I was feeling a little blue because my mother had lost her job.

One day, while I was    on the street, I heard the piano music and singing rising above the noise of the people. I walked more slowly to      where it was coming from. Then I saw a young lady sitting at a piano.

She was singing songs about love,      yourself and keeping on trying. The way she was singing made me a little comfortable. I stood there     ，watching her playing on such a crowded New York square. I thought that she must be     enough to perform in front of so many people.

She noticed me. I walked over and told her how good her       sounded. “Thank you.” she said.

“I have been going through a hard time recently,     you’ve made me hopeful again.” I said to her.

“I’m glad that I could help,” she replied, “Why are you so    ?”

“Well, my mom has lost her job, and I’m not sure what to do …”

“Did you noticed the    you were walking? Your head was down.” she said. “Don’t be upset, because      comes in different ways and if your head is down, you might not see it. You should       more… lift your head up.”

I looked      her, amazed at how she was encouraging me. “    are you playing the piano here?” I asked her with a smile.

She     that she saw a lot of unhappy people in the world and she tried to cheer       up by playing music.

I smiled a little wilder, realizing that no difficulties could stop me from going on.

1.A. driving            B. riding                         C. running     D. walking

2.A. find out           B. send out                     C. take out     D. get out

3.A. dressing          B. believing                     C. hurting      D. losing

4.A. nervously         B. rudely                        C. angrily      D. quietly

5.A. brave             B. shy                          C. bored       D. honest

6.A. advice             B. idea                         C. music       D. interest

7.A. or                B. but                           C. so          D. and

8.A. dirty              B. busy                  C. sad         D. lazy

9.A. way               B. time              C. reason       D. station

10.A. opportunity     B. health            C. pain         D. life

11.A. complain       B. rest              C. smile        D. pay

12.A. like           B. after             C. for          D. at

13.A. How          B. Why              C. When       D. Where

14.A. dreamed       B. hoped             C. guessed     D. explained

15.A. us            B. them               C. me        D. her

When I was ten, my sisters and I were amazed at our neighbor’s Christmas tree. We returned home from their house and decided that we must have one of our own. In our house we never had enough money for a Christmas tree.
In fact, we insisted so much that my father had no choice but to agree. “Yes!” he finally said.“This year we will have a Christmas tree.” Our mouths dropped open at the thought of having our own tree. Then Dad said,“I’ll do it myself.”
We followed him around the house as he gathered up the materials he would need, We all sat close to him, carefully watching everything he did. He passed the thread around the first nail on the corner of a box, then back down to the second nail on the box, and up again to the nail, until right there before our eyes a green Christmas tree began to take shape. He carefully did the same with all of the 50 nails in the box and when he had finished, he said,“Now you can decorate it.”
I don’t remember where the decorations came from, but they were red and small and to us they just looked so beautiful and perfect for our tree. When we finished decorating it, we proudly invited all our friends over to see our Christmas tree. We were so happy, not only because it looked so pretty, but because my father had made it himself. It truly was the most beautiful Christmas tree we had ever seen.
Years later, things got better and Dad was able to buy a proper Christmas tree which we would happily decorate. However, my sisters and I will never forget the night when we got our first Christmas tree.
【小题1】What do we know about the writer?

When I was young, I liked to play jokes on people I knew, especially on my parents and friends. One day my mother was cooking in the kitchen and my younger brother was playing near the window. I ran to my mother and said, “ My brother has fallen from the open window!” She was very worried about my brother and then I said, “Don’t worry. I’m just joking.” And my mother shouted at me, “ If you do it again, I’ll punish you.”

One day I went swimming with my friends in the sea. I wanted to play a joke on my friends. In the beginning, I went swimming alone, and I called to my friends, “ Help me!” All my friends came to help me, only to find out that I was joking. But the next time I wasn’t joking. I swam in deep water and I was so careless that I was almost drowned（淹死）. I tried my best to call my friends for help, but this time nobody came to help me. In the end, they found I was telling the truth. They came and saved my life. They took me to the emergency center. From then on, I haven’t joked on anyone. I think this is the best lesson in my life.

(　 )56．What did the writer like to do when he was young?

A. To fight with his friends.　 B. To play with his brother.

C. To play jokes on others.　　 D. To put others into trouble.

(　 ) 57. How did the writer’s mother feel when she heard what he said about his brother?

　 A . Interested.　　 B. Worried.　　 C. Excited.　　　 D. Bored.

(　 )58. The underlined part “ the emergency center” means”__________ in Chinese.

　 A. 购物中心　　　 B. 娱乐中心　　 C. 急救中心　 D.重症监护室

(　 )59. Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?

　 A. The writer’s mother was cooking when his brother fell from the open window.

　 B. The writer liked to go swimming alone in the deep sea.

　 C. The writer used to have few friends because he hardly told the truth.

D. The writer hasn’t joked on others since he was saved by his friends.

(　 )60. What’s the main idea of this passage?

A .The writer didn’t like his brother, so he played jokes on him.

　 B. The writer’s friends were so angry that they didn’t talk with him.

.　 C. The writer was a dishonest boy when he was young.

　 D. The writer learnt a lesson: Don’t play jokes with others casually.

   There was a big sea bird that was very beautiful. One day, the sea bird 46_________ to a country and stayed outside of a palace. The Emperor asked his men to bring it to the palace. Then he said , “As a welcome for the sea bird, we’ll 47___________the band and get the best food and wine ready for 48____________.
So they played the best music for the sea bird, but it 49__________ bored. The Emperor introduced the most delicious food and best wine and asked the bird to have them. But the sea bird 50__________.  After three days 51_________ eating or drinking, the sea bird died.
The Emperor said 52__________, “Why didn’t you eat? I have you all of the best!”
The 53__________ tells us that what some people believe to be the best music and the best food aren’t so for 54_________. Feed a bird according to a bird’s wants, not a 55_________. The saying “Do to others as you would have others do to you.” Is never really suitable or right.