A big fire ______ in the hotel last week, but all the people ______ escape from it.

A. broke out; could　　　　　　　　　　 B. broke out; were able to

C. was broken out; could　　　　　　　　 D.was broken out; were able to

In the late 1800s, many people moved to the Midwest to settle on land that the United States government had offered for free. Upon arriving, the settlers found that there were no trees for building shelters. The ground, however, had a thick layer of knotted, matted roots below the grassy surface. This kind of soil is called sod.

The early settlers’ cut the sod into large cubes. Then they used the cubes of sod to build their shelters. The settlers also had to break up the vast areas of hard sod so that they could farm the land.

For these reasons, settlers in the Midwest became known as “sodbusters.”

1. The best title is________.

    A. Who the Sodbusters were 　　　　　　　　    B. Farming in the Midwest

    C. Building a Shelter 　　　　　　　　　　　　  D. How to Cut Sod

2. People moved to the Midwest to________ .

A. find gold 　　　　  B. look for water    C. settle on the land　　   D. find adventure

3. Before they could farm the land, the settlers________.

    A. broke up sod　　 B. built barns　　　　 C. dug up roots　　  D. cut down trees

4. The settlers in the Midwest must have________.

A.　　  wanted to hunt 　　　　　　　　　　　　   B. been lazy  

C. wanted to stay　　　　　　　　　　　　　　   D. been bored

5. The Word “matted" in line six means________.

A. grassy　　　　　　   B. tightly tangled    C. curly　　　　　　　　 D. soft

A few days ago I asked my sons’ governess（女家庭教师）Julia to come into my study. “Be seated, Julia, ” I said, “Let’s settle our accounts. I guess you most likely need some money, but maybe you’re too polite to mention it. Now then, we agreed on thirty dollars a month...”

? “Forty.”

? “No, thirty. I made a note of it. I always pay our governess thirty. Well, um, you’ve been here two months, so...”

? “Two months and five days.”

? “Exactly two months. I made a special note of it. That means you have sixty dollars coming to you. Take off nine Sundays... you know you didn’t work with Tom on Sundays, you only took walks. And three holidays... ”Julia was biting her finger nail nervously, her face red, but - not a word.

? “Three holidays, therefore take off twelve dollars. Four days Tom was sick and there were no lessons, as you were occupied only with Dick. Three days you had a toothache and my wife gave you permission not to work after lunch. Twelve and seven - nineteen. Take nineteen off ... that leaves. hmm.... forty one dollars. Correct?”

? Julia’s left eye reddened with tears welling up. Her chin trembled; she coughed nervously and blew her nose, but-still not a word.

? “Around New Year’s Day you broke a teacup and a saucer; take off two dollars. The cup cost more, it was a treasure of the family, but- forget it. When didn’t I take a loss! Then, due to your neglect（疏忽）, Tom climbed a tree and tore his jacket; take away ten. Also due to your carelessness the maid stole Dick’s shoes. You ought to watch everything! You get paid for it. So, that means five more dollars off. The tenth of January I gave ten dollars.”

? “You didn’t. ”sobbed Julia.

? “But I made a note of it.”

? “Well... if you say so.”

? “Take twenty seven from forty one -that leaves fourteen.”

? Both her eyes were filled with tears. Beads of sweat stood on the thin pretty little nose. Poor girl!

? “Only once was I given any money,” she whispered, her voice trembling, “and that was by your wife. Three dollars, nothing more.”

? “Really? You see now, and I didn’t know that! Take three from fourteen.. leaves eleven. Here’s your money, my dear. Three, three, three, one and one. Here it is!”

? I handed her eleven dollars. She took them and pocketed them.

? “Merci（法语: 谢谢）,” she whispered.

? I jumped to my feet and started pacing the room. I was overcome with anger. “For what, this - ‘merci’?” I asked.

? “For the money.”

? “But you know I’ve cheated you - robbed you! I have actually stolen from you! Why this‘merci’?”

? “In my other places they didn’t give me anything at all.”

? “They didn’t give you anything? No wonder! I played a little joke on you, a cruel lesson, just to teach you... I m going to give you all the eighty dollars! Here they are in the envelope all ready for you... Is it really possible to be so spineless（懦弱）? Why didn’t you protest? Why were you silent? Is it possible in this world to be without teeth and claws（爪）-to be such a fool?”

? Embarrassed, she smiled. And I could read her expression,“It is possible.”

? I asked her pardon for the cruel lesson and, to her great surprise, gave her the eighty dollars. She murmured her little“merci”several times and went out. I looked after her and thought,“How easy it is to crush the weak in this world!”

1.While talking to Julia, the writer expected from her________.

A. a protest　　　B. gratitude　? C. obedience　　 D. an explanation

2.What shocked the writer was Julia’s ________.

A. nervousness in front of her boss???????

B. acceptance of injustice

C. shyness when talking about money?????

D. unwillingness to express herself

3.The writer said, “Is it possible in this world to be without teeth and claws?” He was actually telling the governess ________.

A. to be more aggressive??????? B. to be more careful in her work

C. to protect her right?????????? D. to live independently

4.At the end of the story, the writer said,“ How easy it is to crush the weak in this world!” to show ________.

A. his understanding of Julia’s anxiety

B. his worry about Julia’s future

C. his concern on the living condition of working-class people

D. his sympathy for the mental state of those exploited

5.From the story, we can tell that Julia’s employer was________.

