My mother was a cleaner in our school canteen(食堂) when I was in the middle school. At that time she was such an embarrassment(难堪) to me not only because of her job but also her look. She had only one eye. Every time I saw her in my school, I pretended(假装) not to see her and ran away.

 After graduating, I got a good job in another city. Then I got married and had two kids. I told my family that my parents had been dead, so they never saw my mother, even her photo. But one year later, I got a letter, it read:

 My dear son Jeff,

    I'm sorry to disturb(打扰) you, but I really miss you all the time. I'm afraid that I will have no chance to see you again.

    I'm sorry that I was always an embarrassment to you when you were growing up. However, I had no choice. When you were very young, you got into an accident and lost your eye. As a mother, I couldn't stand that you would have to grow up with one eye. So I ……

    I was proud of my son who was enjoying his beautiful world for me with that eye.

    With all my love to you!

                                                              Mom

 After reading the letter, I couldn't help crying.

任务型阅读

请认真阅读下面短文，在短文后表格中的空白处填上适当的单词(注意：每空1个单词)。

    Every school seems to have a “bully”(欺凌). In fact, bullying goes on in schools all over the world. Bullying is a common situation at school. We need to get to know more about bullying.

    Who gets picked on? Bullies pick on people they think don't fit in—someone who doesn't “look the same” or isn't as “smart” or as “rich”. For example, shy kids often get picked on because of their characters. Physically hitting someone is the most obvious form of bullying, but insulting(侮辱), gossiping(说闲话) and making fun of others are also usual forms of bullying.

    What can you do to stop bullying? If you are the bully, think about how your actions hurt others. You can't build yourself up by putting others down. When you're feeling stressed or angry, find acceptable ways to deal with your frustrations.

    If you are the victim, tell a trusted adult and get some help. Many times adults can find ways to solve the problem. Here are some wise suggestions:

● Ignore(忽略) the bully and walk away.

● Hold your temper. Maybe the bully wants you to explode.

● Don't fight physically. It may lead to more violence.

● Practice confidence even if you have to pretend it.

● Talk with parents or teachers about it. They are sure to help you solve the problem.

● Make true friends at school. That may be helpful.

    I have three friends. They are Lucy, Mary and Mike. They have their favourite pets(宠物). The dog is Lucy's favourite. She thinks(认为) it can help us and it is our good friend. Mary likes the cat. She thinks it is nice to play with it. Mike says his favourite pet is the bird. It can sing very well.

Reading is a good habit, but the problem is that there's too much to read, and too little time to read every word of it. So ①we need to find good ways to read faster. There are hundreds of skills (技巧) to help you read more in less time. Here are two skills that I think are especially good.

Preview (预看) —if it's long and hard. This skill is especially useful for ideas of heavy reading like long magazine articles (文章) and business reports (报告).

    Here's how the preview goes.

●Read the first two paragraphs (段落) and the last two paragraphs carefully.

●Then read only the first sentence of the other paragraphs.

    This skill doesn't give you all the details (细节, 详情). It stops you spending time on things you don't really want or need to read.

    Skim (略读)—if it's short and simple (简单的). Skimming is a good way to get ideas of light reading like popular magazines or sports and entertainment (娱乐) papers.

    Here's how to skim.

    ●Get your eyes to move fast. Sweep across each line.

    ●Pick up only a few ②key words in each line.

    Everybody skims differently. You and I may not pick up the same words when we skim the same piece, but we'll get a similar (相似的) idea of what it's mainly about.