A long time ago, there lived a poor man whose real name has been forgotten. He was little and old and his face was wrinkled, and that was why his friends called him Mr. Vinegar. His wife was also little and old, and they lived in a little old cottage at the back of a little old field.
"John," said Mrs. Vinegar, "you must go to town and buy a cow. I will milk her and churn（搅拌） butter and we shall never want for anything."
"That is a good plan," said Mr. Vinegar, so he started off to town while his wife waited by the roadside.
Mr. Vinegar walked up and down the street of the town looking for a cow. After a time, a farmer came that way, leading one that was very pretty and fat.
"Oh, if I only had that cow," said Mr. Vinegar, "I would be the happiest man in the world!"
"She's a very good cow," said the farmer.
"Well," said Mr. Vinegar, "I'll give you these 50 gold pieces for her."
The farmer smiled and held out his hand for the money, "You may have her," he said, "I always like to oblige（施恩惠） , my friends!"
Mr. Vinegar took hold of the cow's halter and led her up and down the street. "I am the luckiest man in the world," he said, "for only see how all the people are looking at me and my cow!"
But at one end of the street, he met a man playing bagpipes（风笛） . He stopped and listened -- Tweedle Dee Tweedle Dee.
"Oh, that is the sweetest music I ever heard," he said, "and just see how all the children crowd around the man and give him pennies! If I only had those bagpipes, I would be the happiest man in the world!!"
"I'll sell them to you," said the piper.
"Will you? Well then, since I have no money, I will give you this cow for them."
"You may have them," answered the piper, "I always like to oblige a friend."
Mr. Vinegar took the bagpipes and the piper led the cow away.
"Now we will have some music," said Mr. Vinegar, but try as hard as he might, he could not play a tune. He could get nothing out of the bagpipes but "squeak, squeak". The children instead of giving him pennies laughed at him.
The day was chilly and in trying to play the pipes, his fingers grew very cold. He wished he had kept the cow.
He just started for home when he met a man who had warm gloves on his hands. "Oh, if I only had those pretty gloves," he said, "I would be the happiest man in the world."
"How much will you give for them?" asked the man.
"Oh, I have no money, but I will give you these bagpipes," answered Mr. Vinegar.
"Well," said the man, "you may have them for I always like to oblige a friend."
Mr. Vinegar gave him the bagpipes and drew the gloves on over his half frozen fingers. "How lucky I am," he said as he trudged（跋涉） homeward. His hands were soon quite warm, but the road was rough and the walking hard. He was very tired when he came to the foot of the steep hill. "How shall I ever get to the top?" he said. Just then he met a man who was walking the other way. He had a stick in his hand which he used as a cane to help him along.
"My friend," said Mr. Vinegar, "if only I had that stick of yours to help me up this hill, I would be the happiest man in the world!"
"How much will you give me for it?" asked the man.
"Well, I have no money, but I will give you this pair of warm gloves," said Mr. Vinegar.
"Well," said the man, "you may have it for I always like to oblige a friend."
Mr. Vinegar's hands were now quite warm, so he gave the gloves to the man and took the stout（结实的） stick to help him along. "How lucky I am!'' he said as he toiled upward.
At the top of the hill he stopped to rest. But as he was thinking of all his good luck that day, he heard someone calling his name. He looked up and saw only a green parrot sitting in a tree.
"Mr. Vinegar, Mr. Vinegar," it cried.
"What now?" said Mr. Vinegar.
"You're a dunce（傻瓜） , you're a dunce!'' answered the bird, "you went to seek your fortune and you found it, then you gave it for a cow, and the cow for some bagpipes, and the bagpipes for some gloves, and the gloves for a stick which you might of cut by the roadside. He He He, you're a dunce! You're a dunce!''
This made Mr. Vinegar very angry. He threw the stick at the bird with all his might. But the bird only answered, "You're a dunce! You're a dunce!" And the stick lodged in the tree where he could not get it again.
Mr. Vinegar went on slowly for he had many things to think about. His wife was standing by the roadside and as soon as she saw him, she cried out, "Where's the cow? Where's the cow?" "Well, I just don't know where the cow is," said Mr. Vinegar. And then he told her the whole story.
【小题1】What’s the meaning of the underlined word in the passage?

