第三部分：阅读理解（共20小题，每小题2分，满分40分）En-优题课

I sitatmykitchentable, while mydaughter,Anna,sitsnexttomymother. On the wall hangsa photo of my father.
“WhenisRickgoingtobehere?” Mymotherasks,referringtomyhusband.
“Idon’tknow,Mom,”Ianswerpatiently.“He’llbeherefordinner.”
Isighandgetupfromthetable.Thisisatleastthetenthtimeshehasaskedthatquestion.
Whilemymotheranddaughterplay,Ibusymyselfmakingasalad.
“Don'tputinanyonions,”Momsays.“YouknowhowDaddyhatesonion.”
“Yes,Mom,”Ianswer.
Iscrub(洗擦)offacarrotandchopitintobite-sizepieces.
“Don'tputanyonionsinthesalad,”sheremindsme.“YouknowhowDaddyhatesonion.”
ThistimeIcan’tanswer.
Mymotherhadbeenbeautiful.Shestillis.Infact,mymotherisstilleverythingshehas
been,justabitforgetful.
Icutofftheendofthecucumberandrubittotakeawaythebitterness. Cutandrub.This
isatrickIhavelearnedfrommymother,alongwithatrillionotherthings: cooking,sewing,
dating,laughing,thinking.Ilearnedhowtogrowup.
AndIlearnedthatwhenmymotherwasaround,Ineverhadtobeafraid.
SowhyamIafraidnow?
Istudymymother'shands.Hernailsarenolongerabrightred,butpaintedalightpink.
Almost nocoloratall.AndasIstareatthem,IrealizeIam feelingthemastheyshapedmy
youth.Handsthatpackedathousandlunchesandwipeda milliontearsoffmycheeks.
Now myhandshavegrownintothoseofmymother's.Handsthathavecookeduneaten
meals,heldmyowndaughter'sfrightenedfingersonthe firstdayofschoolanddriedtears
offherface.
Igrowlighthearted.Icanfeelmymotherkissmegoodnight,checktoseeifthewindowis
locked,thenblowanotherkissfromthedoorway.ThenIammymother,blowingthatsame
kisstoAnna.
Outsideeverythingisstill.Shadowsfallamongthetrees,shapedlikepiecesofapuzzle.
Somedaymydaughterwillbestandinginmyplace,andIwillrestwheremymothernowsits.
WillIrememberthenhowitfelttobebothmotheranddaughter?WillIaskthesame
questiontoomanytimes?
Iwalkoverandsitdownbetweenmymotherandhergranddaughter.
“WhereisRick?”mymotherasks,restingherhandonthetablenexttomine. Andinthat
instantIknowsheremembers.Shemayrepeatherselfalittletoomuch.Butsheremembers.
“He’llbehere,”Ianswerwithasmile.
What’s wrong with the writer’s mother?

A．She is very old.	B．She suffers forgetfulness.
C．She is absent-minded.	D．She is eager to see Rick.

What can we learn about the writer’s father according to the passage?

A．He might have passed away for years.

B．He goes out for a walk by himself.

C．He is out doing something with Rick.

D．He loves the writer’s mother deeply.

The underlined sentence “IrealizeIam feelingthemastheyshapedmyyouth” probably means that ______.

A．Mother’s hands witnessed my growth as a youth

B．Mother’s hands are similar to mine as a youth

C．I like to feel mother’s hands when she was young

D．I realize her hands were exactly like those in her youth

Which of the following words best describe the writer’s mood towards her mother?

A．Content.

B．Disappointed.

C．Loving.

D．Considerate.

The best title for the passage would be ______.

A．Mother’s beauty	B．My father hates onion
C．Hard-working mother	D．Mother’s hands

The dream of flying like Buzz Lightyear never dies. For years, space-age inventors have tested one wearable jet pack after another. And time after time, the designs have been grounded by dangerous fuels, excessive weight, or very loud noise levels. Now a Canadian inventor has sidestepped those weaknesses with an aquatic jet pack. Designed for travel over lakes or oceans, it’s driven by pressurized water, not burning rocket fuel.

