The drug store was closing for the night. Young Alfred Higgins, the shop-assistant, was ready to go home. Mr. Carr, the boss, stared at him and said: “Hold on, Alfred. Maybe you'd be good enough to take the things out of your pockets and leave them here before you go.”Alfred's face got red. After a little hesitation, he took out what he had stolen. Mr. Carr said, “Maybe I should call your mother and let her know I'm going to have to put you in prison.”
Alfred thought his mother would come rushing in, eyes burning with anger. But, to his surprise, she arrived wearing a smile. “Hello, I'm Alfred's mother. Is he in trouble?”she said. Mr. Carr was surprised, too. He had expected Alfred's mother to come in nervously, shaking with fear, asking with wet eyes for a mercy for her son. But no, she was most calm, quiet and pleasant and was making Mr. Carr feel guilty…. Soon Mr. Carr was shaking his head in agreement with what she was saying. “Of course”, he said, “I don't want to be cruel. You are right. Sometimes, a little good advice is the best thing for a boy at certain times in his life and it often takes the youths long time to get sense into their heads.”And he warmly shook Mrs. Higgins's hand.
Back home, without even looking at Alfred, she said, “You are a bad luck. It is one thing after another, always has been. Why do you stand there so stupidly? Go to bed.”In his bedroom, Alfred heard his mother in the kitchen. There was no shame in him, just pride in his mother's strength. He felt he must tell her how great she was. As he got to the kitchen, he saw his mother drinking a cup of tea. He was shocked by what he saw. His mother's face was a frightened, broken one. It was not the same cool, bright face he saw earlier in the drug store. As she lifted the tea cup, her hand shook. And some of the tea splashed on the table. Her lips moved nervously. She looked very old. He watched his mother without making a sound. The picture of his mother made him want to cry. He felt his youth coming to an end. He saw all the troubles he brought his mother in her shaking hand and the deep lines of worry in her grey face. It seemed to him that this was the first time he had ever really seen his mother.
【小题1】The reason why Mr. Carr felt guilty was that ________.

PART THREE   READING COMPREHENSION (30%)
Directions: Read the following three passages．Each passage is followed by several questions or unfinished statements．For each of them there are four choices marked A, B, C, and D．Choose the one that fits best according to the information given in the passage
They say a cat has nine lives, and I think that possible since I am now living my third life and I’m not even a cat. My father died when I was 15, and we had a hard struggle to make a living. And my mother, who was seriously ill in her last years, died while still in her 60s. My sister married soon after, and I followed her example within the year.
This was when I began to enjoy my first life. I was very happy, in excellent health. I had a good job in San Jose and a beautiful home up the peninsula (半岛) in San Carlos. Life was a pleasant dream. Then the dream ended. I became afflicted (使苦恼) with a slowly progressive disease of the motor nerves, affecting first my right arm and leg, and then my other side. Thus began my second life...
In spite of my disease I still drove to and from work each day, with the aid of special equipment installed in my car. And I managed to keep my health and optimism (乐观), to a degree, because of 14 steps. Crazy? Not at all. Our home was an affair with 14 steps leading up from the garage to the kitchen door. Those steps were a standard measure of life. They were my yardstick, my challenge to continue living. I felt that if the day arrived when I was unable to lift one foot up one step and then drag the other painfully after it ---repeating the process 14 times, I would be through---I could then admit defeat and lie down and die.
Then on a dark night in August, 1971, I began my third life. It was raining when I started home that night; strong winds and slashing rain beat down on the car as I drove slowly down one of the less-traveled roads. Suddenly the steering wheel jerked (猝然一动). In the same instant I heard the bang of a blowout. It was impossible for me to change that tire! Utterly impossible!
I started the engine and thumped slowly along until I came to the dirt road, where I turned in and where I found lighted windows welcomed me to a house and pulled into the driveway and honked the horn.
The door opened and a little girl stood there. When she knew what happened to me, she went into the house and a moment later came out, followed by a man who called a cheerful greeting. I sat there comfortable and dry, and felt a bit sorry for the man and the little girl working so hard in the storm.
About an hour later, the man’s voice was heard, “This is a bad night for car trouble, but you’re all set now.” “Thanks,” I said. “How much do I owe you?” He shook his head, “Nothing. Cynthia told me you were a cripple. Glad to be of help. I know you’d do the same for me. There’s no charge, friend.” I held out a five-dollar bill, “No! I like to pay my way.” He made no effort to take it and the little girl stepped closer to the window and said quietly, “Grandpa can’t see it.”
56. “A cat has nine lives” here means ___________.
A. a cat can live nine times longer than any other animal  B .a cat can die ninth
C .a lucky man can not die easily                     D the writer will live nine times
57. What do you think of the man who helped change the tire?
A. Old, warm-hearted but pitiable             
B. Blind, but warm-hearted and happy
C. A blind old man that has nothing to do every day.
D. A poor old man that is always ready to help others.
58. How will the story be ended?
A. The writer paid the little girl but the old man did not accept.
B. The writer drove away with tears running down his cheek.
C. The writer stayed there, without knowing what to do and how to do it.
D. In the next few frozen seconds the writer felt the shame and astonishment he had never felt
before.
59. How do you understand the underlined sentence “I followed my sister’s example?”
A.  He listened to his sister carefully.
B  Mother told him that he must get the agreement from his sister for whatever he would do.
C  His sister got married. He, too.
D  His sister was a great woman.. He must learn from her.
60. The best title for this passage perhaps will be _____.
A.The Old Man and His Daughter              B. Heart Leaping Up
C.Never Lose Heart                        D. Good Will Be Rewarded Good

