Alone in the light at the dining room table, surrounded by a nearly dark house, I sat in tears.

Finally, I  36  in getting both kids to bed. As a new single  37 , I had to be both Mommy and Daddy to my two little children.

With full rights of my children, I  38  to give them a normal and comfortable home life. I  39  a happy face for them.

I rose slowly, trying not to  40  even the least sound which might start them up  41 . I tiptoed(蹑手蹑脚地走) out of their room,  42  the door part way, and went downstairs.

And loneliness(孤独). I  43  as thought I were at the bottom(底部) of a great sea of loneliness. It all  44  together and I was at once lost. I sat there,  45  crying.

Just then, a pair of little  46  went around my middle and a little face looked up at me. I looked down into my five-year-old son’s  47  face.

I was shy to be  48  crying by my son. “I’m sorry. Ethan, I didn’t know you were still awake.” I don’t know why, but so many people  49  when they cry and I was no exception. “I didn’t  50  to cry. I’m just a little  51  tonight.”

“It’s ok, Daddy. It’s okay to cry; you’re just  52 .”

I couldn’t express(表达) how happy he made me, this little boy, who was simple, gave me  53  to cry. He seemed to be saying that I didn’t have to always be  54 , and that sometimes it was possible to allow myself to feel weak and let out my  55 .

1.                A．succeeded      B．escaped        C．failed D．helped

2.                A．mother         B．worker         C．parent   D．stepfather

3.                A．followed        B．grew           C．joined    D．tried

4.                A．put on         B．took on         C．put down D．took in

5.                A．fill             B．stop           C．make D．end

6.                A．over           B．again           C．once D．already

7.                A．locked         B．fixed           C．opened   D．closed

8.                A．felt            B．thought         C．fell  D．woke

9.                A．went           B．afforded        C．came D．agreed

10.               A．loudly          B．hardly          C．widely D．silently

11.               A．arms           B．legs           C．hands D．eyes

12.               A．pleased        B．helpful         C．excited    D．angry

13.               A．moved         B．seen           C．heard D．touched

14.               A．explain         B．complain       C．apologize  D．wonder

15.               A．want           B．mean          C．appear    D．prefer

16.               A．worried        B．special         C．tired  D．sad

17.               A．a person        B．a male         C．terrific    D．nervous

18.               A．decision        B．interest        C．right  D．truth

19.               A．experienced    B．strong          C．single D．able

20.               A．ideas          B．secrets         C．words D．feelings

The professor’s house, big and untidy, stood alone at one end of a huge garden. The place was totally uncared for, quite __36__ and overgrown with all sorts of useless things. I __37__ my way through bushes and tall weeds to the front door and rang the bell.

I was glad that I found him. In twenty minutes he put me right on all the __38__ that had puzzled me. I was on the __39__ of leaving when I looked out of his study window and said, “You’re very fond of gardening, I see”

“No, I’m not,” he said. “__40__, I love this garden, though. It’s __41__ I always wanted it to be. I never touch it __42__ all.”

“It could be made lovely. It seems a pity to let all this ground go to __43__. But perhaps you don’t _ 44__ that way?” said I.

“I don’t. I lived here when I was a child, and I had   45  of gardening then. It was my father’s hobby, you see. Unfortunately, he wasn’t   46  _ enough to do it himself. My brother and I did all of it between us year after year. There was one right way and many wrong ways. Each blade (叶片) of grass was an enemy to be _ _47__ out by hand, not just cut off. I’ve spent a good part of life at work here.”

“I see. You took a dislike to it, and now you’re getting even！”

“I dislike it. Then, of course, I didn’t understand the effect it had. It used to __48__ me. It appeared in my __49__ ——— a mistake here, something not quite straight here, the enemy showing its head in a place I was __50__ to have cleaned. The work was too much. It seemed endless. The size of the place was itself a fight to a boy.”

“And now it’s yours, you’re just letting it go to ...”

“__51__?” he said. “No, I don’t agree with that. This garden and I are now the best friends. I like  _52__ it grow in its own way. I make no __53__ on it. I never disturb it, and it never disturbs me. It has _ 54__ at last, and so have I.”

