Thirteen, for me, was a challenging year. My parents divorced and I moved to a new town with my father, far from my old family and friends. I was terribly lonely mad would cry myself to sleep each night. To ease my sadness, my father purchased an old horse for me at a local auction. I named him Cowboy.
Cowboy was without a doubt the ugliest horse in the world. But I didn’t care. I loved him beyond all reason.
I joined a riding club and suffered rude comments and mean snickers about Cowboy’s looks. I never let on about how I felt, but deep inside, my heart was breaking. The other members rode beautiful, registered horses.
When Cowboy and I entered the events where the horse is judged on appearance, we were quickly shown the gate. No amount of preparation and love would turn Cowboy into a beauty. My only chance to compete would be in the speed events. I chose the jumping race.
One girl named Becky rode a big brown horse in the race events. She always won the blue ribbons. Needless to say, she didn’t feel threatened when I competed against her at the next show. She didn’t need to. I came in next to last.
The stinging memory of Becky’s smirks made me determined to beat her. For the whole next month I woke up early every day and rode Cowboy five miles to the arena (赛马场). We practiced running and jumping for hours in the hot sun and then I would walk Cowboy home totally exhausted.
All of our hard work didn’t make me feel confident by the time the show came. I sat at the gate and sweated it out while I watched Becky and her horse charge through the course and finish in first place.
My turn finally came. I put on my hat, rubbed Cowboy’s neck and entered the arena. At the signal, we dashed toward the first fence, jumped it without trouble and raced on to the next one. Cowboy then flew over the second, third and fourth fences like a bird and I turned him toward the finish line.
As we crossed the line the crowd was shocked into silence. Cowboy and I had beaten Becky and her fancy horse by two seconds!
I gained much more than a blue ribbon that day. At thirteen, I realized that no matter what the odds, I’d always come out a winner if I wanted something badly enough to work for it.
41. The underlined expression "shown the gate" (paragraph 4) most probably means " ".
A. told how to enter the arena
B. shown how to make the horse beautiful
C. removed from the competition early
D. told to enter the timed-speed events
42. Why was the writer not confident of victory?
A. He was an inexperienced rider.
B. He had not practiced enough.
C. He believed he was unpopular with the crowd.
D. He thought his horse wasn’t as good as the others.
43. When the final race finished, nobody cheered because .
A. the audience didn’t like Cowboy B. people envied the writer
C. the win was unexpected D. the writer bad run out of time
44. What did the writer learn from his experience?
A. Life can sometimes be unfair.
B. Anything is possible if one tries hard enough.
C. A positive attitude will bring success.
D. One should not make judgments based on appearance.
45. The best title for the story is .
A. A Run to Remember B.A Horse’s Tale
C. Neck and Neck D.A Difficult Age
寒假学与练系列答案科目：高中英语 来源：黄冈兵法同步学案（高一英语·下） 题型：050
阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项中选出最佳选项。
Jane Clark，fair-haired，blue-eyed and tough as steel，just won the most difficult race in the world．
In seventeen days she drove a dog team and sledge（雪橇）across 1 050 miles of the Arctic Circle and through some of the most difficult land in the world． In bitter winds and snowstorms she drove her dogs along the Arctic track，in temperatures that reached
38℃．
When Jane was asked how she felt about being the first woman ever to win the race，she said，“I still can't believe it．”She then went over to inspect her thirteen wild-eyed dogs．
David Wilson，who came second，said，“It sure hurts when a young woman is ahead of you．But it doesn't hurt for long．She was a good winner．”
1．Which of the following best gives the main idea of this newspaper article？
[ ]
A．Woman drives a dog team across the Arctic．
B．Woman fights bitter winds and snowstorms．
C．Woman wins a sledge race in the world．
D．Woman wins the world's toughest race．
2．What was so special about Jane winning the race？
[ ]
A．No woman had ever won this race in the past．
B．Her 13 dogs were wild and difficult to control．
C．She broke the record by taking only 17 days to complete the race．
D．This was the first time she had taken part in this kind of race．
3．How did David Wilson feel about the race？
[ ]
A．He had an accident during the race and thought it was not fair．
B．He was sorry to lose but it was fair that Jane won the race．
C．He thought that it was not right to put men and women in the same race．
D．He was very upset because he thought that he should have won．
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科目：高中英语 来源： 题型：阅读理解
A powerful earthquake struck the northeastern coast of Japan at two forty-six p.m. local time on March eleventh.2011. Japan's Meteorological Agency released its first tsunami（海啸） warnings just three minutes later. The country has one of the best earthquake early warning systems in the world.
There are more than four thousand Seismic Intensity Meters in place throughout Japan to measure earthquake activity. These meters provide information within two minutes of an earthquake happening. Information about the strength and the center of the earthquake can be learned within three minutes.
There are also concrete(混凝土) sea walls around much of the Japanese coastline. But these measures proved no match for the powerful earthquake and tsunami.
Costas Synolakis ，a tsunami expert at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles said，"Japan is one of those most well-prepared countries on earth in terms of tsunami warning. They had a warning. I think what went wrong is that they had not expected the size of this event."