第二节短文改错（共10小题，每小题1.5分，满分15分）
文中共有10处语言错误，每句中最多两处。错误涉及一个单词的增加、删除或修改。
增加：在此处加一个漏字符号(∧)，并在其下面写出修改的词。
删除：把多余的词用斜线(＼)划掉。
修改：在错的词下划一横线，并在其下面写出修改后的词。
注意：1. 每处错误及其修改均仅限一词；
2．只允许修改10处，多者（从十一处起）不计分。
My classmate, Hanks, have been sick in hospital for a week. Yesterday our class
decided send him some flowers and asked me to buy the flowers. I have had a hard time get them since then. I went to town immediate after class yesterday afternoon only to find the flowers shop there already closed. So I returned with nothing. I called it many times at this morning, but the line was always busy. While I finally got through at noon, a lady said she was a new hand and can not tell me the prices. Luckily, I haven’t classes this afternoon, and I am about go to town again. I must get the flowers for Hanks today.               

Once upon a time two brothers who lived on neighboring farms fell into conflict(对抗). It was the first serious one in 40 years of farming side by side, sharing machinery, and trading labor and goods as needed.

      Then the long cooperation fell apart. It began with a small misunderstanding and it grew into a major difference, and finally it exploded into an exchange of bitter words followed by weeks of silence.

      One morning there was a knock on John’ door. He opened it to find a man with a carpenter’s toolbox. “I’m looking for a few days’ work,” he said. “Could I help you?”

     “Yes,” said the older brother. “I do have a job for you. Look across the creek(河沟) at that farm. That’s my neighbor, in fact, it’s my younger brother. Last week there was a meadow(草地) between us and he took his bulldozer(推土机) to the levee(堤) and now there is a creek between us. Well, he may have done this to spite me, but I’ll go him one better. I want you to build me a fence―an 8-foot fence ―so I won’t need to see his place anymore. Cool him down, anyhow.”

     The carpenter said, “I think I understand the situation. I’ll be able to do a job that pleases you.” The older brother had to go to town for supplies, so he helped the carpenter get the materials ready and then he was off for the day.

  The carpenter worked hard all that day measuring, sawing, nailing. About sunset when the farmer returned, the carpenter had just finished his job. The farmer’s eyes opened wide, his jaw dropped.

      There was no fence there at all. It was a bridge― a bridge stretching from one side of the creek to the other! A fine piece of work― and his younger brother was coming across, his hand outstretched.

  “You are quite a fellow to build this bridge after all I’ve said and done.”

  The brothers stood at each end of the bridge, and then they met in the middle, taking each other’s hand. They turned to see the carpenter lift his toolbox on his shoulder. “No, wait! Stay a few days. I’ve a lot of other projects for you,” said the older brother.

  “I’d love to stay on,” the carpenter said, “but, I have so many more bridges to build.”

72. What was life like for the two brothers before the conflict?

A.  They lived a poor, miserable life.

B.  They were friendly neighbors, helping each other.

C.  They never spoke to each other.

D.  They lived together as one family.

73. Which of the following best describes the carpenter?

A. He was skilled but dishonest.

B. He was hardworking but unskilled.

C. He was clever, hardworking, but cold hearted.

D. He was clever, helpful and skilled.

74. The best title for this passage is ________.

   A. A Fine Piece of Work

B. A Clever Carpenter

   C . A Conflict between Two Brothers

D. Two Brothers

75. Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?

A.  The younger brother used his bulldozer to dig a creek.

B.  After the conflict John was angry with his younger brother.

C.  At first the carpenter planned to build an 8-foot fence as John asked him to.

D.  The two brother made peace at last.

I was eight when my neighbors got a TV. It was small and expensive, but that didn’t matter. IT WAS WONDERFUL. Everyone in the building came up to the fifth floor to see this latest wonder of the modern world. That was in 1948.

Soon, a lot of people got a TV, but not us. My parents didn’t think it was good for children. Being a good son, I didn’t argue with them. But I secretly watch TV—at my friends’ homes.

By 1955, televisions weren’t so expensive and were much larger. My parents still thought they were not good for us, but my sisters insisted, saying they were the only people in the neighborhood who didn’t have one. All their friends talked about certain programs and actors, but they couldn’t. Their friends laughed at them, which made them feel very unhappy. My youngest sister cried, saying she was never going back to school and that life without a TV wasn’t worth living. Nothing my parents said made her feel better. The next morning, without telling us, they went out and got a new TV.