“But the path is over grown. It’s __55__ for you, isn’t it?”

“That’s part of my pleasure，” he laughed. “You can go out the back way. The weeds are shorter there because they don’t get the sun.”                             

1.                A．wild           B．crazy           C．large D．nice

2.                A．lost            B．felt            C．made D．took

3.                A．gardening       B．problems       C．plants    D．solution

4.                A．time           B．request         C．permission    D．point

5.                A．Even so         B．So             C．As though D．Even if

6.                A．where         B．as             C．why D．whether

7.                A．after           B．of             C．at   D．in

8.                A．desert         B．trouble         C．garden   D．waste

9.                A．recognize       B．observe        C．know D．see

10.               A．much          B．enough         C．something D．nothing

11.               A．interested      B．excited         C．fit    D．demanding

12.               A．fought         B．ruled          C．rooted    D．cut

13.               A．worry          B．shock          C．astonish   D．disappoint

14.               A．life            B．dreams         C．house D．hands

15.               A．thought        B．expected       C．ordered   D．supposed

16.               A．Ruin           B．Develop        C．Grow D．Sell

17.               A．watching       B．attending       C．watering   D．noticing

18.               A．comments      B．difference      C．sense D．demands

19.               A．time           B．freedom        C．sunlight   D．space

20.               A．important       B．useless         C．inconvenient   D．previous

It was the first snow of winter – an exciting day for every child but not for most teachers. Up until now, I had been old enough to dress myself, but today I would need some help. Miss Finlayson, my kindergarten teacher, had been through first snow days many times, but I think she may still remember this one.

    I managed to get into my wool snow trousers. But I struggled with my jacket because it didn’t fit well. It was a hand-me-down from my brother, and it made me wonder why I had to wear his ugly clothes. At least my hat and scarf were mine, and they were quite pretty. Finally it was time to have Miss Finlayson help me with my boots (靴子).

    In her calm, motherly voice she said, “By the end of winter, you will all be able to put on your own boots.” I didn’t realize at the time that this was more a statement of hope than of confidence (信心).

    I handed her my boots and stuck out my foot. Like most children, I expected grown-ups to do all the work. After much pushing, she managed to get the first one into place and then, with a sigh, worked the second one on too.

    I announced, “They’re on the wrong feet.”

    She struggled to get the boots off and went through the joyless task of putting them on again.

    “They’re my brother’s boots, you know,” I said. “I hate them!”

    Somehow, from long years of practice, she managed to act as though I wasn’t an annoying (烦人的) little girl, She pushed and pushed, less gently this time. With a greater sigh, seeing the end of her struggle with me, she asked, “Now, where are your mittens (连指手套)?”

    I looked into her eyes and said, “I didn’t want to lose them, so I hid them in the toes of my boots.”

1. The little girl was more satisfied with her_________.

A. trousers    B. jacket     C. boots     D. hat

2.Miss Finlayson had difficulty with the girl’s boots mainly because________.

A. the girl got them from her brother   B. the girl put something in them

C. they were on the wrong feet                 D. they did not fit the girl well

3.Why does the author say Miss Finlayson would remember that first snow day?

    A. Because the little girl was in her brother’s clothes.

B. Because it was the most exciting day of the winter.

C. Because the little girl played a trick on her.

D. Because the little girl wore a pretty scarf.

4.We can learn from the text that Miss Finlayson_________.

A. was losing confidence in the little girl

B. gradually lost patience with the little girl

C. became disappointed with the little girl

D. was getting bored with the little girl

阅读下面短文，掌握其大意，然后从36—55各题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。

Teaching my first child, Danae, to share her toys was the biggest challenge. To   36   this, we started inviting other children to play, which could help Danae discover that it’s   37   to share with others – a lesson I needed to   38   myself as well, as it   39  .

One evening Danac had   40  a friend, Natalie, to play with her. Their favorite was a children’s   41   game called Go Fish. That evening,   42   Natalie left, Danae came to me and said, “Mommy, I’d like to give these to Natalie tomorrow. They’re her favorites.”

