You never get over being a child, ______ you have a mother to go to.

A. as far as　　 B. unless　　　 C. so long as　　　 D. although

I’m five years old , and my mother is washing the kitchen floor . I’m telling her about a new girl in school , and she suddenly looks up at me and says , “ Who are your two best friends ? ”

I’m not sure what to say . I’ve been friends with Jill since I was three or so , and I really like Jaime , a friend in kindergarten .

“ Jill and Jaime .”

“ Well , what about Karen and Cindy ?”

“ I don’t know who their best friends are ,” I say .

“ No ,” she says . “ I’m saying , why aren’t they your best friends ?”

“ But they’re my sisters .”

“ Yes , but they can still be your best friends . Friends may come and go , but your sisters will always be there for you .”

At that time , the idea of my two sisters being my closest friends seemed strange to me . We fought all the time over toys , food , attention , and what to watch on television . How could my sisters be my best friends ?

But my mother never let the three of us forget it : Sisters are lifelong friends . Her wish—like most parents’—was to give us something that she never had . Growing up as an only child , she longed for brothers and sisters . She gave birth to three daughters . She had given us each a gift—our sisters .

As we grew up , we realized that our mother was right . Today I share things with my sisters that I do with no one else . My sister Cindy and I ran the New York City Marathon together , side-by-side , even holding hands when we crossed the finish line . The three of us trust each other with our greatest secrets .

It was twenty-three years ago that my mother first asked me who my two best friends were . Today she doesn’t have to . She already knows .

56. How old was the writer when she wrote the passage ?

A. 5 .               B. 9 .             C. 23 .               D. 28 .

57. According to the writer , why can’t her sisters become her friends ?

A. Because they are older than her .       

B. Because they don’t like her .

C. Because they often fought with each other .

D. Because they have their own friends .

58. What did the writer feel when her mother said her sisters could be her best friends ?

A. Strange .          B. Excited .          C. Interested .         D. Pleased .

59. What might be the most suitable title for the passage ?

A. My best friends .                       B. The greatest gift .     

C. My sisters and I                        D. My mother’s dream .

60. What can we learn from the passage ?

A. My mother used to give us some gifts .

B. My mother’s sisters are her best friends .

C. My sisters and I always get along well .

D. My sisters and I become good friends now .

I was puzzled! Why was this old woman making such a fuss about an old copse which was of no use to anybody? She had written letters to the local paper, even to a national, protesting about a projected by-pass to her village, and, looking at a map, the route was nowhere near where she lived and it wasn’t as if the area was attractive. I was more than puzzled, I was curious.

The enquiry into the route of the new by-pass to the village was due to take place shortly, and I wanted to know what it was that motivated her. So it was that I found myself knocking on a cottage door, being received by Mary Smith and then being taken for a walk to the woods.

“I’ve always loved this place,” she said, “it has a lot of memories for me, and for others. We all used it. They called it ‘Lovers lane’. It’s not much of a lane, and it doesn’t go anywhere important, but that’s why we all came here. To be away from people, to be by ourselves. ” she added.

It was indeed pleasant that day and the songs of many birds could be heard. Squirrels watched from the branches, quite bold in their movements, obviously few people passed this way and they had nothing to fear. I could imagine the noise of vehicles passing through these peaceful woods when the by-pass was built, so I felt that she probably had something there but as I hold strong opinions about the needs of the community over-riding the opinions of private individuals, I said nothing. The village was quite a dangerous place because of the traffic especially for old people and children, their safety was more important to me than an old woman’s strange ideas.

“Take this tree,” she said pausing after a short while. “To you it is just that, a tree. Not unlike many others here.” She gently touched the bark, “Look here, under this branch, what can you see?”

“It looks as if someone has done a bit of carving with a knife.” I said after a cursory inspection.

“Yes, that’s what it is!” she said softly.

She went on, “He had a penknife with a spike for getting stones from a horse's hoof, and I helped him to carve them. We were very much in love, but he was going away, and could not tell me what he was involved in the army. I had guessed of course. It was the last evening we ever spent together, because he went away the next day, back to his Unit.”

