My name is Ben Mansury. I’m fifteen years old and study in a middle school. In school, I never join in any group discussion or stage (舞臺(tái)) program. So, I never knew what stage nervousness was.

Our community (社區(qū)) has a weekly “Students Ideas” program. About two years ago, I received a(n)   1   from the chairman of our community. He invited me to the “Students Ideas” talk the next morning to speak to the group.

The time between his call to the next morning was like several weeks for me. The whole night, I could not sleep. Many   2   were coming. One of them was to call the chairman, with regret, and tell him that I could not come. But finally, I thought, if I missed this   3  , the community would never invite me again to any of their programs. So, I decided to go.

I reached the hall in time. When my turn came and I started, my heartbeat increased and my mouth went dry. I wasn’t even able to   4   the words on the paper properly. I had no idea where I was standing and what I was talking. That was the day when I   5   my biggest weakness: public speaking.

After I finished, I met with the chairman and   6   what happened to me. He said that this happens to everyone. It is very   7  . He suggested that I should come again the next week.

I   8   a talk carefully. This time when I gave the talk, I was somewhat comfortable but not confident (自信的). Afterwards, I met with the chairman again and told him about the improvement I   9   I had made. He was kind enough to invite me again.

For around one month, I practiced a lot for my talk. This time I was feeling comfortable and both the chairman and my neighbors thought I did a good job.    

I learned that everything is   10   if we take the first step, as the saying goes: A journey of thousand miles begins with first step.

1.                A．letter          B．call            C．card D．email

 

2.                A．topics          B．regrets         C．thoughts D．words

 

3.                A．man           B．group          C．stage D．chance

 

4.                A．read           B．spell           C．see  D．recite

 

5.                A．had            B．forgot          C．realized  D．improved

 

6.                A．a(chǎn)sked          B．checked        C．explained D．wondered

 

7.                A．useful          B．successful       C．difficult   D．common

 

8.                A．wrote          B．prepared        C．gave D．finished

 

9.                A．knew          B．felt            C．believed  D．hoped

 

10.               A．easy           B．great          C．helpful    D．possible

 

 

閱讀理解

　　While travelling abroad, Mr. Jackson Frank spent almost all the money he took with him. So he wrote his brother, asking for $ 500. “Send the money by telegram”, he wrote, “to the Fisher Bank in P…”

　　After a week he began calling at the Fisher Bank. He showed his passport. “Nothing has come for you.” He was told. This went on for two weeks, and Mr. Frank got very worried. He sent a telegram to his brother, but there was no reply.

　　In the fourth week Mr. Frank was arrested for not being able to pay his hotel bill. His passport and luggage were taken from him. He tried to explain the problem, but no one believed him. He stayed in prison for sixty days.

　　When he came out, he went immediately to the Fisher Bank. The clerk he spoke to was a new man. “Have you received $ 500 for me?” he asked, “My name is Jackson Frank.”

　　The clerk checked his books. “Yes, Mr. Jackson, it's her. It came by telegram more than two months ago. We wondered where were.” He showed Mr. Frank the order.

　　The order read：“Pay Mr. Frank Jackson the sum of $ 500.”

　　“But my name is Jackson Frank, not Frank Jackson.”

　　“Oh, that's all right, sir. It was in our books under the letter 'J', but it's your money.” The clerk laughed. “A human mistake, sir! We're all human beings, aren't we? And so we all make mistakes. A family name like Frank sounds strange to me.”

　　Mr. Frank was silent. He really wanted to hit somebody. At last he said, “A human mistake is what. you call it? I think some human need kicking.”

1．Jackson needed to get the money ________.

[　　]

2．Mr. Frank got very worried because ________.

[　　]

A．his brother didn't send him the money

B．he didn't receive enough money to pay for the hotel

C．two weeks passed and he had not yet received the money

D．he could not find his brother

3．He was not able to pay for his hotel, so he ________.

[　　]

A．was thrown into prison

B．was driven out of the hotel

C．could only walk in the street

D．went to borrow some money

4．When Jackson heard what the clerk told him, he ________.

[　　]

5．“Frank” is ________ used as a family name.

[　　]

完形填空。

One Saturday afternoon, Kate went to buy something for her sister and herself.         As Kate was coming out of a       1    , a young lady walked towards her. She said she was Miss Green— a good friend of Kate's sister. Kate     2      her. Then she called a taxi to send Kate home. She     3     the driver  where he should go. Kate was    4      that it was not the in direction of her home.         "     5    ?" Kate asked. The lady smiled.         When they came to a quiet road, a big rough man       6       , on the road. He stopped the taxi driver, knocked him down, and threw him out of the     7    . At the same time, Miss Green took out of a knife and      8     it at Kate. She asked Kate to keep      9     . The man then started the taxi. "        Oh, my God! I'm being kidnapped," Kate said to herself.        She tried to escape, but not    10    . Suddenly an    11      came to her. She took out a lipstick (口紅) from her pocket, wrote 'SOS' on the window, and covered the word with her     12      .        A few minutes later, a police car     13     and the policemen saw the sign. When the kidnappers saw the policemen they stopped the taxi, jumped into the grass, and ran away.        The policemen then    14      Kate up and sent her home. When her parents knew what had happened, they were greatly surprised. But they were also     15     because their daughter had finally come back safely.

(     )1. A. school  (     )2. A. knew    (     )3. A. told    (     )4. A. sure    (     )5. A. What     (     )6. A. drove   (     )7. A. road    (     )8. A. shouted (     )9. A. healthy (     )10. A. happened (     )11. A. idea    (     )12. A. hands   (     )13. A. sopped  (     )14. A. lifted  (     )15. A. worried

B. taxi    B. believed   B. asked     B. excited B. Where      B. climbed   B. sight     B. played    B. alive    B. failed    B. answer   B. back      B. left       B. held    B. happy

C. shop      C. thanked      C. wondered    C. surprised  C. When        C. fell        C. taxi        C. hurt        C. relaxed    C. succeeded  C. interest    C. dress       C. passed      C. put       C. proud

D. friend's D. remembered D. checked     D. pleased    D. Why      D. appeared   D. home       D. pointed    D. quiet     D. hurried   D. order   D. lipstick  D. turned      D. picked   D. successful