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 and would cry myself to sleep each night. To ease my sadness, my father purchased an old horse for me at a local auction.(拍賣(mài)) 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 broken. 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(得意的笑) 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 (賽馬場(chǎng)). 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.

1. The underlined expression "shown the gate" (paragraph 3) 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

2. 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

3. 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.

4. 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.

 

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閱讀下列短文,從每題所給的四個(gè)選項(xiàng)中選出最佳選項(xiàng)。

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  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.

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[  ]

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.

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[  ]

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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Our vicar(牧師) 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.
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B. She was a slightly fat girl, with blonde hair

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D. She was a young, pretty girl wearing a green suit

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科目:高中英語(yǔ) 來(lái)源:2011-2012學(xué)年浙江省高三10月月考英語(yǔ)題 題型:閱讀理解

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.

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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 dont 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 Im 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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