Dinah is one of the most good-natured children that ever lived, but she is very, very lazy. There is nothing she likes, or used to like, so much as to curl up in some warm corner in the sun and do nothing.

Dinah’s mother wished very much that her child should learn to read, but the lady who tried to teach her soon give it up. “It is no   16  ,” she said, “Dinah   17  not learn. She is not stupid, but too lazy.”

It happened soon that a young man from Massachusetts came to the house where Dinah lived. He brought with him something no one else in the neighborhood had ever seen before－a pair of roller-skates.

When Dinah saw the young man going rapidly up and down the piazza (广场) on his skates she was so   18 . She ran after him like a cat, her black eyes shining.

One day the young man allowed her to   19  the skates. The child was too happy for words. Of course she fell down, but did not   20  at all.

“Look here, Dinah,” said the young man, “I understand that my aunt has been trying to teach you to read. Why didn’t you learn? Now, if you can read, I will send you a pair of good roller-skates.”

For a moment she said  21 , then exclaimed decidedly, “I’ll have those skates, sure.”

And she did. When she   22  her mind on her work, she could always do it well,  23  it was.

The lady who had before this found her   24   difficult a child to teach, now had no trouble. If Dinah showed the least   25  of her former laziness, the word SKATES was enough to draw her attention back to her lesson instantly.

On New Year’s morning she received a box marked in large printed letters:

MISS DINAH MORRIS,

Care of Mrs. Lawrence Delaney,

NEW ORLEANS, LA.

If she can read what is on the outside of this box she can have what is inside.

And as Dinah read every word clearly and quickly, of course she had the fine roller-skates the box held. And now sitting curled up in the sun, doing nothing, is not the thing she likes to do best.

阅读下面短文，掌握其大意，然后从各题所给的四个选项中，选出一个最佳答案。

A certain student passed all his school examinations and then went to a college to continue his studies. There he put his name 1 for a course in geography, but after the first lecture, he did not go to it 2 .The geography lecturer noticed that this student was always absent and thought that he had 3 to another course, so he was very 4 when he was the boy's name on the 5 of students who wanted to 6 the geography examination at the end of the year.

The lecturer had prepared a difficult examination paper, 7 followed his lecture very closely, and he was 8 to see 9 the boy's answers 10 the questions would be. He 11 that they would he very bad, but when he examined the paper 12 , he was able to find only one small mistake 13 it. As this surprised him very much, he went 14 the paper once again, but was 15 not able to find more 16 that one small mistake, so he 17 for the student to question him about his work.

When the student had come into the room and had sat down, the lecturer said to him, “I know that you came only to my first lecture and that you have been absent 18 all the others; but now I have examined your answer paper throughly and I have been able to find only one small mistake, I am 19 to know your explanation for that.”

“Oh, I am very sorry about that mistake, sir ”answered the student.“After the examination, I realized what I ought to have written. I 20 that mistake if I had not been confused(混淆)by your first lecture.”

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One of the best-known American writers is Samuel Langhorne Clemens, whose pen-name is Mark Twain. Born in 1835, Twain grew up in the Mississippi River town of Hannibal, Missouri. Like many other boys of his day, Twain dreamed of traveling on riverboats and of becoming a riverboat pilot(舵手) someday. He used his memories of the life of the river town in his two most famous books, Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer.

As a young man Twain held many jobs. He was a printer, a gold miner, and for a long time, he was a riverboat pilot. During his pilot days, he adopted(采用) the name Mark Twain. This was something used by the boatmen to mean the water measured two fathoms, or twelve feet, which was deep enough for safe passage.

Finally, Twain became a famous writer. He traveled a great deal, writing and speaking, and was very popular both in the United States and in Europe.

Twain’s style of writing was simple and direct. Among the things he wrote about were superstitious(迷信的) people and people who were easily fooled. He used his unusual gift for humor to write about many things of importance.

Samuel Langhorne Clemens _____________________ .

   A. is the best-known American writer

   B. never left the town of Hannibal, Missouri

   C. is the hero of Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer

 D. used Mark Twain as his pen-name

Many boys of that time _________________________ .

