Last week my youngest son and I visited my father at his new home in Tucson, Arizona. He moved there a few years ago, and I was eager to see his now place and meet his friends.

My earliest memories of my father are a tall, handsome, successful man devoted to his work and family but uncomfortable with his children. As a child I loved him; as a school girl and young adult(成年人)I feared him and felt bitter about him. He seemed unhappy with me unless I got straight A’s and unhappy with my boy friends if their fathers were not as “successful” as he was. Whenever I went out with him on weekends, I used to struggle to think up things to say, feeling on guard.

On the first day of my visit, we went out with one of my father’s friends for lunch at an outdoor cafe. We walked along that afternoon, did some shopping, ate on the street table, and laughed over my son’s funny facial expressions. Gone was my father’s critical(挑剔的)air and strict rules. Who was this person I knew as my father, who seemed so friendly and interesting to be around? What had held him back before?

The next day my dad pulled out his childhood pictures and told me quite a few stories about his own childhood. Although our times together became easier over the years, I never felt closer to him at that moment. After so many years, I’m at last seeing another side of my father. And in so doing, I’m delighted with my new friend. My dad, in his new home in Arizona, is back to me from where he was.

1.Why did the author feel bitter about her father as a young adult?

A．He was silent most of the time              B．He was too proud of himself

C．He did not love his children                D．He expected too much of her

2.When the author went out with her father on weekends, she would feel         .

A．nervous          B．sorry             C．tired             D．safe

3.What does the author think of her father after her visit to Tucson?

A．More critical                           B．More talkative

C．Gentle and friendly                      D．Strict and hard-working

4.The underlined words “my new friend” in the last paragraph refer to           .

A．the author’s son                       B．the author’s father

C．the friend of the author’s father           D．the cafe owner

Harry Houdini was one of the greatest American entertainers in the theater this century. He was a man famous for his escapes from prison cells, from wooden boxes floating in rivers, from locked tanks full of water. He appeared in theaters all over Europe and America. Crowds came to see the great Houdini and his “magic” tricks.

    Of course, his secret was not magic or supernatural power. It was simply strength. He had the ability to move his toes as well as he moved his fingers. He could move his body into almost any position he wanted.

    Houdini started working in the entertainment world when he was 17, in 1891. He and his brother Theo performed card tricks in clubs in New York. They called themselves the Houdini Brothers. When Harry married in 1894, he and his wife Bess worked together as magician and assistant. But for a long time they were not very successful. Then Harry performed his first prison escape in Chicago in 1898. Harry persuaded a detective to let him try to escape from the prison, and he invited the local newspapermen to watch.

    It was the publicity (宣传) that came from this that started Harry Houdini’s success. Harry had fingers trained to escape from handcuffs and toes trained to escape from ankle chains. But his biggest secret was how he unlocked the prison doors. Every time he went into the prison cell, Bess gave him a kiss for good luck and a small skeleton key, which is a key that fits many locks. She passed it quickly from her mouth to his.

    Harry used these prison escapes to build his fame. He arranged to escape from the local prison of every town he visited. In the afternoon, the people of the town would read about it in their local newspapers, and in the evening every seat in the local theater would be full. What was the result? Worldwide fame and a name remembered today.

1.According to the passage, Houdini’s success in prison escapes depends on ______.

A. his special tricks and supernatural powers

B. his unusual ability and skeleton key

C. his magic tricks and supernatural powers

D. his wisdom and magic tricks

2. It can be inferred from the passage that Houdini became famous ______ .

A. in 1894          B. before he married

C. at the age of 17     D. when he was 24

3.According to the passage, which of the following statements is NOT true?                          

A. Houdini was a famous American magician.  

B. Houdini was first recognized in Chicago.   

C. Houdini first entered the entertainment world together with his wife.   

D. Houdini was popular with people from Europe and America.

4. Which of the following is the best title for the passage?

A. A Skeleton Key      B. A Secret Prisoner

C. Worldwide Fame   D. Great Escapes

I once had a friend that was diagnosed with terminal cancer（晚期癌症）, and the news that he might only live up to six months was a great shock to him, his family, and his friends．However, in spite of the serious illness, he was initially determined to look into all available treatments that might cure or extend his life．I think that when you find yourself in such situations, you tend to look up every possible way for hope of saving your life．

As months went on and his health grew worse, I noticed an unexpected change in attitude that came over him．He had also been a happy person with a cheerful personality, but rather than give in to discouragement and self-pity, he took comfort in God and humanity（人性）．His talks focused on others rather than himself, and he spoke of the afterlife as something he was prepared for, believing that his concerned ancestors, including his mother and father, were there waiting for him．

During the last few months, weeks, and days of his life, he was kindly cared for by family, friends, his loving wife, who looked after both his physical and emotional needs, and workers from a local hospice （安养院） came to the home to regulate（调节） his medication （药）and provide any other needed support．He didn't complain about his fate, and he willingly allowed others to serve him．

Indeed, one might think why God allows death and suffering in our world, but for me, such experiences taught me to value family more and kindness for others．You often can't learn these important attributes（属性）in the lap of luxury（处在优裕舒适的环境中）, and perhaps, such an experience is the greatest and final gift the illness can give those left behind．

1.Which word can best describe the man's initial（最初的） reaction as soon as he was diagnosed with cancer?

A．Satisfied．        B．Sad              C．Surprised         D．Concerned．

2.What did the man do after he first learned of his illness?

A．He was operated on immediately．

B．He researched cancer treatments．

C．He retired from his job

D．He felt sad, doing nothing．

3.What was the man's main source of comfort after several months with the disease? 

