He must have been completely lost in something he was reading because I had to tap on the windshield to get his attention.

“Is your taxi  1  ?” I asked when he finally looked  2  at me. He nodded, then said  3  as I settled into the back seat, “I'm sorry, but I was reading a  4  .” He  5  as if he had a cold .

“I am not in a hurry,” I told him. “Go ahead and finish your letter.” He  6  his head. “I've read it several times already. I guess I  7  know it by heart.”

“Letters from home always mean a lot,” I said. “From a child?”

“This isn't  8  ,” he replied. “Although it  9  just as well have been family. Old Ed was my oldest friend. In fact, we used to call each other 'Old Friend' when we'd meet. I'm not much good at  10 .”

“I don't think any of us keep  11  our correspondence (通信) too well,” I said. “I know I don't. But I take it he's someone you've  12  quite a while?”

“All my life. We were kids together, went to school together and all the  13  through high school.”

“There are not too many people who've had such a long friendship,” I said.

“ 14 ,” the driver went on, “I hadn't seen him more than once or twice a year over the past 25 or 30 years because I  15  away from the old neighbourhood and you kind of lose touch  16  you never forget.”

“You said 'was'. Does that mean—?” He nodded. “ 17  a couple of weeks ago.”

“I'm sorry,” I said. “It's no fun to lose any friend—and losing a real old one is  18  tougher.”

He didn't  19  to that, and we rode on in silence for a few minutes. But I realized that Old Ed was still on his mind when he spoke again, almost more to himself than to me: “I should have kept in touch.”

“Well,” I agreed, “we should all keep in touch with old friends more than we do. But things  20  and we just don't seem to find the time.”

When I got to my hotel room I didn't unpack right away. First I had to write a letter and mail it.

1. available    B. acceptable          C. beneficial       D. occupied

2. A.       down      B.    up    C.    to    D. off

3. A.       unexpectedly      B. curiously        C. apologetically D.  definitely

4. A.       booklet       B. novel              C.       book          D. letter

5. A.       sounded   B. spoke  C.    seemed    D. continued

6. A.       hung      B.       nodded       C. shook       D. kept

7. A.       anyhow   B.    hardly     C.    almost     D. really

8. A.       friendship       B.    family     C.    leadership       D. colleague

9. A.       could      B. might  C.    maybe     D. would

10. A.     writing    B.    reading    C.    talking    D. earning

11. A.      up    B.    with C.    on    D. in

12. A.     found      B.    written    C.    known     D. seen

13. A.     curriculum      B.    coincidence     C.    life  D. way

14. A. Eventually   B.    Actually  C.    Additionally   D. Besides

15. A. removed      B.    left  C.    headed    D. moved

16. A.     even though    B.    as though C.    when       D. whereas

17. A.     Died       B. Suffered     C. Choked      D. Survived

18. A.     ever B.    even C.    fairly      D. quite

19. A.     appeal          B. reply    C.    adapt       D. talk

20.   A.    take up         B. pick up          C. come up             D. break up

第三部分  阅读理解（共20题，每小题2分，共40分）  

 “You can have the same neighbors for years,” the old man said. “You love them or you think you love them. And you hope that they love you. But do you really understand them?”

“Charlie Kemp and his family lived next door to me for fifteen years. We were good friends for all that time. I enjoy friendship-I’m sure it’s the best thing in the world. And friendship with the Kemps was easy because they seemed to wele it.”

“They were interesting and intelligent people; their home caught fire twice, and twice the whole family slept in my home. They were always losing things…money, keys, or watches. Pictures fell off the walls; the children fell out of beds…”

“I was their neighbor and their friend. Life was always interesting, never dull. Best of all I liked the whole family.”

“One day, I lit a fire in the garden and was burning some rubbish. After a while Charlie Kemp came out of his house and walked up the road.”

“’Morning Charlie,’ I said’ Lovely day, isn’t it’? He smiled at me and nodded. I went on with my work.”

“Twenty minutes later a policeman arrived. He walked into my garden and said,’ You’ll have to put out the fire. Your neighbor has plained to us. He doesn’t like the smell.’”

