When I was growing up, I had an old neighbor named Doctor Gibbs. He didn't look like any doctor I'd ever known. He never yelled at us for playing in his yard, but was always very kind.

When Doctor Gibbs wasn't saving lives, he was planting trees. He had some interesting theories about planting trees. He believed in the principle: "No pains, no gains". He hardly watered his new trees, which flew in the face of conventional wisdom. Once I asked why and he told me that watering plants spoiled them because it made them grow weaker. He said you had to make things tough for the trees so that only the strongest could survive. He talked about how watering trees made them develop shallow roots and how, if they were not watered, trees would grow deep roots in search of water. So, instead of watering his trees every morning, he'd beat them with a rolled-up newspaper. I asked him why he did that, and he said it was to get the tree's attention.

Doctor Gibbs died a couple of years after I left home. Every now and then, I walked by his house and looked at the trees that I'd watched him plant some twenty five years ago. They were all tall and strong.

I planted a couple of trees myself a few years ago. Two years of attending these trees meant they grew up weak. Whenever a cold wind blew, their branches trembled. Adversity(逆境) seemed to benefit Doctor Gibb's trees in ways comfort and ease never could.

Every night before I go to bed, I check on my two sons. I often pray that their lives will be easy. But lately I've been thinking that it's time to change my prayer. I know my children are going to meet with hardship. There's always a cold wind blowing somewhere. What we need to do is to pray for deep roots, so when the rains fall and the winds blow, we won't be torn apart.

21. With the trees planted, Doctor Gibbs often __________.

A. paid little attention to them

B. kept watering them every morning

C. talked to them to get their attention

D. beat them to make them grow deep roots

22. What does the author think of the way Doctor Gibbs planted trees?

A. Strange and harmful.                          B. Interesting and funny.

C. Cruel and unacceptable.                    D. Original and reasonable.

23. Which prayer does the author wish for his sons?

A. Meet people like Dr Gibbs in the future.

B. Be able to stand the rain and wind in their lives.

C. Have an easy life, without too much to worry about.

D. Have good luck, encountering less hardship in their life.

24. Which of the following can be the best title of the passage?

A. Prayers for my sons                    B. Doctor Gibbs and his trees

C. Growing roots                  D. Watering trees

How to Be a Winner

Sir Steven Redgrave

Winner of 5 Olympic Gold Medals

“In 1997 I was found to have developed diabetes (糖尿病). Believing my career was over, I felt extremely low. Then one of the specialists said there was no reason why I should stop training and competing. That was the encouragement I needed. I could still be a winner if I believed in myself. I am not saying that it isn’t difficult sometimes. But I wanted to prove to myself that I wasn't finished yet. Nothing is to stand in my way.”

Karen Pickering

Swimming World Champion

“I swim 4 hours a day, 6 days a week. I manage that sort of workload by putting it on top of my diary. This is the key to success —you can’t follow a career in any field without being well-organized. List what you believe you can achieve. Trust yourself, write down your goals for the day, however small they are, and you’ll be a step closer to achieving them.”

Kirsten Best

Poet & Writer

“When things are getting hard, a voice inside my head tells me that I can’t achieve something. Then there are other distractions, such as family or hobbies. The key is to concentrate. When I feel tense, it helps a lot to repeat words such as ‘calm’, ‘peace’ or ‘focus’, either out loud or silently in my mind. It makes me feel more in control and increases my confidence. This is a habit that can become second nature quite easily and is a powerful psychological(心理的) tool.”

25. What does Sir Steven Redgrave mainly talk about?    

A. Difficulties influenced his career.    

B. Specialists offered him medical advice.    

C. Training helped him defeat his disease. 

D. He overcame the shadow of illness to win. 

26. What does Karen Pickering put on top of her diary?    

A. Her achievements.                     

B. Her daily happenings.    

C. Her training schedule.                   

D. Her sports career. 

27. According to the passage, what do the three people have in common?    

A. Courage.      B. Devotion.       C. Hard work.        D. Self-confidence.

A couple of days ago, as the test results came out, my son and a group of his 13-year-old friends piled into the back seat of my car, ready for the last-day-of-school party at McDonald's. “Jack got a laptop for getting straight A's, and Laurie got a cell-phone,” one boy said. “Oh, yeah, and Sarah got an iPad, and she's only in third grade,” said another. “And how about Brian? He got $10 for each A.”

I suddenly became concerned. These payoffs might get parents through grammar school, but what about high school and beyond? What would be left after the electric guitar, the cell-phone, and the DVD player?       

I saw the road ahead: As the homework load increased, my income would decrease. I saw my comfortable lifestyle disappear before my eyes — no more of those $5 bags of already-peeled organic carrots. No more organic anything!            

I started to feel surprised and nervous. Would every goal achieved by my two children fetch a reward? A high grade point average? A good class ranking? Would sports achievements be included in this reward system: soccer goals, touchdowns? What about the orchestra? Would first chair pay more than second? I'd be penniless by eighth-grade graduation.

“We never paid anything for good grades,” said my neighbor across the street, whose son was recently accepted at MIT. “He just did it on his own. Maybe once in a while we went out for pizza, but that's about it.”

