Many things grow in the garden that were never sown there.
~Thomas Fuller
My father was always an enthusiastic gardener. I think his Irish blood called to the earth in much the same way his own grandfather had. One of my earliest memories is standing barefoot in the freshly tilled soil, my hands blackened from digging in the ground, still a bit cold from the turning. As a small child, the garden was an amazing fairyland, full of possibility. As a teenager, though, it was often a source of conflict between the old man and me.
As a child, I loved following Dad around in the garden. I remember Daddy pushing the tiller ahead in perfectly straight lines. His gardening gloves, banana yellow, would grip the handles of the old tiller; the roar of the machine was pleasantly deafening. After a while, he would stop and pull the gloves off to wipe his brow. Daddy loved growing all sorts of things: yellow and green onions, watermelons almost as big as me, rows and rows of yellow corn, and our favorite -- ruby red tomatoes.
As I grew into a teenager, I didn't get so excited about gardening with Daddy. Instead of the magical land of possibility, it had turned into some kind of medieval(中世纪的) prison. It was one more thing on a list of demands that I imagined no one else in the world had to deal with.
Dad would say, "Tina, come help me plant the garden today. It's a beautiful morning to be outdoors."
"Aww, Dad, I was going to the movies with my friends," I would replied.
"Tina, I could sure use a hand weeding the garden today," he would remark.
"Today? Sorry, Dad, I already made plans," I would stubbornly say, digging in my heels. "Why do we have to have a garden, anyway? It's stupid. You can buy carrots for a quarter at the grocery store," I would point out. He would just smile knowingly. I usually got my way, and didn't have to help out if I really didn't want to. After all, I had better things to do with my time.
As Dad grew older, his passion for gardening never declined. After all the kids were grown and had started families of their own, Dad turned to gardening like never before. His garden took up most of his backyard, which was quite a stretch. Even when he was diagnosed with stage four kidney cancer, he still put out his garden. Still, he planted the zucchini and yellow squash, the juicy cucumbers, the spicy jalapenos, and of course, the tender tomato plants. Sometimes, I would come over to visit. He would share the rewards of his garden with me, as we would walk together through the carefully weeded rows.
But then, something changed. The cancer, bit by bit, invaded his body and stole his livelihood, his independence, his humor. Unfortunately, the doctor had run out of treatments. Hospice(临终关怀) is a whole other ballgame. Somebody has to be with the family member twenty-four hours a day. I found myself in all kinds of uncomfortable situations with Dad, and more than once I felt his anger at his helplessness. Little by little, I had to do the things he used to do. Soon I was cutting his grass, paying his bills, putting his pills in a cup, and adjusting his oxygen. These things he resisted, but I knew things were definitely changing when I began caring for the garden.
Though I had heard the words of the doctor as well, what really convinced me that Dad was dying was the state of his garden that year. That year, he only planted tomatoes. Too tired to weed them, he simply tied them with twine to the fence and let them be. So I would come over and water them occasionally, and pluck out the weeds.
Five years ago, Dad planted his last little patch of tomatoes. For the first few years after he died, I couldn't even bear to look at anyone's garden without having strong memories pour over me like cold water from a bucket. Three years ago, though, something changed, and I decided to plant my own garden. I decided I would start out with just a few tomatoes. That morning, I got out the old tiller and it roared to life, almost as if it had been waiting. After breaking up a fair amount of soil, something caught the corner of my eye and I had to smile. It was my eight-year-old son Nathan, standing barefoot in the freshly tilled soil, his hands blackened from digging in the earth.Which word best describes the author’s feeling about gardening as a teenager?
| A.uninterested | B.satisfied |
| C.doubtful | D.indifferent |
The author’s father______.
| A.devoted a lot in gardening in order to cut down the daily expenses |
| B.was quite angry at his daughter’s absence of gardening |
| C.was not as enthusiastic as before about gardening after his children’s growth |
| D.was probably an Irishman or had Irish blood lineage |
What makes the author realize the approach of her father’s death is______.
| A.what the doctor told her |
| B.when some one had to be with her father always |
| C.the state of his garden that year |
| D.his anger when he felt helpless |
What does the underlined sentence mean?
| A.It was unbearable to see other peoples’ gardens were poorly managed. |
| B.It was unbearable to see other peoples’ gardens were well managed. |
| C.Memories of Dad rushed to me the moment I saw other peoples’ gardens. |
| D.The idea of gardening made me feel like being in a bucket with cold water. |
It can be inferred from the passage that ______.