   A. wanted to become writers

   B. were anxious to work on a riverboat

   C. just wanted to be passengers on the Mississippi

   D. wished to become friends of Mark Twain.

Huckleberry Finn written by Mark Twain was probably about _________ .

   A. boys’ life of his day

   B. the life of a riverboat pilot

   C. the life of a river town

   D. Twain’s travel on riverboats

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

   A. Fathom was a unit used by boatmen to measure the depth of the water.

   B. People could be easily amused by Mark Twain’s writing.

   C. Europeans showed little interest in Mark Twain’s writings.

   D. Mark Twain’s books could be easily understood for his style.

D
An “apple-polisher” is one who gives gifts to win friendship or special treatment. It is not exactly a bribe（贿赂）, but is close to it.
“Apple-polishing” is as old as human society, but the phrase itself is recent, about 50 years old. It comes from the schoolroom. For a long time, some schoolboys would leave a shiny（有光泽的，发光的） apple on the teacher’s desk. They would rub and polish the apple to give it a bright shine, so as to make it look more tasty. Such a gift, the students hoped, might make the teacher shut her eyes to their poor work and give them a good mark.
All sorts of people are apple-polishers, including politicians and people in high offices—almost everybody.
There are other phrases meaning the same thing as “apple-polishing”— “soft-soaping” or “buttering-up”. A gift is just one way to “soft-soap” somebody, or to “butter him up”.
Another way that is just as effective as apple-polishing is flattery, giving someone high praise — telling him how good he looks, or how well he speaks, or how wise he is. Flattery, of course, is the cheapest kind of “apple polishing”.
To flatter another costs you nothing and you can give it as freely as you want. And you can always find somebody eagerly looking for it.
53. An “apple-polisher” is one who ________.
A. tries to please someone to get favor   
B. bribes with money to get something
C. is really friendly to everyone around him
D. plants apple trees and polishes his apples every day
54. Why did the students polish the apple for their teacher?
A. They hoped that she would not pay attention to them.
B. They didn’t want her to wash the apple by herself.
C. They wished to draw her attention.
D. They longed for her giving them a good mark.  
55. According to the passage, the cheapest way to please someone is ________.
A. to flatter him                                               B. to bribe him
C. to talk freely with him                             D. to play jokes on him
56. The author seems to suggest that ________.
A. nobody likes to be flattered                    B. very few people apple-polish others
C. apple-polishing is a kind of bribe            D. many people like to be soft-soaped

D

An “apple-polisher” is one who gives gifts to win friendship or special treatment. It is not exactly a bribe（贿赂）, but is close to it.

“Apple-polishing” is as old as human society, but the phrase itself is recent, about 50 years old. It comes from the schoolroom. For a long time, some schoolboys would leave a shiny（有光泽的，发光的） apple on the teacher’s desk. They would rub and polish the apple to give it a bright shine, so as to make it look more tasty. Such a gift, the students hoped, might make the teacher shut her eyes to their poor work and give them a good mark.

All sorts of people are apple-polishers, including politicians and people in high offices—almost everybody.

There are other phrases meaning the same thing as “apple-polishing”— “soft-soaping” or “buttering-up”. A gift is just one way to “soft-soap” somebody, or to “butter him up”.

Another way that is just as effective as apple-polishing is flattery, giving someone high praise — telling him how good he looks, or how well he speaks, or how wise he is. Flattery, of course, is the cheapest kind of “apple polishing”.

To flatter another costs you nothing and you can give it as freely as you want. And you can always find somebody eagerly looking for it.

53. An “apple-polisher” is one who ________.

A. tries to please someone to get favor   

B. bribes with money to get something

C. is really friendly to everyone around him

D. plants apple trees and polishes his apples every day

54. Why did the students polish the apple for their teacher?

A. They hoped that she would not pay attention to them.

B. They didn’t want her to wash the apple by herself.

C. They wished to draw her attention.

D. They longed for her giving them a good mark.  

55. According to the passage, the cheapest way to please someone is ________.

A. to flatter him                                               B. to bribe him

C. to talk freely with him                             D. to play jokes on him

56. The author seems to suggest that ________.

A. nobody likes to be flattered                    B. very few people apple-polish others

C. apple-polishing is a kind of bribe            D. many people like to be soft-soaped