题目内容
It was a cold night in September. The rain was drumming on the car roof as George and Marie Winston drove through the empty country roads towards the house of their friends, the Harrisons, where they were going to attend a party to celebrate the engagement of the Harrisons' daughter, Lisa. As they drove, they listened to the local radio station, which was playing classical music.
Suddenly the music on the radio was interrupted by a news announcement: "The Cheshire police have issued a serious warning after a man escaped from Colford Mental Hospital earlier this evening. The man, John Downey, is a murderer who killed six people before he was captured two years ago. He is described as large, very strong and extremely dangerous. People in the Cheshire' area are warned to keep their doors and windows locked, and to call the police immediately if they see anyone acting strangely.”
Marie shivered. "A crazy killer. And he's out there somewhere. That's scary.”
"Don't worry about it,” said her husband. "We're nearly there now. But this car is losing power for some reason.”
As he spoke, the car began to slow down. Finally they rolled to a halt, as the engine died completely. Just as they stopped, George pulled the car off the road, and it came to rest under a large tree,
"Blast!” said George angrily. "Now we'll have to walk in the rain.”
"But that'll take us an hour at least,” said Marie, "And I have my high-heeled shoes and my nice clothes on. They'll be ruined!”
"Well, you'll have to wait while I run to the nearest house and call the Harrisons. Someone can come out and pick us up," said George.
"But George! Have you forgotten what the radio said?"
"You'll have to hide in the back of the car. Lock all the doors and lie on the floor in the back, under this blanket. No one will see you. When I come back, I'll knock three times on the door. Then you can get up and open it. Don't open it unless you hear three knocks," George opened the door and, slipped out into the rain. He quickly disappeared into the blackness.
Marie quickly locked the door and settled down under the blanket in the back for a long wait.
Suddenly she heard three slow knocks, one after the other, also on the roof of the car. Was it her husband? Should she open the door? Then she heard another knock, and another. This was not her husband. It was somebody or something else. She was shaking with fear, but she forced herself to lie still. The knocking continued----bump, bump, bump, bump.
Many hours later, as the sun rose, she was still lying there. The knocking had never stopped all night long. She did not know what to do. Where was George? Why had he not come for her?
Suddenly, she heard the sound of three or four vehicles, racing quickly down the road. Someone had come! Marie sat up quickly and looked out of the window.
The three vehicles were all police cars. Several policemen leapt out. One of them rushed towards the car as Marie opened the door. He took her by the hand.
"Get out of the car and walk with me to the police vehicle. Miss! You're safe now. Look straight ahead. Keep looking at the police car. Don't look back. Just don't look back.”
Something in the way he spoke filled Marie with cold horror. She could not help herself. About ten yards from the police car, she stopped, turned and looked back at the empty vehicle.
George was hanging from the tree above the car, a rope tied around his neck. As the wind blew his body back and forth, his feet were bumping gently on the roof of the car-bump, bump, bump, bump.
1.What was the reason for the news announcement on the radio?
A.Some people had been seen acting strangely in the Cheshire area.
B.The police were warning of accidents on the roads in the bad weather.
C.Six people, including John Downey, had been murdered.
D.A dangerous prisoner had escaped.
2.Why did Marie stay in the car when George left?
A.She was afraid to go out in the dark.
B.So no-one would steal the car.
C.Her clothes weren't suitable for the rain.
D.She wanted to get some sleep.
3.Why did the policeman tell her not to look back when he brought her out of the car?
A.The killer was waiting behind her.
B.He wanted her to forget everything that had happened during the night.
C.He didn't want her to see the damage done to the car.
D.He didn't want her to see the body of her husband.
DCD
阅读下面短文,掌握其大意,然后从36—55各题所给的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中,选出最佳选项,并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
Last night, when I was driving back home, I noticed a hitchhiker(搭便车的人) who was having no luck getting a ride. I rolled down my 36 and signed to the man to my car. I asked him where he was 37 and he told me he needed a 38 to his doctor’s office which would close in 15 minutes. I told him to 39 and he gratefully did so.
40 he got in he told me that he was a 41 and went out to sea for weeks at a time. He took medicine for his nerves and 42 to get another prescription(处方) before he left on the boat. He said that he had prayed (祈祷) 43 would stop for him so he could be there before the 44 office closed. With some 45 driving we managed to make it there in about 10 46. I then asked him how he 47 on getting back home and he said he could walk. “I’ll patiently 48 for you and bring you back,” I told him. He 49 me and said he should only be about 15 minutes.
Afterwards he got back in my 50 and tried his hardest to pay me back: offering me dinner, gas money, even offering to ship me 40 lbs of scallops (海扇贝)! I 51 refused, gave him a smile card and asked him to help someone else the next time he had a 52. I drove him back to where I had picked him up and 53 one more “thank you” he was on his way.
I feel that the universe 54 provides us with what we need. In the man’s 55 it was a ride, in mine the opportunity to help someone else.
