Little Robby, our neighbour’s nephew, carefully drew some water into a bowl and started for the door. How I hated this water rationing (定量供应). We were forced to bathe in the deep little pond we shared with Jessie, our cow. Wells were dry, and crops transformed to dust.

I watched Robby sitting down onto the steps to my house. Bees buzzed circling his hair, and he buzzed with them. I remembered his aunt’s words: I don’t know what I was thinking when I took him in. The crash killed my sister, and he wasn’t hurt, but he can’t talk. He’s in a world of all his own.

Why couldn’t she see the wonderful gifts this boy possessed? He was blessed with a loving nature and a deep admiration for all living things, and I knew he could talk to animals. My heart ached for Robby, who was to stay with us for the summer, and had already been the dearest part of our world, eagerly tending the garden with me and my husband, Tom.

On a string around Robby’s neck hung a whistle, in case he was ever lost or in danger. After all, he could not call out for help. But he knew perfectly well that the whistle was not a toy. Blowing on it would bring us both running. I had told him the story of the boy who cried wolf, and I knew he understood me.

I sighed as I cleared up the last supper dish. Every ounce of recycled water was saved for a tiny vegetable garden Robby had planted. Tom turned to me. “You know, honey, I’ve been thinking about...”

Before he could continue, a scream from the yard made us jump. My God! It’s Robby’s whistle! When we reached him, he was pointing excitedly to the sky. Looking up, we saw the most magnificent sight: Rain Clouds! “Robby! Quick! We need all the pots and pans!”

Robby raced with me to the house. A drop of water fell on my pot and then another. Soon the yard was enveloped in soaking, glorious rain. We all stood with faces held upward to feel the comfort of it. Tom picked up Robby and danced about the pots, shouting and whooping, “Rain for Robby!” Tom swung about to show me Robby’s face: he was laughing right out loud, “W-W-Wobby’s!” “Wobby’s … wain … Mom,” giggling(咯咯地笑), and stretching out one tiny hand in the shape of a cup to catch the rain.

I hugged them both, tears of joy mixing with the rain.

1.The underlined phrase “the wonderful gifts” in the 3rd paragraph refers to Robby’s ______.

A.love for nature and all living things

B.kindness to help others around

C.independence since his childhood

D.readiness to accept what happened to him

2.It was because ______ that the author and her husband would run on hearing the whistle.

A.it was going to rain

B.Robby often surprised us with his whistle

C.something bad might happen to Robby.

D.Robby might find something special

3.What can we learn from the passage?

A.Robby was old enough, but still couldn’t speak.

B.Robby’s aunt regretted bringing Robby home.

C.Robby didn’t accept the author and Tom as his parents.

D.Robby happened to find the rain cloud and was terrified.

4.It can be concluded from the passage that ______.

A.we should show mercy for the disabled children

B.every child has his own talent however young he is

C.children from poor families take responsibilities earlier

D.children’s sensitive hearts are worthy to be taken care of

 

The First of May is a Bank Holiday—the first public holiday of the year in England. Most people consider it a special day, the beginning of summer, a day when the light lasts long into the evening, and when we can look for warm weather. We don't always get it. We feel disappointed, but not surprised if there are cold winds and frosts at night in May. Winter should be over. Most people know that in the past, when farming occupied almost everyone, the changing seasons were of great importance. In that older time there was every reason to celebrate May Day. Customs of those celebrations remain.?

Of these customs, the best known is the choosing of a May Queen and the dancing round Maypole. Even these customs are little more than memories now—but in the last century it was quite common in villages and small towns, and even in schools and colleges, for a pretty and popular girl to be chosen Queen of the May. It was a great honour to be chosen. For a day she wore a light and flowery dress, carried garlands(花环), and was ceremonially crowned with flowers. She presided over a procession, as a rule with a number of attendants, and over the Maypole dancing and all kinds of entertainment. The Maypole was slender(苗条的w.w.^w.k.&s.5*u.c.#o) tree trunk, cut off its branches, with beautiful ribbons fastened to the top. The dancing was designed in such a way that the dancer's movements move the ribbons into a pattern. This, as you can imagine, required skill from the dancer, and was not achieved without practice.

It's the Celtic people who celebrated the First of May as a spring festival. Their celebration seems to have had little to do with taking pleasure in early, beautiful flowers and in warmer weather! They called it Beltane—the fire of the god Bel. They lit fires, in the expectation that their blaze would help the sun in its struggle to regain its strength. They drove their cattle between banks of flame in the expectation that the terrified beasts would be purified and protected from disease. A tree, which must have been blackened with smoke, stood in the middle of the fires, and is thought to have been the origin of the Maypole. Their priests(牧师) made sacrifices to the goods in the hope of good harvests and sufficient store of food for the winter. There was dancing certainly, but it was noisy and cheerful, since its purpose was not to weave a pattern of colored ribbons, but to drive out evil spirits from the earth and to arouse those kind spirits.?

