The church seems cold this morning, even after all the people, friends and family, fill the benches. I sit here in silence, in shock and denial. This was not supposed to happen. What about our dreams, or our plans? We were going to raise our children, travel the world, and grow old together. I’m only 37, a typical housewife. I don’t know if I can do all this alone—two children, no father. What do I do or say?
The faces of so many people confuse me as they come to pay their last respects. Some have real sorrow; I can see it in their eyes. The others seem to just say, “I told you so.” Those famous last words: I-told-you-so. How I can’t stand them. And the pointing fingers as so-called family and so-called friends pick me out of the crowd for others to see. I want to scream and wake up but I can’t do anything but sit there. How can they be so blind? I fell in love with a man. Love knows no boundaries .
He was a good man, hardworking, caring and kind. He was retired from the Navy and a gentleman. He was sensitive to others’ needs, the kind of man that knew what to do or say, how to humor any situation and calm everyone’s fears. I remember our first child was a big surprise to both of us. I remember when I told him the news. He fell off his chair, saying over and over in disbelief, “But I’m almost sixty.” After a few months he started planning our next and even doing his famous little dance whenever he discussed the idea.
A man, thirty years older than I, lies in a coffin. Flowers, the American flag and his VFW comrades surround him, paying tribute(颂词)to him as the man he really was. And I sit alone here, with our two children, in silence, praying that this cold morning at church is only a nightmare and I will awake to his loving arms again.
49. What can we know from the passage about the writer?
A. She married a man much older than she.
B. She is going to give birth to their second child.
C. She lost her husband, who was as old as she.
D. She lost her father, whom she loved deeply.
50. From Paragraph Two, we can see ______.
A. the writer didn’t really love the man
B. some of her family members didn’t understand her
C. some of her family members and friends were blind
D. she thought her marriage to the man was a mistake
51. Which of the following can best replace the underlined words “But I’m almost sixty”?
A. I can’t believe it.
B. That’s a lot of trouble.
C. That should have happened long ago.
D. It can’t be my child.
52. Which of the following can’t be used to describe the writer’s feelings for the man?
A. Sad. B. Loving. C. Inseparable D. Complaining.
There are two ways to save money traveling. The first way is to get the best deals on the specific things you want. There is a limitation to this type of approach (途径,方法) though. If you find the lowest price on the best hotel in Honolulu at the height of the season, you will save money, but still have a very expensive vacation. Trying to get exactly what you want will generally be an expensive proposition, in travel and in life.
The other approach is to be a true opportunist. This will be difficult for some of you, and entirely unacceptable to others. Nonetheless (尽管如此),the travelers who get to travel the most, go to the widest variety of places, learn the most and do the most, are the opportunists. This will be true until you are so wealthy that you have no monetary (货币的;钱的)limits.
The first time I went to Ecuador, I went there because it was cheap. If it wasn’t, I would have had a great time—somewhere else. The trip lasted a month, and cost $1045, which included airfare and even the $130 fee for a guide to take me to the top or glacier (冰川) covered Mount Chimborazo.
I cut the cost by taking a bus from my home in Michigan to Miami, and back again when I returned from Ecuador. The round-trip ticket cost $158. The round-trip flight to Quito from Miami was only $256, because it was a courier (信使,通讯员) flight, which meant I signed for some luggage(car parts), and could only take carry-on luggage.
Never did I feel deprived, or bored. I had a great time, eating wherever it was cheap and clean, doing all sorts of inexpensive, but interesting things, and traveling across the country to climb Chimborazo. I also met and fell in love with my wife Ana.
Being an opportunist means you’ll have just as much variety, and probably almost everything you want—eventually. You just have to stop trying to get exactly what you want exactly when you want it. If the guide that took me up Chimborazo hadn’t dropped his price from $200 to $130, I would have spent $2 for a bus and gone hiking on EI Altar, another great Andean mountain. That would have left me with enough money for several other minor adventures.The underlined phrase “the best deals” in the first paragraph probably refers to ______.