“My neighbor…?” I said

“Yes,” the policeman said .He took out his notebook and read, “Charlie Kemp. He lives next door, doesn’t he?”

1.    ________were neighbors in this storey.                                         

A. The old man and his family                 B. Charlie Kemps and his family.

C. The old man and the Kemps       D. Both A and B

2.    The old man found that it was very strange that_________.

 A. Charlie told the police about the fire                        B they often lost the things

 C. the fire burst the whole of the Kemps’ house      D Kemp smiled to him

3. How did the old man help the kemps?

A. he found the things they lost      B. he thought they were interesting and intelligent

C. he lent them money             D. he let them sleep in his house after the fires

4. The story shows that__________.

 A. friendship is the best thing in the world       B. we never really understand our friends

 C. friendship with the Kemps was easy           D. friendship with the Kemps was not easy

请认真阅读下面短文，从短文后各题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。

Charles and I used to hang out all the time, together with a few other guys, but he seemed too cool for us lately. We couldn’t understand the   36  _, and we didn’t ask him for an explanation.   37   , we decided to   38    him a lesson in the way he treated us.

Once we started giving Charles the   39    shoulder, almost everybody was taking no notice of him. He looked so   40   , especially at lunchtime when he sat alone in the cafeteria (自助餐厅). Now and then he nodded and said, “Hey!” when   41   passed his table, but all he got   42   return were mean looks and silence.

At first I was glad my plan had   43   , but Charles’ unhappiness made me upset. I only wanted him to know   44   it felt like to be blown off, but I hadn’t thought about how badly my “lesson” would   45   him.

During one lunch period, I   46   as Charles repeatedly glanced at his watch, obviously   47   the minutes until he could leave the cafeteria. I suddenly realized I had done wrong.

 “Hey! Man. I’m terribly sorry.” I called out.

Charles turned around   48  , clearly wanting to avoid eye contact.

 “Oh, so you are talking to me now?” he asked.

 “I’m so sorry,   49   I had thought that you wanted to end our friendship.” I said.

“What?” he nearly shouted, looking much   50  . “I’ve left you alone because I thought that was what you wanted.”

“Oh, my God! Why would I want   51  ?” I shouted , completely puzzled.

Clearly, we both had been   52    each other wrong.

At first Charles couldn’t accept my   53  . I knew he needed time to   54   all the hurt I’d caused him. But eventually, he did forgive me. We even started hanging out together   55  . And our friendship wasn’t destroyed at all.

