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【小题1】You can most probably read the passage in a ________ .

Brenda Bongos was a happy, artistic girl. She had one big ambition—to play the drums in a band. But one big obstacle lay in her way. To be good enough to play in a band, Brenda had to practice a lot, but she lived next-door to a lot of old people. Many of them are sick. She knew that the sound of beating drums would really get on their nerves. So, she had tried playing in the strangest places: a basement, a kitchen, and even in a shower. But there was always someone it would annoy.

One day, while watching a science documentary on TV, she heard that sound cannot travel in space, because there's no air. At that moment, Brenda Bongos decided to become a sort of musical astronaut.

With the help of a lot of time, books and work, Brenda built a space bubble. This was a big glass ball connected to a machine which sucked out all the air inside. All that would be left inside was a drum kit (成套设备)and a chair. Brenda got into the space suit she had made, entered the bubble, turned on the machine, and played those drums like a wild child.

It wasn't long before Brenda Bongos came very famous. Many people came to see her play in her space bubble. Shortly afterwards she came out of the bubble and started giving concerts. Her fame spread so much that the government suggested that she be part of a unique space journey. Finally, Brenda was a real musical astronaut, and had gone far beyond her first ambition of playing drums in a band.

Years later, when asked how she had achieved all this, she thought for a moment, and said: "If those old people next - door hadn't mattered so much to me, I wouldn't have found a solution, and none of this would have ever happened."

1.Why did Brenda try to play in the strangest places?

A. Because she didn't mean to disturb others.

B. Because she didn't want others to hear her play.

C. Because she didn't have her own room.

D. Because she didn’t like her neighbors.

2.Brenda started to give concerts _______.

A. when people came to see her in the space bubble

B. when she became part of the unique space journey

C. after she became a real musical astronaut

D. after she practiced in her space bubble

3.Brenda became famous because _______.

A. she was good at music and science

B. she invented a special way of practice

C. she became a real musical astronaut

D. she played well and had a talent

4.Which of the following can be used to describe Brenda?

A. Lovely, brave and kind.

B. Brave, kind and hardworking.

C. Kind, hardworking and clever.

D. Nervous, kind and clever.

Bill White’s father is a lawyer. In his 36 time, he likes to get out in the country and take some 37 of animals.

   For a long time, Bill had wanted to go with his father on one of his 38. But his father didn’t take Bill along with him 39 he was fifteen.

   He and Bill drove to the farm which 40 to his uncle in the afternoon. They 41 the night there, so that they could 42 out early the next morning. Uncle Steve and his son Larry, who was sixteen, were going to go out with them.

   It was still dark when Bill heard the alarm 43 the next morning. He wondered why it was running so early. He couldn’t remember 44 he was. He turned over 45 and looked at the clock. It was 5 o’clock. Then he 46 that he was at the 47 and that he was going out to take pictures with his father. He jumped out of bed and got 48 quickly.

   He ran downstairs. The others were already in the 49. Uncle Steve was cooking bacon and eggs. There was a pot of coffee on the stove. It 50 good.

   They ate breakfast quickly. They didn’t talk 51, because they didn’t want to 52 up the other people in the house. They filled a thermos bottle 53 hot coffee and took some sandwiches 54 Aunt Grace, Uncle Steve’s wife, had made for them. They gathered their camera 55 and started out.

A. busy          B. spare            C. enough       D. limited

A. foods          B. drawings         C. paintings      D. pictures

A. trips          B. buses            C. holidays        D. mountains

A. after         B. when            C. until            D. unless

A. led           B. stuck            C. got             D. belonged

A. cost          B. spent            C. slept           D. took

A. start       B. begin            C. walk           D. step

A. telephone   B. machine          C. bell            D. clock

A. where         B. how            C. who            D. what

A. quickly        B. sleepily          C. quietly         D. suddenly

A. imagined      B. pronounced     C. forgot           D. remembered

A. mountain      B. town            C. farm         D. station

A. dressed        B. ordered          C. eaten         D. prepared

A. bathroom     B. kitchen           C. dining-room    D. sitting-room

A. seemed       B. felt            C. tasted          D. smelled

A. many         B. soundly          C. much                D. highly

A. wake         B. go              C. put                  D. come

A. of            B. with            C. in                   D. by

A. that           B. what            C. after          D. before

A. cover          B. supply          C. operator              D. equipment

Home to me means a sense of familiarity and nostalgia(怀旧). It's fun to come home. It looks the same. It smells the same. You'll realize what's changed is you. Home is where we ran remember pain, live, and some other experiences; We parted here; My parents met here; I won three championships here.
If I close my eyes, I can still have a clear picture in mind of my first home. I walk in the door and see a brown sofa surrounding a low glass-top wooden table. To the right of the living room is my first bedroom. It's empty, but it's where my earliest memories are.
There is the dining room table where I celebrated birthdays, and where I cried on Halloween-when I didn't want to wear the skirt my mother made for me. I always liked standing on that table because it made me feel tall and strong. If I sit at this table, I can see my favorite room in the house, my parents' room. It is simple: a brown wooden dresser lines the right side of the wall next to a television and a couple of photos of my grandparents on each side. Their bed is my safe zone. I can jump on it anytime - waking up my parents if I am scared or if I have an important announcement that cannot wait until the morning.
I'm lucky because I know my first home still exists. It exists in my mind and heart, on a physical property(住宅) on West 64th street on the western edge of Los Angeles. It is proof I lived, I grew and I learned.
Sometimes when I feel lost, I lie down and shut my eyes, and I go home. I know it's where I'll find my family, my dogs, and my belongings. I purposely leave the window open at night because I know I'll be blamed by Mom. But I don't mind, because I want to hear her say my name, which reminds me I'm home.
【小题1】Why does the author call her parents' bed her "safe zone"(Paragraph 3)?

Mr. Flower was well-known around for growing the best flowers of the year and his four glass-houses were taken good care of. These glass-houses were close to a public path, which was always used ___36__ children and young people walking to and from __37__. Boys of about thirteen years of age, especially, were often tempted（尝试） to throw a stone or two at one of Mr. Flower’s __38_ . They managed to resist the temptation(抵制诱惑) when Mr. Flower was around, but the temptation often seemed to be too __39__ when Mr. Flower was __40__ to be seen. For this reason, Mr. Flower did his best to be __41__ his glass-houses at the beginning and end of the school days.

However, it was not always possible for him to be on guard at these times. Mr. Flower had tried __42__ to prevent the damage to his glass; but nothing that he had done had been__43__. He had been to the school to complain(抱怨) to the headmaster, but this had not done any__44__. He had hidden in the bushes（灌木丛）and __45__ those boys that threw stones __46__ his garden, but the boys could run __47__ faster than he, and they even __48__ at him at a distance. He had even walked along the path and picked up all those __49__ that he could find so that the boys would have nothing to __50__, but they soon found others, or threw lumps of earth instead.

Then just as he had given __51__ hope of winning the battle, a truly wonderful __52_ came up to him. He set up a large notice board made of good strong wood, some meters away from the glass-houses __53__ it could be clearly seen from the path. On the board he painted the __54__ : DO NOT THROW AT THIS NOTICE. After this, Mr. Flower had no __55__ . The boys were much more tempted to throw stones at the notice board than at the glass-houses.