Cleverness is a gift while kindness is a choice . Gifts are easy-they’re given after all . Choices can be hard .

I got the idea to start Amazon 16 years age . I came across the fact that the Internet usage was growing at 2,300 percent per year . I’d never seen or heard of anything that grew that fast , and the idea of building an online bookstore with millions of titles was very exciting to me . I had just turned 30 years old , and I’d been married for a year . I told my wife MacKenie that I wanted to quit my job and go to do this crazy thing that probably wouldn’t work since most start-ups don’t, and I wasn’t sure what to expect MacKenie told me I should go for it . As a young boy , I’d been a garage inventor . I’d always wanted to be an inventor ,and she wanted me to follow my passion .

I was working at a financial firm in Mew York City with a bunch of very smart people , and I had a brilliant boss that I much admired.I went to my boss and told him I wanted to start a company selling books on the Internet.He took me on a long walk in Central Park , listened carefully to me , and finally said .”That sounds like a really good idea , but it would be an even better idea for someone who didn’t yet have a good job .” That logic made some sens to me , and he convinced me to think about it for 48 hours before making a final decision . Seen in that light , it really was a difficult choice , but finally, I decided I had to give it a shot(尝试). I didn’t think I’d regret trying and failing. And I suspected I would always be haunted by a decision not to try at all. 

After much consideration , I took the less safe path to follow my passion , and I’m pound of that choice . For all of us , in the end , we are our choices.

1. What inspired the author with the idea of building an online bookstore ?

A. His dream of being an inventor.

B. The support of his wife.

C. The greatly increasing usage of the Internet.

D. Millions of exciting titles.

2. Which of the following is closet in meaning to the underlined sentence ?

A. The idea of not trying would keep coming to his mind and disturb him.

B. He would be very excited if he tried it out.

C. He would be always having a doubt if he didn’t try.

D. The decision not to try the online bookstore would terrify him.

3. We can know from the passage that    .

A.the boss thought the idea was suitable for the author

B.the author wanted someone else to try the idea

C.the author might not regret if he failed the idea

D.the author might go back to his boss if he failed

4. Which of the following would be the best title for the passage ?

A. Cleverness and kindness

B. The start of Amazon

C. Following my passion

D. We are what we choose

Watson entered Mr Smith’s office . The boss was a hard man . He fired people who didn’t do well without giving them a second chance .

“Watson,” said Mr Smith , “this past year your department  hasn’t earned money . We’re going to drop that department . It’s finished . I’ m sorry ,but you’ll have to go .” “ But ,sir—if I just had a little more time . For the moment I need the job to keep my son at Riverside School. ”

“ What’s that! ”said the boss . ”Riverside! I didn’t know you had a boy there. That’s an expensive school for a man with your salary.

“ I know , sir . But he likes there so much ! He’s a star athlete and the best boxer in the school . Th e boys call him Champ (冠军) there.”

The boss sat perfectly still for a long time—a faraway (恍惚的)look in his eyes . Then , suddenly , he said , “We’ve got to close your department , Watson . But you’ll take over a new job in another department . It means longer hours—maybe more pay . Now get out . You’re here for life.”

Watson got out , with surprise on his face . Then the boss took a letter from the top drawer of his desk . It was Herbie’s last letter from Riverside School—written a few days before he died. He had read it over and over again with sick pain . Th letter read.

I can’t say the boys here are any nicer to me than the others were . I guess it’s the same everywhere when you’re a cripple (跛脚的人). But don’t worry about me , Dad . They’ve got a good chemistry department here . And there’s one boy here who is really great . He’s a track star and boxing champ and just tops in chemistry . The boys call him Champ . He made them stop throwing my books around . And he knocked a boy down who hit me . He is the best friend I ever had . Dad, when I grow up , I want to do something for Champ . Something big—that he won’t even know about .

Your son,

  Herbie

5. Mr Smith wanted to fire Watson because      .

A. Watson would take over a new job in another department.

B. Watson had his son study in Riverside School.

C. Watson’ s son knocked a boy down who hit Herbie.

D. Watson’ s department didn’t earn money that year.

6. We can from the passage that     .

A. Mr Smith didn’t know that Champ was Watson’ s son at first.

B. Mr Smith was told not to fire Watson by Herbie.

C. Mr Smith decided to give Watson another chance in no time.

D.Mr Smith wanted to realize Champ’s dream.

7. According to the passage , which words can best describe Mr Smith?

A. Sympathetic and grateful.                    B. Selfish and greedy.

C. hardworking and strict.                  D. Easy-going and optimistic.

8. The author wrote the passage in order to      .

A.made our children enjoy.                  B.share a moving story with us.

C.provide us with tips on work.             D.help us to deal with our boss.

Research has shown that first-born children are better than their kid brothers or sisters . First-borns do better on IQ tests and are more likely to become president of the United States but less likely to do drugs and so on .

