The Power of -atlon（决心）

    The little country schoolhouse was heated by an old mal stove（火炉）．A little boy had the job of coming to school early each day to start the1and warm the room before his teacher and his classmates got there

    One morning they 2to find the schoolhouse burning. They dragged（拖）the little boy out of the building more dead than alive. Then he was 3taken to a nearby county hospital.

    The doctor told the boy's mother that4 the lower part of his body was seriously burnt, he couldn't use his legs anymore. However, the5boy made up his mind that he would walk. Unluckily his thin legs6hung there, all but lifeless.

    Finally he returned home from the7 ． Every day his mother would press his little legs, but there was no feeling, no control,8 ． Yet his determination that he would walk was as 9as ever.

    When he wasn't in bed, he would sit in a wheelchair. One sunny day his mother wheeled him out into the yard to get some fresh air. This day, instead of sitting there, he 10himself from the chair and pulled himself across the grass，dragging his11behind him.

    He worked his way to the white fence（栅栏）around the yard. With great effort, he raised himself up on the fence. Then, he began dragging himself along the fence,12that he would walk. He started to do this every day. There was nothing he 13more than to develop life in those legs.

    In the end，through his determination he did14 ． He began to walk to school，then to run to school，to run15the joy of running. Later in college he made the running team.

      Still later in Madison Square Garden this determined young man, Dr. Glenn Cunningham, ran the world's fastest mile!

    Today is June 4th it's 1 fine day. It is Betty's birthday. She comes 2 and sees a new red box on her bed. She opens 3. There is nothing but a piece of paper 4 it! Betty takes it out and 5: “Dear Betty. I'm your present(礼物). Come and 6 me in the front room.” Betty runs 7 front room. She finds her parents there. They look at her happily. She looks round and sees her present — a nice 8 bike. “Happy birthday. Betty.” Her parents both 9. Betty is very happy and says: “10 very much.”

    Mike is a factory worker. He works long hours every day. He is often very 1 after a day's work. His wife, Jenny, has no 2, so she stays at home to cook the meals. Every day he can have his dinner when he 3 home from his factory.

    One day, Mike came home very 4 because he was very busy in the factory. He was very 5 when he got home.

    He was not 6 when he found his dinner was not ready. He was very angry with his wife. He 7 at her, “I'm going out to eat in a 8.”

    “9 for five minutes," said his wife.

    "Why? Do you think that dinner will be ready in five minutes?" asked Mike.

    "Of course not," she answered. "But I 10 be ready to go with you in five minutes."

先通读下面的短文,掌握其大意,然后从每小题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出最佳选项。

    Tina was a seventeen-year-old girl who always wore a bright smile. She suffered from a disease and had to use a walker most of the time. People didn't speak to her very often. Maybe it was because she looked1 and people didn't know how to come near to her. Tina usually broke the ice with people she met with a big “2.”

    In one class, I gave the students an assignment (作业) to recite(背诵) a poem. I only made the assignment worth a very small part of their total grade since I knew most of my students would not do it anyway. In the class, one by one each student 3 to correctly recite the poem. Finally, angry and half joking, I said that the next student who 4 recite the poem had to do three push-up (俯卧撑). To my surprise Tina was next. She used her walker to move to the front of the class. 5 she recited, she made a mistake. Before I could say a word, she 6 her walker and started doing push-ups. I wanted to say, “Tina, I was just joking!” But she7 , continued the poem and she finished the rest perfectly.

    When she finished, a student asked, “Tina, why did you do that? It's not an important assignment!” “Because I want to be like you guys! To be 8 .” Tina said.

    Silence fell on the whole room when another student cried out, “Tina, we're not normal! We are teenagers! We get in 9 all the time.” “I know,” Tina said as a big 10 spread across her face. The rest of the students laughed, too.

    Tina got only a few points that day, but she got the love and respect of her classmates. To her, that was worth a lot more than a grade.

    The town of Pressure and the town of Pleasure were neighbors but they had nothing in common. Residents(居民) built walls to 1 influence from the other town.

    In Pressure, everyone wanted to be the very best. When women gave birth, they would compete（竞争、比赛） to have the baby with the loudest cry. There was violent competition in every aspect（方面） of life. Because 2 was the symbol（象征） of success. People were always busy making money, with no time for relaxation. Some young people couldn't bear the intensity(紧张) and chose to drink to escape（逃避）.

    In Pleasure, the motto（格言） was: If only you like it, do it. People grew up without pressure and could do anything they liked. Children played computer games day and night. At school, teachers didn't care 3 students came or not. Workers might sit around the office all day long drinking coffee and doing 4 .Thanks to the lack（缺乏） of regulations（规章制度）, nobody worried about losing their jobs. It was pleasure that mattered. The computers they used were old ones from the town of Pressure.

    Some of the young were addicted（上瘾） to drugs（药物）5 the emptiness（空虚） of their lives. Then, people in the two towns began asking themselves, “What is life 6 ?” But, just before life in the two towns completely7, there came a great person—Mr Reason. He went from door to door, talking with people and 8 advice. People in Pressure learnt to be satisfied with what they had 9 people in Pleasure began to make plans. They 10the walls between them and built a road to connect the two.

    As an old Chinese saying goes, "Keep the old and you'll get nothing new". It's time to buy some new clothes for summer. But 1 will you do with your old clothes?

    Years ago, used clothes were 2 to younger brothers or sisters in one family. But now, most of us are the 3 child in the family, so we often wear new clothes. And people are buying more clothes 4 they are richer than before. Every year in China, people throw away about 26 million tons (吨) of used clothes 5 waste.

    In many countries, charity (慈善) shops collect and sell second-hand clothes. In those countries, people often shop for used clothes at charity shops like Oxfam. The British singer Victoria Beckham often buys from Oxfam. She said, "Here is a(n) 6 I want more people to know about: used clothes are not useless. We can give them 7 to people in poor areas. We can also try to make full use of these clothes in creative ways. For example, they can be used to make things like toys."

    Few Chinese cared about fashion years ago, but now more and more people are 8 in it. H&M, a fashion clothing brand (品牌), is inviting people 9 their used clothes into special boxes in its 45 stores in China. They sell some of the clothes at a lower price 10 cleaning them, so people don't have to worry about any health problem. As much as 95% of clothes thrown away can be re-worn or recycled. This helps people to cut down resource waste and give their clothes a new life.