She help up three cards from the Go Fish game. I tried to   43   that I didn’t want her to give them away because then our   44   wouldn’t be complete. “But I really want her to have them!” Danae   45  . I thought perhaps she didn’t understand that when she gave something away, it was gone   46  . So I tried again, saying, “  47   you give the cards to her, you can’t   48  them back tomorrow.”

A look of   49   came over Danae’s face. For a moment I was happy that she seemed to   50  . But then she smiled and said. “Well, that’s okay, I want her to have them anyway.”

    What could I say to that? I sat   51   for a moment and then I realized I had been trying for so long to   52   her to share. Did it   53   that our Go Fish set would be   54  ? What mattered was that my daughter was learning the   55   of giving, that she was thinking about others instead of herself, and that she was trying to make her friends happy. Isn’t that what life is all about?

A．achieve  B．apply C．receive     D．get

A．kind      B．gentle       C．fun    D．merciful

A．design    B．know C．create       D．review

A．turned up      B．turned away     C．turned to   D．turned out

A．begged   B．encouraged      C．invited      D．found

A．box       B．card  C．paper D．show

A．before    B．while C．after  D．until

A．explain  B．suggest     C．respond    D．teach

A．thing     B．card  C．set     D．toy

A．insisted       B．recommended   C．announced       D．cried

A．surely   B．suddenly   C．forever     D．indeed

A．If B．Once C．As     D．Unless

A．ask for B．call for     C．look for    D．care for

A．surprise       B．concern    C．delight      D．satisfaction

A．understandB．accept  C．refuse       D．doubt

A．sadly    B．angrily     C．quietly      D．slowly

A．conduct       B．ask    C．force D．help

A．work    B．mean C．remind     D．matter

A．incompleteB．lost      C．limited     D．gone

A．content B．usefulness C．way   D．joy

Some time ago, I discovered that one of my chairs had a broken leg. I didn’t think there would be any difficulty in getting it mended , as there are a whole lot of antique (古董) shops near my home . So I left home one morning carrying the chair with me. I went into the first shop expecting a friendly reception. I was quite wrong. The man wouldn’t even look at my chair.

The second shop, though slightly more polite, was just the same, and the third and, the fourth-so I decided that my approach must be wrong.

I went into the fifth shop with a plan in my mind. I placed the chair on the floor and said to the shopkeeper, “Would you like to buy a chair?” He looked it over carefully and said, “Yes, not a bad chair. How much do you want for it, sir?” “Twenty pounds,” I said. “OK,” he said, “I’ll give you twenty pounds.” “It’s got a slightly broken leg,” I said. “Yes I saw that, it’s nothing.”

Everything was going according to plan and I was getting excited. “What will you do with it?” I asked. “Oh, it will be easy to sell once the repair is done.” “I’ll buy it,” I said. “What do you mean? You’ve just sold it to me,” he said.  “Yes, I know but I’ve changed my mind. I’m sorry. I’ll give you twenty-seven pounds for it.” “You must be crazy,” he said. Then, suddenly the penny dropped. “I know what you want. You want me to repair your chair.” “You’re right,” I said. “And what would you have done if I had walked in and said, ‘Would you mend this chair for me’?” “I wouldn’t have agreed to do it,” he said. “We don’t do repairs, not enough money in it and too much trouble. But I’ll mend this for you, shall we say for a five?” He was a very nice man and was greatly amused by the whole thing.

1.We can learn from the text that in the first shop the writer     .

A．was rather impolite                      B．was warmly received

C．asked the shopkeeper to buy his chair        D．asked the shopkeeper to repair his chair

2.The expression “the penny dropped” in the last paragraph means the shopkeeper     .

A．changed his mind                       B．saw the writer’s purpose

C．accepted the offer                      D．decided to help the writer

3.How much did the writer pay?

A．£5               B．£7               C．£20              D．£27

4.From the text, we can learn that the writer was         .

A．smart             B．careful            C．honest            D．funny