完形填空

　　Perhaps some people in the world ever write to Big Ben．They even 　　1　　 birthday presents．In fact, Big Ben is not a 　　2　　．It's a clock!

　　Big Ben is the great clock 　　3　　 up in a tower of the Parliament(议会)building．This is the building in London 　4　　 laws are made．The people of London like to see Big Ben's four friendly faces．They like to hear the chimes(钟声)　　5　　 15 minutes．They like to hear the bell 　　6　　 the hours．Bong! Bong! Bong!

　　Big Ben's story started in 1834．In that year the old Parliament building burned 　　7　　．Its clock tower crashed to the ground．There 　　8　　 to be a new building and a new clock．

　　Plans were made．They 　　9　　 it “King of Clocks, the biggest and best in the world”．So the clock had to be big．And it had to 　　10　　 very good time．

　　In two years the big clock was made．Five more years went by 　　11　　 the clock tower was finished．Then the four 　　12　　 for the chimes(击钟装置)were brought into the tower．And at last the giant hour bell was put in 　　13　　．It 　　14　　 out for the first time on July 11,1859．

　　This great bell had to have a name．A meeting of Parliament was called to pick 　　15　　．“This clock is the King of Clocks,” one man said．“Let's call the bell Queen of Bells．”

　　“Then why not Victoria?” said 　　16　　．The talk about names went 　　1　　．Then Benjamin Hall got up to speak．He was a big man that others liked．By this time they were all 　　18　　．Someone shouted, “Why not call it Big Ben and be done 　　19　　 it?

　　Everybody laughed, and the meeting 　　20　　．But from then on, Big Ben was not just the bell but the whole clock．

阅读理解

　　Margaret, married with two small children, has been working for the last seven years as a night cleaner, cleaning offices in a big building．

　　She trained as a nurse, but had to give it up when her elder child became seriously ill．“I would have liked to go back to it, but the shifts(工作班次)are all wrong for me, as I have to be home to get the children up and off to school．”

　　So she works as a cleaner instead, from 9 p.m.till 6 a.m.five nights a week for just ￡90, before tax and insurance．“It's better than it was last year, but I still think that people who work ‘unsocial hours' should get a bit extra．”

　　The hours she's chosen to work mean that she sees plenty of the children, but very little of her husband．However, she doesn't think that puts any pressure on their relationship．

　　Her work isn't physically very hard, but it's not exactly pleasant, either．“I do get angry with people who leave their offices like a place for raising pigs．If they realized people like me have to do it, perhaps they'd be a bit more careful．”

　　The fact that she's working all night doesn't worry Margaret at all．Unlike some dark buildings at night, the building where she works is fully lit, and the women work in groups of three．“Since I've got to be here, I try to enjoy myself——and I usually do, because of the other girls．We all have a good laugh, so the time never drags．”

　　Another challenge Margaret has to face is the reaction of other people when she tells them what she does for a living．“They think you're a cleaner because you don't know how to read and write,”said Margaret,“I used to think what my parents would say if they knew what I'd been doing, but I don't think that way any more．I don't dislike the work though I can't say I'm mad about it．”