From the first day he entered my junior-high classroom，James Crum lived in his own world．He was a student with few words．

Shortly after the Thanksgiving holiday，we started the Christmas collection of money for the poor people in our school．“Christmas is a season of giving，” I told my students．“By contributing（捐獻(xiàn)）to our Christmas collection，you will help to buy food，clothes and toys for the poor people．We will start the collection tomorrow．”

When I called for the contributions the next day，I discovered that almost everyone had forgotten except James Crum．The boy walked slowly to my desk．Carefully，he dropped some money into the small box．

“I don't need milk for lunch，” he said in a low voice．For a moment，just a moment，he smiled．Then he turned and walked back to his desk．

That night，after school，I took our contributions to the head teacher．And I told him the story．“I may be wrong，but I believe James might be getting ready to become a part of the world around him，” I said．

“Yes，” the head teacher nodded．“We must do something to help him．Look．Here is a list of the poor families in our school who most need help through the Christmas collection．”

To my surprise，James Crum and his family were the top names on the list．

1．What was James like?

A．He was quiet．       B．He was outgoing．  C．He was confident．

2．What did they collect during the Christmas season?

A．Money．           B．Clothes．          C．Toys．

3．Why did James say，he did not need milk for lunch that day?

A．Because he did not like milk．

B．Because he had no money for milk after his contribution．

C．13ecause he had given his milk to his classmate．

4．The teacher thought James _________ after his contribution．

A．was poor                B．was a fool          C．hoped to get along with others

5．Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?

A．The Christmas collection started before the Thanksgiving holiday．

B．Only James gave his money to the collection in his class．

C．lames was not good at talking but he was kind．

Once upon a time，there were two good friends．One was called Jack and the other was called James．One day，the two friends were walking through the desert．During the journey they had a quarrel，and Jack couldn’t control himself and hit James in the face．James felt hurt，but he didn’t say anything．Instead，he wrote in the sand，“Today my best friend Jack hit me in the face．”
They kept on walking until they found an oasis(綠洲)．They decided to get some water there．Suddenly James had trouble in the water，he fell into the mire(泥潭)and was in danger．Jack saved him at once．When he felt all right，he wrote on a stone，“Today my best friend Jack saved my life．”Jack was very surprised and asked James，“After I hurt you，you wrote in the sand and now you write on the stone．Why?”James replied，“When someone hurts us，we should write it down in the sand so that the wind of forgiveness can blow it away．But when someone does anything good for us，we must write it on the stone，so no wind can blow it away．”
Since then，the two good friends have never quarreled with each other again and they got on better with each other．
Hatred(仇恨)can bring you nothing but unhappiness．If you don’t forgive others，you are making trouble for yourself Keep a peaceful heart all the time and remember to be always thankful to others!
【小題1】What happened when Jack hit his friend James in the face?

A．After he was beaten in the face James was hurt and ran away．

B．James hated his friend，in return very much from then on．

C．James hit his friend in return at once．

D．James wrote“Today my best friend Jack hit me in the face”in the sand．

【小題2】What’s the matter with James in the oasis?

A．He was very careless and fell into the mire．

B．He wanted to get some water and fell into the mire．

C．He wanted to know if his friends would help him when he had trouble．

D．He wanted to make his friend have trouble，too．

【小題3】What did James do after he was saved by his friend?

A．He wrote some words on a stone．

B．He thanked his friends at once．

C．He wrote some words in the sand．

D．He drank some water and had a rest．

【小題4】Which of the statements is NOT true according to the passage?

A．Jack was very angry when he had a quarrel with James．

B．They decided to get some water after they found an oasis．

C．The two good friends went on walking after the quarrel and found an oasis a few days later．

D．Hatred can only bring you unhappiness．

【小題5】Why did James write words in different places?
A．The wind of forgiveness can blow hatred away．
B．No wind can blow thanks away．
C．James only wanted to write words in different places．
D．A and B．

Reading Oliver James'Affluenza, I thought about what often happens at home. My 12-year-old daughter is in tears."I have so take a test tomorrow. I don't understand any of it," she cries out. After shouting and shutting her door, she calms down enough to go through her notes. The following dry I ask her how the test went and the just says "OK,I got a nine".

"Wow. well done!" I say, before she finishes with "But I never get a ten!"

According to James, this obsession with getting top marks has been a bad development, which encourages people to think of education in terms of work and money. To test this, I asked my daughter why she was so worried about her tests. She looked at me as if I was thick. "Well, if I don't get good grades, I won't be able to afford nice things like a car and stuff."

I was quite surprised, because I don't consider myself a pushy parent. But James suggests and it leaves students feeling failures even if they are very bright. He points to the Danish system（體制）of education as a better model. Creating happy citizens who have good social skills is seen as more important than high achievements at school or the needs of business.

For me, I cannot remember the last time I had to work out the area of a circle, recite a Shakespeare poem or grammar rules, yet I have lived a happy life. What I really needed to learn at school was how to make polite conversations, or how to avoid getting into debt or how to develop good personality.

This is in fact similar to what Oliver James really has in mind. And he is looking for schools where students are encouraged to find and follow their own interests, something more like Tongjon. Tongjon has been developed in some Korean private schools. It is quite different from the more rigid system of learning things by heart that is used in Korea, and indeed in many other school systems around the world.

As the Russian poet Pushkin said," Inspiration(靈感）is needed in geometry(幾何學(xué)）just as much as in poetry ",and inspiration does not come from endlessly revising for tests or getting worried about them .

1.What does the writer probably think of his/her daughter?

A. She sets herself a goal too high to reach.

B. She should be more polite to her parents.

C. She is hard-working but not very bright.

D. She takes her grades much too seriously.

2.What does the word "obsession"in paragraph 3 mean?

A.A plain and unavoidable fact.

B.A satisfied and very proud state.

C.A practical and widely-used way.

D.A fixed and often unreasonable idea.

3.What can we infer from the passage?

A. Social skills are as important as high grades.

B. Interest in grades can shake self-confidence.

C. The writer regrets not having studied hard at school.

D. Danish educational system is for very smart students.

4.The writer wants to tell us that____.

A.learning happily is the key to self-development.

B. top marks may be helpful to increase one's interest.

C. tests should be improved to give children inspiration.

D. education should meet one's needs for word and money.