Helen was sitting in the garden reading her favorite book. Some time later, her old ____6____ sat beside her. Suddenly, she pointed at something and asked Helen what it was. Helen looked at it and told her it was a sparrow ( 麻雀 ). Helen was ____7____ by the simple question.
Helen went on reading. Several ____8____ later, her old mother asked her the same question and Helen found it was the same bird. After a little while, the old woman again asked the question about the sparrow. This time Helen got ____9____ . She shouted at her mother for asking the question again and again. The old woman ____10____ stood up and entered the house. Helen continued reading her book. A few minutes passed and her old mother ____11____ beside her again. She opened an old diary and put it in front of Helen. Helen picked up the diary and began to read it. It said, “Today, while I was ____12____ in the garden, my little Helen came to me. Looking at a sparrow on a tree, my child asked me what it was. I ____13____ at her, said it was a sparrow and kissed her. After a while, little Helen asked the question again. This went on until she went back into the house with me after I finished my work. Little Helen asked me at least ten times and I kept on answering her and ____14____ her.”
Tears came into Helen’s eyes. She closed the ____15____ and felt very sorry for what she did. She realized that she should treat her mother the way her mother treated her.
6 ． A ． father B ． mother C ． brother D ． sister
7 ． A ． fooled B ． scared C ． moved D ． surprised
8 ． A ． minutes B ． hours C ． days D ． weeks
9 ． A ． sad B ． anxious C ． cold D ． angry
10 ． A ． suddenly B ． quickly C ． silently D ． clearly
11 ． A ． sat B ． stood C ． asked D ． cried
12 ． A ． walking B ． playing C ． running D ． working
13 ． A ． laughed B ． shouted C ． smiled D ． knocked
14 ． A ． kissing B ． helping C ． beating D ． punishing
15 ． A ． novel B ． diary C ． magazine D ． door
6 ． B 7 ． D 8 ． A 9 ． D 10 ． C 11 ． A 12 ． D 13 ． C 14 ． A 15 ． B
【导语】本文主要讲述了海伦起初以不太好的态度对待她的母亲，在看了她母亲记录的关于她小时候的日记后，她意识到她应该用母亲对她的方式来对待母亲。
6 ．句意：过了一会儿，她年迈的母亲坐在她身边。
father 爸爸； mother 妈妈； brother 兄弟； sister 姐妹。根据 “her old mother asked her the same question” 可知，是年迈的母亲坐在那，故选 B 。
7 ．句意：海伦对这个简单的问题感到惊讶。
fooled 愚弄； scared 害怕； moved 感动； surprised 惊讶。根据 “Helen looked at it and told her it was a sparrow” 可知，对这个简单的问题感到惊讶，故选 D 。
8 ．句意：几分钟后，她的老母亲问她同样的问题，海伦发现还是那只鸟。
minutes 分钟； hours 小时； days 天； weeks 星期。根据 “Several … later” 及 “A few minutes passed” 可知，几分钟后，母亲又问了同一个问题，故选 A 。
9 ．句意：这次海伦生气了。
sad 难过的； anxious 焦虑的； cold 寒冷的； angry 生气的。根据 “She shouted at her mother for asking the question again and again” 可知，海伦生气了，故选 D 。
10 ．句意：老妇人默默地站起来，走进屋子。
suddenly 突然； quickly 快速地； silently 沉默地； clearly 清楚地。根据 “She shouted at her mother for asking the question again and again” 可知，老妇人沉默地离开了，故选 C 。
11 ．句意：几分钟过去了，她年迈的母亲又坐在她身边。
sat 坐； stood 站； asked 询问； cried 哭泣。根据上文 “sat beside her” 可知，又坐在她旁边，故选 A 。
12 ．句意：今天，当我在花园里干活的时候，我的小海伦来找我。
walking 散步； playing 玩； running 跑步； working 工作。根据下文 “after I finished my work” 可知，这时母亲在花园里干活，故选 D 。
13 ．句意：我朝她微笑，说那是只麻雀，然后吻了她。
laughed 大笑； shouted 呼喊； smiled 微笑； knocked 敲。根据 “said it was a sparrow and kissed her” 可知，微笑地回答问题，故选 C 。
14 ．句意：小海伦至少问了我十次，我不停地回答她，亲吻她。
kissing 吻； helping 帮助； beating 打败； punishing 惩罚。根据 “said it was a sparrow and kissed her” 可知，每回答一次问题就亲吻一次，故选 A 。
15 ．句意：她合上日记本，对自己的所作所为感到非常抱歉。
novel 小说； diary 日记； magazine 杂志； door 门。根据 “Helen picked up the diary” 可知，合上了日记，故选 B 。
阅读短文，根据所读内容在文章后表格中的空格里填入一个最恰当的单词。
It’s always challenging to face fear. Here are some ways to help you overcome（克服）it.
Breathing
As we know, breathing can help us relax. If you purposely breathe out longer than you breathe in, your body will calm down. If you start to feel fearful, try this. Take a breath in (to a count of 7 in your mind), and then slowly breathe out (to a count of 11 in your mind). To your surprise, if you do this for a minute or so, you’ll calm down quickly. We call this "7/11 breathing".
Using a different part of your brain
When we feel fearful, it’s harder to think clearly. But if we force ourselves to use the part of thinking brain, this will help to calm us down. The easiest way to do this is with numbers. You can set your own fear from l to 10, 10 being the worst state and 1 being the most relaxed state. When you’re feeling fearful, ask yourself; “Okay, what grade do I get right now? 7 or 5?” Just doing this will reduce fear because it starts the thinking brain. Once I gave a speech to three hundred people and I felt fearful. So I graded myself at 6, and waited for myself to go down to 3 before starting. I took control.
Getting control of your imagination
Imagine seeing yourself in the situation you were scared, but see yourself being calm and things going well. Doing this starts to recondition your mind to more calmly face the coming events which were causing fear.
It seems that overcoming fear is always the first step to finish all you need to do and it will help you devote yourself to what you really want to be and to do. It takes efforts, but it’s worth your try.
| 59． to overcome fear | |||
| Introduction | It’s challenging to face fear in your life. | ||
| Ways | Breathing | To calm down, you can breathe out 60． than you breathe in. You’ll be 61． that you’ve calmed down very quickly if you take 7/11 breathing. | |
| Using a different part of your brain | You can set ten 62． for your own fear with numbers. Grading your state of mind helps 63． the thinking brain and make you 64． fearful. | ||
| Getting control of your imagination | Imagine you’re in a bad 65． but you feel calm and things go well. It can help you feel 66． to face the coming events. | ||
| Conclusion | To finish all you need to do, you must overcome fear 67． It’s worth 68． though it takes efforts. | ||
