I’ve loved my mother’s desk since I was just tall enough to see above the top of it as mother sat doing letters. Standing by her chair, looking at the ink bottle, pens,   and white paper, I decided that the act of writing must be the more wonderful thing in the world.

Years later, during her final illness, mother kept different things for my sister  and brother. “But the desk,” she’d said again, “it’s for Elizabeth. ”

I never saw her angry, never saw her cry. I knew she loved me; she showed it in action. But as a young girl, I wanted heart-to-heart talks between mother and    daughter.

They never happened. And a gulf opened between us. I was “too emotional(易动感情的)”. But she lived “on the surface(表面)”.

As years passed I had my own family. I loved my mother and thanked her for our happy family. I wrote to her in careful words and asked her to let me know in any way she chose that she did forgive(原谅) me.

I posted the letter and waited for her answer. None came.

My hope turned to disappointment(失望), then little interest and, finally, peace— it seemed that nothing happened. I couldn’t be sure that the letter had even got to mother. I only knew that I had written it, and I could stop trying to make her into someone she was not.

Now the present of her desk told, as she’d never been able to, that she was    pleased that writing was my chosen work. I cleaned the desk carefully and found    some papers inside —a photo of my father and a one-page letter, folded(折叠) and refolded many times.

Give me an answer, my letter asks, in any way you choose. Mother, you always chose the act that speaks louder than words.

1.The writer began to love her mother’s desk ______.

2.The passage shows that ______.

3.The word “gulf” in the passage means ______.

4.What did mother do with her daughter’s letter asking forgiveness?

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

6.选A。由But she lived “on the surface ”. 和全文内容可知，作者的母亲表面上很冷漠，但心里充满了对作者的爱，正确

I’ve loved my mother’s desk since I was just tall enough to see above the top of it as mother sat doing letters. Standing by her chair, looking at the ink bottle, pens and white paper, I decided that the act of writing must be the most wonderful thing in the world.

Years later, during her final illness, mother kept different things for my sister and brother. “But the desk,” she said again, “is for Elizabeth.”

I never saw her angry, never saw her cry. I knew she loved me; she showed it in action. But as a young girl, I wanted heart-to-heart talks between mother and daughter.

They never happened. And a gulf opened between us. I was “too emotional (易动感情的)”. But she lived “on the surface”.

As years passed and I had my own family. I loved my mother and thanked her for our happy family. I wrote to her in careful words and asked her to let me know in any way she chose that she did forgive me.

I posted the letter and waited for her answer, none came.

My hope turned to disappointment, then little interest and, finally, peace it seemed that nothing happened. I couldn’t be sure that the letter had even got to Mother. I only knew that I had written it, and I could stop trying to make her into someone she was not.

Now the present of her desk told me, as she’d never been able to, that she was pleased that writing was my chosen work. I cleaned the desk carefully and found some papers inside — a photo of my father and a one-page letter, folded (折叠) and refolded many times.

Give me an answer, my letter asks, in any way you choose, Mother, you always chose the act that speaks louder than words.

1.The writer began to love her mother’s desk _______.

2.The passage shows that _______.

3.The world “gulf ” in the passage means _______.

4.What did Mother do with her daughter’s letter asking for forgiveness?

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

I had the meanest mother in the whole world．While other kids ate candy for breakfast, I had to have cereal, eggs or toast．When others had cokes and candy for lunch, I had to eat a sandwich．As you can guess, my supper was different from the other kids' also．But at least, I wasn't alone in my sufferings．My sister and two brothers had the same mean mother as I did．

My mother insisted upon knowing where we were at all times．She had to know who our friends were and where we were going．We had to wear clean clothes and take a bath everyday．

The worst is yet to come．We had to be in bed by nine each night and up at eight the next morning．We couldn't sleep till noon like our friends．So while they slept --- my mother actually had the nerve to break the Child Labor Law．She made us work．We had to wash dishes, make beds, learn to cook and all sorts of cruel things．I believe she lay awake at night thinking up mean things to do to us．

Through the years, things didn't improve a bit．We could not lie in bed, "sick" like our friends did, and miss school．Our marks in school had to be up to par．Our friends' report cards had beautiful colors on them, black for passing, red for failing．My mother, being as different as she was, would settle for nothing less than ugly black marks．With our mother behind us, talking, hitting and demanding respect, none of us was allowed the pleasure of being a drop-out．

My mother was a complete failure as a mother．Out of four children, a couple of us attained some higher education．None of us have ever been arrested or divorced．Each of my brothers served his time in the service of this country．She forced us to grow up into God-fearing, educated, honest adults．Using this as a background, I am now trying to raise my three children．I am filled with pride when my children call me mean．Why? Because now I thank God every day for giving me the meanest mother in the whole world．

What can we infer from the passage?

