Brenda Linson never goes anywhere without an empty spectacles case. It is as vital to her as her purse. Yet, she doesn’t wear glasses. The reason she cannot do without it is that she cannot read and she cannot write. If ever she gets into any situation where she might be expected to do either of these things, she fishes around in her bag for the spectacles case, finds it’s empty, and asks the person concerned to do the reading for her. Until a few months ago hardly anybody knew about her problem. Her husband didn’t know and her children didn’t know. The children still don’t.

She had many tactics for hiding her difficult—for example, never lingering near a phone at work, in case she had to answer it and might be required to write something down.

It has never occurred to the children that their mother cannot read. She doesn’t read them stories, but then their father doesn’t either, so they find nothing surprising in the fact. Similarly they just accept that Dad is the one who writes the sick notes and reads the school reports. Now that the elder boy Tom is quite a proficient reader, Brenda can skillfully get him to read any notes brought home from school simply by asking,“What’s that all about, then?”

Brenda’s husband never guessed the truth in ten years of marriage. For one thing, he insists on handling all domestic correspondence and bills himself. A salesman for a large company, he travels a great deal and so is not around so much to spot the truth. While he’s away Brenda cores with any situations by explaining that she cannot do anything until she’s discussed it with her husband.

Brenda was very successful in her job until recently. For the last five years she had worked as waitress at an expensive restaurant, and had eventually been promoted to head waitress. She kept the thing a secret there too, and got over the practical difficulties somehow.

1. Brenda’s children have never found out about her problem as__________.

A. she isn’t often at home.

B. they are too young to guess the truth.

C. they find it normal to ask their father for everything.

D. they think it natural that short-sighted people like their mother don’t do much reading or writing.

2.What most probably made Brenda try hard to hide her difficulty?

A. Her desire to be successful in her job.          

B. Her fear of losing face.

C. Her deceitful nature.                        

D. Both A and B.

3.Of the following suggested titles, which is the most appropriate?

A. Brenda and Her Family                    

B. A Woman Who Doesn’t Wear Glasses

C. A Woman with an Empty Spectacles Case      

D. The Miserable Life of a Waitress

Brenda Linson never goes anywhere without an empty spectacles case. It is as vital to her as her purse. Yet, she doesn’t wear glasses. The reason she cannot do without it is that she cannot read and she cannot write. If ever she gets into any situation where she might be expected to do either of these things, she fishes around in her bag for the spectacles case, finds it’s empty, and asks the person concerned to do the reading for her. Until a few months ago hardly anybody knew about her problem. Her husband didn’t know and her children didn’t know. The children still don’t.

She had many tactics for hiding her difficult—for example, never lingering near a phone at work, in case she had to answer it and might be required to write something down.

It has never occurred to the children that their mother cannot read. She doesn’t read them stories, but then their father doesn’t either, so they find nothing surprising in the fact. Similarly they just accept that Dad is the one who writes the sick notes and reads the school reports. Now that the elder boy Tom is quite a proficient reader, Brenda can skillfully get him to read any notes brought home from school simply by asking,“What’s that all about, then?”

Brenda’s husband never guessed the truth in ten years of marriage. For one thing, he insists on handling all domestic correspondence and bills himself. A salesman for a large company, he travels a great deal and so is not around so much to spot the truth. While he’s away Brenda cores with any situations by explaining that she cannot do anything until she’s discussed it with her husband.

Brenda was very successful in her job until recently. For the last five years she had worked as waitress at an expensive restaurant, and had eventually been promoted to head waitress. She kept the thing a secret there too, and got over the practical difficulties somehow.

1．Brenda carries an empty spectacles case wherever she goes because__________.

　　　　 A．she is always so forgetful

B．she uses it as a purse

C．it may provide her with an excuse

D．she wishes to look like an educated woman

2．Brenda’s children have never found out about her problem as__________.

　　　　 A．she isn’t often at home

B．they are too young to guess the truth

C．they find it normal to ask their father for everything

D．they think it natural that short-sighted people like their mother don’t do much reading or writing

3．What most probably made Brenda try hard to hide her difficulty?

