It was Saturday. As always, it was a busy one, for “Six days shall you labor and all your work” was taken seriously back then. Outside, Father and Mr. Patrick next door were busy chopping firewood. Inside their own houses, Mother and Mrs. Patrick were engaged in spring cleaning.

Somehow the boys had slipped away to the back lot with their kites. Now, even at the risk of having brother caught to beat carpets, they had sent him to the kitchen for more string(线). It seemed there was  no limit to the heights to which kites would fly today.

My mother looked at the sitting room, its furniture disordered for a thorough sweeping. Again she

cast a look toward the window. “Come on, girls! Let’s take string to the boys and watch them fly the kites a minute.”

On the way we met Mrs. Patric, laughing guiltily as if she were doing something wrong, together with her girls. There never was such a day for flying kites! We played all our fresh string into the boys’ kites and they went up higher and higher. We could hardly distinguish the orange-colored spots of the kites. Now and then we slowly pulled one kite back, watching it dancing up and down in the wind, and finally bringing it down to earth, just for the joy of sending it up again.

Even our fathers dropped their tools and joined us. Our mothers took their turn, laughing like schoolgirls. I think we were all beside ourselves. Parents forgot their duty and their dignity; children forgot their everyday fights and little jealousies. “Perhaps it’s like this in the kingdom of heaven,” I thought confusedly.

It was growing dark before we all walked sleepily back to the housed. I suppose we had some sort of supper. I suppose there must have been surface tidying-up, for the house on Sunday looked clean and orderly enough. The strange thing was, we didn’t mention that day afterward. I felt a little embarrassed. Surely none of the others had been as excited as I. I locked the memory up in that deepest part of me where we keep “the things that cannot be and yet they are.”

The years went on, then one day I was hurrying about my kitchen in a city apartment, trying to get some work out of the way while my three-year-old insistently cried her desire to “go park, see duck.” “I can’t go!” I said. “I have this and this to do, and when I’m through I’ll be too tired to walk that far.”

My mother, who was visiting us, looked up from the peas she was shelling. “It’s a wonderful day,” she offered, “really warm, yet there’s a fine breeze. Do you remember that day we flew kites?”

I stopped in my dash between stove and sink. The locked door flew open and with it a rush of memories. “Come on,” I told my little girl. “You’re right, it’s too good a day to miss.”

Another decade passed. We were in the aftermath(余波) of a great war. All evening we had been asking our returned soldier, the youngest Patrick Boy, about his experiences as a prisoner of war. He had talked freely, but now for a long time he had been silent. What was he thinking of --- what dark and horrible things?

“Say!” A smile sipped out from his lips. “Do you remember --- no, of course you wouldn’t. It probably didn’t make the impression on you as it did on me.”

I hardly dared speak. “Remember what?”

“I used to think of that day a lot in POW camp (战俘营), when things weren’t too good. Do you remember the day we flew the kites?”

1.Mrs. Patrick was laughing guiltily because she thought________.

A．she was too old to fly kites

B．her husband would make fun of her

C．she should have been doing her housework

D．her girls weren’t supposed to the boy’s games

2. By “we were all beside ourselves writer means that they all ________.

A．felt confused                           B．went wild with joy

C．looked on                             D．forgot their fights

3. What did the author think after the kite-flying?

A．The boys must have had more fun than the girls.

B．They should have finished their work before playing.

C．Her parents should spend more time with them.

D．All the others must have forgotten that day.

4.Why did the writer finally agree to take her little girl for an outing?

A．She suddenly remembered her duty as a mother.

B．She was reminded of the day they flew kites.

C．She had finished her work in the kitchen.

D．She thought it was a great day to play outside.

5. The youngest Patrick boy is mentioned to show that ______.

A．the writer was not alone in treasuring her fond memories

B．his experience in POW camp threw a shadow over his life

C．childhood friendship means so much to the writer

D．people like him really changed a lot after the war

　 The holiday shopping season is once again upon us.The super malls and smaller shopping centers will all be packed as hurried Americans search for the perfect gift.The crooks and thieves that prey upon innocent shoppers are well aware of this fact.

　 Even if you don’t involve yourself with holiday gift buying，you could end up a victim of theft.Thieves do not distinguish the holiday shopper from the everyday shopper.Thieves only know that there are more potential targets of opportunity at this time of year.

　 They also know that many people are complacent (不以为然的) about personal safety issues year round.They’ll factor in the belief that many people take on added stress this time of year while running from store to store with so much to do and so little time to do it.Shoppers who might normally consider personal safety an afterthought push it back even further as they try to negotiate their way through the month of December.College students are not an exception to the rule!

　 As a member of our university community，you’re also easily influenced by the dangers of mall shopping this time of year.Take a minute and picture any of the local area malls.Close your eyes and think about the overflowing parking lots and the crowds moving around.The sights，sounds and distractions all can lull you into a state of personal safety complacency.

　 Aside from the shoplifters who steal merchandise from store shelves are the thieves who perpetrate (犯) snatch and grab crimes.And this is the sort of crime that you’re most vulnerable to，especially when you find yourself carrying a large number of shopping bags and packages.However，as is the case with most other types of criminal behavior，there are a number of crime prevention measures you can take to lessen or stop your chances of becoming a victim.So take the time to read and then put into practice the following holiday shopping tips.

1.The author is most probably　　　　 .

　 A.a newspaper reporter

　 B.a novelist

　 C.a member of university community

　 D.a police spokesman

2.What does the underlined word “They” in Paragraph 3 refer to?