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I started winning competitions. We still had very little money -- my father had to borrow $5,000 to pay for a trip to the International Young Pianists Competition in Ettlingen, Germany, in 1994, when I was 12. I realized later how much pressure he was under. Tears streamed down his face when it was announced that I'd won -- earning enough money to pay back our loan.
It was soo n clear I couldn't stay in China forever. To become a world-class musician, I had to play on the world's big stages. So in 1997, my father and I moved again, this time to Philadelphia, so I could attend The Curtis Institute of Music. Finally our money worries were easing. The school paid for an apartment and even lent me a Steinway(斯坦威钢琴).At night, I would sneak into the living room just to touch the keys.
Now that I was in America, I spent two years practicing, and by 1999 I had worked hard enough for fortune to take over. The Chicago Symphony orchestra heard me play and liked me, but orchestra schedules were set far in advance. I thought I might join them in a few years.
The next morning, I got a call. The great pianist Andre Watts, who was to play the "Gala Benefit Evening" at Chicago's Ravinia Festival, had become ill. I was asked to replace him. That performance was, for me, the moment. After violinist Isaac Stern introduced me, I played Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1. My father's mouth hung open throughout the entire song.
I played until 3:30 a.m. I felt something happening. Sure enough, it was a great success. Still, my father kept telling me, "You'd better practice!" But living in America with me was beginning to relax him. In Beijing I'd been fat -- he made sure I ate -- and he'd been skinny. Now I was getting thin. He wasn't.
My father and I had often practiced a piece called "Horses," a fun version for piano and erhu. One night in Carnegie Hall, after I played Chopin and Liszt, I brought Dad out on the stage, and we played our duet(二重奏). People went crazy -- they loved it. My father couldn't sleep for days. He was too happy to sleep.
There have been lots of concerts in Carnegie Hall, but for me playing there was especially sweet when I remember the cold days in Beijing. Together, my father and I worked to reach the lucky place where fortune spots you, and lets you shine.
【小题1】In the first paragraph his father cried when it was announced that he'd won mainly because__________.
A.his father was excited that his son succeeded at last. |
B.his father was under too much pressure. |
C.they could pay back the loan with the prize. |
D.his father was proud of him. |
a. He and his father moved to Philadelphia.
b. He was asked to replace the great pianist Andre Watts.
c. He and his father played “Horses” together.
d.The Chicago Symphony orchestra heard his performance.
e. The Curtis Institute of Music lent him a Steinway
A.a, e, c, b, d | B.b, e, a, d, c | C.d, a, e, b, c | D.a, e, d, b, c |
A.The writer’s father had been very fat before they went to America. |
B.The writer thought he would be one of them soon when he knew the Chicago Symphony orchestra heard him play and liked him. |
C.The Curtis Institute of Music finally eased their money worries. |
D.One can achieve his dream if he is lucky enough. |
A.America | B.Beijing. | C.Carnegie Hall | D.All the places he went to. |
A.I Took Off! | B.When Fortune Spots Me. |
C.No Pain, No Gain. | D.My father and I |
Reading poems is not exactly an everyday activity for most people. In fact, many people never read a poem once they get out of high school.
It is worth reminding ourselves that this has not always been the case in America. In the nineteenth century, a usual American activity was to sit around the fireplace in the evening and read poems aloud. It is true that there was no television at the time, nor movie theatres, nor World Wide Web, to provide diversion. However, poems were a source of pleasure, of self-education, of connection to other people or to the world beyond one’s own community. Reading them was a social act as well as an individual one, and perhaps even more social than individual. Writing poems to share with friends and relations was, like reading poems by the fireside, another way in which poetry had a place in everyday life.
How did things change? Why are most Americans no longer comfortable with poetry, and why do most people today think that a poem has nothing to tell them and they can do well without poems?
There are, I believe, three culprits (肇事者): poets, teachers and we ourselves. Of these, the least important is the third: the world surrounding the poem has betrayed (背叛) us more than we have betrayed the poem. Early in the twentieth century, poetry in English headed into directions hostile (不利的) to the reading of poetry. Readers decided that poems were not for the fireside or the easy chair at night, that they belonged where other difficult-to-read things belonged.
Poets failed the readers, so did the teachers. They want their students to know something about the craft (技巧) of a poem, and they want their students to see that poems mean something. Yet what usually occurs when teachers push these concerns on their high school students is that young people decide poems are unpleasant crossword puzzles.
【小题1】 Reading poems is thought to be a social act in the nineteenth century because _______.
A.it built a link among people | B.it helped unite a community |
C.it was a source of self-education | D.it was a source of pleasure |
A.diversity | B.change | C.amusements | D.happiness |
A.the difficulty in studying poems |
B.the way poems are taught in school |
C.students’ wrong ideas about poetry |
D.the techniques used in writing poems |
A.Poems have become difficult to understand. |
B.Students are poorly educated in high school. |
C.TV and the Internet are more attractive than poetry. |
D.Students are becoming less interested in poetry. |