A. greedy but honest????? 　 B. ill-tempered but warm-hearted

C. strict but forgiving??????? D. none of the above

　完形填空（共20小题；每小题1.5分，满分30分）

　　阅读下面短文，从短文后各题所给的四个选项（A、B、C、和D）中，选出可以填入空白处的最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。

Tina and Thomas Sjogren were the fourth people to reach the earth's poles. Years ago, the couple were  16    across the North Atlantic on their way to Europe. Tina looked out of her window and was   17   by the vast amount of space in Greenland. “The sky outside the window burst into different   18  and auroras (极光) flew all around us. I   19   what it would be like to step down there and start walking   20   , all alone in such a place. ”She thought, “If this is what Iceland and Greenland are like, how   21   then must the Arctic be?” She turned to her husband,   22   him awake and said, "Honey, let' s go to the Poles !"

Tina’s   23   would not be their first adventure. They had already climbed Mount Qomolangma. The pair soon made a   24    to visit both the North and South Poles on skis, Traveling   25 

    On February 2, 2002, they reached the South Pole. Their journey 26   2,000 kilometres. After just 35 days of recovery and preparation, they   27   again. "You are so    28      after the long expedition to the South Pole, so you don' t know if you could do   29    right away."

On May 29　, after traveling for the whole morning, as the couple watched with weak    30     , the numbers on their GPS showed that their goal had   31  been achieved. They had made it.

    Without the    32    of dogs or supplies dropped from planes, it was only their strength and willpower that   33    them to ski and swim their way. They got valuable experience but that did not come without a    34   If you go on an adventure, there's always the risk of something going wrong.    35    , you will learn from it.

16. A. flying           B. exploring           C. swimming           D. sailing

17. A. frightened       B. bored               C. amazed             D. amused

18. A. shapes           B. colors               C. sounds               D. waves

19. A. remembered     B. wondered           C. enjoyed             D. doubted

20. A. carefully         B. quickly              C. aimlessly             D. freely

21. A. cold            B, bright              C. wonderful           D. terrible

22. A. shook           B. knocked            C. kept                D. beat

23. A. idea             B. advice               C. order                D. offer

24. A. suggestion       B. plan                C. proposal             D. change

25. A. non-stop         B. unsupported         C. unreturned          D. unprepared

26. A. covered          B. included            C. lasted                D. crossed

27. A. broke down      B. settled down         C. set out               D. came back

28. A. excited          B. disappointed        C. confused            D. tired

29. A. more             B. another              C. one                  D. others

30. A. torchlight       B. sunlight            C. breath              D. eyesight

31. A. surprisingly      B. luckily             C. accidentally         D. eventually

32. A. reward           B. burden              C. help                 D. company

33. A. attracted        B. allowed             C. taught               D. forced

34. A. price            B. success             C. mistake             D. change

35. A.Therefore         B. Instead          C. Otherwise         D.However

It was the golden season. I could see the yellow leaves falling with the cool wind. For others, it is a/an       season, while for me, it is an annoying season. Tired from preparing for Postgraduate Entrance Examination, I decided to have a       along the Yanjiang Road in my university.

　　“Autumn is a lonely season and life is       . The days in this season always get me down ”, I was in deep thought when the sound of a guitar       into my ears, like a stream flowing from the mountains. I was so surprised that I ran to see what it was. A young girl, sitting on the lawn, was       in playing her guitar. The music was so attractive that I listened quietly.

　　 Lost in the music, I did not realize that I had been standing for so long. But my _  __ did not seem to disturb her. Leaves were still falling. Every day when I passed by the lawn, I would see her playing her guitar. During the rest of the days in the season, life became interesting and I could  _ _  the courses carefully. Though we did not know each other, I thought we were always good friends.

　　 Autumn was nearly over. One day, when I was listening  _ _ , the sound suddenly stopped. To my astonishment, the girl came       to me.

　　“You must like the music,” she said.

　　“Yes, you play very well. Why did you stop?” I asked.

　　 Suddenly, a __ _ expression appeared on her face and I could feel something unusual.

    “I came here just to have a rest because I failed in the college entrance examination. I felt very disappointed. And it was your listening every day _ _ encouraged me,” she said, “and I have to go tomorrow.”

　　“__ __, it was your playing that gave me a meaningful autumn and helped me believe that I have the ability to pass the Postgraduate Entrance Examination.” I answered, “I think it was God who gave us the chance to know each other and we should be good friends

　　 She smiled and I smiled.

　　 Since then, I have never seen her again. I no longer passed by that __ _. Only thick leaves were _     behind. But I will always remember the __ _ of the girl. It was her appearance that helped me passed the Postgraduate Entrance Examination.

　　 We may encounter many people in our lives. Some are like a shooting star, but      so much light that they guide you in the correct _   ; some are like _  in you, they are always with you, but do not understand you. Just as a famous saying, many people     in your life, but only true friends leave footprints.

　　 I shall always __ __ the autumn, the girl and the sound of her guitar. I know she will always be my best friend.

1.A. irrigation B. harvest  C. rainfall D. adventure

2.A. walk   B. nap C. rest D. glance

3.A. stressful B. aimless C. uninteresting D. desperate

4.A. flowed  B. floated C. flew D. fled

5.A. devoted  B. addicted C. engaged D. absorbed

6.A. exposure B. movement C. existence D. enthusiasm

7.A. get over B. take over C. pull over D. go over

8.A. casually B. devotedly C. roughly D. thoroughly

9.A. along B. down C. over D. back

10.A. strange B. happy C. special D. sad

11.A. when B. which C. that D. what

12.A. In consequence B. In reality C. In addition D. In detail

13.A. mountain B. stream C. road D. lawn

14.A. left B. thrown C. fallen D. piled

15.A. figure B. face C. hair D. eyes

16.A．give away B. give up C. give in D. give off

17.A. direction B. destination C. position  D. situation

18.A. clothes B. shadows C. footprints D. wrists

19.A. broke B. stepped C. approached D. participated

20.A. remind B. review C. remain D. recall