　　　　 A．Her desire to be successful in her job.

B．Her fear of losing face.

C．Her deceitful nature.

D．Both A and B.

4．Of the following suggested titles, which is the most appropriate?

　　　　 A．Brenda and Her Family

B．A Woman Who Doesn’t Wear Glasses

C．A Woman with an Empty Spectacles Case

D．The Miserable Life of a Waitress

Do you remember we agreed to circulate our ideas for our school project this year? Well, here is our suggestion and we in our school hope you will join us to develop it.

    The idea came to us in the autumn of 2004. We were sitting in our class when our head teacher made an announcement. “There’ll be a new boy starting school tomorrow. He comes from the circus so he’ll be with us for a while.” Immediately there was whispering around the classroom. I heard remarks like “Those are dirty people”; “They eat raw meat”; and “Watch out for your bags”. The teacher must have heard them because she stopped the talking and said in a very serious voice: “Jake is our guest for as long as he stays here. Make sure you treat him well. I don’t want to hear any complaints about your behaviour to him.”

I was curious because it was the first time I had met anyone from a circus. Fortunately for me, the next morning, after being introduced to the class he sat in the only spare seat next to me. Of course I didn’t want to be nosy（管闲事的） but I couldn’t help looking at him sideways as I began my mathematics task. I noticed Jake was smaller than me and had dirty finger nails. His shirt was clean but had been repaired in many places and his trousers were helped up by a wide, leather belt. As he seemed to have no handkerchief and was sniffing loudly, I passed him one of mine. Immediately the boys began to whisper “What did you do that for? Leave him be!” I concentrated on my work. From my left a slight movement showed that Jake must have heard the remarks too. He seemed to be having great difficulty with his work and was struggling to hold his pen correctly. He looked around as if for help. I looked around too. The teacher was busy so I leaned over and offered to explain the problems to him. As he listened his mouth split into a smile. His eyes lit up as if a light had been turned on and he returned to the exercises with enthusiasm.  He finished them quickly and proudly presented them to the teacher. “Well done, Jake,” she approved. Jake smiled and was soon busy sorting out information and adding more of his own.

I thought about how Jake’s life would be. I remembered seeing the campsite and thinking how poor the facilities （设施）were. So I decided to help. As it was my turn to suggest a project for our grade, I put forward this idea. Our head teacher accepted it and so we began to prepare our plans to improve the campsite. Hope you will join us.

56. Why did the students dislike Jake even before they saw him?

A. They must have heard bad stories about circus people.

    B. They always judged a person by what he looks like.

    C. The teacher hadn’t introduced Jake to them beforehand.

    D. A newcomer was not welcome at that time.

57. What’s the author’s attitude towards Jake?

    A. He copied the other boys’ behavior.

    B. He was distant about what Jake’s life was like.

    C. He couldn’t ignore what other people said about Jake.

    D. He had sympathy for the poor and disadvantaged.

58. The author mentions how Jake did maths to show that _______.

    A. the teacher was helpful and friendly    B. the maths problem was too hard for him

    C. Jake was courageous and determined   D. the author was better at maths

59. What’s the author’s purpose in writing this passage?

    A. To argue circus people should be treated fairly.

    B. To ask the reader to join in their project.

    C. To call on more people to help Jake.    D. To show what is in need for a circus.

1. UNESCO stands for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural O_________.

2. After meeting her for the first time, I was deeply i_________ by her rich knowledge.

3. Father used to smoke a lot in the past. I successfully p___________ him to give up smoking two years ago, so he doesn't smoke nowadays.

4. The nuclear pollution is so serious that all the governments are taking measures (措施) to h________ the problem.

5. Many fishes in the lake have died out because of the pollution, which is mainly caused by agricultural and i_________ waste.

6. Money is less important than health. Many people agree that it's better to be healthy than w_________.

7. The meeting hall is only a__________ on Friday afternoon, so you can't use it now.

8. In order to a__________ more customers, the shop offered special discount.

9. The couple eventually a________ their goal of becoming wealthy through hard work and careful saving,

10. In the terrifying traffic accident, the parents and grandparents all died and only the baby s___________.