There were smiling children all the way. Clearly they knew at what time the train passed their homes and they made it their business to stand along the railway, wave to complete strangers and cheer them up as they rushed towards Penang. Often whole families stood outside their homes and waved and smiled as if those on the trains were their favorite relatives. This is the simple village people of Malaysia. I was moved.
I had always traveled to Malaysia by plane or car, so this was the first time I was on a train. I did not particularly relish the long train journey and had brought along a dozen magazines to read and reread. I looked about the train. There was not one familiar face. I sighed and sat down to read my Economics.
It was not long before the train was across the Causeway and in Malaysia. Johore Baru was just another city like Singapore, so I was tired of looking at the crowds of people as they hurried past. As we went beyond the city, I watched the straight rows of rubber trees and miles and miles of green. Then the first village came into sight, immediately I came alive; I decided to wave back.
From then on my journey became interesting. I threw my magazines into the waste basket and decided to join in Malaysian life. Then everything came alive. The mountains seemed to speak to me. Even the trees were smiling. I stared at everything as if I was looking at it for the first time.
The day passed fast and I even forgot to have my lunch until I felt hungry. I looked at my watch and was surprised that it was 3: 00 pm. Soon the train pulled up at Butterworth. I looked at the people all around me. They all looked beautiful. When my uncle waved with a smile, I threw my arms around him to give him a warm hug. I had never done this before. He seemed surprised and then his weather-beaten face warmed up with a huge smile. We walked arm in arm to his car.
I looked forward to the return journey.The author had expected the train trip to be _________.
| A．adventurous | B．pleasant |
| C．boring | D．exciting |
What touched the author during the train trip?
| A．The mountains along the way. |
| B．The friendly country people. |
| C．The crowds of people in the streets. |
| D．The simple lunch served on the train. |
Which of the following is closest in meaning to the word “relish” in Paragraph 2?
| A．dislike | B．enjoy | C．release | D．choose |
What can we learn from the story?
| A．Smiles brighten people up. |
| B．Pleasure of living in the country. |
| C．Reading gives people delight. |
| D．Comfort in traveling by train. |
Life is difficult.
But life is no longer difficult once we truly understand and accept it.
Most don’t fully see this truth. Instead, they complain about their problems and difficulties as if life should be easy. It seems to them that their difficulties stand for a special kind of suffering especially forced upon them or upon their family, their class, or even their nation.
What makes life difficult is that the process of facing and solving problems is painful. Problems, depending on their nature, cause us sadness, loneliness, regret, anger or fear. These are uncomfortable feelings , often as any kind of physical pain. And since life causes an endless series of problems , life is always difficult and is full of pain as well as joy.
Yet, it is in this whole of solving problems that life has its meaning. Problems are the serious test that tells success from failure .When we desire to encourage the growth of the human spirit, we encourage the human ability to solve problems just as in school we set problems for our children to solve. It is through the pain of meeting and working out problems that we learn. As Benjamin Franklin said,“Those things that hurt, instruct(teach).” It is for this reason that wise people learn not to fear but to welcome the pain of problems.
1. From the passage, it can be inferred that______.
A. not everybody has problems.
B. We become stronger by facing and solving problems in life.
C. life is difficult because our problems bring us pain.
D. people like to complain about their problems.
2. The writer uses just one short sentence in the first paragraph probably to _______.
A. save space B. persuade readers
C. make readers laugh D. get readers’ attention
3. According to the passage, we give school children difficult problems to solve in order to ______.
A. encourage them to learn B. make them suffer
C. help them to deal with pain D. help them to understand life is difficult
4. By“Those things that hurt, instruct(teach).” Benjamin Franklin
suggests that_____.
A.we don’t learn from experience
B.we don’t learn when we are in pain
C.pain teaches us important lessons
D.pain is unforgetable.
At 3:30 a.m. Pearl Carlson was shaken awake by a forceful pull. King, the family dog, was trying to pull her out of bed.Then she smelled smoke and heard the sound of fire from her parent's room. Pearl's screams awaked her mother， Fern and father, Howard, who had recently been in hospital for lung disease. Helping Howard to a first-floor window, Fern told him to climb out, then ran to her daughter.
Still inside, King appeared at Pearl's window, making squeaking (短促尖叫) sounds. When running toward Pearl's bedroom, Fern realized her husband hadn't yet escaped. She made her way back through the smoke and flames, following King's sound to where Howard lay semiconscious (半昏迷) on the floor. Fern helped him get outside. King came out only after both were safe.
As day dawned, the Carlsons saw that King's paws were badly burned, and his entire body was burned too. His chain collar had gotten so hot that it burned his throat, making it impossible for him to bark (叫) normally. Only after the seven-year-old dog refused food did they find pieces of wood in his mouth and realize that King, who slept outside, had bitten through a wood door to warn his family.