A.the best service | B. the lowest price |
C.the cheapest goods | D. the best approaches |
The return tickets from his hometown to Quito cost the author ______.
A.$128 | B. $256 | C. $207 | D. $414 |
The last paragraph was to tell us how to ______.
A.save money for minor adventures |
B.cut down traveling costs. |
C.deal with different situations |
D.become opportunist travelers |
It’s suggested that the author _____.
A.went hiking on El Altar |
B.traveled with his wife in Ecuador |
C.is an opportunist traveler |
D.likes traveling around the world |
Which of the following can serve as the best title of the passage?
A.Cheap Travel Secrets | B. Travel Secrets |
C.A Travel Opportunist | D. Travel Tips |
Many years ago, when I was fresh out of school and working in Denver, I was driving to my parents’ home in Missouri for Christmas. I stopped at a gas station(加油站)about 50 miles from Oklahoma City, where I was planning to stop and visit a friend. While I was standing in line at the cash register(收款台), I said hello to an older couple who were also paying for gas.
I took off, but had gone only a few miles when black smoke poured from the back of my car. I stopped and wondered what I should do. A car pulled up behind me. It was the couple I had spoken to at the gas station. They said they would take me to my friend’s. We chatted on the way into the city, and when I got out of the car, the husband gave me his business card.
I wrote him and his wife a thank-you note for helping me. Soon afterward, I received a Christmas present from them. Their note that came with it said that helping me had made their holidays meaningful.
Years later, I drove to a meeting in a nearby town in the morning. In late afternoon I returned to my car and found that I’d left the lights on all day, and the battery (电池) was dead. Then I noticed that the Friendly Ford dealership—a shop selling cars — was right next door. I walked over and found two salesmen in the showroom.
“Just how friendly is Friendly Ford?” I asked and explained my trouble. They quickly drove a pickup truck to my car and started it. They would accept no payment, so when I got home, I wrote them a note to say thanks. I received a letter back from one of the salesmen. No one had ever taken the time to write him and say thank you, and it meant a lot, he said.
“Thank you” —two powerful words. They’re easy to say and mean so much.Why did the author plan to stop at Oklahoma City?
(No more than 5 words) (2 marks)
________________________________________________________________________________What happened when the author found smoke coming out of his car?
(No more than 10 words) (2 marks)
________________________________________________________________________________Why was the battery of the author’s car dead?
(No more than 10 words) (3 marks)
________________________________________________________________________________What does the author tries to show by telling his own experiences?
(No more than 12 words) (3 marks)
________________________________________________________________________________
We are well aware of the role of modern transportation in our lives. Not too long ago, people suffered great hardship in order to make a long journey. Moving heavy goods from one town to another involved hard labor. Today, we enjoy the convenience of various kinds of vehicles including ships, planes, trains, and automobiles, which allow us to go wherever we choose and make our workload much lighter.
But modern transportation, along with convenience has brought some problems. With more drivers on the road, there has been an increase in traffic jams and accidents. The exhaust from automobiles has added to our air pollution, aside from additional noise caused by trucks and cars on the road.
Like everything else, modern transportation has more than one face. Here in China, we look to our government experts to solve these problems. Scientists are working on developing modern fuel (燃料) that produces less pollution. However, we can all help reduce air pollution from automobiles by only driving when it is necessary and using public transportation when available.
Title: 1
Convenience |
● allowing us to go anywhere ● reducing 2 |
3 |
● traffic jams and accidents increasing ● the exhaust 4air pollution ● 5caused by vehicles |
6 |
● 7solving the problems ● scientists8 ● poeple helping 9by only driving when necessary and using public transportation when10 |
A camera and a computer can “see” something that perhaps millions of pairs of eyes failed to see for 480 years: the Mona Lisa’s necklace. The discovery about the famous painting was made by an American physicist.