       A．The author is not happy to have such a mean mother．      

       B．The author's mother broke the Child Labor Law to make money．

       C．The author's mother failed to educate her children to be honest adults．

       D．The author is strict with her children．

Why couldn’t the author eat candy for breakfast?

     A．Because she preferred cereal, eggs or toast to candy．

     B．Because her mother couldn’t afford for candy．

     C．Because her mother thought it not good to eat candy for breakfast．

     D．Because her mother had to give candy to the author’s sister and two brothers．

The author’s mother made her children work because _________ ．

     A．she had trouble falling into sleep．

     B．she could not keep such a big family without her children’s help．

     C．she was teaching her children to live by themselves．

     D．she had no time to do the housework．

The English are often described as unfriendly people who don’t talk to strangers（陌生人）。 But not London taxi drivers. I once asked one cabby to describe his life to me and he didn’t stop talking until I arrived home half an hour later. He told me many interesting stories and this is one of them.“Some strange things happen late at night. The other day I was taking a woman home from a party. She had her little dog with her. When we got to her house， she found that she’d lost her key. So， I waited in the cab with her dog while she climbed in through the window.”

“I waited and waited. After half an hour of ringing the bell I decided to find out what was going on. I tied the dog to a tree and started to climb in through the window. The next thing I knew was that the police came. They thought I was to rob the house！ Luckily， the woman came downstairs. She’d gone to sleep and forgotten about me and the dog. I was in such a hurry to get away that I forgot to ask her for the fare.”

1. What does the writer think of the London taxi driver？

2. From the passage， we know_________.

3. What does “cabby” mean？

4.Why did the taxi driver wait for the woman？

A. Because she had left her dog with him.

B. Because she had not paid him.

C. Because she wanted to go out again.

D. Both A and B.

5. Why do you think the woman didn’t go out of the house again.

People should be warned against using mobile phones outdoors in stormy weather because they may“be struck by lightning”，according to doctors．

Three experts have described how a teenage girl was struck by lightning while using her phone in a large London park．The girl，aged 15，recovered，but a year later was still wheelchair-bound and found to be suffering complex physical and emotional problems.

The girl also had a perforate eardrum(打孔耳膜)on the side where she had been holding the mobile phone．She was having general recovery in Northwick Park Hospital，Middlesex．

Swinda Esprit，a senior house officer, said that while the brain and muscle damage was similar to that of many lightning victims—who can experience heart attacks on being struck—the ear problems were not．

She said that the damages were particularly relevant for people who might be involved in less serious lightning incidents，who might otherwise recover, but would never get their full hearing back if struck while on the phone．

“We were shocked by the damage，which is why we wanted to draw attention to it，”Dr Esprit said．“A year on and she still was suffering these difficult hearing．”

They added that three other cases had been reported in newspapers in China，South Korea，and Malaysia．In the Malaysian case，a sales executive was killed by lightning while talking on his phone during a thunderstorm near Kuala Lumpur．

“All these events resulted in death，”the doctors wrote．“This rare phenomenon is a public health issue，and education is necessary to stress the risk．”

The Australian Lightning Protection Standard recommends that metallic objects，including cordless or mobile phones，should not be carried outdoors during thunderstorms．However, “the United States National Weather Service says on its website that both are safe to use “because there is no direct path between you and the lightening”．

Paul Taylor, of “the Met Office'’，said the ear injuries were a consequence of mobile phones being metal，and not related to radio waves．

Mr. Taylor said that mobile phones should be treated as another piece of metal，similar to carrying coins or wearing rings，and people need to be warned against the possible danger．

1.What do we know about the teenage girl?

2.It can be inferred that damage done by lightening while using mobile phones      .

3.Why did doctors stress the risk about using phones outside in lightening?

4.We can infer from the last three paragraphs that        .

5.The purpose in writing this passage is       .