题目内容
— ________!Now, can you help me stop drinking?
B. Oh come on
C. You can't be serious
D. You must be joking
“I Went Skydiving at 84!”
As a young girl growing up in the 1930s, I always wanted to fly a plane, but back then it was almost unheard of for a woman to do that. I got a taste of that dream in 2001,when my husband arranged for me to ride in a hot air balloon for my birthday. But the experience turned out to be very dull. Around that time, I told my husband that I wanted to skydive. So when our retirement community（社区）announced that they were having an essay competition and the topic was an experience of a lifetime that you wanted to have, I decided to write about my dream.
In the essay, I wrote about my desire to skydive, stating George Brush Sr. did it at age 80. Why not me? I was just 84 and in pretty good health. A year went by and I heard nothing. But then at a community party in late April 2009, they announced that I was one of the winners. I just couldn’t believe it. Inspired by this， I decided to realize my dream, even though some of my family members and my doctor were against it.
On June 11, 2009, nearly 40 of my family and friends gathered in the area close to where I would land while I headed up in the airplane. My instructor, Jay, guided me through the experience. The plane was the noisiest one I had ever been in, but I wasn’t frightened—I was really just looking forward to the experience. When we reached 13,000 feet, Jay instructed me to throw myself out of the plane. When we first hit the air, the wind was so strong that I could hardly breathe. For a second I thought, “What have I gotten myself into?” But then everything got calmer. We were in a free fall for about a minute before Jay opened the parachute（降落伞）, then we just floated downward for about five minutes. Being up in the clouds and looking at the view below was unlike anything I have ever felt—much better than the hot air balloon. I was just enjoying it.
Skydiving was really one of the greatest experiences of my life. I hope other people will look at me and realize that you don’t stop living just because you are 84 years old. If there’s something you want to experience, look into it. If it’s something that is possible, make it happen.
【小题1】What happened to the author in 2001?
| A．She flew an airplane | B．She entered a competition |
| C．She went on a hot air balloon ride | D．She moved into a retirement community |
| A．build up her own reputation | B．show her admiration for him |
| C．compare their health condition | D．make her argument persuasive |
| A．Excited | B．Scared | C．Nervous | D．Regretful |
| A．The beautiful clouds | B．The wonderful view |
| C．The company of Jay | D．The one-minute free fall |
| A．doctor | B．conductor | C．pilot | D．trainer |
Brenda Bongos was a happy, artistic girl. She had one big ambition—to play the drums in a band. But one big obstacle lay in her way. To be good enough to play in a band, Brenda had to practice a lot, but she lived next-door to a lot of old people. Many of them are sick. She knew that the sound of beating drums would really get on their nerves. So, she had tried playing in the strangest places: a basement, a kitchen, and even in a shower. But there was always someone it would annoy.
One day, while watching a science documentary on TV, she heard that sound cannot travel in space, because there’s no air. At that moment, Brenda Bongos decided to become a sort of musical astronaut.
With the help of a lot of time, books and work, Brenda built a space bubble. This was a big glass ball connected to a machine which sucked out all the air inside. All that would be left inside was a drum kit（成套设备） and a chair. Brenda got into the space suit she had made, entered the bubble, turned on the machine, and played those drums like a wild child.
It wasn’t long before Brenda Bongos came very famous. Many people came to see her play in her space bubble. Shortly afterwards she came out of the bubble and started giving concerts. Her fame spread so much that the government suggested that she be part of a unique space journey. Finally, Brenda was a real musical astronaut, and had gone far beyond her first ambition of playing drums in a band.
Years later, when asked how she had achieved all this, she thought for a moment, and said: “If those old people next – door hadn’t mattered so much to me, I wouldn’t have found a solution, and none of this would have ever happened.”
【小题1】Why did Brenda try to play in the strangest places?
| A．Because she didn’t want others to hear her play. |
| B．Because she didn’t want to disturb others. |
| C．Because she didn’t have a large house. |
| D．Because she liked to play in strange places. |
| A．after she practiced in her space bubble |
| B．when she became part of the unique space journey |
| C．after she became a real musical astronaut |
| D．when people came to see her in the space bubble |
| A．she made a space suit |
| B．she became a real musical astronaut |
| C．she played drums in her space bubble |
| D．she played drums in a band |
| A．kind, hardworking and clever |
| B．brave, kind and hardworking |
| C．lovely, brave and kind |
| D．nervous, kind and clever |
| A．He laughs best who laughs last |
| B．It’s never too old to learn |
| C．Two heads are better than one |
| D．One good turn deserves another |
It was Saturday. As always, it was a busy one, for “Six days shall you labor and all your work” was taken seriously back then. Outside, Father and Mr. Patrick next door were busy chopping firewood. Inside their own houses, Mother and Mrs. Patrick were engaged in spring cleaning.
Somehow the boys had slipped away to the back lot with their kites. Now, even at the risk of having brother caught to beat carpets, they had sent him to the kitchen for more string(线). It seemed there was no limit to the heights to which kites would fly today.