But why birth order appears to matter so much for school achievement level is much less clear. Many theories have been put forward, ranging from to the stable family life and to different explanation: It comes down to parent’s reputations for maintaining discipline(维持纪律)with their kids .

The basic idea is this: There are two types of parents—those who in our study we call “unforgiving ”—they’ll punish children for poor school performance ,regardless of their children , regardless of birth . The child’s birth order , and those who are “forgiving,” meaning they don’t like to punish any of their children , regardless of birth. The latter type of parents face a dilemma . If they don’t punish their children , regardless of birth . The children will follow suit. As a result , all of them will tend not to work hard in school . To avoid this situation , forgiving parents are strict with their first-born ,hoping to convey an idea that will influence the behavior of their younger children as well . The younger children , seeing their big brother or sister punished , will be less likely to slack off (懈怠) in school because they can’t be sure that mom and dad aren’t really unforgiving types.

So the out outcome of this strategic parenting is that while all children benefit from the first-born’ s punishments , the influence is the greatest on the eldest child .

9. According to the author , first-born children’ s better performance lies in     .

A.personal awareness                    B.school education

C.different parenting                   D.family background 

10.What is the point of the 3re paragraph?

A．To inform the readers of the basis of the research

B．To explain how the study was conducted

C．To expose the truth of the parenting problem

D．To show how parents can influence their kids

11．The best title for the passage is probably           .

A．Studies on raising first-borns

B．How to teach kids behave better in school

C．Different parenting styles

D．Why first-born kids do better in school

    When her five daughters were young. Helene An always told them that there was strength in unity（团结）. To show this, she help up one chopstick, representing one person. Then she easily broke it into two pieces. Next, she tied several chopsticks together, representing a family. She showed the girls it was hard to break the tied chopsticks. This lesson about family unity stayed with the daughters as they grew up.

     Helene An and her family own a large restaurant business in California. However, when Helene and her husband Danny left their home in Vietnam in 1975, they didn’t have much money. They moved their family to San Francisco. There they joined Danny’s mother, Diana, who owned a small Italian sandwich shop. Soon afterwards, Helene and Diana changed the sandwich shop into a small Vietnamese restaurant. The five daughters helped in the restaurant when they were young. However. Helene did not want her daughters to always work in the family business because she thought it was too hard.

      Eventually the girls all graduated from college and went away to work for themselves, but one by one, the daughters returned to work in the family business. They opened new restaurants in San Francisco and Los Angeles. Even though family members sometimes disagreed with each other, they worked together to make the business successful. Daughter Elizabeth explains. “Our mother taught us that to succeed we must have unity, and to have unity we must have peace. Without the strength of the family, there is no business.”

      Their expanding business became a large corporation in 1996, with three generations of Ans working together. Now the Ans’ corporation makes more than ＄20 million each year. Although they began with a small restaurant, they had big dreams, and they worked together. Now they are a big success.

12．Helene tied several chopsticks together to show       .

A．the strength of family unity

B．the difficulty of growing up

C．the advantage of chopsticks

D．the best way of giving a lesson

13．We can learn from Paragraph 2 that the An family       .

A．started a business in 1975

B．left Vietnam without much money

C．bought a restaurant in San Francisco

D．opened a sandwich shop in Los Angeles

14．What can we infer about the An daughters?

A．They did not finish their college education

B．They could not bear to work in the family business

C．They were influenced by what Helene taught them

D．They were troubled by disagrcement among family members

15．Which of the following can be the best title for the passage?

A．How to Run a Corporation         B．Strength Comes from Peace

C．How to Achieve a Big Dream     D．Family Unity Builds Success

Learn to think

     “I will think of it.” It is easy to say this.  16  We can not see our thoughts, or hear, or taste, or feel them; and yet what mighty power they have!

     Sir Isaac Newton was seated in his garden on a summer’s evening, when he saw an apple full from a tree.  17  Later, he discovered how the earth, sun, moon, and stars were kept in their places.

     18  He began to think, he wanted to find out why the steam in the kettle moved the heavy lid. From that time he went on thinking and thinking. When he became a man, he improved the steam engine so much that it could, with the greatest ease, do the work of many horses.   19

     A man named Galileo was once standing in the cathedral of Pisa when he saw a chandelier swaying to and fro. This set him thinking, and it led to the invention of the pendulum.

     Boys, when you have a difficult lesson to learn, don’t feel discouraged, and help yourselves before asking someone to help you  20

A．But do you know what great things have come from thinking?

B．Think, and by thinking you will learn how to think to some purpose

C．A boy named James Watt sat quietly by the fireside, watching the lid of the tea kettle as it moved up and down

D．And do you know how to think?

E．When you see a steamboat, a steam mill, remember that it would never have been built if it had not been for the hard thinking of someone.

F．He began to think, trying to find out why the apple fell

G．He was a famous physicist and good at thinking