When Raymond Li first told the idea for the aquatic jet pack to his friends, they said he must be nuts. How could a jet pack carry that much water? Its thrust-to-weight rate would be so low and it would never become airborne. Thrust-to-weight rate is a measure of the forward force produced compared with the weight of the vehicle. A vehicle with a low thrust-to-weight rate is relatively heavy for the amount of force it generates.
Li's genius idea was to place the jet pack’s engine and its water pump in a separate boat. The pump would draw water from the lake the boat was floating on. It would then force the water under pressure through a hose connected to the jet pack. The hose would be long enough to let the pack go up as high as 8.5 meters (28 feet) in the air.
Today, Li's invention, the Jetlev-Flyer, is ready to go into production. The pack itself, complete with jet nozzles （管嘴） and handlebars, weighs just 14 kilograms. The boat is a floating pod. To take off, the operator hits a trigger on a handlebar, which starts the pump, and then turns the throttle. Two streams of high-velocity water shoot through the hose and out the nozzles, lifting the operator into the air. The operator hovers there or pushes down on the handlebars, zooming forward at speeds of up to 64 kilometers per hour, pulling the pod behind.
All the following factors contribute to the failure of inventing a wearable jet pack EXCEPT ______.

A．excessive water

B．unbearable noise

C．unsafe fuels

D．too much weight

The underlined word “sidestepped” in Para. 1 most probably means ________.

A．improved

B．reduced

C．avoided

D．solved

Raymond Li’s friends found his idea for the aquatic jet pack was ________.

A．exciting

B．crazy

C．realistic

D．creative

Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?

A．His friends encouraged him to do the invention.

B．He put the engine and its water pump in the same boat.

C．The success of his invention lies in his bravery.

D．His invention finally succeeded and will go into production.

Which is the right order to make the Jetlev-Flyer take off?
a. The throttle is turned. b. The operator is lifted into the air.
c. A trigger is hit. d. Two streams of water shoot out.
The pump is started.

A．c, e, a, d, b

B．c, e, a, b, d

C．e, c, d, b, a

D．e, a, c, d, b

The ocean contains many strange and surprising creatures. One such creature is the puffer fish. This very strange fish is probably the most poisonous creature in the ocean. The poison that this fish produces is 275 times more poisonous than the chemical which is usually used to kill rats.
The puffer fish gets its name from the way the fish protects itself from enemies. Whenever it is attacked, the fish blows up its body to three times bigger than its normal size!
Another strange thing about this fish is the fact that it can swim like other fish. Because it does not have bones like other fish, the puffer fish can only move slowly through the water as it is carried by waves.
The puffer fish also has funny teeth. These teeth stick out of the fish’s mouth and are used by the fish to open the shells of the creatures that live on the ocean floor.
This strange, ugly, and very poisonous fish is actually a very expensive kind of food in Japan. The Japanese call this fish “fugu”, and people have been known to pay $150 per person to eat a fugu meal (usually eight servings)!
Very brave people want to eat the most poisonous part of the fugu fish on purpose. They think that this part of the fish tastes the best! Strict laws have been passed to control restaurants which serve fugu; however, quite a few people have still died from eating fugu.Almost 200 people have died over the past 25 years.
When people eat fugu poison, they do not die on the spot. First, they feel a strange tickle on their lips and in their mouth. Then they can not feel anything with their fingers. Finally, they cannot move or speak. Death follows when they can no longer breathe. The poison may take only a few minutes or up to six hours to kill a person. There is no known cure for fugu poisoning.
According to the passage, the puffer fish .

A．is probably the most poisonous creature in the world

B．is generally considered to be the strangest fish in the ocean

C．is slightly more poisonous than the chemical used to kill rats

D．is without doubt a deadly creature if it is not eaten properly

Why do people think that the puffer fish is strange when it is attacked by an enemy?

A．It becomes bigger.	B．It has funny teeth.
C．It gives off poison.	D．It can swim swiftly.

The underlined expression “on the spot” in the last paragraph is closest in meaning to .

A．now and then	B．once in a while
C．then and there	D．sooner or later

Who is allowed to serve fugu according to the passage?

A．The Japanese government.	B．Licensed restaurants.
C．Strict lawyers in Japan .	D．Very brave people

Which is NOT a symptom of fugu poisoning?

A．Having difficulty breathing.	B．Having no sense of touch.
C．Having no sense of taste.	D．Having trouble speaking.

