It was an early morning in summer. In the streets, sleepy-eyed people were moving quickly, heading towards their ___1___. This was the beginning of another ___2___ day in New York City. ___3___this day was to be different.

Waiting ___4___ the crowded streets, on top of a ___5___ 110 stories high, was Philippe Petit. This daring Frenchman was about to ___6___ a tightrope(绷索) between the two towers of the World Trade Center.

Philippe took his first ___7___ with great care. The wire held. Now he was ___8___ he could do ___9__ only a balancing pole. Philippe walked his way across, a ___10___ of 131 feet.

Soon the rush-hour ___11___ began to notice. What a ___12___! There, 1350 feet above the street, a ___13___ figure was walking on air.

Philippe made seven ___14___, back and forth(来回). He wasn’t satisfied with just ___15___. At times he would turn, sit down, and ___16___ go on his knees. Once, he had the astonishing ___17___ to lie down on the thin thread. And thousands of ___18___ watchers stared with their hearts beating fast.

After the forty-five-minute ___19___, Philippe was taken to the police station. He was asked ___20___ he did it. Philippe shrugged(耸肩) and said, “When I see two tall buildings, I walk.”

1. A. job B. homes C. buses  D. offices

2. A. working B. hot     C. same   D. ordinary

3. A. And       B. So      C. But     D. Thus

4. A. for  B. in       C. by      D. above

5. A. roof       B. position      C. wall    D. building

6. A. throw     B. walk   C. climb  D. fix

7. A. act  B. landing      C. step    D. trip

8. A. sure       B. uncertain    C. glad    D. nervous

9. A. Through B. Against      C. With   D. On

10. A. distance       B. height C. space  D. rope

11. A. streets   B. crowds       C. passengers  D. city

12. A. height  B. pleasure     C. wonder      D. danger

13. A. great    B. strange       C. public D. tiny

14. A. experiment  B. circles C. trips    D. movements

15. A. walking       B. staying       C. acting D. showing

16. A. almost  B. even   C. often   D. rather

17. A. spirit    B. result  C. strength      D. courage

18. A. patient  B. terrified     C. pleased       D. enjoyable

19. A. show    B. trick   C. try      D. program

20. A. how     B. why    C. whether      D. when

On a number of drives throughout my childhood, my mother would suddenly pull over the car to examine a flower by the side of the road or rescue a beetle from tragedy while I, in my late teens and early twenties, sat impatiently in the car.

Though Mother’s Day follows Earth Day, for me, they have always been related to each other. My mom has been “green” since she became concerned about the environment. Part of this habit was born of thrift (节俭). Like her mother and her grandmother before her, mom saves glass jars, empty cheese containers and reuses her plastic bags.

Mom creates a kind of harmonious relationship with wildlife in her yard. She knows to pick the apples on her trees a little early to avoid the bears and that if she leaves the bird feeders(给食器) out at night, it is likely that they will be knocked down by a family of raccoons (浣熊). Spiders that make their way into the house and are caught in juice glasses will be set loose in the garden.

I try to teach my children that looking out for the environment starts with being aware of the environment. On busy streets, we look for dandelions (蒲公英) to fly in the wind; we say hello to neighborhood cats and pick up plastic cups and paper bags. This teaching comes easily, I realize, because I was taught so well by example. Mom didn’t need to lecture; she didn’t need to beat a drum to change the world. She simply slowed down enough to enjoy living in it and with that joy came mercy and an instinct for protection.

I am slowing down and it isn’t because of the weight of my nearly forty years on the planet, it is out of my concern for the planet itself. I’ve begun to save glass jars and reuse packing envelopes. I pause in my daily tasks to watch the squirrels race each other in the trees above my house.

Last summer, in the company of my son and daughter, I planted tomatoes in my yard. With the heat of August around me, I ate the first while sitting on my low wall with dirt on my hands. Warm from the sun, it burst on my tongue with a sweetness I immediately wanted to share with my mom.

1.. Why does the author say Earth Day is connected with Mother’s Day?

A. Because Mother’s Day falls shortly after Earth Day.

B. To stress that all the older women in her family are environmentalists.

C. To stress how much her mother cares about the environment.

D. Because her mother shows her how to be friendly to nature on Mother’s Day.

2.. Which of the following is NOT related to Mom’s “green life”?

A. Rescuing a beetle from a certain tragedy. 

B. Saving glass jars, empty cheese containers.

C. Setting a caught spider free in the garden 

D. Picking dandelions on busy streets.

3.. We can infer from the article that ______.

A. the author realizes that she should teach her children by example as well

B. the author’s mother knows how to get rid of the wildlife in her yard   

C. the author believes that only by learning to slow down can we enjoy life

D. the author’s mother used to lecture her to protect the environment.

4.. What can be learned from the last paragraph?

A. Tomatoes make the author think of her mother.

B. The author likes eating tomatoes planted by herself.

C. Planting tomatoes is a way of protecting environment.

D. The author really appreciates her mother’s teaching.

5.. The writer’s attitude towards her mom’s behavior changed in the order of ______.

