are more important than things.

根据材料内容选出最佳选项,并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。

 Lots of kids hate school, a new study found. Usually this kind of feeling doesn't last long. But what happens if you feel this way too much? School is a fact of life and getting a good education can help you build the kind of future life you want. So let's talk about school and what to do when you don't like it.

   If you don't like school, the first step is to find out why. You might not like school because you don't have enough friends, or maybe you don't get along with your teacher. Sometime it's a big problem with your classes and school-work. You may be getting farther and farther behind, and it may seem like you'll never catch up.

   When you know why you don't like school, you can start taking steps to make things better. It's a good idea to talk to someone about your problems with school. Your mum, dad, teacher or school counselor(顾问)will be able to help you. Another good idea is to write down your feelings about school in a notebook. It's a great way to let out emotions(情绪).Remember, you don't have to share what you've written with others.

 One day, a boy found an eagle's (鹰) egg and put it in the nest (窝) of a prairie (草原) chicken. The eagle hatched (孵化) and thought he was a chicken. He grew up doing what prairie chickens do. It was a boring life.

   Day after day, the eagle grew older. One day, he and his prairie chicken friend saw a beautiful bird soaring (翱翔) in the sky, high above the mountains. "Oh, I wish I could fly like that!" said the eagle. The chicken replied, "Don't give it another thought. That's the strong eagle, and it's the king of all birds. You could never be like him because you are a chicken!" And the eagle never thought about that. He went on living like a chicken. Even when he died, he thought he was a prairie chicken.

   My friend, you too are a small eagle. So try your best to fly upon (在...之上) the sky, and don't listen to the prairie chickens!

   It's not easy to find a. person with the qualities of being a hero. I didn't really understand the meaning of the word "hero" until my third year in the college.

   If you saw her, you wouldn't think she really looks the part (看起来样子像那种人). but she is stronger than Superman. Her name is Sandra Keierleber. I first. met her at volleyball tryouts (选拔赛), but didn't notice anything special at first. As the week passed, however, she showed she had more heart than anyone. She stood out because she never gave up, no matter what.

   Sandra isn't the tallest or the fastest -- in fact, this was her first time playing volleyball and it showed -- but that didn't stop her. She was always the first to arrive and the last to leave. By the end of tryouts she had found a place in everyone's heart. When the name list for new members was put up, we all waited nervously as she checked. When she stood at the door and smiled happily, all we could do was cheer.

   After Sandra made the team, she worked even harder to improve her game. When she asked for help, we gladly taught her. She also became our fan, attending almost every school game and even joining us in the city games. We all like her, because she never thinks about doing things the easy way, or loses that smile. Because of her great exertion, she makes herself a true hero -- and my hero, too.

 When Andrew was a student in a high school, his teacher asked him to write a passage about what he wanted to do when he grew up. That night he thought hard and worte a seven－page passage about his dream of having a horse ranch(牧场). And he even drew a picture of a 200－acre(亩) ranch. The next day he gave it to his teacher.

   Two days later he got his passage back. On the first page was a large F with some words, "Please see me after class."

   Andrew went to see his teacher after class and asked, "Why did I get an F?"

   The teacher said, "You have no money. Your parents have no money. Having a horse ranch needs a lot of money. You have to buy the land. You have to buy the horses. There's no way you could ever do it. If you write a passage again, I will change your grade."

   Andrew went back home and thought about it for a long time. The next day he gave the same passage, making no changes at all. He said to his teacher, "You can keep the F and I'll keep my dream."

   Now, Andrew has a 200－acre horse ranch.