“Do you want to come with me?” Sally asked her brother. “I’m going to meet some friends at the bike course（賽道，路線）down the block. We’re going to practice for the race next week.”

“No, thanks,” Mark replied. “Sam’s coming over to play basketball.”

Sally rode off on her bike while Mark waited for his friend. Mark was fast,   35   he usually did well in most sports. He didn’t think it would   36   if he practiced the course. It could be hilly or sandy, and Mark knew he would   37   speed along.

The race day finally arrived. “My stomach feels like I ate some butterflies,” Sally told Mark when she saw so many kids around. Then they   38   the other riders at the start line.

“Sally is always nervous,” Mark thought. “Don’t worry.   39   will do fine,” he said. As soon as the starter shouted “Go!”, Mark’s legs pumped up and down like two machines. He moved   40   to the front.

A few minutes later, there wasn’t anyone ahead of him! Mark raced along the course. He rode past some pine trees. Then the path looped(環(huán)繞)around a pond. Mark was surprised that the course was so   41  .

His tired legs felt like they weighed a hundred pounds. All at once, a flash of color caught his eyes. There was a line of bike riders on the course ahead of him! “How could this be?” Mark said to himself. “I must have taken a wrong   42   and made one more loop in the course,” he thought.

Mark pushed his achy muscles(肌肉)harder. He realized his   43   alone wouldn’t be enough this time;   44   the course was just as important. He managed to ride past a couple of bike riders, but he couldn’t   45   the riders who were in the lead.

After the race Mark saw his sister. “Wow, you must have done a good job in the race. What place did you get?” Mark asked.

“Third place!” Sally answered excitedly.

“That’s great! I came in ninth place. But I’ll do better next year because I’ll be     46   enough to practice the course with you,” Mark made a face at his sister and replied.

35. A. but                           B. as                        C. and                      D. or

36. A. help                          B. move                   C. care                     D. come

37. A. just                           B. even                     C. never                   D. still

38. A. joined                       B. passed                  C. visited                  D. invited

39. A. I                              B. You                      C. They                    D. She

40. A. quickly                     B. quietly                  C. clearly                  D. carefully

41. A. hard                         B. wide                    C. long                     D. tidy

42. A. chance                      B. turn                     C. step                     D. ride

43. A. patience                    B. spirit                    C. speed                   D. imagination

44. A. accepting                  B. changing              C. knowing               D. finishing

45. A. leave                         B. touch                   C. face                     D. reach

46. A. honest                      B. smart                   C. brave                   D. confident

The greatest saleswoman in the world today doesn’t mind if you call her a girl. That’s because Markita Andrews has got more than eight thousand dollars selling Girl Scout cookies since she was seven years old.
Going door-to-door after school, the terribly shy Markita changed herself into the cookie-selling dynamo（高手）.
It starts with great wish.
For Markita and her mother, whose husband left them when Markita was eight years old, their dream was to travel the world. “I’ll work hard to make enough money to send you to college,” her mother said one day. “When you leave college, you’ll make enough money to take you and me around the world. Okay?”
So at the age of 13 when Markita read in her Girl Scout magazine that the Scout（童子軍）who sold the most cookies would win a free trip for two around the world, she decided to sell all the Girl Scout cookies she could—more Girl Scout cookies than anyone in the world, ever.
Wish, however, alone is not enough. To make her dream come true, Markita knew she needed a plan.
“When you are doing business, wear your Girl Scout clothes when you go up to people in their building, ” her aunt told her. “Always smile, whether they buy something or not and always be nice.”
Lots of other Scouts may have wanted that trip around the world, but only Markita went off in her own uniform each day after school, ready to ask—and keep asking—people to help in her dream.
Markita sold 3,526 boxes of Girl Scout cookies that year and won her trip around the world. Since then, she has sold more than 42,000 boxes of Girl Scout cookies.
Markita is no cleverer than thousands of other people, with dreams of their own. The difference is that many people fail before they even begin. They fear（恐懼）that they will be refused. This fear leads many of us to refuse ourselves and prevents us from getting where we have set off for long before anyone else ever has the chance—no matter what we are selling.
“It takes courage（勇氣）to ask for what you want,” she said. “Courage is not that you don’t have fear. It means doing what it takes although you have a fear of it”.
【小題1】From the passage we learn that ________.

