Fear plays no part in this latest problem．“I’m not afraid I’ll lose my children．I won’t lose my children. We live together, and nothing, nothing,” she repeats, her voice rising when speaking to John’s lawyer, “will stop me from being with my children. A law? Yeah, right. Don’t disturb me when it comes to my children. You are never going to win. If John wants to see them, I cannot stop him. He’s their father—I want them to see him! However, his visit in his present condition will disturb the children’s stable (稳定的) life．”
John, who has spent much of his time in California, recently, has only hired a house for himself in Pennsylvania, according to his lawyer. "If he’d like to stick to a regular life, I’d be more than happy to do that，" Jane says. "The best thing for any child of a divorced (离婚的) parent is a stable life. I want nothing more than for him to set up a stable life for himself, so that he can be part of making our children’s lives more stable. "
While matters of money and care won’t be settled for weeks, Jane hardly puts her life on hold. Last week the ABC network announced that Jane would return with her own show, Twist of Jane, in which she gives advice to other moms．Jane and her eight children will also return to ABC in a series of Jane Plus 8 specials showing them on various adventures．It’s a rest for Jane, who insists that she needs her new，busy life to provide for her family．“I have to lead such a life, and I’m thankful that I’ve built it to the top where now I can support my children．”she says．
And whether a bellicose(好斗的)dance judge or a bellicose former wife, Jane plans to keep on facing attacks on her. “Some people try to knock me down—only to make me more fierce，more protective，more determined to do better，”she says．“Go ahead, take me on. This will just make me stronger．”According to Jane in the first paragraph, the law
| A．can’t take her children away from her |
| B．can’t do anything with the case |
| C．will best settle the problem |
| D．will disturb her children |
What does “to do that” refer to in the second paragraph?
| A．To live with John． |
| B．To hire a house for John． |
| C．To allow John to see the children |
| D．To ask John to set up a regular life. |
What does the underlined sentence in the third paragraph mean?
| A．Jane’s life is very difficult． |
| B．Jane continues to live as usual． |
| C．Jane almost can’t control her lire |
| D．Jane works very hard to live a happy life． |
Which word can best describe Jane?
| A．Proud． |
| B．Fierce． |
| C．Determined． |
| D．Independent |
A desert is a beautiful land of silence and space. The sun shines, the wind blows, and time and space seem endless. Nothing is soft. The sand and rocks are hard, and many of the plants even have hard needles instead of leaves.
The size and location(分布) of the world’s deserts are always changing. Over millions of years, as climates change and mountains rise, new dry and wet areas develop. But within the last 100 yeas, deserts have been growing at a frightening speed. This is partly because of natural changes, but the greatest makers are humans.
Humans can make deserts, but humans can also prevent their growth. Algeria Mauritania is planting a similar wall around Nouakchott, the capital. Iran puts a thin covering of petroleum(石油) on sandy areas and plants trees. The oil keeps the water and small trees in the land, and men on motorcycles(摩托车) keep the sheep and goats away. The USSR and India are building long canals to bring water to desert areas. In this passage, “needles” refers to _______.
| A．small, thin pieces of steel. |
| B．long, thin pieces of branches. |
| C．small pointed growth on the stem(茎) of a plant. |
| D．small, thin pieces of sticks. |
Which of the following is NOT true?
| A．The greatest desert makers are humans. |
| B．There aren’t any living things in the deserts. |
| C．Deserts have been growing quickly. |
| D．The size of the deserts is always changing. |
People in some countries are fighting a battle against _______.
| A．the growth of deserts | B．the disappearance of desert plants |
| C．natural changes | D．congenital climate |
We can guess that Mauritania and Algeria belong to _______.
| A．Asian countries | B．American countries |
| C．European counties | D．African countries |
Choose the sentence which best gives the main idea of the passage.
| A．The deserts of the world are always changing. |
| B．Man is to take measures to control the growth of the world’s deserts. |
| C．Deserts are lands of silence and space. |
| D．Deserts have grown at a fast pace in the past 10 years. |
The deserts of the world are not all covered with sand. Many of them have surfaces of rock or clay or small stones. They are not flat, either. They often have high hills and deep valleys. There is some plants’ life in many parts of the desert. There is little rain in the desert, but it does fall often enough for most plants.
The deserts of the world are not uninhabited(not lived by people). People also live outside oases(绿洲), but these people are not farmers. They have camels, goats, donkeys, sheep, etc. These animals can live on the desert plants and do not need much water.
The people of the desert have to move constantly from place to place, they must always look for grass or desert plants for their animals. They usually live in tents. When there is no more food for their animals, they fold up their tents, pat them on their camels and donkeys, and move to another place. In good years, when there is enough food for their animals, they trade their skins and their goats and camel hairs with the people of oases for wheat and fruit. But in bad years, when there is not enough food for their animals, the people of the desert would attack the oases people. But they are also hospitable, no man in the desert would ever refuse to give a stranger food and water.according to the passage, deserts are mostly made up of _______.
| A．clay | B．rock |
| C．sand | D．stones |
The underlined word “hospitable” has the meaning of being _______.
| A．brave | B．cruel |
| C．strange | D．kind |
In the desert _______.
| A．it rains in spring only |
| B．it rains for a short time every month |
| C．there is some rain, but far from enough |
| D．the rainfall is just enough for the plants |
People live _______.
| A．only inside the oases | B．only outside the oases |
| C．both inside and outside the oases | D．in places with regular rainfalls |
From the passage we know that life _______.
| A．is hard in deserts | B．is happy in deserts |
| C．is impossible in deserts | D．in deserts in much better now |
“If it rings one more time, I’ll hang up,” Amy thought hopefully, as she waited for someone to answer. Apologizing wasn’t an easy thing to do.