　 A.Shoppers. 　　　　　　　　　 B.Thieves.

　 C.Personal safety issues.　　　　　　 D.College students.

3.Why is a person more likely to become a victim of theft during holiday shopping?

　 A.Because he often has much to buy.

　 B.Because he often does shopping in a hurry.

　 C.Because there are crowds of shoppers.

　 D.All of the above.

4.What is the writer’s purpose in writing this passage?

　 A.To tell readers different kinds of crimes.

　 B.To make readers aware of holiday shopping dangers.

　 C.To give advice on selecting the perfect gift.

　 D.To introduce American public security situation.

5.Which of the following would be the best title of the passage?

　 A.Holiday Shopping Safety

　 B.Suitable Shopping Places

　 C.Personal Safety During Holidays

　 D.How to Identify a Thief

第三部分：阅读理解(共20小题；每小题2分，满分40分)

阅读下列短文，从每篇短文后所给各题的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。

“Tell me, Wally,” my amazed friend asked the driver, “have you always served customers like this?”

Wally smiled into the back-view mirror.

“No, not always. In fact, it’s only been in the last two years. My first five years driving, I spent most of my time complaining like all the rest of the taxi drivers do. Then I heard the personal growth of Wayne Dyer, on the radio one day. He had just written a book called You’ll See It When You Believe It. Dyer said that if you get up in the morning expecting to have a bad day, you’ll rarely disappoint yourself. He said, ‘Stop complaining! Distinguish yourself from your competition. Don’t be a duck. Be an eagle. Ducks quack and complain. Eagles fly high above the crowd.’”

“That hit me right between the eyes. Dyer was really talking about me. I was always quacking and complaining, so I decided to change my attitude and become an eagle. I looked around at the other taxis and their drivers. The taxis were dirty, the drivers were unfriendly, and the customers were unhappy. So I decided to make some changes. I put in a few at a time. When my customers responded well, I did more.”

“I take it that has paid off for you,” I said.

“It sure has,” Wally replied. “My first year as an eagle, I doubled my income from the previous year. This year I’ll probably quadruple(增四倍) it. You were lucky to get me today. I don’t sit at taxi-stands anymore. My customers call me for appointments on my cell phone or leave a message on my answering machine. If I can’t pick them up myself, I get a trustworthy friend to do it and I take a piece of the action.”

Wally was phenomenal. He was running a first-class service out of a Yellow Taxi.

I’ve probably told that story to more than fifty taxi drivers over the years, and only two took the idea and ran with it. Whenever I go to their cities, I give them a call. The rest of the drivers quacked like ducks and told me all the reasons they couldn’t do any of what I was suggesting.

Wally, the Taxi Driver, made a different choice.

51.   The underlined word “phenomenal” means ______.

A．easy-going           B．warm-hearted      C．flexible              D．remarkable

52.   Wally doesn’t park his taxi at taxi-stands just because _______.

A．his income doubles.

B．his taxi is usually fully booked

C．he has a company of his own.

D．he has a look of a disgusting eagle

53.   Wally’s income doubled when he improved his service about ______.

A．one year ago                                        B．two years ago

C．five years ago                                       D．seven years ago

54.   After reading the passage we may draw a safe conclusion that ______.

A．kindness must be rewarded

B．it’s easy to say but hard to do

C．good service pays off in the end

D．the early bird catches the worm

In that traffic accident last night the man who hit five people in a row had drunk so much that he could no longer_______ between fantasy and reality.

A．distinguish         B．disguise           C．disturb           D．disgust

Sorry to say,our brains naturally start slowing down at the Cruelty young age of 30.It used to be thought that this couldn’t be helped,but new studies show that people of any age can train their brains to work faster.“Your brain is a learning machine,”saying University of California scientist Dr. Michael Merzenich.Given the right tools,we can train our brains to act like they did when we were younger.All that’s required is the practice designed just for the purpose:a few exercises for the mind.

Merzenich has developed a computer-based training method to speed up the process(过程) in which the brain deals with information (positscience.com).Since much of the data we receive comes through speech,the Brain Fitness Program works with language and hearing to better speed and accuracy(准确性).

Over the course of training,the program starts asking you to distinguish(辨别) sounds (between“dog”and“bog”,for example) at an increasingly faster speed.It’s a bit like tennis instructor,says Merzenich,hitting balls at you—faster and faster to keep you challenged(受到挑战).You may start out slow,but before long you’re pretty quick.

The biggest finding in brain research in the last ten years is that the brain at any age is highly plastic.If you ask your brain to learn,it will learn.And it may even speed up while in the process.

To keep your brain young and plastic you can do one of a million new activities that challenge and excite you:playing table tennis or bridge,doing crossword puzzles,learning a language...“When it comes to preventing ageing,you really do ‘use it or lose it’,”says Barbara Sahakian,professor at Cambridge University.

Dr.Merzenich’s training method mainly depends on ______.

A.speech training

B.computer languages

C.the activities one joins in

D.the information being dealt with

By saying “the brain at any age is highly plastic”,the writer probably means the brain can be ______.

A.used                                                            B.mastered

C.developed                                                     D.researched

What can we learn from the text?

A.Practice makes a quick mind.

B.Brain research started ten years ago.

C.Dr. Merzenich is a scientist in computer.

D.People believed nothing could stop the brain slowing down.

Which of the following agrees with the writer’s idea?

A.The training methods work better for the old.

B.People should use the brain to stop it from ageing.

C.The training of the brain should start at an early age.

D.It’s necessary to take part in as many activities as possible.