| A.dad preferred tomatoes a lot because of its wonderful taste |
| B.dad refused all things I did because I didn’t love gardening |
| C.the desertion of Dad’s garden resulted from his laziness |
| D.the author restarted gardening with a new understanding of it |
The best title of the passage is ______.
| A.Gardening benefits health |
| B.Dad’s tomatoes |
| C.Bridge the father-and-daughter gap |
| D.My love of gardening |
Evening Classes for the Autumn Term
| Advanced French Language Thurs, 6:00-7:30 p.m. This course is for people who have already done French for at least two years.There will be an examination at the end of the course, and a certificate for successful students. |
Car Repairs Thurs, 8:00-9:30 p.m. This is a course for beginners.No experience necessary.Spend less money on garage bills by learning to look after your own car and doing simple repairs at home. |
| First Aid Tues, 6:30-8:30 p.m. Why not study for a certificate in First Aid? People on this course will learn to deal with accidents in the home and at work; what to do in the case of burns, cuts and other common injuries. |
Learning Spanish Wed, 7:00-9:00 p.m. Have fun learning Spanish for your holidays! It will be simple conversational Spanish - the chief purpose of the course is enjoyment.Previous knowledge of the language is unnecessary - anyone can join this course. |
| Discovering Our City's History Mon, Thurs, 6:30-9:00 p.m. Are you curious to learn about the history which is buried beneath the streets of our city? The area has a fascinating history.This term the class will center on the first five hundred years of our city's past. |
Keep Up Office Skills Tues, 7:00-9:00 p.m. At least an opportunity to learn to use the latest electronic office equipment.Increase your typing speed, find out about new business methods and get to know how to run a modern office. |
| 1. |
Nancy wants to work as a secretary in a French company.She will attend courses on _______.
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| 2. |
After reading the advertisement, one will choose the course on Car Repairs mainly because
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| 3. |
What information can we get from the text?
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| 4. |
Where might the text come from?
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Somehow Rey had managed to struggle free from the rope around his neck, after being left to die a slow death as punishment for being a bad Spanish greyhound(猎狗).
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It is believed that 50,000 greyhounds are killed by their owners in Spain each year after they grow too old, or turn out to be too slow to hunt with.Dogs have also been found thrown into wells, burnt alive and even injected with poison.
But Rey's intended fate(命运) was, even within the levels of cruelty usually shown to Spanish hunting dogs, especially cruel.The rope around his neck had been set at a height so that his front paws could not touch the ground, meaning that he was intended to stand on his back legs until he was too tired to support himself.When his legs finally became too tired, the rope should have done its work.
| A.kicking | B.burying |
| C.hanging | D.drowning |
The underlined word "vet" in(Paragraph 5)probably means “_________”.
| A.animal doctor | B.ambulance |
| C.animal medicine | D.equipment |
What can you infer from the passage? k+s-5#u

| A.Dogs are not kept as pets in Spain. |
| B.Rey was punished because he had not been loyal to his owner. |
| C.The typewriting death is named because a typewriter is used in the punishment. |
| D.Rey didn’t behave very well in the hunting. |
The passage mainly tells the readers about _________.
| A.the cruel killing of dogs in Spain |
| B.how Rey was saved by rescuers |
| C.how Spanish dogs hunt hares |
D.the fate of the dogs in Spain k+s-5#u![]() |
A few years ago, I was with a close woman friend in a grocery store in California.As we walked along the aisle (过道), we saw a mother with a small boy moving in the opposite direction and met us head-on (正面的) in each aisle.The woman barely noticed us because she was so angry with her little boy, who wanted to pull items off the lower shelves.As the mother became more and more annoyed, she started to yell at the child and several aisles later had progressed to shaking him by the arm.k+s-5#u
At this point my friend spoke up.A wonderful mother of three and founder of a progressive school, she had probably never once in her life treated any child so harshly(严厉地).I expected my friend would give this woman a solid mother-to-mother talk about controlling herself and about the effect this behavior has on a child.Instead, my friend said, “What a beautiful little boy.How old is he?” The woman answered cautiously, “He’s three.” My friend went on to comment on how curious he seemed and how her own three children were just like him in the grocery store, pulling things off shelves, so interested in all the wonderful colors and packages.“He seems so bright and intelligent,” my friend said.
The woman had the boy in her arms by now and a shy smile came upon her face.Gently brushing his hair out of his eyes, she said, “Yes, he’s very smart and curious, but sometimes he wears me out.” My friend responded sympathetically(表示同情地), “Yes, they can do that; they are so full of energy.”