PART THREE   READING COMPREHENSION (30%)

Directions: Read the following three passages．Each passage is followed by several questions or unfinished statements．For each of them there are four choices marked A, B, C, and D．Choose the one that fits best according to the information given in the passage

They say a cat has nine lives, and I think that possible since I am now living my third life and I’m not even a cat. My father died when I was 15, and we had a hard struggle to make a living. And my mother, who was seriously ill in her last years, died while still in her 60s. My sister married soon after, and I followed her example within the year.

This was when I began to enjoy my first life. I was very happy, in excellent health. I had a good job in San Jose and a beautiful home up the peninsula (半岛) in San Carlos. Life was a pleasant dream. Then the dream ended. I became afflicted (使苦恼) with a slowly progressive disease of the motor nerves, affecting first my right arm and leg, and then my other side. Thus began my second life...

In spite of my disease I still drove to and from work each day, with the aid of special equipment installed in my car. And I managed to keep my health and optimism (乐观), to a degree, because of 14 steps. Crazy? Not at all. Our home was an affair with 14 steps leading up from the garage to the kitchen door. Those steps were a standard measure of life. They were my yardstick, my challenge to continue living. I felt that if the day arrived when I was unable to lift one foot up one step and then drag the other painfully after it ---repeating the process 14 times, I would be through---I could then admit defeat and lie down and die.

Then on a dark night in August, 1971, I began my third life. It was raining when I started home that night; strong winds and slashing rain beat down on the car as I drove slowly down one of the less-traveled roads. Suddenly the steering wheel jerked (猝然一动). In the same instant I heard the bang of a blowout. It was impossible for me to change that tire! Utterly impossible!

I started the engine and thumped slowly along until I came to the dirt road, where I turned in and where I found lighted windows welcomed me to a house and pulled into the driveway and honked the horn.

The door opened and a little girl stood there. When she knew what happened to me, she went into the house and a moment later came out, followed by a man who called a cheerful greeting. I sat there comfortable and dry, and felt a bit sorry for the man and the little girl working so hard in the storm.

About an hour later, the man’s voice was heard, “This is a bad night for car trouble, but you’re all set now.” “Thanks,” I said. “How much do I owe you?” He shook his head, “Nothing. Cynthia told me you were a cripple. Glad to be of help. I know you’d do the same for me. There’s no charge, friend.” I held out a five-dollar bill, “No! I like to pay my way.” He made no effort to take it and the little girl stepped closer to the window and said quietly, “Grandpa can’t see it.”

56. “A cat has nine lives” here means ___________.

