When I told my father that I was moving to Des Moines, Iowa, he told me about the only time he had been there. It was in the 1930s, when he was an editor in the literary magazine of Southern Methodist University(SMU)in Dallas, Texas. He also worked as a professor at SMU, and there was a girl student in his class who suffered from a serious back disease. She couldn’t afford the operation because her family was poor.

Her mother ran a boarding house in Galveston, a seaside town near Houston, Texas. She was cleaning out the attic(阁楼)one day when she came across an old dusty manuscript(手稿). On its top page were the words, “By O. Henry”. It was a nice story, and she sent it to her daughter at SMU, who showed it to my father. My father had never read the story before, but it sounded like O. Henry, and he knew that O. Henry had once lived in Houston. So it was possible that the famous author had gone to the beach and stayed in the Gainestown boardinghouse, and had written the story there and left the manuscript behind by accident. My father visited an O. Henry expert at Columbia University in New York, who authenticated the story as O. Henry’s.

My father then set out to sell it. Eventfully, he found himself in Des Moines, meeting with Gardner Cowles, a top editor at the Des Moines Register. Cowles loves the story and bought it on the spot. My father took the money to the girl. It was just enough for her to have the operation she so desperately needed.

My father never told me what the O. Henry story was about. But I doubt that it could have been better than his own story.

1.Who discovered the O. Henry’s manuscript?

A. The girl’s mother. B. The author’s father.

C. The girl. D. The author.

2.Which of the following might explain the fact that the manuscript was found in the attic?

A. O. Henry once worked in Houston.

B. O. Henry once stayed in Galveston.

C. O. Henry once moved to Des Moines.

D. O. Henry once taught at SMU.

3.The underlined word “authenticated” in Paragraph 2 probably means __________.

A. named B. treated C. proved D. Described

.Directions:For each blank in the following passage there are four words or phrases marked A, B, C and D.Fill in each blank with the word or phrase that best fits the context.
At 1:30 p.m.on March 31, 1981, John Hinckley Jr.stepped from a crowd of onlookers and tried to kill Ronald Reagan, the president of the United States.Although he failed, he did cause injury to the president.The crime was committed in clear view of many people.__________, at the end of his trial, Hinckley was found not _________ by reason of insanity(精神失常).Instead of prison, Hinckley was sent to a mental hospital, where he remains.
The judgment in Hinckley’s case did more than annoy a few people.It ______ a nationwide debate about whether people accused of a crime can claim they were insane when they did it.If they were capable of _______ and then committing a crime, how could they later claim to have been insane? One starting point is to identify what insane means in a U.S.court of law.
Very young children cannot be ______ if they do not know right from wrong, because they cannot be held morally responsible for their actions.For most people, moral responsibility comes with age and maturity.Psychologists, however, say that there are some adults who cannot recognize right from wrong.Since these adults cannot tell the ______, they should not be held morally responsible for their actions.In a U.S.court of law, an adult like this may be considered insane.Hinckley was judged insane because _______ determined that his mind was not functioning like a(n) _______ adult’s so he had no idea what he was doing.Instead of spending the rest of his life in prison, Hinckley would be committed to a mental hospital, where he could be treated for his illness.
People who are against the use of an insanity defense say that criminals like Hinckley do know what they are doing._____ of the insanity defense say that everyone who commits a serous crime like Hinckley’s could be said to be mentally ill.Otherwise, the person would not commit the crime _______.There are many people who struggle with severe mental illness who do not commit crimes.The illnesses should not be used as a(n) ______ for violent behavior.
People who _______ the insanity defense believe that mental illnesses are not always treatable.Psychologists have been able to detect patterns of behavior.These mental detectives have _____ evidence that a person can be insane but seem normal.Hinckley and others with ______ conditions suffer from delusions(错觉).Even though people with delusions may seem normal, the world does not appear to them as it does to other people.Therefore, experts say, such people cannot be held to the rules of behavior other people are held to.Their punishments should be _____.
1.A. Therefore B. However C. Otherwise D. Moreover
2.A. hurt B. healthy C. safe D. guilty
3.A. kicked off B. cleared up C. let out D. put away
4.A. confessing B. starting C. planning D. discovering
5.A. sentenced B. punished C. annoyed D. defended
6.A. insanity B. truth C. responsibility D. difference
7.A. judges B. psychologists C. experts D. detectives
8.A. mature B. independent C. normal D. capable
9.A. Opponents B. Onlookers C. Victims D. Researchers
10.A. on the contrary B. by this means C. in the first placeD. at the same time
11.A. example B. excuse C. defense D. idea
12.A. study B. refuse C. transform D. support
13.A. destroyed B. compared C. examined D. gathered
14.A. realistic B. ordinary C. similar D. treatable
15.A. severe B. negotiable C. acceptable D. legal

Harry potter and The Hunger Games haven’t been big hits for nothing.Lots of teens still read quite a lot.But a study shows a clear decrease over time.Nearly half of 17-year-olds say they read for pleasure no more than one or two times a year.That’s way down from ten years ago.
The digital revolution (革命) means there are more platforms (平台) than ever to read on.Jim Steyer has been studying the effect of technology on children.He has four kids and has seen the trend most with his 16-year-old.“I start to see it in our 10-year-old as well, because he is reading less and less, and more and more attracted to some of the digital media platforms that he has access to, and that he didn’t have access to when he was 6 or 7 years old,” he says.
The studies don’t say that kids are reading less because they’re spending more time online.But Steyer is convinced that’s at least part of the answer.
“First of all, most children now have access to e-readers, or other smart electronic devices like phones and tablets (平板电脑),” he says.“ And they’re spending time on that.Many reports show the increasing use of new technology platforms by kids.It just strikes me as extremely logical that that’s a big reason.
Researchers want to know more about how teens are spending their time in the digital age.But Kathryn Zickuhr of the Pew Research Center says it’s tricky.If a kid is looking at a book, you may think he or she is reading.But when it comes to looking at a smartphone or tablet, who knows?
“We’ve heard from middle and high school teachers that sometimes the Internet is wonderful for enthusiastic students to do deep research,” says Zickuhr.“But on the other side, obviously there are many distractions on the Internet.”
However, Jim Steyer says, “Kids with parents who read, who buy or take books out of the library for their kids, and who then set time aside in their kids’ daily schedule for reading, tend to read the most — whether it’s on a book, an e-book or some other devices.”
1.What did Jim Steyer see in his four kids?
A. They tend to read more on electronic devices.
B. They created their own digital media platform.
C. They improved their reading on electronic devices.
D. They have become more addicted to digital media.
2.What statement may Kathryn Zickuhr agree to?
A. Kids are easily distracted on the Internet.
B. Most kids pretend to be doing online reading.
C. Most kids like to read on a smartphone or tablet.
D. Kids rarely use the Internet to do serious research.
3.The last paragraph suggests that ________.
A. parents need to spare time to read for kids
B. parents should make a reading plan for kids
C. parents can do a lot to encourage more reading
D. parents working in a library tend to read the most
4.What is the main idea of the text?
A. What books do teens like to read the most?
B. Why aren’t teens reading like they used to?
C. How can teens read on electronic platforms?
D. When will teens turn to books for fun again?

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