Don't you just hate that? We're all running around looking for the MP3 player with the most updates, and she’s spending a few dollars on pizza. She gets motivation; we get negotiation. And what about the primary grades? What do these students get? “When the teacher asked if anyone got rewards for good grades, everyone in my class raised their hands and said they got ice cream cones ,” said one third-grader.

28. What’s the best title for the passage?

A. Tips on Paying Kids for Good Grades

B. New changes in Paying Kids for Good Grades

C. Good Grades Mean Good Rewards

D. Don't Pay Kids for Good Grades

29. What does the underlined sentence in the third paragraph probably mean?

A. Taking care of my children would influence my work.

B. I would spend less money on my children's good grades.

C. More rewards would be needed as my children grow up.

D. Reducing my children's homework load would cost me a lot.

30. It can be inferred from the passage that ________.

A. if you buy children pizza as a reward, they will work harder

B. if you pay kids for good grades, they will take it for granted

C. children will not ask for rewards when they enter high school

D. good grades won't help kids make great progress in the future

31. The author takes her neighbor as an example to show _______.

A. pizza is the best way to motivate children

B. it is necessary to reward children for their good grades

C. getting rewards for good grades is common nowadays

D. rewards are not the only way to encourage children

Children who spend more time outdoors may have a lower risk of becoming nearsighted, new research suggests.

In the study, researchers looked at about 1,900 schoolchildren. The scientists found that the kids who had been instructed to spend more time outdoors over three years were 23 percent less likely to develop nearsightedness during this time than those who had not been instructed to spend more time outdoors. Moreover, among the kids who did become nearsighted during the study, the degree to which their eyesight worsened was slightly smaller among those who spent more time outdoors.

The researchers selected six schools and required the children, whose average age was 7 at the start of the study, to attend one additional 60-minute class of outdoor activities during each school day for three years. The parents of these children were also encouraged to engage their children in outdoor activities after school, especially during weekends and holidays. The other half of the children, from another six schools, continued their usual activity patterns. After three years, 30.4 percent of the kids in the intervention(干预) group had become nearsighted, compared with 38.5 percent of the kids in the other group.

It is not clear exactly why spending more time outside would benefit children’s eyesight, the researchers said. However, some research has suggested that the higher levels of light intensity found outdoors may increase the release of the chemical dopamine(多巴胺) of the eye. In turn, dopamine is known to restrain（抑制） the type of growth in the eye that is associated with nearsightedness.

Based on the new results, the researchers recommend that children spend more time outdoors because of the potential benefits to their eyesight. However, it’s important to protect kids’ skin and eyes from UV light, which can be damaging.

32. What did the children in the intervention group do during each school day?

A. Attend an extra class of outdoor activities.

B. Continue to do their usual activities.

C. Spend one hour in doing eye exercises.

D. Participate in outdoor activities with parents.

33. What can be inferred about the chemical dopamine?

A. It can contribute to poor sight.        B. It can damage people’s brain.

C. It is beneficial to eyesight.               D. It means low levels of light intensity.

34. What may be discussed in the following paragraph?

A. How to design outdoor activities for kids.

B. How to prevent kids becoming nearsighted.

C. How to protect kids’ skin and eyes from UV light.

D. How to encourage kids to join in outdoor activities.

35. Which can serve as the best title for the passage?

A. The More Time Outdoors, the Better

B. Kids May See Better if They Play Outside

C. It’s Time to Engage Kids in Outdoor Activities

D. Researchers Found a Cure for Nearsightedness

If I were a boy again, I would practice perseverance more often, and never give up a thing because it was hard or inconvenient.     36  “There are only two creatures,” says a proverb, “who can surmount(越过) the pyramids — the eagle and the snail.”

If I were a boy again, I would school myself into a habit of attention. I would let nothing come between me and the subject in hand.      37       The habit of attention becomes part of our life, if we begin early enough. I often hear grown-up people say, “I could not fix my attention on the lecture or book, although I wished to do so,” and the reason is, the habit was not formed in youth.

If I were a boy again, I would cultivate courage. “Nothing is so mild and gentle as courage, nothing so cruel and pitiless as cowardice (怯懦),” says a wise author.      38      The fear of ill exceeds(超过) the ill we fear. Dangers will arise in any career, but presence of mind will often conquer the worst of them.     39          

If I were a boy again, I would look on the cheerful side. Life is very much like a mirror: if you smile upon it, it smiles back upon you; but if you frown and look doubtful on it, you will get a similar look in return. Inner sunshine warms not only the heart of the owner, but of all that come in contact with it.

 40   I might write pages on the importance of learning very early in life to gain that point where a young boy can stand straight and decline doing an unworthy act because it is unworthy.

Finally, instead of trying hard to be happy, as if that were the sole purpose of life, I would, if I were a boy again, try still harder to make others happy.

A. If we want light, we must conquer darkness.

B. If I were a boy again, I would school myself to say “No” oftener.

C. We too often borrow trouble, and expect that may never appear.

D. I would remember that a good skater never tries to skate in two directions at once.

E. If I were a boy again, I would demand of myself more courtesy towards my companions and friends and indeed towards strangers as well.

F. Perseverance can sometimes equal genius in its results.

G. Be prepared for any fate, and there is no harm to be feared.