一Did you go to Taylor Swift's concert last night?
一I would rather I＿＿．But I was preparing a report for my boss.
| A．did | B．had |
| C．would | D．might |
We spent a day in the country and picked a lot of flowers. Our car was full of flowers inside! On the way home we had to stop at traffic lights, and there my wife saw the bookshelf.
It stood outside a furniture shop. “Buy it,” she said at once. “We’ll carry it home on the roof-rack(车顶架). I’ve always wanted one like that.”
What could I do? Ten minutes later I was twenty dollars poorer, and the bookshelf was tied on to the roof rack. It was tall and narrow, quite heavy too.
As it was getting darker, I drove slowly. Other drivers seemed more polite than usual that evening. The police even stopped traffic to let us through. Carrying furniture was a good idea.
After a time my wife said, “There’s a long line of cars behind. Why don’t they overtake(超车)?”
Just at that time a police car did overtake. The two officers(警官)inside looked at us seriously when they went past. But then, with a kind smile they asked us to follow their car through the busy traffic. The police car stopped at our village church. One of the officers came to me．
“Right, sir,” he said. “Do you need any more help now?”
I didn’t quite understand. “Thanks, officer,” I said. “You’ve been very kind. I live just down the road.”
He was looking at our things: first at the flowers, then at the bookshelf. “Well, well,” he said and laughed. “It’s a bookshelf you’ve got there! We thought it was——er, something else.”
My wife began to laugh. Suddenly I understood why the police drove here. I smiled at the officer. “Yes, it’s a bookshelf, but thanks again.” I drove home as fast as I could.
1. From the story we know that_________.
A. the writer was poor and didn’t buy the bookshelf for his wife
B. the writer’s wife didn’t like the bookshelf at all
C. the writer was always glad to buy something for his wife
D. the writer was not very glad to buy the bookshelf for his wife
2. What made the writer think that carrying furniture was “a good idea”?
A. He could drive slowly and it was safe．
B. Other drivers would let him go first．
C. His wife could use a new bookshelf．
D. He could save a lot of money and time．
3. Why were the police and other drivers so kind to the writer?
A. Because they thought the writer liked studying very much and needed
a bookshelf．
B. Because they didn’t think it was polite to overtake a car with a
bookshelf on it．
C. Because they thought somebody in the writer’s family had died and he
needed help．
D. Because they thought it was dangerous to carry a bookshelf on a car．
4. Why did the writer’s wife begin to laugh?
A. Because now she knew what mistake the police had made．
B. Because at last her husband understood why the police had driven to
the church．
C. Because the officer was always looking at the flowers and the
bookshelf．
D. Because the police had helped them a lot．
Some time ago I discovered that one of my chairs had a broken leg. I didn’t think there would be any difficulty in getting it mended, as there are a whole lot of antique（古董）shops near my home. So I left home one morning carrying the chair with me. I went into the first shop expecting a friendly reception. I was quite wrong. The man wouldn’t even look at my chair.
The second shop, though slightly more polite, was just the same, and the third and the fourth—so I decided that my approach must be wrong.
I entered the fifth shop with a plan in my mind. I placed the chair on the floor and said to the shopkeeper, “Would you like to buy a chair?” “Twenty pounds,” I said. “OK,” he said. “I’ll give you twenty pounds.” “It’s got a slightly broken leg,” I said. “Yes, I saw that. It’s nothing.”
Everything was going according to the plan and I was getting excited. “What will you do with it?” I asked. “Oh, it will be easy to sell once the repair is done.” “I’ll buy it,” I said. “What do you mean? You’ve just sold it to me,” he said. “Yes, I know but I’ve changed my mind. I am sorry. I’ll give you twenty-seven pounds for it.” “You must be crazy,” he said. Then, suddenly the penny dropped. “I know what you want. You want me to repair your chair.” “You’re right,” I said. “And what would you have done if I had walked in and said, ‘Would you mend this chair for me?’” “I wouldn’t have agreed to do it,” he said. “We don’t do repairs, not enough money in it and too much trouble. But I’ll mend this for you. Shall we say for a fiver?” He was a very nice man and was greatly amused by the whole thing.
1. We can learn from the text that in the first shop the writer .
A. was rather impolite
B. was warmly received
C. asked the shopkeeper to buy his chair
D. asked the shopkeeper to repair his chair
2. The underlined word “approach” in the second paragraph means .
A. plan for dealing with things B. decision to sell tings
C. idea of repairing things D. way of doing things
3. The expression “the penny dropped” in the last paragraph means the shopkeeper .
A. changed his mind B. accepted the offer
C. saw the writer’s purpose D. decided to help the write
4. How much did the writer want to pay for the repair at first?
A. ￡ 5. B. ￡ 7. C. ￡ 20. D. ￡ 27.
Rising above the names
I was shopping in the supermarket when I heard a young voice. “Mom, come here! There’s this lady here of my size!” The mother rushed to her son; then she turned to me to apologize. I smiled and told her, “It’s okay.” Then talked to the boy, “Hi, I’m Darry Kramer. How are you?” He studied me from head to toe, and asked, “Are you a little mommy?” “Yes, I have a son,” I answered. “Why are you so little?” he asked. “It’s the way I was born,” I said. “Some people are little. Some are tall. I’m just not going to grow any bigger.” After I answered his other questions, I shook the boy’s hand and left.
My life as a little person is filled with stories like that. I enjoy talking to children and explaining why I look different from their parents.