The Mona Lisa, painted by the Italian, Leonardo da Vinci, has been on show for many years in Paris. Now a row of white spots on the neck have been “seen”. They are said to be the remains (痕迹) of a necklace which the artist later painted over.
The painting will be examined further by using infrared scanning (红外线扫描) techniques. Laser (激光) technology can be used to show what lies directly under the surface of the finished work, too. This will help us to understand how the artist drew the picture: Did he begin with a quick-made drawing or have second thoughts as he painted the picture?
This kind of knowledge will show us the famous artist at work. It may also help to explain Mona Lisa’s smile, which has puzzled art lovers for centuries. This passage is mainly about ______.
A.the famous artist Leonardo da Vinci |
B.an American physicist’s discovery |
C.further researches on the Mona Lisa |
D.The uses of modern technology |
The Mona Lisa is ______.
A.a famous artist | B.a famous painting |
C.a smiling woman | D.a lost necklace |
In this passage, “the Mona Lisa’s lost necklace” suggests that ______.
A.Mona Lisa once wore a necklace |
B.someone stole the necklace from the Mona Lisa |
C.the artist did not keep the necklace he had painted on the neck |
D.the artist had a necklace stolen while working on the painting |
According to the passage, the white spots on Mona Lisa’s neck ______.
A.are still invisible to visitors |
B.have turned into a necklace |
C.have already appeared before visitors |
D.are looking more and more like a necklace |
The painting will be examined further so that people may know more about ______.
A.Mona Lisa and her smile |
B.the time when it was finished |
C.infrared scanning and laser |
D.this art work and the artist |
Though he wore his whiskers (颊须) only four years, today we can hardly think of Abraham Lincoln without them. He often talked about the little girl in Westfield, New York, who suggested in a letter that he grow the famous whiskers. And he would add, “Sometimes a small thing can change our lives!”
Grace Bedell sat in her room looking at a picture of Lincoln. Her little lamp threw shadows on the picture. A frame (框) of small shadows lay around the thin face and covered the hollow cheeks (面颊). “Whiskers!” she thought.
“How nice!” she said to herself. “There will be more people to elect him President if he lets his whiskers grow. Somebody ought to tell him.” She reached for a pen and began to write the letter.
On February 16 of the following year a special train carried the newly elected President Lincoln to the White House. The train stopped briefly at a station near Grace’s town. At the station Lincoln was speaking to a large crowd, among whom were the Bedell family.
Lincoln continued his speech, “I have a little friend in this place,” he said. “That little lady told me how to improve my appearance, and I want to thank her. If she is present, I would like to speak to her. Her name is Grace Bedell.”
Grace’s father led her forward to Lincoln. She looked and laughed happily, for up there on his face were the whiskers.
If you visit Springfield, Illinois, today you will see the house in which Abraham Lincoln used to live. On the wall of a room hangs a piece of paper covered with a child’s handwriting: “Dear sir...” Which of the following is the best title for this passage?
A.Why Lincoln Grew Whiskers |
B.A Little Girl’s Letter to Lincoln |
C.How Lincoln Becamse President of the U. S. |
D.Lincoln’s Great Kindness to Children |
Grace suggested Lincoln growing whiskers because she supposed ______.
A.he looked terrible without whiskers around his face |
B.he would look better with whiskers around his thin face |
C.no one would elect him President if he had no whiskers |
D.he would be famous with whiskers around his thin face |
Grace’s idea that Lincoln should grow whiskers came from ______.
A.the lamp | B.Lincoln’s hollow cheeks |
C.the picture of Lincoln | D.the shadows on the picture |
When Lincoln said “Sometimes a small thing can change our lives”, what he really meant was that ______.
A.his whiskers had helped him to become President of the U. S. |
B.one should pay attention to small things in one’s life |
C.a little child’s advice had helped to improve his appearance |
D.a child could play an important part in politics |
Which of the following did Grace most likely tell Lincoln in her letter?
A.Her school. | B.Her problems. | C.Her age. | D.Her friends. |