A. situation       B. change                 C. action                D. appearance

A. Besides        B. Therefore       C. Instead                 D. Opposite

A. take           B. teach                  C. give                        D. attend

A. serious       B. friendly            C. warm                 D. cold

A. sad               B. angry               C. happy                D. high

A. nobody            B. anybody             C. they                        D. someone

A. at               B. in                  C. on                  D. by

A. helped             B. operated            C. worked               D. done

A. what                   B. that                 C. as                   D. how

A. worry       B. touch           C. hurt                  D. disappointed

A. imagined          B. listened             C. recalled               D. watched

A. counting        B. guessing             C. waiting              D. checking

A. fast             B. slowly              C. finally               D. willingly

A. and                     B. so                 C. thus                  D. but

A. interested         B. pleased             C. surprised              D. moved

A. one                  B. those               C. that                  D. such

A. understanding  B. regarding           C. knowing             D. treating

A. explanation     B. attitude            C. suggestion                   D. apology

A. get through  B. get over                 C. get across             D. get along

A. seldom          B. once               C. again                D. also

Sharon called about four times today. At least it shows she’s trying to explain (解释) something to me. I feel a little better. 
December 3  
This morning Sharon said she had only told one person and had no idea why everyone seemed to know. Yes, I am an adopted daughter (养女) and my name was changed. But she had promised to keep it secret for ever!
December 5  
I wish I had a friend I could really trust (信任) all of the time. I thought I found that friend, but I haven’t and it’s making me unhappy! It’s wrong to tell her all about it. She won my trust, then lost it.
December 7  
I have a nice room and a big pool in my backyard and everything I’ve ever wanted. My adoptive parents will give me all the material things I’ve ever dreamed of. Yet all the money in the world can’t buy what I want now. I want Sharon to be my best friend again. 
December 10  
Sharon just called. She said she thought it might help if we spent more time together. She worried that I would go to another school. She is the best friend I’ve ever had. When I’m with Sharon, I can be myself. I need Sharon’s friendship. I need it more than I’ve ever known.
December 16 
I just had the most fantastic two days of my life! This was the best time I’ve had for a long, long time. Yesterday, we walked five times around the park and today we ran slowly along the river for twenty minutes. I can’t describe how much fun I had. We talked so much. Sharon, Sharon, no brick wall between us now.
44. What does the author mainly care about?
A. Why she was adopted.                      B. Why she went to another school.
C. Her family life.                           D. Her friendship with Sharon.  
45. Sharon lost the author’s trust because she ______. 
A. didn’t keep the author’s secret               B. didn’t like the author any more
C. often played a joke on the author              D. often refused to help the author 
46. The underlined word “fantastic” in the last paragraph probably means “______”.
A. funny    B. wonderful           C. sad           D. lucky
47. What can we know about the author and Sharon from the passage?
A. They were not friends any more.
B. They became good friends again.
C. They would go to another school together.
D. They could hardly understand each other.

PART THREE  READING COMPREHENSION
Directions: Read the following three passages. Each passage is followed by several questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A, B, C and D. Choose the one that fits best according to the information given in the passage.
Jascha Richter once sang “don't need too much talking without saying anything” to reveal his lonely feeling in a crowd.
Dad always told me never to ever reveal my true opinions towards other people if such opinions are negative. He said this is the “Chu Shi Zhe Xue”, the philosophy of dealing with social network.
It seems that everybody here just follows this philosophy very, very well.
Friends. I would say that if I were given true friendship I would definitely treasure it with my greatest care. If I really regard someone as my close friend, I would never leave her alone whenever she's in need, either financially or mentally. And I always believe, as long as I treat people with whole-hearted honesty, I would have some rewards—at least, just ONE true friend of the same gender（性别）.
Sometimes I just miss my friends in China. Perhaps when we became friends, we were still young, too young to have been polluted by any dirt in the society. But here, it is simply different. It seems that all of us have learnt how to SURVIVE in a foreign land and such an experience actually makes us learn how to extract (榨取) the most benefits from the surroundings in order to survive.
All are friends around me. I've looked through all the dark sides of their personalities and yet I have to pretend that I know nothing. THEY ARE GOOD. THEY ARE GOOD. AND WE ARE FRIENDS. And then I can make myself comfortable enough to talk to people I hate the most. And of course, they don't say any words truly from their hearts. Neither do I.
But, sometimes I just feel unwilling to talk to these people. Sometimes, I just want to be alone, quietly, without being forced to listen to their gossip or other useless words.
“Standing on a mountain high
Looking at the moon through a clear blue sky
I should go and see some friends
But they don't really comprehend”
Jascha Richter expresses my feelings also.
1. What do we know about the writer’s father according to this passage?
A. He is really a good philosopher.                          
B. He possibly gets on well with others.
C. He told the writer to reveal her true opinions.       
D. The passage doesn’t tell us at all.
2. What does the writer mean by saying “All are friends around me” in Paragraph 7?
A. People around her all like her.                B. She has a lot of friends.
C. There are no real friends.               D. No one is friendly to her.
3. What’s the most probable reason the writer mentions Jascha Richter’s song twice in the passage?
A.She likes Jascha Richter’s song.
B.Jascha Richter is one of her friends.
C The song were expresses her feelings.
D.She uses it to perfects her article.
4. Which of the following statements about the writer is TRUE?
A. She is now living abroad but doesn’t enjoy the life there.
B. She absolutely believes in her father’s philosophy.
C. She shows a positive attitude towards her relationship with others.
D. She thinks highly of her friends by repeating “They are good”.
5. The writer mostly expresses her ______ in this passage.
A. happiness      B. homesickness       C. sadness          D. loneliness