During the last fifteen years of my mother's life she suffered with Alzheimer's disease (老年痴呆). Until then she had been a bright, cheerful woman deeply interested and involved in the world around her. I would go home to visit her in Virginia and she would look at me in a puzzled way and ask, “Who are you?”  I would answer, “I'm your son.”  “Where do you live?”  She would ask. “In California”, I would tell her. “Isn't that interesting,”  she would say, “I have a son in California.”
    She seemed simply forgetful and confused at the beginning of the disease, but later on she would go through periods of intense anxiety. She would pace through the house she had lived in most of her life crying uneasily that she wanted to go home. Or she would leave home and wander away if she were unattended for a short time.   

Hoping to please her and put her mind at ease I would take her for a drive, visiting sites where she had lived as a child. In the yard of the hillside house in Shipman I sat in the car and admired the view of the old oaks and long green lawn. I pictured my mother there was a little girl playing with the pet lamb she had been so fond of. I looked to her for some response. She shook her head and said, “I want to go home.”
    Over the years I have decided that what my mother was calling home was not a place, but a time. I suspect it was a time when she was much younger, when her children were still underfoot, when her husband was still vigorous and attentive.

Watching my mother's suffering set me wondering where I would have in mind if someday I couldn’t find home and wanted to go there. In this family we tend to be long-lived and we grow fuzzy (糊涂的) minded as the years go by. At eighty I have already noticed some alarming symptoms. My doctor says the forgetfulness is only natural and that it comes with age. Still the fear of Alzheimer's is haunting there. Someday if and when I become even more cloudy minded than I am now, unable to drive and unable to tell you where "home" is, my dear son, I expect I will ask you to take me home, I know you will do your best to find the place I need to be. I leave these notes for your guidance.

56. What's the main idea of the first two paragraphs?

   A. The author’s mother suffered with serious Alzheimer's disease.

   B. The author’s mother forgot who’s his son.

   C. The author didn’t know how to cure his mother.

   D. The author’s mother couldn’t find her home.

57. What is not the symptom of the author’s mother ?      

   A. cheerful            B. confused              C. forgetful                D. uneasy

58. What’s the meaning of the underlined word “picture”?

   A. photograph       B. appear                  C. describe               D. paint

59. What can you infer from the third paragraph?

   A. The author care much about his mother.

   B. The author’s mother was fond of pet lambs.

   C. The author saw a little girl playing with a pet lamb.

   D. The author’s mother didn’t like her usual home.

60. What’s the best title of the passage?

   A. Take Mother Home.

   B. Everyone will suffer with Alzheimer's disease.

   C. A story about a son and a mother.

   D. Where Is Home?

My boss’s daughter was studying in the Philippines. He asked me if my husband and I could take care of her. He thought his daughter would be able to improve her English communication skills in this way.
After days of thinking, we agreed. He then brought her here and left after 3 days. I thought that my boss’s daughter was well-mannered, but that was wrong.
After a month of staying in the Philippines, she started to show her true colors. When my husband asked her what she wanted for breakfast, she answered him in a rude way. From then on, we experienced fights at home. There was a time when we didn’t talk to her for a week as a punishment of not being good to us. What I hated most was that she didn’t care about other people’s feelings. She ate ahead of us when we were still working and didn’t leave anything for us. So we had to separate her food from ours to avoid such a problem.
The worst thing about her was that she shouted at us. I was wondering if she did this to her parents. We told this to her parents, but unfortunately I didn’t think that solved the problem. This situation lasted for almost 8 months. Our patience was tested during that time.
We tried to teach her everything we could to make her a better person, but I guess 8 months may not to be enough. We even tried to understand her and adjust for her, but it didn’t work. I just hope that she learned something from us and from other Filipinos.
【小题1】This passage is mainly about the writer’s experience of              .

My boss’s daughter was studying in the Philippines. He asked me if my husband and I could take care of her. He thought his daughter would be able to improve her English communication skills in this way.

After days of thinking, we agreed. He then brought her here and left after 3 days. I thought that my boss’s daughter was well-mannered, but that was wrong.

After a month of staying in the Philippines, she started to show her true colors. When my husband asked her what she wanted for breakfast, she answered him in a rude way. From then on, we experienced fights at home. There was a time when we didn’t talk to her for a week as a punishment of not being good to us. What I hated most was that she didn’t care about other people’s feelings. She ate ahead of us when we were still working and didn’t leave anything for us. So we had to separate her food from ours to avoid such a problem.

The worst thing about her was that she shouted at us. I was wondering if she did this to her parents. We told this to her parents, but unfortunately I didn’t think that solved the problem. This situation lasted for almost 8 months. Our patience was tested during that time.

We tried to teach her everything we could to make her a better person, but I guess 8 months may not to be enough. We even tried to understand her and adjust for her, but it didn’t work. I just hope that she learned something from us and from other Filipinos.

1.This passage is mainly about the writer’s experience of               .

A. trying to please her boss

B. changing a girl’s bad behavior

C. improving her communication skills

D. dealing with a teenage girl staying in her house

2.Why did the boss want his daughter to stay with the writer ?

A. Because he was too busy to take care of his daughter

B. Because he wanted his daughter to take a holiday there

C. Because he wanted his daughter to improve her English in this way

D. Because he wanted the writer to teach his daughter good manners .

3.What do the examples in paragraph 3 tell us ?

