A few days ago we – that’s me and the husband – took a cab to the station. Chat with the driver fell to the wrong of cyclists, and the misunderstanding of the road rules. So far as the rules of the road go, there seems to be one basic principle: when you are driving a car you hate bikes, when you are riding a bike you hate cars (and I guess walkers hate everyone). 

There is an obvious difference of viewpoint built in here. It wasn’t until I started to drive a car (almost 20years after I had first rode a bike) that I actually realized that you could not see a cyclist at night without lights. In fact I now want to shout at late night cyclists without lights(like motortists once did at me): “You’ll get killed, sunshine, I can’t see you.”

The problem is that cyclists do ride headlong into danger. It's not just not having lights. It’s biking on pavements (and so threatening to injure a load of innocent walkers in the process) and biking down one-way streets the wrong way.

I admit that I do bike the wrong way down a one-way street sometimes. My feeble(軟弱無(wú)力) defense is that I try always to do it as if I know I was doing wrong. That is slowly, with an apologetic look on the face, and ready to get off at any minute. I can’t bear the guys(一伙人) (usually, but not always it is guys) who do it as if they owned the place, and at high speed.

So cyclists are not entirely innocent. But they are among the disadvantaged groups, because the bottom line is that a car or a lorry can kill a cyclist and not the other way around.

1.When did the writer realize the danger for late night cyclists without lights?

A. Not until she became a driver herself.

B. Not until she had driven a car for 20 years.

C. After she was shouted at by a motorist.

D. After she was once knocked down by a group of guys.

2.When the writer biked the wrong way down a one way street, she felt_________.

A. angry            B. guilty   C. innocent                    D. proud

3.Which group is most likely to face danger according to the writer?

A. walkers         B. passers-by     C. cyclists          D. motorists

4.What can we learn about the writer?

A. She often took a cab with her husband.

B. She has been a motorist for over 20 years.

C. She used to ride a bike without lights at night.

D. She often biked the wrong way down a one way street.

I used to hate being called upon in class mainly because I didn’t like attention drawn to myself. And  1    assigned（指定）a seat by the teacher, I always   2  to sit at the back of the classroom.
All this    3   after I joined a sports team. It began when a teacher suggested I try out for the basketball team. At first I thought it was a crazy   4   because I didn’t have a good sense of balance, nor did I have the   5  to keep pace with the others on the team and they would laugh at me. Without the teacher who kept insisting on my “   6   for  it”, I wouldn’t have decided to give a try.
Getting up the courage to go to the tryouts was only the   7  of it! When I first started  8   the practice sessions (練習(xí)賽), I didn’t   9  know the rules of the game, not to mention what I was doing. Sometimes I’d get    10   and take a shot at the wrong direction—which made me feel really stupid.   11  , I wasn’t the only one “new” at the game, so I decided to   12    on learning the game, do my best at each practice session, and not be too hard on myself for the things I didn’t   13  “just yet”.
I practiced and practiced. Soon I knew the  14  and the “moves”. Being part of a team was fun and motivating. Very soon the competitive  15  in me was winning over my lack of confidence. With time, I learned how to play and made friends in the process (過(guò)程) — friends who respected my  16   to work hard and be a team player. I never had so much fun!   
With my    17    self-confidence comes more praise (贊揚(yáng)) from teachers and classmates. I have gone from “   18”in the back of the classroom and not wanting to call attention to myself,    19    raising my hand—even when I sometimes wasn’t and not 100 percent    20   I had the right answer. Now I have more self-confidence in myself.

I met Mrs. Neidl in the ninth grade on a stage-design team for a play and she was one of the directors. Almost instantly I loved her. She had an unpleasant voice and a direct way of speaking,   11   she was encouraging and inspiring. For some reason, she was impressed with my work and me.
  Mrs. Neidl would ask me for my  12  . She wanted to know how I thought we should   13  things. At first I had no idea how to answer because I knew  14  about stage design! But I slowly began to respond to her  15  . It was cause and effect: She believed I had opinions, so I began to  16  them. She trusted me to complete things, so I completed them perfectly. She loved how  17  I was, so I began to show up to paint more and more. She believed in me, so I began to believe in myself.
  Mrs. Neidl’s   18  that year was, “Try it. We can always paint over it  19  !” I began to take  20  . I had been so afraid of failing but suddenly there was no failing—only things to be   21  upon. I learned to dip my brush into the paint and  22   create something.
  The shy, quiet freshman achieved success that year. I was   23   in the program as “Student Art Assistant” because of the time and effort I’d put in. It was that year that I   24    I wanted to spend the rest of my life doing stage design.
  Being on that stage-design team   25   Mrs. Neidl changed me completely. Not only was I stronger and more competent than I had thought, but I also   26   a strong interest and a world I hadn’t known existed. She taught me not to  27  what people think I should do. She taught me to take chances and not be  28  . Mrs. Neibl was my comforter when I was upset. Her   29  in me has inspired me to do things that I never imagined  30  .

11. A. and                         B. yet                             C. so                            D. for
12. A. opinion                   B. impression                  C. information        D. intention
13. A. make                      B. keep                           C. handle                D. change
14. A. anything                 B. something                   C. everything          D. nothing
15. A. questions                B. comments                   C. explanations       D. remarks
16. A. hold                       B. follow                         C. evaluate             D. form
17. A. happy                     B. lively                          C. reliable               D. punctual
18. A. message                 B. motto                         C. saying                D. suggestion
19. A. again                      B. more                          C. instead               D. later
20. A. steps                      B. control                        C. charge               D. risks
21. A. improved                B. acted                          C. looked               D. reflected
22. A. easily                      B. carefully                     C. confidently         D. proudly
23. A. introduced              B. recognized                  C. identified            D. considered
24. A. confirmed               B. decided                       C. realized              D. acknowledged
25. A. with                       B. below                         C. of                      D. by
26. A. developed               B. discovered                  C. took                  D. fostered
27. A. accept                    B. care                            C. judge                 D. wonder
28. A. bored                     B. lazy                            C. sad                    D. afraid
29. A. trust                       B. patience                      C. curiosity            D. interest
30. A. accessible               B. enjoyable                     C. possible             D. favorable