1. Who was King in this story?
A. The family sore B. The family daughter.
C. The family dog. D. The master.
2. According to the story, the first one who was completely out of danger could be .
A. Howard B. Fern C. Pearl and Fern D. Pearl
3. After reading this story, we've learnt that the following statements could be reasonable except .
A. the dog made a big hole in the door
B. the dog awoke mother first
C. the dog was the last one to escape from the burning room
D. the dog was badly burned , hurt and not able to eat
4. From this story it can be inferred that .
A. Pearl loves her parents very much
B. Howard is the best man of the family
C. the woman loves her children more deeply than her husband
D. the dog is man's best friend
三．阅读理解：（20×2.5=50分）
People have smoked cigarettes for a long time. The tobacco used to make cigarettes was grown in what is now part of the United States. Christopher Columbus, who discovered America, saw the Indians smoking, and soon the dried leaves were transported to Europe where smoking began to catch on. In the late 1800s, the Turk(土耳其人) made cigarettes even popular.
Cigarettes smoke contains at least two harmful substances, tar and nicotine. Tar, which forms as the tobacco burns, damages the lungs and therefore affects breathing. Nicotine, which is found in the leaves, causes the heart to beat faster and increases breathing rate.
Smoking cigarettes is dangerous. The U.S. Public Health Service stated that cigarette smoking is the cause of lung cancers and several other deadly diseases. The U.S. government now requires that each package of cigarettes bear（带有）a special warning about the danger of smoking.
1. The expression “catch on” in the passage may mean _________.
A. start B. cost a lot C. become popular D. dangerous
2. Before Columbus discovered America __________.
A. Europeans had smoked B. Nobody smoked in the world
C. Nicotine was not in tobacco D. Europeans had never smoked
3. In the nineteenth century smoking became popular because of the people in ________.
A. India B. Turkey C. the U.S. D. British
4. Breathing is affected by ___________.
A. nicotine B. tar C. heat D. both A and B
I came to India a year ago to find a village in which I could live and write but it was many months before I settled down happily in this Himalayan community.
I wasted a lot of time looking for the “typical” village. Yet no such thing exists. Conditions are quite different from village to village. But the villages I stayed in had much in common---poor, dirty and backward. Often the villagers themselves were puzzled and doubtful. Why had I come? I had put aside my work as a political journalist because my ideas had changed. I had come to believe that what was happening in the Third World was more important than anything else. But to understand how three—quarters of the world population live, and what effect their future might have on ours, I felt that I first had to try and share their way of life.
In the end I chose a mountain village because it was little cooler than those in the plains. I took the bus from town along a rocky road. Then came a rough walk down a steep path to the river. After this I began the climb into the hills. Whenever I stopped to catch my breath, there was a beautiful scene. After several hours’ walk the village came into sight.
1. After the writer had arrived in India,________.
A.he spent a year writing about the place he lived in
B.he spent quite some time looking for a suitable place to live in
C.he stayed in an Indian village working for the poor
D.he lived in a Himalayan community for many months.
2.While looking for a typical village, the writer found__________.
A.he was searching for the impossible
B.all the villages were exactly the same
C.he was doing something enjoyable
D.the villagers were curious about him
3.Before coming to India, the writer________.
A.had been a successful politician
B.had made a decision to work for India
C.had studied India culture for some months
D.had worked for newspapers and magazines
4.The write decided to change his way of life because__________.
A.he no longer found his work interesting
B.he hoped to live a peaceful life in the countryside
C.he wanted to find out more about the Third World
D.he wanted to try his luck in a foreign country
5. The village the writer finally chose to live in_________.
A.lay at the end of a rocky road
B.had a beautiful sight of the river
C.was a short walk from the river
D.had better weather than those in the plains.
第二部分：阅读理解（每小题2分，满分40分）
阅读下面短文从每题所给的4个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项。
In recent years advances in medical technology have made it possible for people to live longer than in the past. New medicines and machines are being developed every day to extend life. However, some people, including some doctors, are not in favor of these life extending measures, and they argue that people should have the right to die when they want. They say that the quality of life is as important as life itself and that people should not be forced to go on living when conditions of life have become unbearable. They say thatpeople should be allowed to die with dignity (尊严) and to decide when they want to die. Others argue that life under any conditions is better than death and that the duty of doctors is always to extend life as long as possible. And so the battle goes on and on without a definite answer.
1.The best title for this passage is _____.
A. The Right to Live B. The Right to Die
C. The Doctor’s Duty D. Life Is Better Than Death
2.In recent years, people can live longer than in the past. It’s because of _____ .
A. the development of medical technology B. big hospitals
C. good doctorsD. both B and C
3. According to some people whether a dying patient has the right to die or not is up to _____ .
. A. the doctors B. the surroundings
C. his or her familyD. the patient himself or herself
4. In the writer’s opinion _____ .
A.death is better than life B. life is better that death
C. neither death nor life is good D. none of the above
5. Which of the following statements is true according to the passage?
A. Most of the medical workers join in the argument.
B. The argument has ended in favor of the patient.
C. The argument hasn’t ended yet.
D. The quality of life is not as important as life itself, so it is generally thought that people should not be allowed to die under any conditions.