57. The main purpose of the passage is to show ________.?

A. the reason why they celebrate May Day

B. the start and customs of May Day

C. the way they celebrate May Day

D. the choosing of a May Queen during May Day

58. According to the passage, which sentence is NOT true??

A. In the old days they celebrated May Day for the changing of the seasons.?

B. In England summer begins at the first of May.?

C. The custom of the choosing of a May Queen still exists in the present May Day celebration.?D. The Celtic people celebrated the first of May as a spring festival.??

59. From the surrounding words and sentences we know that the word “presided” means ____.

A. 管理    B. 越过   C. 指挥   D. 主持?

60. The best title for this passage is ________.

A. The First of May     B. The Beginning of Summer

C. May Queen        D. The Holiday of the Year?

 

.

第三部分:阅读理解(共20小题,每小题2分;共40分)

阅读下面短文,掌握其大意,然后从各题的A、B、C、D四个选项中,选出最佳选项,并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。

Several interesting American museums tell about health subjects. One is the Doctor Samuel D. Harris National Museum of Dentistry. It is at the University of Maryland in Baltimore. That is where the first college in the world to train dentists began. The museum tells about the history of the medical treatment of teeth. Visitors can see some frightening devices that once were used to remove infected teeth. They also can see sets of teeth made of animal bone. They were made for a famous American —— the first President, George Washington.

Most people do not consider a visit to the dentist their idea of a good time. However, the director of the museum says he wants to make the museum a funny place to visit. He says he also wants to teach visitors about the importance of taking care of their teeth.

Another museum collects devices that help people hear. The Kenneth W. Berger Hearing Aid Museum is at Kent State University in Kent, Ohio. The museum has more than three-thousand hearing aids from around the world. They include old and strange devices. Some hearing aids were made to look like other objects. That is because in the past many people did not want anyone to know they were wearing a hearing aid.

56. It is common for people to think it uneasy to pay a visit to ____.

A. the University of Maryland            B. the Museum of Dentistry

C. the Hearing Aid Museum              D. the dentist

57. The text mainly tells about _____.

A. museums in the US               B. interesting American museums

C. American museums with health subjects

D. the history of the medical treatment of teeth

58. What do we learn about George Washington from the text?

A. He once visited the National Museum of Dentistry.

B. He considered the Museum of Dentistry a fun place to visit

C. His artificial (人造的) teeth were collected in the National Museum of Dentistry.

D. His teeth seemed to be made of animal bone.

59. The underlined word “devices” in the first and last paragraph probably means _____.

A. ways        B. strategies        C. tools          D. desires

 

请认真阅读下面对话,并根据各题所给首字母的提示,在答题卡上标有题号的横线上,写出一个英语单词的完整、正确形式,使对话通顺。

W: Hi, Fred.Where have you been?

M: I’ve been to the l____76____ and borrowed some English books.   76.        

What’s wrong?

W: I t___77 ___ you’d been to the post office.                      77.        

Did you notice the money I left on the desk?

M: Yes, $10 altogether.But I didn’t know what it was f___78____.      78.        

W: Didn’t you see the note I left you with the money?

M: Note? What note? I didn’t see any note.

W: R___79___? That’s very strange.I left the money with a note  79.        

saying I wanted you to go to the post office and get some

e___80___ and stamps for me.I also put the ink bottle on          80.        

them in case they might not draw your a___81____.        81.        

M: I see now.Why can’t you go and get them y__82___?        82.        

The post office is only about 30 minutes’ walk from here.

We often walk there after supper.

W: Of course I know how far it is from school.I can’t go there myself because

I’m very busy doing some chemistry e___83___ in the lab.       83.        

And what’s more, I have to p___84___ for my English exam.     84.        

You know I f__85__ the last one.If I can’t pass this time,        85.        

a hard time will be waiting for me.

 

对话填空(共10小题,每小题1分,满分10分)

阅读下面对话,掌握其大意,并根据所给字母的提示,在标有题号的右边横线上写出一个英语单词的完整、正确形式,使对话通顺。

R =" Reporter " Z =" Zhang" Ying

R: Mrs. Zhang,last year a heavy earthquake (76) s       this area and destroyed almost all the buildings in the village. Can you tell us the details?

Z: In two weeks it will be the first anniversary of (77) w     the earthquake destroyed our village on May 12,2008. My husband and I had been

(78) r       a restaurant for several years. On that terrible day,everything was destroyed. My husband was killed in the second quake.

R: What happened in the weeks after the quake and how did you get

(79)o       it?

Z: I moved to a nearby village. The death of my husband was of course the

(80) w      thing. I was desperate.

R: What made you decide to reopen the restaurant?

Z: First of all,I had to make a living. More importantly,I did it to

(81) h       my husband. The restaurant had been his greatest achievement.

R: Was it easy to reopen the restaurant?

Z: No. My friends and relatives put some money together. I received some financial (82) a       from the local government. I was also able to take out a

(83) l       ­from the bank. With the money and all the help I got,I reopened the restaurant.

R: Do you often think about the disaster?

Z: Yes. I thought the earthquake was the day my life ended,even though I was a survivor. But I (84) m       to cheer up. I just did not know I had the

(85) c       to keep it up.

 

76___________

77___________

78___________

79___________

80___________

81___________

82___________

83___________

84___________

85___________

 

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