Hans Christian Andersen was a poor boy who lived in Denmark. His father, a shoemaker, had died, and his mother had married again.
Andersen’s father liked to read better than to make shoes. In the evenings, he had read aloud from The Arabian Nights. His wife understood very little of the book, but the boy, pretending to sleep, understood every word.
By day Hans Christian Anderson went to a house where old women worked as weavers. There he listened to the tales that the women told. In those days, there were almost as many tales in Denmark as there were people to tell them.
Among the tales told in the town of Odense, where Andersen was born in 1805, was one about a fairy who brought death to those who danced with her. To this tale, Hans Christian later added a story from his own life.
Once, when his father was still alive, a young lady ordered a pair of red shoes. When she refused to pay for them, unhappiness filled the poor shoemaker’s house. From that small tragedy and the story of the dancing fairy, the shoemaker’s son years later wrote the story that millions of people now know as The Red Shoes.
As a little girl, Hans Christian’s mother was sent out on the streets to beg. She did not want to beg, so she hid under one of the city bridges. She warmed her cold feet in her hands, for she had no shoes. She was afraid to go home. Years later, her son, in his pity for her and his anger at the world, wrote the angry story She’s No Good and the famous tale The Little Match Girl.
Through his genius, he changed every early experience, even his father’s death, into a fairy tale. One cold day his father showed him a white, woman-like figure among the frost patterns. “That is the snow queen,” said the shoemaker. “Soon she will be coming for me.” A few months later he died. And years later, Andersen turned that sad experience into a fairy tale, The Snow Queen.
Which of the following is TRUE about Anderson when he was a boy?

A．His father had remarried before he died.

B．His mother was struck by The Arabian Night.

C．He enjoyed listening to stories very much.

D．He would help old weavers with their work.

What does the underlined sentence in Paragraph 3 imply?

A．Almost all tales from around the world once had their origin in Denmark.

B．The people in Denmark were very enthusiastic about telling tales.

C．The number of tales in Denmark was exactly equal to that of the people living there.

D．The people in Denmark loved doing nothing but tell stories to each other.

How many of Anderson’s fairy tales are mentioned in the passage?

A．5.

B．6.

C．3.

D．4.

It can be inferred from the passage that ______.

A．The Red Shoes was based on a tragedy of Anderson’s family

B．Andersen’s genius as well as his early experience made him successful

C．Andersen was educated at home by his parents because of poverty

D．Anderson wrote The Snow Queen in memory of his parents

Which is the best title of the passage?

A．Hans Christian Andersen’s Own Fairy Tales.

B．Hans Christian Andersen’s Family.

C．Hans Christian Andersen’s Bitter Experiences.

D．Hans Christian Andersen’s Considerate Parents.

Our neighbour's son was getting married at an out-of-town church, and my husband and I were invited. We immediately rushed out to a store, and I bought a nice pink dress with a jacket. The dress was a little tight, but I had a month to go before the June 30 wedding and I would lose a few pounds.
June 29 came and, of course, I hadn't lost a single pound; in fact I had gained two. But I figured a nice new girdle (紧身内衣)would cure everything. So on our way out of the city we stopped once again at the store. I ran in and told the clerk I needed a large-size girdle. The shop assistant found the box with the described girdle marked "LG", and asked if I would like to try it on. “Oh, no, a large will fit just right. I needn't try it on.”
The next morning was rather hot, so I waited to get dressed until about 45 minutes before time to go. I opened the box only to find a new girdle in a small size. Since it was too late to find another one and the dress wouldn't fit right without a girdle, a fight broke out in the hotel room between me and the girdle. Have you ever tried to shake 20 pounds of potatoes into a five-pound bag? That's it. Finally my husband, laughing like crazy, got hold of each side and shook me down into it. At once I put on the pink dress, which didn't match my red face well, and was ready to go.
Finally we got to the church. I heard one of the people say that they were having a High Mass. I turned to my husband and asked, "What is a High Mass?" He shrugged his shoulders.
Unfortunately, I learned that this particular mass would last one hour, twenty-two minutes and eight and one half seconds—the priest (神父) was going to bless everything except my girdle.
The author most probably bought a nice pink dress with a jacket ______.

A．4 weeks later

B．4 weeks ago

C．a fortnight ago

D．a fortnight later

What had the author wanted to do with the tight dress?

A．To make herself thinner.	B．To buy a large-size girdle.
C．To put on some weight.	D．To shake herself into it.

Which of the following statements about the author is TRUE according to the story?

A．She was very lucky to buy a girdle to go with her dress.

B．She had no choice but to put on the dress without a girdle.

C．She complained to the shop assistant about her carelessness.

D．She managed to put on the girdle with her husband’s help.

The purpose of this passage is ______.

A．to show a husband’s selfless love	B．to share an interesting experience
C．to describe a changeable girdle	D．to tell us how to keep calm in trouble

What would be the best title for the passage?

A．A Funny Wedding

B．A Wise Decision

C．A Tight Situation

D．A Fierce Fight