It snowed again. My seventh Christmas was round the corner. I dreamed of getting the present from Father Christmas until my elder sister dropped the bomb, “There is no Father Christmas.”

  I ran to my grandmother’s house, for she always told the truth. Grandma was at home. I told __11___ everything. “No Father Christmas?” she was a little ___12____. “Don’t believe it. Put on your coat, and let’s go.”

  “Go? Where, Grandma?” I asked.

  “Kerby’s Store.”

  As we walked through its doors, Grandma handed me ten dollars and said, “Take the __13___ and buy something for someone who needs it. I’ll wait for in the car.” Then she turned and walked out of the Kerby’s.

  For a few seconds I just stood there, holding the money, wondering ___14___ to buy, and who to buy it for.

  I thought of ___15___ I knew: my family, my friends, my neighbors … I suddenly thought of Bobbie Decker, a __16___ with bad and messy hair. He sat right behind me ___17____ Mrs. Pollack’s class.

  Bobbie ___18___ went to any party during the winter. His mother always wrote a note, telling the teacher that he had a cough, ___19____ we all knew that he didn’t have a cough, and he didn’t have a coat. I decided to buy Bobbie a red warm coat ___20____ he would like.

  That evening, Grandma helped me wrap the coat in Christmas paper and ribbons, and ___21___ “To Bobbie, From Father Christmas” on it. Grandma told me Father Christmas never let people know that he ___22___ them. Then she drove me over to Bobbie’s house, telling that I was helping Father Christmas ____23___ the presents.

Grandma parked the car along the street, and we hid behind the trees near Bobbie’s house. Then Grandma said to me, “All right, Father Christmas, get going.”

  I took a deep breath, rushed to his front door, put the present down. ____24___ the door, rang the doorbell and flew back to the safety of the ____25_____ and Grandma. We waited breathlessly in the dark for the front door to open. Finally it did, and there stood Bobbie.

  That night, I realized that Father Christmas was alive and well, and we were on his team.

1.A. him  B. her   C. them   D. you

2.A. angry   B. happy   C. tired   D. afraid 

3.A. book   B. coat   C. present   D. money

4.A. what   B. when   C. where   D. how

5.A. everybody   B. nobody   C. somebody   D. anybody

6.A. girl   B. boy   C. man   D. woman

7.A. for   B. on   C. in    D. with

8.A. always   B. often   C. sometime   D never

9.A. so   B. if   C. but   D. and

10.A. where   B. that   C. who   D. why

11.A. read   B. say   C. write   D. spell

12.A. helped   B. believe   C. taught   D. made

13.A. give up   B. give away   C. put up   D. put off

14.A. on   B. behind   C. outside   D. over

15.A. shop   B. cars   C. door   D. trees

He was struggling(费劲) to tie his shoes. I was struggling with whether I should help him.

I did, and he was grateful.

“Thank you,” he said.

“I’m glad I could help. I just thought it would be easier for me to reach,” I said.

He was a disabled man, and forced to look down most of the time. His arms and legs were twisted(扭曲的) terribly, and he couldn’t do what the rest of us would consider easy tasks. He always managed to look up to see how you reacted(反应) to his words, however. He had a big smile, making me feel comfortable.

I was still on my knees by his wheelchair.

“ Nice shoes,” he said.

“Thanks. No one ever complimented me on them before,” I said.

“No one has the same view of the world as I do,” he replied.

“Tell me about the world as you see it,” I said smiling.

“Most people can see if someone is comfortable with them or not in their eyes. I see it in their feet.” he said. “If people keep moving their feet, I just let them go, because I know they’re impatient with me. I don’t want to make people uncomfortable.

“What about me? I asked.

“I could see your compassion. And then you came down to my level. I was the one who was nervous.” he said. “I don’t normally have someone look me in the eye.”

“They don’t know what they’re missing,” I told him.

“My old face is nothing to brag(自夸) about.” he said.

“But that smile is so big.”

Yes, and it’s not only a big smile but an attitude.

1. The disabled man knew people were impatient mostly by their _________.

2. The unlined word compassion is the closet in meaning to ___________.

3. We learn that the disabled man _________.

4. The writer felt comfortable because _________.

5. We can infer from the passage that _________.

Farmer John and Farmer Bob were neighbours. For more than 30 years, they had been getting along very well.

Then their good relationship broke. It began with a small thing, then bitter words, and then weeks of silence. One morning Farmer John woke up to find a stream between the two farms. “It must be Bob,” John thought.