As we walked away, I heard the mother speaking kindly to the boy about getting home and cooking his dinner.“We’ll have your favorite — macaroni(通心面) and cheese,” she told him.The mother was angry with her baby because .
A.the mother was very tired k+s-5#u![]() |
| B.the baby asked for more things |
| C.the baby ran madly in the store |
| D.the baby was pulling the goods off the shelves |
We can learn from the passage that the author’s friend .
| A.treated her children well only |
| B.was probably good to any child |
| C.liked the boy very much |
| D.always wanted to help others |
The author’s friend talked with the mother in that way to .
| A.show her sympathy for the woman |
| B.know something about the boy first |
C.show her anger with the woman k+s-5#u![]() |
| D.make the woman realize children’s natural quality |
With the story, the author most probably intends to tell us that .
| A.we should respect a child’s nature |
| B.we should never blame a child |
| C.mothers usually share the same interest |
D.mothers should try to be gentle and polite k+s-5#u![]() |
Dear Hamilton,
We are fortunate that in such a large, high-pressure office we all get along so well. You are one of the people who keep the social temperature at such a comfortable setting. I don’t know anyone in the office who is better liked than you.
You can perhaps help with this. The collection of contributions towards gifts for employees’ personal-life events is becoming a little troubling. Certainly, the group sending of a gift is reasonable now and then. In the past month, however, there have been collections for two baby shower gifts, one wedding shower gift, two wedding gifts, one funeral(葬礼)remembrance, four birthday gifts, and three graduation gifts.
It’s not only the collected-from who are growing uncomfortable (and poor), but the collected-for feel uneasy receiving gifts from people who don’t know them outside the office, who wouldn’t even recognize their graduating children, their marrying daughters and sons, or their dead relatives.
This is basically a kind gesture (and one that people think well of you for), but the practice seems to have become too wide-ranging and feels improper in today’s office setting.
Thank you for understanding.
63. The underlined word “contributions” probably means ________.
A. moneyB. suggestionsC. reportsD. understanding
64. Hamilton is expected to _______.
A. show more kindness. B. discontinue the present practice
C. quit being the organizer for gift giving D. know more about co-workers’ families
65. This is basically a letter of ________.
A. apology B. sympathy C. appreciation D. Dissatisfaction
When it comes to friends, I desire those who will share my happiness, who possess wings of their own and who will fly with me. I seek friends whose qualities illuminate(照亮)me and train me up for love. It is for these people that I reserve the glowing hours, too good not to share.
When I was in the eighth grade, I had a friend. We were shy and “too serious” about our studies when it was becoming fashionable with our classmates to learn acceptable social behaviors. We said little at school, but she would come to my house and we would sit down with pencils and paper, and one of us would say:“Let’s start with a train whistle today.” We would sit quietly together and write separate poems or stories that grew out of a train whistle. Then we would read them aloud. At the end of that school year, we, too, were changing into social creatures and the stories and poems stopped.
When I lived for a time in London, I had a friend, He was in despair(失望)and I was in despair. But our friendship was based on the idea in each of us that we would be sorry later if we did not explore this great city because we had felt bad at the time. We met every Sunday for five weeks and found many excellent things. We walked until our despairs disappeared and then we parted. We gave London to each other.
For almost four years I have had remarkable friend whose imagination illuminates mine. We write long letters in which we often discover our strangest selves. Each of us appears, sometimes in a funny way, in the other’s dreams. She and I agree that, at certain times, we seem to be parts of the same mind. In my most interesting moments, I often think:“Yes, I must tell….”We have never met.
It is such comforting companions I wish to keep. One bright hour with their kind is worth more to me than the lifetime services of a psychologist(心理学家),who will only fill up the healing(愈合的)silence necessary to those darkest moments in which I would rather be my own best friend.
1.In the eighth grade, what the author did before developing proper social behavior was to ______.
A. become serious about her study B. go to her friend’s house regularly
C. learn from her classmates at school D. share poems and stories with her friend
2.In Paragraph 3, “We gave London to each other” probably means ______.
A. our exploration of London was a memorable gift to both of us
B. we were unwilling to tear ourselves away from London
C. our unpleasant feeling about London disappeared
D. we parted with each other in London
3.According to Paragraph 4, the author and her friend _______.
A. call each other regularly B. have similar personalities
C. enjoy writing to each other D. dream of meeting each other
4.In the darkest moments, the author would prefer to ______.
A. seek professional helpB. be left alone
C. stay with her best friendD. break the silence
5.What is the best title for the passage?
A. Unforgettable Experiences B. Remarkable Imagination
C. Lifelong Friendship D. Noble Companions