Mary Smith was quiet for a while, then she sobbed. “His mother showed me the telegram. ‘Sergeant R Holmes …Killed in action in the invasion of France.’…”

“I had hoped that you and Robin would one day get married.” she said, “He was my only child, and I would have loved to be a Granny, they would have been such lovely babies’- she was like that! ”

“Two years later she too was dead. ‘Pneumonia (肺炎), following a chill on the chest’ was what the doctor said, but I think it was an old fashioned broken heart. A child would have helped both of us.”

There was a further pause. Mary Smith gently caressed the wounded tree, just as she would have caressed him. “And now they want to take our tree away from me.” Another quiet sob, then she turned to me. “I was young and pretty then, I could have had anybody, I wasn’t always the old woman you see here now. I had everything I wanted in life, a lovely man, health and a future to look forward to.”

She paused again and looked around. The breeze gently moved through the leaves with a sighing sound. “There were others, of course, but no one can match my Robin!” she said strongly. “And now I have nothing - except the memories this tree holds. If only I could get my hands on that awful man who writes in the paper about the value of the road they are going to build where we are standing now, I would tell him. Has he never loved, has he never lived, does he not know anything about memories? We were not the only ones, you know, I still meet some who came here as Robin and I did. Yes, I would tell him!”

I turned away, sick at heart.

63. The main purpose of this passage is to ________.

A. draw attention to the damage that wars cause

B. persuade people to give up private interest

C. arouse the awareness of being environmentally friendly

D. introduce a touching but sad love story

64. The underlined sentence “I felt that she probably had something there” means ________.

A. I thought there might be something hidden in the woods by Mary Smith

B. I guessed there might be a story related with Mary Smith

C. I thought there might be some reason for Mary Smith’s protest

D. I guessed there might be a secret purpose of Mary Smith.

65. What was probably the carving on the wounded tree?

A. Their names and a heart with a sign of arrow through it.

B. Their wish that this place and tree would last long.

C. The date when Robin Holmes would leave for army.

D. Their protest against the war which tore them apart.

   I was puzzled! Why was this old woman making such a fuss about an old copse which was of no use to anybody? She had written letters to the local paper, even to a national, protesting about a projected by-pass to her village, and, looking at a map, the route was nowhere near where she lived and it wasn’t as if the area was attractive. I was more than puzzled, I was curious.

   The enquiry into the route of the new by-pass to the village was due to take place shortly, and I wanted to know what it was that motivated her. So it was that I found myself knocking on a cottage door, being received by Mary Smith and then being taken for a walk to the woods.

“I’ve always loved this place,” she said, “it has a lot of memories for me, and for others. We all used it. They called it ‘Lovers lane’. It’s not much of a lane, and it doesn’t go anywhere important, but that’s why we all came here. To be away from people, to be by ourselves. ” she added.

It was indeed pleasant that day and the songs of many birds could be heard. Squirrels watched from the branches, quite bold in their movements, obviously few people passed this way and they had nothing to fear. I could imagine the noise of vehicles passing through these peaceful woods when the by-pass was built, so I felt that she probably had something there but as I hold strong opinions about the needs of the community over-riding the opinions of private individuals, I said nothing. The village was quite a dangerous place because of the traffic especially for old people and children, their safety was more important to me than an old woman’s strange ideas.

“Take this tree,” she said pausing after a short while. “To you it is just that, a tree. Not unlike many others here.” She gently touched the bark, “Look here, under this branch, what can you see?”

“It looks as if someone has done a bit of carving with a knife.” I said after a cursory inspection.

“Yes, that’s what it is!” she said softly.

   She went on, “He had a penknife with a spike for getting stones from a horse's hoof, and I helped him to carve them. We were very much in love, but he was going away, and could not tell me what he was involved in the army. I had guessed of course. It was the last evening we ever spent together, because he went away the next day, back to his Unit.”

   Mary Smith was quiet for a while, then she sobbed. “His mother showed me the telegram. ‘Sergeant R Holmes …Killed in action in the invasion of France.’…”

“I had hoped that you and Robin would one day get married.” she said, “He was my only child, and I would have loved to be a Granny, they would have been such lovely babies’- she was like that! ”

“Two years later she too was dead. ‘Pneumonia (肺炎), following a chill on the chest’ was what the doctor said, but I think it was an old fashioned broken heart. A child would have helped both of us.”

