When you are little，the whole world feels like a big playground.I was living in Conyers，Georgia the summer it all happened.I was a second grader，but my best friend Stephanie was only in the first grade.Both of our parents were at work and most of the time they let us go our own way.

It was a hot afternoon and we decided to have an adventure in Stephanie's basement.As I opened the basement door，before us lay the biggest room，full of amazing things like guns，dolls，and old clothes.I ran downstairs，and spotted a red steel can.It was paint.I looked beyond it and there lay even more paint in bright colors like purple，orange，blue and green.

“Stephanie，I just found us a project for the day.Get some paintbrushes.We are fixing to paint.”She screamed with excitement as I told her of my secret plans and immediately we got to work.We gathered all the brushes we could find and moved all of our materials to my yard.There on the road in front of my house，we painted big stripes(条纹)of colors across the pavement(人行道)．Stripe by stripe，our colors turned into a beautiful rainbow.It was fantastic!

The sun was starting to sink.I saw a car in the distance and jumped up as I recognized the car.It was my mother.I couldn't wait to show her my masterpiece.The car pulled slowly into the driveway and from the look on my mother's face，I could tell that I was in deep trouble.

My mother shut the car door and walked towards me.Her eyes glaring，she shouted，“What in the world were you thinking？I understood when you made castles out of leaves，and climbed the neighbors' trees，but this！Come inside right now！”I stood there glaring back at her for a minute，angry because she had insulted(侮辱)my art.

“Now go clean it up！”Mother and I began cleaning the road.Tears ran down my cheeks as I saw my beautiful rainbow turn into black cement.

Though years have now passed，I still wonder where my rainbow has gone.I wonder if，maybe when I get older，I can find my rainbow and never have to brush it away.I guess we all need some sort of rainbow to brighten our lives from time to time and to keep our hopes and dreams colorful.

56．What did the writer want to do when his mother came home?

A．To introduce Stephanie to her.

B．To prevent her from seeing his painting.

C．To put the materials back in the yard.

D．To show his artwork to her.

57．In his mother's eyes，the writer________.

A．was a born artist        B．always caused trouble

C．was a problem solver   D．worked very hard

58．The underlined word“rainbow”in the last paragraph refers to______.

A．the rainbow in the sky

B．the stripes on the pavement

C．something imaginative and fun

D．important lessons learned in childhood

59．It can be learned from the passage that parents should______.

A．encourage children to paint

B．value friendship among children

C．discover the hidden talent in children

D．protect rather than destroy children's dreams

A man was driving at 70 miles in a 40-mile-zone, when a police car came behind him with the light on. __1__. As the policeman came to him, he said,” Hi, officer, I guess you caught me a little bit over the limit. I was in a rush to get home, to be with my wife and kids, you know my younger son wasn’t feeling well when I left home this morning.”
The policeman said, “Well, I guess so,” and started writing something in his notebook.__2__. A few moments later, the policeman came to his window and handed him a paper, and returned to his car without saying a single word. The man started to wonder, how much this ticket was going to be as he began to look at the paper.__3___ But something which read: “I had a daughter who was killed by a speeding car at the age of six, by a speeding driver like you. He got a fine, a few months in prison, and was free, free to hug two other daughters.__4__ I have tried to forgive that man a thousands times, and I thought I had. Maybe I really forgive him, but I have to do it again, even right now.__5__.”
The man was very surprised and could not move for the next few minutes. When finally he did, he drove slowly, even a few miles under the speed limit, praying for forgiveness.

B

When I asked my daughter which item she would keep; the phone, the car, the cooker, the computer, the TV, or her boyfriend, she said “the phone”. Personally, I couldn’t do without the phone entirely, which makes me unusual, Because the telephone is changing our lives more than any other piece of technology.

Point 1 The telephone creates the need to communicate, in the same way that more roads create more traffic. My daughter comes home from school at 4:00 pm and then spends an hour on the phone talking to the very people she has been with at school all day. If the phone did not exist, would she have anything to talk about?

Point 2 The mobile phone means that we are never alone. “The mobile saved my life,” says Crystal Johnstone. She had an accident in her Volvo on the A45 between Otley and Skipton. Trapped inside, she managed to make the call that brought the ambulance to her rescue.

Point 3 The mobile removes our secret. It allows marketing manager of Haba Deutsch, Carl Nicolaisen, to ring his sales staff all round the world at any time of day to ask where they are , where they are going, and how their last meeting went.

Point 4 The telephone separates us. Antonella Bramante in Rome says, “We worked in separate offices but I could see him through the window. It was easy to get his number. We were so near——but we didn’t meet for the first two weeks!”

Point 5 The telephone allows us to reach out beyond our own lives. Today we can talk to several complete strangers simultaneously (同时地) on chat lines (at least my daughter does. I wouldn’t know what to talk about). We can talk across the world. We can even talk to astronauts (if you know any) while they’re space-walking. And, with the phone line hooked up to the computer, we can access the Internet, the biggest library on Earth.

45．How do you understand ‘Point 1 —The telephone creates the need to communicate,…’？

       A．People don’t communicate without telephone. 