My mother looked at the sitting room, its furniture disordered for a thorough sweeping. Again she
cast a look toward the window. “Come on, girls! Let’s take string to the boys and watch them fly the kites a minute.”
On the way we met Mrs. Patric, laughing guiltily as if she were doing something wrong, together with her girls. There never was such a day for flying kites! We played all our fresh string into the boys’ kites and they went up higher and higher. We could hardly distinguish the orange-colored spots of the kites. Now and then we slowly pulled one kite back, watching it dancing up and down in the wind, and finally bringing it down to earth, just for the joy of sending it up again.
Even our fathers dropped their tools and joined us. Our mothers took their turn, laughing like schoolgirls. I think we were all beside ourselves. Parents forgot their duty and their dignity; children forgot their everyday fights and little jealousies. “Perhaps it’s like this in the kingdom of heaven,” I thought confusedly.
It was growing dark before we all walked sleepily back to the housed. I suppose we had some sort of supper. I suppose there must have been surface tidying-up, for the house on Sunday looked clean and orderly enough. The strange thing was, we didn’t mention that day afterward. I felt a little embarrassed. Surely none of the others had been as excited as I. I locked the memory up in that deepest part of me where we keep “the things that cannot be and yet they are.”
The years went on, then one day I was hurrying about my kitchen in a city apartment, trying to get some work out of the way while my three-year-old insistently cried her desire to “go park, see duck.” “I can’t go!” I said. “I have this and this to do, and when I’m through I’ll be too tired to walk that far.”
My mother, who was visiting us, looked up from the peas she was shelling. “It’s a wonderful day,” she offered, “really warm, yet there’s a fine breeze. Do you remember that day we flew kites?”
I stopped in my dash between stove and sink. The locked door flew open and with it a rush of memories. “Come on,” I told my little girl. “You’re right, it’s too good a day to miss.”
Another decade passed. We were in the aftermath(余波) of a great war. All evening we had been asking our returned soldier, the youngest Patrick Boy, about his experiences as a prisoner of war. He had talked freely, but now for a long time he had been silent. What was he thinking of --- what dark and horrible things?
“Say!” A smile sipped out from his lips. “Do you remember --- no, of course you wouldn’t. It probably didn’t make the impression on you as it did on me.”
I hardly dared speak. “Remember what?”
“I used to think of that day a lot in POW camp (战俘营), when things weren’t too good. Do you remember the day we flew the kites?”
【小题1】Mrs. Patrick was laughing guiltily because she thought________.
| A．she was too old to fly kites |
| B．her husband would make fun of her |
| C．she should have been doing her housework |
| D．her girls weren’t supposed to the boy’s games |
| A．felt confused | B．went wild with joy |
| C．looked on | D．forgot their fights |
| A．The boys must have had more fun than the girls. |
| B．They should have finished their work before playing. |
| C．Her parents should spend more time with them. |
| D．All the others must have forgotten that day. |
| A．She suddenly remembered her duty as a mother. |
| B．She was reminded of the day they flew kites. |
| C．She had finished her work in the kitchen. |
| D．She thought it was a great day to play outside. |
| A．the writer was not alone in treasuring her fond memories |
| B．his experience in POW camp threw a shadow over his life |
| C．childhood friendship means so much to the writer |
| D．people like him really changed a lot after the war |
根据短文内容，从短文后的选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项。选项中有两项为多余选项。
Possessing a car gives one a greater degree of freedom. With the building of good fast motorways, long distances can be covered rapidly and pleasantly. 【小题1】 You will no longer be forced to rely on public transport and work locally. You can choose from a greater variety of jobs and probably changes your work more frequently as you are not limited to a small area.
Although you can afford to buy it now, you have to consider the future. 【小题2】 However large the first sum you have to pay, you have to spend more in running the machine—the various taxes, the fuel, and of course the repairs. The last is especially endless. Any single repair may cost you thousands.
【小题3】 As more and more cars are produced and used, an even larger amount of poisonous gas is being sent out. Some of the contents of this gas, such as lead, can cause actual harm to the health of people. Many of the minor illness of modern industrial society, headaches, tiredness, and stomachaches may just arise from the gas.
【小题4】 It has been said that when a man is sitting behind the wheel, his car becomes the display of his personality. People who are normally quiet and pleasant may become unrecognizable when they are behind the wheel. They are ill-mannered and aggressive and selfish. All their hidden character seems to be brought to the surface by act of driving.
Traveling by car actually brings more inconvenience. Driving a car may be more comfortable than taking a crowded bus. But any advantage of driving a car is often gone in traffic jams, endless queues of cars through all the main streets. 【小题5】
| A．Driving a car often brings out a man’s worst qualities. |
| B．Driving a car may cause many traffic accidents. |
| C．If you have a car, you can move around freely. |
| D．Considering this, I don’t support the use of more cars. |
F. More cars can produce serious air pollution.
G. Knowing you are able to drive makes you more confident.