There was a further pause. Mary Smith gently caressed the wounded tree, just as she would have caressed him. “And now they want to take our tree away from me.” Another quiet sob, then she turned to me. “I was young and pretty then, I could have had anybody, I wasn’t always the old woman you see here now. I had everything I wanted in life, a lovely man, health and a future to look forward to.”

   She paused again and looked around. The breeze gently moved through the leaves with a sighing sound. “There were others, of course, but no one can match my Robin!” she said strongly. “And now I have nothing - except the memories this tree holds. If only I could get my hands on that awful man who writes in the paper about the value of the road they are going to build where we are standing now, I would tell him. Has he never loved, has he never lived, does he not know anything about memories? We were not the only ones, you know, I still meet some who came here as Robin and I did. Yes, I would tell him!”

   I turned away, sick at heart.

55. The main purpose of this passage is to ________.

   A. draw attention to the damage that wars cause

   B. persuade people to give up private interest

   C. arouse the awareness of being environmentally friendly

   D. introduce a touching but sad love story

56. Which of the following words can best describe Mary Smith?

   A. Selfish.            B. Faithful.           C. Changeable.        D. Stubborn.

57. The underlined sentence “I felt that she probably had something there” means ________.

   A. I thought there might be something hidden in the woods by Mary Smith

   B. I guessed there might be a story related with Mary Smith

   C. I thought there might be some reason for Mary Smith’s protest

   D. I guessed there might be a secret purpose of Mary Smith.

58. What was probably the carving on the wounded tree?

   A. The date when Robin Holmes would leave for army.

   B. Their wish that this place and tree would last long.

   C. Their names and a heart with a sign of arrow through it.

   D. Their protest against the war which tore them apart.

59. In Mary’s opinion, which of the following might have caused Robin’s mother’s death?

   A. Pneumonia       B. A chill on the chest     C. A heart attack     D. Severe sorrow

60. The “tree” probably stands for ________.

   A. her romance      B. her determination         C. her sadness          D. her dream

I think it was my mother who taught me the meaning of honesty. Not because she actually was honest, but because she lied all the time. She felt that the easiest way out of any given situation was generally the best way out. And, for her, that generally meant telling a “little white lie.” As a young child I thought it was kind of cool. And, naturally, when I would come to her with a concern or question wondering what I should do, she generally advised me to lie.
“Mom, I told Theresa that I would go over to her house, but now I would rather go to Sue’s house to play.”
“Tell Theresa you’re sick,” she would advise. And generally I did. But I didn’t seem blessed with her lack of conscience. On many painful occasions Theresa would find out that I really went to Sue’s house without her. These occasions taught me that it is more painful to be caught in a lie than it is to tell the truth in the first place. I wondered how it was possible that my mother had never learned that lesson.
I started thinking of all the lies that I’d heard her tell. I remembered the time she told someone that her favorite restaurant had closed, because she didn’t want to see them there anymore. Or the time she told Dad that she loved the lawn-mower he gave her for her birthday. Or when she claimed that our phone lines had been down when she was trying to explain why she hadn’t been in touch with a friend of hers for weeks. And what bothered me even more were all the times she had involved me into her lies. Like the time she told my guidance counselor that I had to miss school for exploratory surgery, when she really needed me to babysit. And it even started to bother me when someone would call for her and she would ask me to tell them that she wasn’t there.
So, I started my own personal fight against her dishonesty. When I answered the phone and it was someone my mother didn’t want to talk to, I said, “Louise, mom is here, but she doesn’t want to talk to you.” The first time I did it, she punished me, but I refused to apologize. I told her that I had decided that it was wrong to lie. And the next time it happened I did the same thing. Finally, she approached me and said, “I agree that lying is not the best thing to do, but we need to find a way to be honest without being rude.” She admitted that her methods weren’t right, and I admitted that mine were a bit too extreme.
Over the past few years, the two of us have worked together to be honest—and yet kind. Honesty should mean more than not lying. It should mean speaking the truth in kindness. Though I started by trying to teach my mom the importance of honesty, I ended up gaining a deeper understanding of the meaning of the term.
【小题1】 The author’s mother __________.