I grew up poor—living with my wonderful mother. We had little money， but plenty of love and attention. I was happy and energetic. I understood that no matter how poor a person was， he could still____ 1____a dream.

My dream was____ 2____ . By the time I was sixteen， I started playing baseball. I could throw a ninety-mile-per-hour fastball and hit anything that moved on the baseball field. I was also lucky: My high school coach was John， who not only believed in me， but also taught me how to believe in myself. He taught me the difference between having a dream and remaining true to the dream. One particular____ 3____with Coach John changed my life forever.

A friend recommended me for a summer job. This means a chance for money in my pocket—money for a new bike， new clothes and the____ 4 ____of savings for a house for my mother. Then I realized I would have to give up summer baseball to handle the work schedule， and that meant I would have to tell John I wouldn’t be playing.

When I told John， he was____5____ as I expected him to be . “You have your whole life to work，” he said， “Your playing days are limited. You can’t afford to waste them.” I stood before him with my head ____ 6____，trying to think of the words that would explain to him why my dream of buying my Mom a house and having money in my pocket was worth facing his ____ 7____ in me.

“How much are you going to make at this job， son?” he asked. “3.5 dollars an hour，” I replied.

“Well，” he asked， “ is 3.5 an hour the price of a dream?”

That simple question made clear for me the difference between ____ 8____ something right now and having a____9____ . I decided myself to play sports that summer and within the year I was hired by the Pittsburgh Pirates to play baseball， and was____10____a 20，000 contract. Three years later， I bought my mother the house of my dream!

1. A. liveB. afford C. makeD. need

2. A. athleticsB. musicC. businessD. money

3. A. accidentB. matterC. problemD. experience

4. A. aimB. ideaC. startD. purpose

5. A. madB. sadC. frightenedD. shameful

6. A. movingB. noddingC. shakingD. hanging

7. A. sadnessB. regretC. hopelessnessD. disappointment

8. A. livingB. changingC. dreamingD. enjoying

9. A. wishB. goalC. scoreD. desire

10. A. paidB. gotC. offeredD. presented

解析

通讀全文及首句(I grew up poor—living with my wonderful mother. We had little money， but plenty of love and attention.)、尾句(Three years later， I bought my mother the house of my dream!)， 可了解文章大意: 作者通過自己的努力， 在教練的教育下實現(xiàn)了自己為媽媽買房的夢想， 改變了貧困的生活狀態(tài)。

1. B。afford(買得起， 負擔得起)是跟文章中的no matter how poor a person was相呼應(yīng)的。如選A， 則為live a dream“實現(xiàn)夢想”之意， 顯然與上下文不符。

2. A。athletics 運動， 體育。上下文有started playing baseball， coach等詞， 很明顯應(yīng)為A。

3. D。experience(可數(shù)名詞)經(jīng)歷; accident事故; matter事件， 事情; problem疑難問題。

4. C。the start of savings for a house 開始儲蓄買房; aim， purpose目的; idea想法。

5. A。mad 生氣; sad 悲傷; frightened 受驚的; shameful 可恥的。

6. D。考查了with 的復(fù)合結(jié)構(gòu)。with my head hanging 是指“我耷拉著腦袋”。

7. D。disappointment 失望; hopelessness 絕望; regret后悔; sadness 悲傷。

8. C。dreaming 上文多次提到dream。

9. B。goal目標; wish愿望; score得分; desire 愿望，欲望。整句話的意思是指baseball不僅僅是一個夢想， 而是可以實現(xiàn)的目標。

10. C。指Pittsburgh Pirates offered him a contract。and 后面省略了I， 即 and I was offered... 為被動語態(tài)。

編輯/梁宇清

參考答案

1—5 BADCA 6—10 DDCBC