He says there are two reasons for this. Japan has not had any event anywhere near as big as this one in the last one hundred fifty years. And scientists had not expected such a large earthquake happening off the coast of Japan.
The nine point zero magnitude earthquake was the fourth most powerful earthquake ever recorded worldwide. It was also the worst earthquake ever to hit Japan. The tsunami waves that followed were reported to have reached as high as thirteen meters in some areas.
Costas Synolakis says Japan's concrete sea walls were not built to handle such high waves.
Experts say early warning systems will continue to be limited by these facts until earthquakes and tsunamis can be predicted
Where can this passage probably be adapted from?
A．A magazine on science B．A fairy Tale
C．A scientific fantasy book D．A newspaper
Which of the following statements NOT true ?
A. A terrible earthquake hit the northeastern coast of Japan
B. It was also the worst earthquake in Japan
C. The 9.0 earthquake was the fourth most powerful earthquake ever recorded in Japan
D. Japan's concrete sea walls was unable to handle such high waves.
According to Costas Synolakis, why did Japan suffer such a loss?
A. The country has never experienced any event as big as this one over the past 150 years
B. Japan has the best earthquake early warning systems in the world.
C. There are not concrete sea walls around all of the Japanese coastline
D. The government didn’t announce its first tsunami warnings three minutes earlier.
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科目：高中英语 来源：广东省中山市实验高中2010届高三上学期12月月考 题型：阅读理解
第二节 语法填空（共10小题；每小题1.5分，满分15分）
阅读下面短文，按照句子结构的语法性和上下文连贯的要求，在空格处填入一个适当的词或使用括号中词语的正确形式填空，并将答案填写在答题卡标号为31～40的相应位置上。
Our vicar(牧师) is always raising money for one cause or 31 , but he has never managed to get enough money to have the church clock 32 (repair). The big clock which used to strike the hours day and night was damaged many years ago and 33 （be) silent ever since.
One night, 34 , our vicar work up with a start: the clock was striking the hours! Looking at
his watch, he saw that it was one o'clock, but the bell struck thirteen times 35 it
stopped. 36 (arm) with a torch, the vicar went up into the clock tower to see 37 was going on. In the torchlight, he caught sight of a figure whom he immediately recognized as Bill Wilkins, our local grocer.
'Whatever are you doing up here Bill?' asked the vicar in surprise.
'I'm trying to repair the bell,' answered Bill. 'I've been coming up here night after night for weeks now. You see, I was hoping to give you a surprise.'
'You certainly 38 give me a surprise!' said the vicar.
'You've 39 （probability）woken up everyone in the village as well. Still, I'm glad the bell is working again.'
That's the trouble, vicar,' answered Bill. 'It's working all right, but I'm afraid that 40 one o'clock it will strike thirteen times and there's nothing I can do about it."
We'll get used to that, Bill,' said the vicar. "Thirteen is not as good as one, but it's better than nothing. Now let's go downstairs and have a cup of tea.'
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科目：高中英语 来源：2013-2014学年浙江省“六市六校”联盟高考模拟考试英语试卷（解析版） 题型：阅读理解
John Blanchard stood up from the bench, straightened his Army uniform, and studied the crowd of people making their way through Grand Central Station. He looked for the girl whose heart he knew, but whose face he didn’t, the girl with the rose.
His interest in her had begun thirteen months before in a Florida library. Taking a book off the shelf he found himself intrigued, not with the words of the book, but with the notes penciled in the margin. The soft handwriting reflected a thoughtful soul and insightful mind. In the front of the book, he discovered the previous owner’s name, Miss Hollis Maynell. With time and effort he located her address. She lived in New York City. He wrote her a letter introducing himself and inviting her to correspond. The next day he was shipped overseas for service in World War II.
????????????? During the next year and one month the two grew to know each other through the mail. Each letter was a seed falling on a fertile heart. A romance was starting Blanchard requested a photograph, but she refused. She felt that if he really cared, it wouldn’t matter what she looked like.
When the day finally came for him to return from Europe, they scheduled their first meeting —7:00 PM at the Grand Central Station in New York. “You’ll recognize me,” she wrote, “by the red rose I’ll be wearing on my lapel.” So at 7:00 he was in the station looking for a girl whose heart he loved, but whose face he’d never seen.
????????????? I’ll let Mr. Blanchard tell you what happened: A young woman was coming toward me, her figure long and slim. Her blonde hair lay back in curls from her delicate ears; her eyes were blue as flowers. Her lips and chin had a gentle firmness, and in her pale green suit she was like springtime come alive. I stared at her, entirely forgetting to notice that she was not wearing a rose. As I moved, a small, attractive smile curved her lips. “Going my way , sailor?” she murmured.
????????????? Almost uncontrollably I made one step closer to her, and then I saw Hollis Maynell. She was standing almost directly behind the girl. A woman well past 40, she had graying hair tucked under a worn hat. She was more than plump, her thick-ankled feet thrust into low-heeled shoes. The girl in the green suit was walking quickly away. I felt as though I was split in two, so keen was my desire to follow her, and yet so deep was my longing for the woman whose spirit had truly companioned me and upheld my own.