On the way back from work every evening, more often than not there would be a homeless man standing at the exit of the freeway (快車道). He looked to be in his late 40s but was probably a lot younger. He had shoulder length straight black hair and a short beard.
Every day after work I would remember to gather any spare change, and put it aside to give to him if I saw him. A feeling of joy would come over me every time I saw him, while coming off the ramp (坡道). So did he. Sometimes the red light would be on for a minute and we would ask each other about our day. His answer would always be the same, “I’m blessed!”
Then one day I was called into my boss’s office and was told that I was being laid off. For the rest of that day all I could think of was “how am I going to provide for my kids as a mother, how am I going to pay rent?”
Needless to say that on my way home that day I was very sad and upset. I didn’t remember to look for my spare change and keep it ready like I usually did. Yet there he was as always, as I turned the ramp. He set his eyes on me, while still smiling and waving at others as usual.
While I was waiting for the red light to turn, he strolled (閑逛) over to my car. He had a big smile. He looked at me straight in the eyes and said, “Today I will give you a dollar.” He then reached into his pocket and pulled out a dollar bill.
You see that day he taught me a valuable lesson more than a dollar bill. No matter what material things are taken from you, no one can take away your choice to be joyful. Every time I’m faced with challenges, I think of the homeless man’s valuable lesson and remember that I am blessed.
【小題1】 The writer would have a short conversation with the homeless man when                .

Having returned from her round trip (往返旅程), the angry woman stood outside the ticket office of the station. “The railway owes (應(yīng)給予) me￡12,” she said to Harry Jenks, the young man working at the office, “you sold me a ticket for May 22nd, but there was no ship from Jersey that night. So my daughter and I had to stay in a hotel. It cost me ￡12.”

Harry was worried. He remembered selling the woman a return ticket. “Come into the office, madam,” he said politely, “I’ll just check the Jersey timetable for May 22nd.”

The woman and her little girl followed him inside. She was quite right, as Harry soon discovered. There was no sailing on May 22nd. How could he have made such a careless mistake? He shouldn’t have sold her a ticket for that day. Wondering what to do, he smiled at the child. “You look sunburnt,” he said to her. “Did you have a nice holiday in Jersey?”

“Yes,” She answered, shyly. “The beach was lovely. And I can swim too!”

“That’s fine,” said Harry. “My little girl can’t swim a bit yet. Of course, she’s only three…”

“I’m four,” the child said proudly. “I’ll be four and a half.” Harry turned to the mother. “I remember your ticket, madam,” he said. “But you didn’t get one for your daughter, did you?”

“Err, well…” the woman looked at the child. “I mean… she hasn’t started school yet. She’s only four.”

“A four-year-old child must have a ticket, madam. A child’s return ticket to Jersey costs… let me see…￡13.50. So if the railway pays your hotel, you will owe ￡1.50. The law is the law, but since the fault was mine…”

The woman stood up, took the child’s hand and left the office.

1.The woman was angry because__________.

A．she couldn’t use the ticket for her round trip

B．she had to return home a day earlier than she had planned

C．she spent more money than she had expected

D．Harry had sold her a ticket to Jersey where there was no sailing

2.Harry started talking to the little girl__________.

A．because he was in difficulty and did not know what to do

B．because he had a little girl about the same age as this girl

C．because he wanted to be friendly to the little girl who looked so nice

D．when he suddenly realized that he could find a way out from the little girl

3.The woman left the office without saying anything because__________.

A．she wanted to go home and get money for the child’s ticket

B．she was so angry that she didn’t want to have anything more to do with the young man

C．she was moved by Harry’s kindness

D．she knew she would have to pay the railway if she insisted