A. understanding — critical — approving

B. approving — doubtful — negative

C. negative — understanding — approving

D. doubtful— critical— positive

A Shelter for the Homeless
Last summer I was a volunteer (志愿者) at a shelter for the homeless, a place for homeless people to sleep at night. I wasn’t working that summer and was  36  only two classes in summer school, so I had some  37  time.
Three nights a week, I  38  in the kitchen of the shelter along with four other volunteers. We planned and  39  for 45 people hot meals  40  vegetables, chicken, fish and fruit. The homeless people  41  this good food because many of them usually didn’t eat well.
I  42  this volunteer work, making  43  with the four volunteers in the kitchen. One was a very nice elderly housewife, one a movie actor, another a young teacher, and the other a college student,   44  me.
I talked to a lot of the homeless people at the shelter. Their life stories  45  me with sympathy (同情). Some of them had  46  with alcohol (酒) or drugs while others only had bad  47 . One woman worked for almost 30 years for a small company, and  48  she lost her job. She looked for a  49  job,but couldn’t find one, for she was too  50  . She could do nothing but sell her furniture — sofas, chairs, and tables  51  she could pay for her food.The woman  52  on job hunting, but she 53 couldn’t find one.She had no money for her  54  and had to sleep in her car. Then she had to sell her car. Alone,   55  , and homeless, she finally came to the shelter.

Sunday is more like Monday than it used to be. Places of business that used to keep daytime “business hours” are now open late into the night. And on the Internet, the hour of the day and the day of the week have become irrelevant （不相关的）. A half century ago in the United States, most people experienced strong and precise dividing lines between days of rest and days of work, school time and summer time. Today the boundaries still exist, but they seem not clear.

The law in almost all states used to require stores to close on Sunday; in most, it no longer does. It used to keep the schools open in all seasons except summer; in most, it still does. And whether the work week should strengthen its legal limits, or whether it should become more “flexible,” is often debated. How should we, as a society, organize our time? Should we go even further in relaxing the boundaries of  time until we live in a world in which every minute is much like every other?

These are not easy questions even to ask. Part of the difficulty is that we rarely recognize the “law of time” even when we meet it face to face. We know as children that we have to attend school a certain number of hours, a certain number of days, a certain number of years — but unless we meet the truant officer （学监）, we may well think that we should go to school due to social custom and parents’ demand rather than to the law. As adults we are familiar with “extra pay for overtime working,” but less familiar with the fact that what constitutes （构成） “overtime” is a matter of legal definition. When we turn the clock forward to start daylight-saving time, have we ever thought to ourselves: “Here is the law in action”? As we shall see, there is a lot of law that has great influence on how we organize and use time: compulsory education law, overtime law, and daylight-saving law — as well as law about Sunday closing, holidays, being late to work, time zones, and so on. Once we begin to look for it, we will have no trouble finding a law of time to examine and assess.

1.By saying “Sunday is more like Monday than it used to be”, the writer means that      .

A. work time is equal to rest time

B. many people have a day off on Monday

C. it is hard for people to decide when to rest

D. the line between work time and rest time is unclear

2.The author raises the questions in Paragraph 2 to introduce the fact that people

A. fail to make full use of their time          B. enjoy working overtime for extra pay

C. are unaware of the law of time               D. welcome flexible working hours

3.According to the passage, most children tend to believe that they go to school because they ______.

A. need to acquire knowledge                B. have to obey their parents

C. need to find companions                  D. have to observe .the law

4.What is the main idea of the passage?

A. Our life is governed by the law of time.

B. How to organize time is not worth debating.

C. New ways of using time change our society.

D. Our time schedule is decided by social customs.

Football, to me, is more than just a game. I have probably learned more than valuable lessons from it than from school.
When I joined the team freshman year, I didn’t realize what I was getting into. Even though I had been playing since fourth grade and knew it was hard work, nothing would prepare me for the effort I would put into football that year. We worked all summer in the weight room and ran on the track to get in physical and mental shape before the season.
See, football is more of a mental sport than anything else, so running on the track wasn’t only about getting in shape . We would push our minds by running as hard as we could even if we felt like we were going to pass out. At the beginning, I was immature (幼稚的) and only thought of myself, sometimes even giving up when I was tired or hurting. Then after the third game I had a season-ending injury. Imagine working all summer and then only being able to play three games! I needed surgery on my arm and at least five months to recover.
After freshman year I decided that I would always give my best effort. Playing varsity (大学代表队) football has taught me so much more than just what my tasks are on a particular play or how to block. I have learned to think about others first, and realized how important working hard is. Being with all my friends, even sweating and bleeding with them, really made us unite as a group of hard-working young men, who will succeed in life.
65. What is the text mainly about?
A. How the author dislikes the game of football.
B. When the author began to play football.
C. How the author has changed his attitude to football.
D. What sport the author likes best.
66. The author thinks football is ________.
A. just a game    B. of a mental sport    C. hard to pass out  D. not worth his effort
67. From the text we can infer ________.
A. the author joined the football team with a clear aim.
B. football only brought the author certain tasks
C. the author worked all summer to get ready for the season.
D. the author never lost heart when he met with difficulties.
68. In the third paragraph, the phrase “getting in shape” probably means ________.
A. becoming physically fit             B. designing the playground
C. losing weight                     D. measuring the track