When we were young our parents allowed us to watch TV for two hours a night. And we couldn’t watch until our homework was finished. But after a year or two, TV wasn’t exciting or new anymore. It became just another part of our lives like shoes or soap. My parents still had fears about TV. We were going to forget how to read, and TV was going to fill our minds with violence, they said.

Today people still argue about the value of TV. Nobody can deny the power of TV, which has a powerful influence on our lives. On average, Americans spend 30 hours a week watching TV. Is this influence good or bad? This is an unanswerable question indeed: It is hard enough to measure influence; and it is even harder to decide what is good and what isn’t. What is good, I suppose, is that many people are concerned about TV’s influence and that we have the power to change what we don’t like.

The people of Monhegan Island, 18 kilometers away off the coast of Maine, don’t have electricity, and they decided; once again, that they liked that way. Electricity, they think, would make life too easy and spoil their way of life. Maybe the young people wouldn’t want to go to town dances anymore. Maybe they would be more interested in staying at home and watching TV.

1.How old was the author, when their family got a TV?

A. About 15.      B. 8.               C. 18.              D. About 10.

2.The author’s parents finally decided to buy a TV because _______.

A. they wanted to meet their daughters’ needs .

B. the children couldn’t go to school without a TV

C. the sisters would like to be like their friends

D. they had to do as the youngest daughter told them to

3.The author thinks “to judge whether a TV’s influence is good or bad” is ________.

A. concerning     B. hard             C. meaningless       D. important

4.The last paragraph is written to show ________.

A. the disadvantage of TV

B. TV influences people a great deal

C. the advantage of TV

D. we can change what we don’t like

Once upon a time two brothers who lived on neighbouring farms fell into conflict. It was the first serious one in 40 years of farming side by side, sharing machinery, and trading labor and goods as needed .

Then the long cooperoration fell apart. It began with a small misunderstanding and it grew into a major difference, and finally it exploded into an exchange of bitter words followed by weeks of silence.

One morning there was a knock on John's door. He opened it to find a man with a carpenter's toolbox. "I'm looking for a few days’ work" he said. "Perhaps you would have a few small jobs here and there I could help with. Could I help you?"

"Yes," said the older brother. "I do have a job for you. Look across the creek(河沟) at that farm. That's my neighbor, in fact, it's my younger brother. Last week there was a meadow（草地） between us and he took his bulldozer（推土机） to the river levee（堤） and now there is a creek between us. Well, he may have done this to spite me, but I'll go him one better. I want you to build me a fence — an 8-foot fence — so I won't need to see his place or his face any more. Cool him down , anyhow."

The carpenter said, "I think I understand the situation. I'll be able to do a job that pleases you."

The older brother had to go to town, so he helped the carpenter get the materials ready and then he was off for the day. The carpenter worked hard all that day measuring, sawing, nailing, and hammering.

About sunset when the farmer returned, the carpenter had just finished his job. The farmer's eyes opened wide, his jaw dropped.

There was no fence there at all. It was a bridge — a bridge stretching from one side of the creek to the other! A fine piece of work — and his younger brother, was coming across, his hand spread out ..

"You are quite a fellow to build this bridge after all I've said and done."

The two brothers stood at each end of the bridge, and then they met in the middle, taking each other's hand. They turned to see the carpenter lift his toolbox on his shoulder. "No, wait! Stay a few days. I've a lot of other projects for you," said the older brother.

"I'd love to stay on," the carpenter said, "but, I have many more bridges to build."

1..  What was the life for the two brothers before the conflict ?

  A. They live a poor , miserable life .

B. They were friendly neighbours ,helping each other .

C. They never speak to each other .

D. They live together as one family.

2..  The underlined word “spite” in paragraph 4 probably means ______________.

A. try to please                     B. make angry on purpose

C. laught at                         D. look down upon

3...Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage ?

   A. The younger brother used his bulldozer to dig a creek .

B. After the conflict John was angry with his younger brother.

C. At first the carpenter planned to build an 8-foot fence as John asked him to.

D. The two brothers made peace at last .

4..  The best title for this passage is _______________.

A. A Fine Piece of Work                    B. A Clever Carpenter

C. A Conflict between Two Brothers         D. Two Brothers