A. The daughter wasn’t behaving well.

B. The writer and her husband were careless.

C. The writer and her husband hated children.

D. The daughter tried her best to make others happy.

4.The underlined word “that” in paragraph 4 refers to                .

A. being patient with her

B. her parents punishing her

C. asking her parents about her

D. telling her parents about her behavior

5.After reading the passage , we learn that                .

A. the writer had known the daughter was hard to deal with

B. the daughter learnt to behave well in the end

C. the writer didn’t enjoy the daughter’s stay

D. the daughter hated dealing with others

Like any good mother, when Karen found out that another baby was on the way, she did what she could to help her 3-year-old son, Michael, prepare for a new baby. They find out that the new baby is going to be a girl, and day after day, night after night, Michael sings to his sister in Mommy's stomach.

In time, the labor pains come. But complications arise during delivery. Finally, Michael's little sister is born. But she is in serious condition. With alarm in the night, the ambulance rushes the infant to the neonatal intensive care unit at St. Mary's Hospital, Knoxville, Tennessee. The days go by. The little girl gets worse. The pediatric (儿科的) specialist tells the parents, “There is very little hope. Be prepared for the worst.”

Karen and her husband contact a local cemetery about a burial plot. They have fixed up a special room in their home for the new baby, but now they plan a funeral. Michael keeps begging his parents to let him see his sister, "I want to sing to her," he says. But kids are never allowed in Intensive Care. Karen makes up her mind. She will take Michael whether they like it or not. If he doesn’t see his sister now, he may never see her alive.

She dresses him in an oversized suit and marches him into ICU. He looks like a walking laundry basket, but the head nurse recognizes him as a child and shouts, "Get that kid out of here now. No children are allowed. Never disturb patients here.” The mother rises up strongly and said," He is not leaving until he sings to his sister!"

Karen leads Michael to his sister's bedside. He gazes at the tiny infant losing the battle to live. And he begins to sing. In the pure hearted voice of a 3-year-old, Michael sings:" You are my sunshine, my only sunshine, you make me happy when skies are gray…" Instantly the baby girl responds. The pulse rate begins to calm down and becomes steady.

“Keep on singing, Michael.”encouraged Karen with tears in her eyes. "You never know, dear, how much I love you, please don't take my sunshine away."

The next day, the very next day, the little girl is well enough to go home! Woman's Day magazine called it "the miracle of a brother's song". The medical staff just called it a miracle. Karen called it a miracle of Gods love!

Never give up on the people you love.

1.What may the underlined words "the infant" refer to?

A．The baby          B．Karen            C．Mary             D．Michael

2.What do we know about the little sister after she was born?

A．She was driven to St. Mary's shop.           B．A doctor came to see her in her house.

C．She was very thin and couldn't speak.        D．She was in great danger.

3.Why did Karen firmly let little Michael see his sister in ICU?

A．Because he could make his sister alive.

B．Because his sister would be sent to a far hospital.

C．Because his sister was going to die soon.

D．Because his father wanted to take him away.

4.What do we know about the head nurse?

A．The head nurse was careful.               B．The head nurse was rude.

C．The head nurse was responsible.            D．The head nurse had no sympathy.

5.What is the general idea of the text?

A．A boy’s singing saved his sister’s life.

B．The little girl is well enough to go home.

C．Michael's little sister is born with a serious disease.

D．No children are allowed to enter the intensive care unit.

Like any good mother, when Karen found out that another baby was on the way, she did what she could to help her 3-year-old son, Michael, prepare for a new baby. They find out that the new baby is going to be a girl, and day after day, night after night, Michael sings to his sister in Mommy's stomach.

In time, the labor pains come. But complications arise during delivery. Finally, Michael's little sister is born. But she is in serious condition. With alarm in the night, the ambulance rushes the infant to the neonatal intensive care unit at St. Mary's Hospital, Knoxville, Tennessee. The days go by. The little girl gets worse. The pediatric (儿科的) specialist tells the parents, “There is very little hope. Be prepared for the worst.”

Karen and her husband contact a local cemetery about a burial plot. They have fixed up a special room in their home for the new baby, but now they plan a funeral. Michael keeps begging his parents to let him see his sister, "I want to sing to her," he says. But kids are never allowed in Intensive Care.

Karen makes up her mind. She will take Michael whether they like it or not. If he doesn’t see his sister now, he may never see her alive.

She dresses him in an oversized suit and marches him into ICU. He looks like a walking laundry basket, but the head nurse recognizes him as a child and shouts, "Get that kid out of here now. No children are allowed. Never disturb patients here.” The mother rises up strongly and said," He is not leaving until he sings to his sister!"

Karen leads Michael to his sister's bedside. He gazes at the tiny infant losing the battle to live. And he begins to sing. In the pure hearted voice of a 3-year-old, Michael sings:" You are my sunshine, my only sunshine, you make me happy when skies are gray......" Instantly the baby girl responds. The pulse rate begins to calm down and becomes steady.

“Keep on singing, Michael." encouraged Karen with tears in her eyes. "You never know, dear, how much I love you, please don't take my sunshine away."

The next day, the very next day, the little girl is well enough to go home! Woman's Day magazine called it "the miracle of a brother's song". The medical staff just called it a miracle. Karen called it a miracle of Gods love!

Never give up on the people you love.

1.What may the underlined words "the infant" refer to?

2.What do we know about the little sister after she was born?

3.Why did Karen firmly let little Michael see his sister in ICU?

4.What do we know about the head nurse?

5.What is the general idea of the text?