Then one day there was a knock on John’s door. He opened it to find a carpenter(木匠) standing at the doorway.

“I’m looking for a few days’ work,” the carpenter said.

 “I do have a job for you,” John said. “Look across the stream at that farm. That’s my neighbour Bob. He dug a stream between the two farms. I want you to build a fence—an 8-foot fence. I don’t want to see his place or his face any more. I don’t have such a neighbour!”The carpenter said, “I think I know what to do, sir, and I’ll be able to do a job that pleases you.” Farmer John helped the carpenter get the materials ready and then he was off for the day. About sunset when the farmer returned, the carpenter had just finished his job. The farmer’s eyes opened wide. There was no fence there at all!

    It was a bridge! And the neighbour, Bob, was coming across, with his hand outstretched(伸出). “Hi, John! You’re quite a fellow to build this bridge!”

 Then they met in the middle, taking each other’s hands. “I’m terribly sorry for what I have said and done. We should be good to each other.” said Farmer Bob. Then they turned to see the carpenter, who was ready to go. “No, wait! Stay a few days. I have a lot of other jobs for you,” said Farmer John. “I’d love to stay,” the carpenter said, “but I have more bridges to build.”

1.What does the sentence “You’re quite a fellow to build this bridge!” mean?

A. John was great to build this bridge.

B. John was not good at building bridges.

C. John was foolish to build such a bridge.

D. John should build the bridge earlier.

2.What do you think of the carpenter?

A. Shy.         B. Wise.        C. Proud.         D. Careless.

3.What is the best title for the passage?

 A. What a Big Fence!            B. A Strong Bridge.

C. Three Kind Men              D. A Fence or a Bridge ?             

A famous doctor once received a little child that was badly ill. Thanks to his skill and care, the child got well and was soon able to get up and run about again.

      The child’s mother was very thankful to the doctor, and she visited him for what he had done for her child. “Doctor,” she said, “you have saved my little son. I don’t know hoe to thank you enough. I feel that money alone cannot repay（回报）you, so I have made this little purse with my own hands, as a sign of my thanks. I hope you will accept（接受）it.” The doctor stood up and said coldly, “Madam, a little present like that is very nice between friends, but a doctor needs to paid enough for what he has done.” The lady was so surprised and hurt so much that she could not reply for a moment. Then she said quietly, “Perhaps you will tell me how much I should give you.”

      “Fifty pounds,” he answered.

      The lady opened the little purse and took out four fifty-pound bank notes. She passed one of them to the doctor, and put the other three back into the purse. She put the purse into her handbag and, saying goodbye to the doctor, went out of the room.

1.Why was the lady very thankful to the doctor?

      A. Because he had saved her life.

B. Because he had saved her son’s life.

      C. Because he had given her some money.

2.The doctor refused the lady’s purse because he thought _____.

      A. the purse was too small

B. the lady wouldn’t give him money

      C. purses should be given between friends

3.What can we learn from the passage?

      A. The doctor got 50 pounds from the lady.

      B. the doctor got 200 pounds from the lady.

      C. The lady didn’t pay money for the doctor.

4. According to the passage, the doctor would probably feel _____ in the end.

      A. happy                     B. excited                    C. sorry

任务型阅读(10分)

    A man went to the house of a rich man. He saw a bag of apples by the roadside. He thought, “I don’t want to eat those apples, because the rich man will give me a lot of good food.” Then he took the apples and threw (丢掉) them away into the dust(垃圾堆).

    He came to a river. The water in the river was very deep(深) and he couldn’t go across the river. He waited for some time and then said, “I can’t go to the rich man’s house today because I can’t cross the river.” So he began to go home.

    He had nothing to eat that day. He was very hungry when he came to the apples. He was glad to take them out of the dust.

    Don’t throw good things away, you may be glad to have them sometimes.

阅读上文完成下面的短文填空，每空只填一词。

    A man was on his way to a rich   1.   house. He    2.  a bag of good apples by the roadside. But he didn’t think he needed them. So he threw them away. Then he went to a river. It was very deep and he couldn’t go across it. He    3.    for a long time and finally he couldn’t go to the rich man’s house. That day he didn’t have     4.   to   5.  . When he saw the    6.   he threw away, he was very   7.   . This story tell us not to     8.  good things    9.  . They may be useful   10.   .

11. ___________ 12.____________ 13._____________ 14. ____________ 15.___________

16.__________17.___________18.____________ 19.____________ 20.___________