It takes only one glance to see my uniqueness. I stand three feet nine inches tall. I was born an achondroplasia dwarf (侏儒). Despite this, I did all the things other kids did when I was growing up.
I didn’t realize how short I was until I started school. Some kids picked on me, calling me names. Then I knew. I began to hate the first day of school each year. New students would always stare at me as I struggled to climb the school bus stairs.
But I learned to smile and accept the fact that I was going to be noticed my whole life. I decided to make my uniqueness an advantage rather than a disadvantage. What I lacked in height, I made up for in personality.
I’m 47 now, and the stares have not diminished as I’ve grown older. People are amazed when they see me driving. I try to keep a good attitude. When people are rude, I remind myself, “Look what else I have – a great family, nice friends.”
It’s the children’s questions that make my life special. I enjoy answering their questions. My hope is that I will encourage them to accept their peers (a person of the same age, class, position, etc.), whatever size and shape they come in, and treat them with respect.
1. Why did the mother apologize to the author?
A. Because the boy ran into the author.
B. Because the boy laughed at the author.
C. Because they boy said the author was fatter than him.
D. Because the mother thought the boy’s words had hurt the author.
2. When did the author realize that she was too short?
A. When she grew up.
B. When she was 47 years old.
C. When she began to go to school.
D. When she met the boy in the supermarket.
3. Which of the following word can best replace the underlined word “diminished”?
A. gained B. increased C. decreased D. accepted
4. How does the author feel about people’s stares?
A. Angry. B. Calm. C. Painful. D. Discouraged.
第二部分阅读理解(共20小题。每小题2分，满分40分)
“ Fire! Fire!” What terrible words to hear when one wakes up in a strange house in the middle of the night! It was a large, old, wooden house and my room was on the top floor. I jumped out of bed, opened the door and stepped outside the house. There was full of thick smoke.
I began to run, but as I was still only half-awake, instead of going towards the stairs I went in the opposite direction. The smoke grew thicker and I could see fire all around. The floor became hot under my bare feet. I found an open door and ran into a room to get to the window. But before I could reach it, one of my feet caught in something soft and I fell down. The thing I had fallen over felt like a bundle of clothes, and I picked it up to protect my face from the smoke and heat. Just then the floor gave way under me and I crashed to the floor below with pieces of burning wood all around me.
I saw a doorway in fire, then I put the bundle over my face and ran. My feet burned me terrible, but I got through. As I reached the cold air outside, my bundle of clothes gave a thin cry, I nearly dropped it in my surprise. Then I was in a crowd gathered in the street. A woman in a night-dress and a borrowed man’s coat screamed as she saw me and came running madly.
She was the Mayor’s wife, and I had saved her baby.
1. The author saved the baby _____.
A. because he was very brave.
B. because he liked the baby very much.
C. but he just happened to save it.
D. because it was the Mayor’s baby.
2. He ran in the wrong direction because he _______.
A. was a stranger there B. could see nothing
C. was not completely awake D. Both A and C
3. He put the bundle over his face and ran in order to ______.
A. save the baby B. call for help C. protect his face D. run quickly
4. From which group of words can we learn the fire took place out of people’s surprise?
A. old and wooden house, a bundle B. crashed to, fell down
C. terrible, half-awake D. bare feet, a borrowed man’s coat
At one time, computers were expected largely to remove the need for paper copies of documents because they could be stored electronically. But for all the texts that are written, stored and sent electronically, a lot of them are still ending up on paper.
It is difficult to measure the quantity of paper used as a result of use of internet-connected computers, although just about anyone who works in an office can tell you that when e-mail is introduced, the printers start working overtime. “I feel in my bones this revolution is causing more trees to be cut down,” says Ted Smith of the Earth Village Organization.
Perhaps the best sign of how computer and internet use pushes up demand for paper comes from the high-tech industry itself, which sees printing as one of its most promising new markets. Several internet companies have been set up to help small businesses print quality documents from a computer. Earlier this week Hewlett-Packard Co. announced a plan to develop new technologies that will enable people to print even more so they can get a hard copy of a business document, a medical record or just a one-line e-mail, even if they are nowhere near a computer. As the company sees it, the more use of the internet the greater demand for printer.
Does all this mean environmental concerns have been forgotten? Some activists suggest people have been led to believe that a lot of dangers to the environment have gone away. “I guess people believe that the problem is taken care of, because of recycling,” said Kelly Quirke, director of the Rainforest Action Network in San Francisco. Yet Quirke is hopeful the high-tech may also prove helpful. He says printers that print on both sides are growing in popularity. The action group has also found acceptable paper made from materials other than wood, such as agricultural waste.
1.The growing demand for paper in recent years is largely due to _______.
A.the rapid development of small businesses B. the opening up of new markets
C.the printing of high quality copies D. the increased use of the internet
2. Environmentalists believe one possible way of dealing with the paper situation is______.
A. to encourage printing more quality documents
B. to develop new printers using recycling paper
C. to find new materials for making paper
D. to plant more fast-growing trees
3.Hewlett-Packard Co. has decided to develop new technologies because ________.
A. people are concerned about the environment
B. printers in many offices are working overtime
C. small companies need more hard copies
D. they see growing market for printers
4. What would be the best title for the text?
A. Computers and Printers B. E-mail and the Business World
C. Internet Revolution and Environment D. Modern Technology and New Markets