A. a cat can live nine times longer than any other animal  B .a cat can die ninth

C .a lucky man can not die easily                     D the writer will live nine times

57. What do you think of the man who helped change the tire?

A. Old, warm-hearted but pitiable             

B. Blind, but warm-hearted and happy

C. A blind old man that has nothing to do every day.

D. A poor old man that is always ready to help others.

58. How will the story be ended?

A. The writer paid the little girl but the old man did not accept.

B. The writer drove away with tears running down his cheek.

C. The writer stayed there, without knowing what to do and how to do it.

D. In the next few frozen seconds the writer felt the shame and astonishment he had never felt

before.

59. How do you understand the underlined sentence “I followed my sister’s example?”

A.  He listened to his sister carefully.

B  Mother told him that he must get the agreement from his sister for whatever he would do.

C  His sister got married. He, too.

D  His sister was a great woman.. He must learn from her.

60. The best title for this passage perhaps will be _____.

A.The Old Man and His Daughter              B. Heart Leaping Up

    C.Never Lose Heart                        D. Good Will Be Rewarded Good

They say a cat has nine lives, and I think that possible since I am now living my third life and I’m not even a cat．My father died when I was 15, and we had a hard struggle to make a living．And my mother, who was seriously ill in her last years, died while still in her 60s．My sister married soon after, and I followed her example within the year．

This was when I began to enjoy my first life．I was very happy, in excellent health．I had a good job in San Jose and a beautiful home up the peninsula (半岛) in San Carlos．Life was a pleasant dream．Then the dream ended．I became afflicted (使苦恼) with a slowly progressive disease of the motor nerves, affecting first my right arm and leg, and then my other side．Thus began my second life…．

In spite of my disease I still drove to and from work each day, with the aid of special equipment installed in my car．And I managed to keep my health and optimism (乐观), to a degree, because of 14 steps．Crazy? Not at all．Our home was an affair with 14 steps leading up from the garage to the kitchen door．Those steps were a standard measure of life．They were my yardstick, my challenge to continue living．I felt that if the day arrived when I was unable to lift one foot up one step and then drag the other painfully after it ---repeating the process 14 times, I would be through---I could then admit defeat and lie down and die．

Then on a dark night in August, 1971, I began my third life．It was raining when I started home that night; strong winds and slashing rain beat down on the car as I drove slowly down one of the less-traveled roads．Suddenly the steering wheel jerked (猝然一动)．In the same instant I heard the bang of a blowout．It was impossible for me to change that tire! Utterly impossible!

I started the engine and thumped slowly along, keeping well over on the shoulder until I came to the dirt road, where I turned in and where I found lighted windows welcomed me to a house and pulled into the driveway and honked the horn．

The door opened and a little girl stood there．When she knew what happened to me, she went into the house and a moment later came out, followed by a man who called a cheerful greeting．I sat there comfortable and dry, and felt a bit sorry for the man and the little girl working so hard in the storm．

About an hour later, the man’s voice was heard, “This is a bad night for car trouble, but you’re all set now．” “Thanks,” I said．“How much do I owe you?” He shook his head, “Nothing．Cynthia told me you were a cripple．Glad to be of help．I know you’d do the same for me．There’s no charge, friend．” I held out a five-dollar bill, “No! I like to pay my way．” He made no effort to take it and the little girl stepped closer to the window and said quietly, “Grandpa can’t see it．”

1．“A cat has nine lives” here means ___________．

A．a cat can live nine times longer than any other animal

B．a cat can die ninth

C．a lucky man can not die easily

D．the writer will live nine times

2．What do you think of the man who helped change the tire?

A．Warm-hearted but pitiable

B．Warm-hearted and happy

C．A blind old man that has nothing to do every day．

D．A poor old man that is always ready to help others．

3．How will the story be ended?

A．The writer paid the little girl but the old man did not accept．

B．The writer drove away with tears running down his cheek．

C．The writer stayed there, without knowing what to do and how to do．

D．In the next few frozen seconds the writer felt the shame and astonishment he had never felt before．

4．How do you understand the underlined sentence “I followed my sister’s example?”

A．He listened to his sister carefully．

B．Mother told him that he must get the agreement from his sister for whatever he would do．

C．His sister got married．He, too．

D．His sister was a great woman．．He must learn from her．

5．The best title for this passage perhaps will be _____．

A．The Old Man and His Daughter                    B．Heart Leaping Up

C．Never Lose Heart                                        D．Good Will Be Rewarded Good