“Hello,” a woman’s voice said. There was no backing out now.
“May I speak to Missy, please?”
“Just a minute.”
In much less than a minute, Missy was on the phone. “Hi, who’s calling?” asked the cheerful voice.
“It’s Amy. I just wanted to tell you that I’m sorry about what I said to you. I didn’t really mean it.” Amy paused, trying to think of what to say next.
“Thank you, Amy. No hard feelings.”
“Missy, you’re a very nice person. You’re a lot nicer than I am!”
Missy laughed. “You’re not so bad, Amy. By the way, I’ve got some great news. Mr. Grumbell said that you were the only candidate for class president. He talked me into being a candidate too. Isn’t that cool?”
Amy didn’t think the news was cool. Missy was very popular; she’d get a lot of votes. Fortunately, Amy was in a gracious mood. “You’ll be a tough opponent, Missy,” she said. “May the best woman win.” “Thanks, Amy,” Missy replied. “But you might even win.”
Amy had to laugh. “Hey, I’m the one who’s supposed to make comments like that!” Amy called Missy on the phone to _______.
| A．tell her that the Titanic sank | B．tell her she needed a brain |
| C．apologize for insulting her | D．ask her to run for president |
Amy was hoping that no one would answer the phone because _______.
| A．she was too tired to talk |
| B．she felt uncomfortable about apologizing |
| C．she was afraid she had dialed the wrong number |
| D．she was wearing pajamas |
If one of the following statements is true, which is it?
| A．Missy was home alone. |
| B．Missy’s mother answered the phone. |
| C．Missy’s father answered the phone. |
| D．Missy’s little sister answered the phone. |
Which word best describes the girls’ conversation?
| A．Nasty. | B．Uncomfortable. |
| C．Sad. | D．Friendly. |
Missy let Amy know that she wanted something that Amy wanted. What was it?
| A．She wanted to have the most friends. |
| B．She wanted her own telephone. |
| C．She wanted mushrooms on her pizza. |
| D．She wanted to be class president. |
An important question about eating out is who pays for the meal. If a friend of yours asks you to have lunch with him. You may say something like this, “I’m afraid it’ll have to be some place cheap, as I have very little money.” The other person may say, “OK, I’ll meet you at McDonald’s.” This means that two agree to go Dutch, that is, each person pays for himself. He may also say, “Oh, no. I want to take you to lunch at Johnson’s”, or “I want you to try the steak(牛排) there. It’s great.” This means the person wants to pay for both of you. If you feel friendly towards this person, you can go with him and you needn’t pay for the meal. You may just say, “Thank you. That would be very nice.”
American customs about who pays for dates(约会) are much the same as in other parts of the world. In the old days, American women wanted men to pay for all the meals. But, today, a university girl or a woman in the business world will usually pay her own way during the day. If a man asks her to dinner or a dance outside the working hours, it means “come as my guest”. So as you can see, it is a polite thing to make the question clear at the very beginning. In the old days _______ often paid for all the meals.
| A．women | B．men |
| C．university students | D．businessmen |
“To go Dutch” means to _______.
| A．go to play outside | B．eat out |
| C．pay for oneself | D．go to a cheaper eating place |
“McDonald’s” here means _______.
| A．a tea house | B．a gate |
| C．an office | D．an eating place |
If you feel friendly to the person, _______.
| A．you should pay for him | B．you needn’t pay for him |
| C．you can accept his invitation | D．you can’t accept his invitation |
We’d better know who will pay for the meal _______.
| A．at the beginning | B．at the end |
| C．in the middle of the meal | D．after drinking |
Any mistake made in the printing of a stamp raises its value to stamp collectors. A mistake on one inexpensive postage stamp has made the stamp worth a million and a half times its original value.
The mistake was made more than a hundred years ago in the British colony of Mauritius, a small island in the Indian Ocean. In 1847 an order for stamps was sent to a London printer — Mauritius was to become the fourth country in the world to issue stamps.
Before the order was filled and delivered, a ball was planned at Mauritius’ Government House, and stamps were needed to send out the invitations. A local printer was instructed to copy the design for the stamps. He accidentally inscribed the words “Post Office” instead of “Post Paid” on the several hundred stamps that he printed.
Today there are only twenty-six of these misprinted stamps left fourteen One Penny Orange-Reds and twelve Two Penny Blues. Because of the Two Penny Blue’s rareness and age, collectors have paid as much as ＄16 800 for it.Over a century ago, Mauritius _______.
| A．was an independent country |
| B．belonged to India |
| C．was one of the British colonies |
| D．was a small island in the Pacific Ocean |
The mistake on the stamps was made _______.
| A．in Mauritius | B．at Mauritius Government House |
| C．in a post office | D．in London |
Stamp collectors have paid 16 800 for _______.
| A．fourteen One Penny Orange-Reds |
| B．twelve Two Penny Blues |
| C．one One Penny Orange-Red |
| D．one Two Penny Blue |