A．His family and friends．                  B．The care from others

C．His doctors’ encouragement．           D．His belief in humanity．

4.What did the author learn from his friend’s story?

A．Getting comfort from God．

B．Extending life as possible．

C．Caring for yourself and enjoying luxury．

D．Giving more respect to friends

Twenty-first century humanity has mapped oceans and mountains, visited the moon, and surveyed the planets. But for all the progress, people still don’t know one another very well.

That brings about Theodore Zeldin’s “feast of conversation”－events where individuals pair with persons they don’t know for three hours of guided talk designed to get the past “Where are you from?”

Mr. Zeldin, an Oxford University professor, heads Oxford Muse, a 10-year-old foundation based on the idea that what people need is not more information, but more inspiration and encouragement.

The “feast” in London looks not at politics or events, but at how people have felt about work, relations among the sexes, hopes and fears, enemies and authority, the shape of their lives. The “menu of conversation” includes topics like “How have your priorities(优先考虑的事) changed over the years?” Or, “What have you rebelled against the past?”

As participants gathered, Zeldin opened with a speech: that despite instant communications in a globalized age, issues of human heart remain. Many people are lonely, or in routines that discourage knowing the depth of one another. “We are trapped in shallow conversations and the whole point now is to think, which is sometimes painful,” he says. “But thinking interaction is what separates us from other species, except maybe dogs…who do have generations of human interactions.”

The main rules of the “feast”: Don’t pair with someone you know or ask questions you would not answer. The only awkward moment came when the multi-racial crowd of young adults to seniors, in sun hats, ties and dresses, looked to see whom they would be ‘intimate’ with for hours. But 15 minutes later, everyone was seated and talking, continuing full force until organizers interrupted them 180 minutes later.

“It’s encouraging to see the world is not just a place of oppression and distance from each other,” Zeldin summed up. “What we did is not ordinary, but it can’t be madder than the world already is.”

Some said they felt “liberated” to talk on sensitive topics. Thirty-something Peter, from East London, said that “it might take weeks or months to get to the level of interaction we suddenly opened up.”

1.What can the “conversations” be best described as?

A．Deep and one-on-one.                   B．Sensitive and mad.

C．Instant and inspiring.                     D．Ordinary and encouraging.

2.In a “feast of conversations”, participants ______.

A．pair freely with anyone they like

B．have a guided talk for a set of period of time

C．ask questions they themselves would not answer

D．wear clothes reflecting multi-racial features.

3.In paragraph 6, “they would be ‘intimate’” is closest in meaning to “______”.

A．they would have physical contact           B．they would have in-depth talk

C．they would be close friends               D．they would exchange basic information

4.From the passage, we can conclude that what Zeldin does is ______.

A．an attempt to promote thinking interaction

B．one of the maddest activities ever conducted

C．a try to liberate people from old-fashioned ideas

D．an effort to give people a chance of talking freely

When I walk through the streets of San Francisco’s business districts, white people stare at me as if I were a circus clown.

Their staring eyes don’t see that I get ____1____ A’s in school, or that I am a captain of the football team, or that I belong to ___2____youth organizations. All they see is that I am 6-foot-4, young ,black, and male-----a potential ____3____to them.

White men look at me as if I am up to no good, or as if they are ____4____to me. White women just look at me with____5____, say, sometimes they cross the street when they see my friends and me coming, or walk in the street and only get back on the sidewalk after we ____6____.

Many people come to San Francisco to get away from the stereotypes(成见) of the cities they were born and ____7_____ in. The majority of the blacks and Latinos who live in this city don’t have that luxury.

How can you feel at home when people are_____8_____telling you to get back to Africa or Mexico ----or just back to “where you belong”?

My way of dealing with this kind of thing has _____9_____over the years. In the past, when my friends and I would walk the streets and a hundred pairs of white eyes would look at me as if we were the lowest form of dirt, it would make us angry enough to hurt or ____10____them.

Now I’m more likely to use ____11____ to defend myself against those eyes. To women who clutch their purse in terror, I’ll say, “Man, I ain’t gonna do anything to you, I got money in my pocket!” My cousin has even started wearing a T-shirt ____12_____ in big letters, “NO, WHITE LADY, I DON'T’ WANT YOUR PURSE.” 

The most painful thing is when we get those___13____ stares from black people, especially elderly ones. I want o say to them, “We’re black too. Why would we do something to you?”

Usually I react more ____14____to all of this than a lot of my friends do. Some of them, so brainwashed, just think it’s part of life and that there is nothing you can do.

But for me, that’s not good enough. I just can’t stand it when every day a hundred pair of eyes tell you you’re not_____15_____.

1.A. almost     B. mostly     C. merely     D. particularly

2.A. social      B. local      C. positive    D. new

3.A. danger     B. treasure    C. gift        D. neighbor

4.A. better      B. close      C. perfect     D. superior

5.A. fear       B. interest     C. honor      D. despair

6.A. run        B. walk       C. pass       D. move

7.A. known     B. developed    C. raised     D. located

8.A. honestly   B. constantly    C. hopefully   D. freely

9.A. changed    B. formed      C. strengthened  D. increased

10.A. kill       B. rob         C. damage     D. steal

11.A. actions    B. deeds       C. signs       D. words

12.A. writing    B. printing     C. telling      D. saying

13.A. fearful     B. doubtful     C. pitiful      D. impressive

14.A. strongly     B. actively    C. disappointedly   D. casually

15.A. sincere      B. mature     C. welcome       D. gentle