B．People communicate because of the creating of the telephone.

       C．People communicate more since telephone has been created.

 D．People communicate more because of more traffic.

46．Which points do you think support the idea that phones improve people’s life?

a．Point 1．  b．Point2．   c．Point3．   d．Point 4．   e．Point 5．

A．c, d B．a, e   C．a, c   D．b, e

47．It is possible to talk to several complete strangers simultaneously through        .

       A．the TV screen               B．a fax machine     

       C．the phone line hooked up to the computer     D．a microphone

48．The best heading for the passage is .

       A．Phone Power                  B．Kinds of Phone 

C． How to Use Phones           D．Advantage of Phones

When I asked my daughter which item she would keep; the phone, the car, the cooker, the computer, the TV, or her boyfriend, she said “the phone”. Personally, I couldn’t do without the phone entirely, which makes me unusual, Because the telephone is changing our lives more than any other piece of technology.

Point 1 The telephone creates the need to communicate, in the same way that more roads create more traffic. My daughter comes home from school at 4:00 pm and then spends an hour on the phone talking to the very people she has been with at school all day. If the phone did not exist, would she have anything to talk about?

Point 2 The mobile phone means that we are never alone. “The mobile saved my life,” says Crystal Johnstone. She had an accident in her Volvo on the A45 between Otley and Skipton. Trapped inside, she managed to make the call that brought the ambulance to her rescue.

Point 3 The mobile removes our secret. It allows marketing manager of Haba Deutsch, Carl Nicolaisen, to ring his sales staff all round the world at any time of day to ask where they are , where they are going, and how their last meeting went.

Point 4 The telephone separates us. Antonella Bramante in Rome says, “We worked in separate offices but I could see him through the window. It was easy to get his number. We were so near——but we didn’t meet for the first two weeks!”

Point 5 The telephone allows us to reach out beyond our own lives. Today we can talk to several complete strangers simultaneously (同时地) on chat lines (at least my daughter does. I wouldn’t know what to talk about). We can talk across the world. We can even talk to astronauts (if you know any) while they’re space-walking. And, with the phone line hooked up to the computer, we can access the Internet, the biggest library on Earth.

1．How do you understand ‘Point 1 —The telephone creates the need to communicate,…’？

       A．People don’t communicate without telephone. 

B．People communicate because of the creating of the telephone.

       C．People communicate more since telephone has been created.

 D．People communicate more because of more traffic.

2．Which points do you think support the idea that phones improve people’s life?

a．Point 1．  b．Point2．   c．Point3．   d．Point 4．   e．Point 5．

A．c, d B．a, e   C．a, c   D．b, e

3．It is possible to talk to several complete strangers simultaneously through        .

       A．the TV screen               B．a fax machine     

       C．the phone line hooked up to the computer     D．a microphone

4．The best heading for the passage is .

       A．Phone Power                  B．Kinds of Phone 

C． How to Use Phones           D．Advantage of Phones

       To "sacrifice" means to give up something for the sake of something else．We decided to sacrifice our luxurious city life to move to a seaside village with our children aged 9 and 3．In the city, we had a beautiful home and plenty of money but little real security because crime was on the increase every day．We never knew if we would all make it home safely each night．

       We were very happy in the new town but life was very difficult economically．Our income was very much dependent on tourism and the jobs at other times are few．Although many of the long-standing residents live well, it is a very competitive environment for newcomers．

       Reading the newspapers from big cities assured us that we had made the right choice．There is so much violence and crime there! However, it was not always easy to explain to the children why they could no longer have what they used to have, especially when our "rich" friends came from the city to visit us．Generally, they have so much but think they have so little and are always looking for more．

       One day, one of our rich friends came to visit us．His son preferred riding in the back of our beat-up little pickup （小卡车） to his father' s big modern car．Our little daughter called me and said, “Mom, please help me to explain to James the reason why he is wrong．He said, ' today, if you don't have money you are nothing．' I know that is not true．If you do have money you share it with your friends and if they don't have money, you share it with them．That is what makes us all rich．" This made me realize that the sacrifice was well worth it．Our kids understand that they may not have all the spoils of city life but they do have a solid set of values and they know that our most precious gifts are our good friends and a wonderful environment．

1.What was the reason why the family moved away from the city?

       A．They were tired of city life．

       B．The city was not safe enough．

       C．The people in the city were not friendly．

       D．The cost of living in the city was too high．

2.Why was it "a very competitive environment" for them according to the author?

       A．The residents were all very poor．

       B．It was hard to make a living．

       C．Their children couldn't get what they had in the city．

       D．They had few friends in their new environment．

3.What assured the author that they had made the right choice according to the passage?

       A．What she read in the newspaper．

       B．The beautiful scenery of countryside．

       C．The residents' living conditions．

       D．That fact that they had been accustomed to the new place．

4.What did the family gain from their sacrifice?

       A．They had a beautiful house in the seaside village．

       B．They made a lot of money during the tourist seasons．

       C．The parents got very good jobs in the new town．

       D．The children developed good values．