????????????? And there she stood. Her pale, plump face was gentle and sensible, her gray eyes had a warm and kindly twinkle. I did not hesitate. My fingers gripped the small worn blue leather copy of the book that was to identify me to her.
????????????? This would not be love, but it would be something precious, something perhaps even better than love, a friendship for which I had been and must ever be grateful. I squared my shoulders and saluted and held out the book to the woman, even though while I spoke I felt choked by the bitterness of my disappointment. "I'm Lieutenant John Blanchard, and you must be Miss Maynell. I am so glad you could meet me; may I take you to dinner?"
The woman's face broadened into a tolerant smile. "I don't know what this is about, son," she answered, "but the young lady in the green suit who just went by, she begged me to wear this rose on my coat. And she said if you were to ask me out to dinner, I should go and tell you that she is waiting for you in the big restaurant across the street. She said it was some kind of test!"
? ????????????? It's not difficult to understand and admire Miss Maynell's wisdom. The true nature of a heart is seen in its response to the unattractive. "Tell me whom you love," Houssaye wrote, "And I will tell you who you are． "
1.How did John Blanchard get to know Miss Hollis Maynell?
A. They lived in the same city．????????????????
B. They were both interested in literature．
C. John knew Hollis's name from a library book．??
D. John came across Hollis in a Florida library．
2.Hollis refused to send Blanchard a photo because ?????????? .
A. she was only a middle - aged woman??????????
B. she wasn't confident about her appearance
C. she thought true love is beyond appearance?????
D. she had never taken any photo before they knew
3.How could Blanchard recognize Hollis?
A. She would be wearing a rose on her coat．?????
B. She would be holding a book in her hand．
C. She would be standing behind a young girl．???
D. She would be wearing a scarf around her neck．
4.What was the real Miss Hollis Maynell like?
A. She was a plump woman with graying hair．???
B. She was a slightly fat girl, with blonde hair．
C. She was a middle - aged woman in her forties．??
D. She was a young, pretty girl wearing a green suit．
5.When Blanchard went over to greet the woman, he was????????? ．
A. satisfied and confident
B. disappointed but well - behaved
C. annoyed and bad - mannered
D. shocked but inspired
6.Which of the following can be the best title for the passage?
A. A Test of Love??? ????????????? ????????????? B. The Symbol of Rose
C. Love is blind??? ????????????? ????????????? D. Don't Judge a Book by its Cover
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科目：高中英语 来源：2011-2012学年浙江省高三10月月考英语题 题型：阅读理解
After giving a talk at a high school, I was asked to pay a visit to a special student. An illness had kept the boy home, but he had expressed an interest in meeting me. I was told it would mean a great deal to him, so I agreed.
During the nine-mile drive to his home, I found out something about Matthew. He had muscular dystrophy (肌肉萎缩症). When he was born, the doctor told his parents that he would not live to five, and then they were told he would not make it to ten. Now he was thirteen. He wanted to meet me because I was a gold-medal power lifter, and I knew about overcoming obstacles and going for my dreams.
I spent over an hour talking to Matthew. Never once did he complain or ask, “Why me?” He spoke about winning and succeeding and going for his dreams. Obviously, he knew what he was talking about. He didn’t mention that his classmates had made fun of him because he was different. He just talked about his hopes for the future, and how one day he wanted to lift weights with me. When we had finished talking, I went to my briefcase and pulled out the first gold medal I had won and put it around his neck. I told him he was more of a winner and knew more about success and overcoming obstacles than I ever would. He looked at it for a moment, then took it off and handed it back to me. He said, “You are a champion. You earned that medal. Someday when I get to the Olympics and win my own medal, I will show it to you.”
Last summer I received a letter from Matthew’s parents telling me that Matthew had passed away. They wanted me to have a letter he had written to me a few days before:
Dick,
My mum said I should send you a thank-you letter for the picture you sent me. I also want to let you know that the doctors tell me that I don’t have long to live any more, but I still smile as much as I can.
I told you someday that I would go to the Olympics and win a gold medal, but I know now I will never get to do that. However, I know I’m a champion, and God knows that too. When I get to Heaven, God will give me my medal and when you get there, I will show it to you. Thank you for loving me.
Your friend,
Matthew
1. The boy looked forward to meeting the author because _________.
A. he was also good at weight lifting B. he wanted to get to the Olympics and win a medal
C. he was one of the author’s students D. he admired the author very much
2. The underlined sentence in the third paragraph probably means that _______.
A. the boy never complained about how unlucky he was to have this disease
B. the boy never complained about not being able to go to school
C. the boy never complained why the author had never come to see him before
D. the boy never complained about not getting a medal
3. From the passage we learn that _________.
A. Matthew was an athlete B. Matthew was an optimistic and determined boy
C. The author used to have the same disease as Matthew had D. Matthew became a champion before he died
4.Matthew didn’t accept the author’s medal because _________.
A. he thought it was too expensive B. he was sure that he could win one in the future
C. he thought it was of no use to him as he would die soon D. he would not be pitied by others
5.What would be the best title for this passage?
A. A sick boy. B. A special friend. C. A real champion. D. A famous athlete.
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