When I was 12，all I wanted was a signet (图章) ring.They were the “in” thing and it seemed every girl except me had one.On my 13th birthday，my Mum gave me a signet ring with my initials(姓名首字母) carved into it.I was in heaven.
What made it even more special was that it was about the only thing that wasn’t being “replaced”．We’d been burnt out in fires that swept through our area earlier that year and had lost everything—so most of the “new” stuff (东西) we got was really just to replace what we’d lost.But not my ring.My ring was new.
Then，only one month later，I lost it.I took it off before bed and it was missing in the morning.I was sad and searched everywhere for it.But it seemed to have disappeared.Eventually，I gave up and stopped looking for it.And two years later，we sold the house and moved away.
Years passed，and a couple of moves later，I was visiting my parents’ when Mum told me that she had something for me.It wasn’t my birthday，nor was it Easter or Christmas or any other giftgiving occasion.Mum noticed my questioning look.“You’ll recognize this one，”she said，smiling.
Then she handed me a small ring box.I took it from her and opened it to find my beautiful signet ring inside.
The family who had bought our house 13 years earlier had recently decided to do some redecorations，which included replacing the carpets.When they pulled the carpet up in my old bedroom，they found the ring.As it had my initials carved into it，they realized who owned the ring.They’d had it professionally cleaned up by a jeweler before sending it to my mother.
And it still fits me.The underlined word “in” in the first paragraph probably means“________”．
| A．fashionable | B．available |
| C．practical | D．renewable |
When she got the ring back，the writer was about ________.
| A．13 years old | B．15 years old |
| C．26 years old | D．28 years old |
Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．The writer’s family moved several times. |
| B．The writer never stopped looking for her ring. |
| C．The writer’s ring was cleaned up by the new house owner. |
| D．The writer lost her ring in the morning when she took it off. |
What would be the best title for the passage?
| A．My New Ring | B．Lost and Found |
| C．Lost and Replaced | D．An Expensive Ring |
The best way to improve your reading ability is, of course, to read. The student must make a real effort to improve his speed, and if necessary his comprehension, with each exercise. Too many students read passages passively（被动的） and without judgment: they simply start at the first word and read through to the end. You should read a passage actively, selectively（选择地） and purposely. You must believe that you indeed have the ability to read faster and understand, and that you will.
Reading, like everything else in life, is best done when you’re relaxed. The key to improve it is concentration. You must be willing to break some old habits and form new ones. Extra body movement, such as turning the head from side to side, pointing at the line with a finger or pencil, or moving the lips, should be stopped immediately. Reading is mostly a mental process(大脑活动过程) and body movement helps neither speed nor comprehension. Then you should see words as part of a whole sentence or paragraph, not just in isolation(孤立), This is why a slow, word-by-word student often understands far less, or misses much of the joy and excitement of reading.
The student must learn to improve reading skills on their own, and not just when a teacher is looking over his shoulder. Reading improvement takes discipline（纪律） and effort. Don’t give up.
1. According to the author, how should we not read a passage?
A. actively B passively. C. purposely D. selectively
2. You may conclude that whether you can improve your reading depends on________.
A. your attitude B. your good habits of reading
C. discipline D. all of the above
3. Which of the following is true according to the passage?
A. When reading, you’d better point at the line with a pencil.
B. When reading, you should turn your head from side to side.
C. When reading, you should pay attention to basic unit of meaning, that is a phrase or sentence that contains an idea.
D. Body movement will help you to improve reading.
4. The best title for this passage is___________.
A. Reading FasterB. Understanding Better
C. How to Improve Your ReadingD. Don’t Give Up
IV.阅读理解（共16小题；每小题2分，满分32分）
阅读下列短文，然后从所给四个选项中选出最佳选项，并标在试卷的相应位置。
A holiday is any day when people lay aside their ordinary duties and cares. The word comes from Old English. At first, holidays honored some holy(神的) events or persons. People in Great Britain and other countries speak of holidays as Americans speak of vacations.
Every nation has its special holidays. China observes New Year’s Day(January 1), May Day and National Day as legal(法定的) holidays, as it was on Oct. 1, 1949 that People’s Republic of China was founded. The Chinese have long celebrated the Chinese lunar year. In the United States, congress（国会） has declared(宣告) several as legal days such as New Year's Day (January1), Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Birthday, Washington's Birthday, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day and so on. Some holidays celebrate special events in the development of a country, such as Greece’s Independence Day, Italy’s Liberation Day and India’s Independence Day.
In the United States, banks and schools usually close on a legal holiday. When such a holiday falls on Sunday, the following Monday is often observed. Schools and organizations often observe days known as traditional holidays, although schools and businesses do not close then. Those holidays include Valentine's Day and Halloween.
1. Which of the following holidays has nothing to do with a country’s development?
A. China’s National Day B. Valentine’s Day
C. Italy’s Liberation Day D. America’s Independence Day
2. From the passage we can infer that _________.
A. Chinese will no longer observe the Spring Festival
B. students don’t have to go to school on any holiday
C. Chinese and Americans share at least one holiday
D. Americans can easily draw money from banks on legal days
3. In the sentence “China observes New Year’s Day(January 1)”, “observes” means_____.
A. praises B. spends C. celebrates D. cares
4. If a legal holiday falls on Sunday, people usually celebrate on_________.
A. Sunday B. the following Sunday
C. the following Monday D. the following Tuesday
四、阅读理解
Each morning a rich man found a poor man sitting on a park bench (长凳). The poor man always sat there, looking at the big hotel in which the rich man lived. One day the rich man got out of his car and said to the poor man, “Excuse me, but I just want to know why you sit here and look at my hotel every morning.” “Sir,” said the poor man, “I am a failure. I have no money, no family, no home. I sleep on this bench, and every night I dream that one day I’ll sleep in that hotel.” The rich man said, “That is not so hard. Tonight your dream will come true. I’ll pay for the best room in that hotel for you for a whole month.”
A few days later, the rich man went by the poor man’s room to ask him how he was enjoying himself. To his surprise, he found that the man had moved out of the hotel, back to his park bench. When the rich man asked why, the poor man said, “you see, when I am down here sleeping on my bench, I dream I’m up there, in that big hotel. It’s a wonderful dream. But when I was up there, I dreamed I was back to this cold bench. It was a terrible dream, and I couldn’t get any sleep at all.”
1. The poor man lived in_____ before he met the rich man.
A. the hotel B. his home C. the park D. the car
2. Every morning, the poor man sat on the bench and _____
A. waited for the rich man B. looked at the rich man’s hotel
C. looked at the rich man’s car D. enjoyed the clean air
3. The poor man moved out of the hotel because_______
A. he didn’t want to live in such a fine room
B. he didn’t like the rich man
C. he couldn’t pay for the room
D. he couldn’t get any sleep at all there
4. In the end, the poor man found it _____to sleep in the hotel.
A. sorry B. nice C. sad D.terrible