My youngest eagerly entered kindergarten, while my oldest excitedly started college and I felt left behind. After being very happy as a stay-at-home mother of six children, I suddenly felt disappointed on a dead-end road and surrounded by a lack of direction, An inner anxiety troubled me that life was passing by. The road, requiting expensive education, appeared too long and difficult.

　　 Thanks to supportive friends and family, I eventually discovered the road sign pointing to the ideal program at an excellent college, which offered a lot of tuition grants( 学费资助 ). With anxiety and fear, I went to the college at age forty. Driving to my first master's class, I was as eager and nervous as children for the first day of school.

　　 School required sacrifices: weekends for class, sleep for study, and life's extra money for tuition payments. Yet, as with all good things, the rewards greatly outweighed the cost. The narrow, rocky road developed will power and patience, while the smooth, open road built low confidence. Along the way, I met companions of all ages and interests: a 50-year-old woman who took part in photography classes at the college; a 62-year-old successful businessman who worked toward a nursing degree to serve in developing countries; an 80-year-old woman who enthusiastically started classes to use the Internet, so she could keep up with the world

　　 This past May, twelve years after starting the journey as a non-traditional student, I graduated with a doctoral degree in literature one week before our youngest child graduated from college. All six children have been especially proud, lovingly calling me " Dr. Mom". Never could I have imagined the wild rush and great travel of this ride back to school. When you hear the small, still voice urging you to do something more or different, remember you can trust your heart.

66. How did the author feel after her youngest entered kindergarten?

A. She was satisfied with her family life.

B. She was unhappy about losing her job.

C. She was unwilling to live a common life.　　

D. She worried about her children's growth.

67. The author eventually managed to get the chance to study the college courses ____

A. before she gave birth to her sixth child　　

B. at a common college near her house

C.with free tuition beyond her expectation

D.with the help of her family and friends

68. What did the author think of the sacrifices she had made?

　 A. It was unfair for her to suffer these as she was not young.

　 B. They were worthwhile compared to what she got.

　 C. They made her lose her confidence during the study.

　 D. They did little help on her way to success.

69. The examples the author gives in Paragraph 3 fully prove that ____________

　 A. it is never too late to learn　 　　　B. she had many classmates

　 C. women are more hard-working　　 D. learning is the only way for kids

70. We can learn from this passage that the author __

　 A. graduated almost at the same time as her oldest child

　 B. studied the courses in the college as a traditional student

　 C. eventually became a doctor and worked in a hospital

　 D. got her doctoral degree in literature when she was 52

Artificial(假的) flowers are used for scientific as well as for decorative purposes. They are made from a variety of materials, such as wax and glass, so skillfully that they can scarcely be distinguished from natural flowers. In making such models, painstaking and artistry are called for, as well as thorough knowledge of plant structure. The collection of glass flowers in the Botanical Museum of Harvard University is the most famous in North America and is widely known throughout the scientific world. In all, there are several thousand models in colored glass, the work of two artist-naturalists, Leopold Blaschka and his son Rudolph.?

The intention was to have the collection represent at least one member of each flower family native to the United States. Although it was never completed. It contains more than seven hundred species representing 164 families of flowering plants, a group of fruits showing the effect of fungus diseases, and thousands of flower parts and magnified details. Every detail of these is accurately reproduced in color and structure. The models are kept in locked cases as they are too valuable and fragile for classroom use.?

Which of the following is the best title for the passage??

A. An Extensive Collection of Glass Flowers ?

B. The Lives of Leopold and Rudolph?

C. Flowers Native to the United States?

D. Material Used for Artificial Flowers?

It can be inferred from the passage that the goal of Leopold and Rudolph was to _______.?

A. create a botanical garden where only exotic flowers grew?

B. do a thorough study of plant structure?

C. make a copy of one member of each United States flower family?

D. show that glass are more realistic than wax flowers?

The underlined word “it” refers to _______.?

A. the intention　 B. the collection　　?

C. one member      D. each flower family?

John Blanchard stood up from the bench, straightened his Army uniform, and studied the crowd of people making their way through Grand Central Station. He looked for the girl whose heart he knew, but whose face he didn’t, the girl with the rose.

His interest in her had begun thirteen months before in a Florida library. Taking a book off the shelf he found himself intrigued, not with the words of the book, but with the notes penciled in the margin. The soft handwriting reflected a thoughtful soul and insightful mind. In the front of the book, he discovered the previous owner’s name, Miss Hollis Maynell. With time and effort he located her address. She lived in New York City. He wrote her a letter introducing himself and inviting her to correspond. The next day he was shipped overseas for service in World War II.

????????????? During the next year and one month the two grew to know each other through the mail. Each letter was a seed falling on a fertile heart. A romance was starting Blanchard requested a photograph, but she refused. She felt that if he really cared, it wouldn’t matter what she looked like.

When the day finally came for him to return from Europe, they scheduled their first meeting —7:00 PM at the Grand Central Station in New York. “You’ll recognize me,” she wrote, “by the red rose I’ll be wearing on my lapel.” So at 7:00 he was in the station looking for a girl whose heart he loved, but whose face he’d never seen.

????????????? I’ll let Mr. Blanchard tell you what happened: A young woman was coming toward me, her figure long and slim. Her blonde hair lay back in curls from her delicate ears; her eyes were blue as flowers. Her lips and chin had a gentle firmness, and in her pale green suit she was like springtime come alive. I stared at her, entirely forgetting to notice that she was not wearing a rose. As I moved, a small, attractive smile curved her lips. “Going my way , sailor?” she murmured.

????????????? Almost uncontrollably I made one step closer to her, and then I saw Hollis Maynell. She was standing almost directly behind the girl. A woman well past 40, she had graying hair tucked under a worn hat. She was more than plump, her thick-ankled feet thrust into low-heeled shoes. The girl in the green suit was walking quickly away. I felt as though I was split in two, so keen was my desire to follow her, and yet so deep was my longing for the woman whose spirit had truly companioned me and upheld my own.

????????????? And there she stood. Her pale, plump face was gentle and sensible, her gray eyes had a warm and kindly twinkle. I did not hesitate. My fingers gripped the small worn blue leather copy of the book that was to identify me to her.

????????????? This would not be love, but it would be something precious, something perhaps even better than love, a friendship for which I had been and must ever be grateful. I squared my shoulders and saluted and held out the book to the woman, even though while I spoke I felt choked by the bitterness of my disappointment.　　"I'm Lieutenant John Blanchard, and you must be Miss Maynell. I am so glad you could meet me; may I take you to dinner?"
　　The woman's face broadened into a tolerant smile. "I don't know what this is about, son," she answered, "but the young lady in the green suit who just went by, she begged me to wear this rose on my coat. And she said if you were to ask me out to dinner, I should go and tell you that she is waiting for you in the big restaurant across the street. She said it was some kind of test!"
? ????????????? It's not difficult to understand and admire Miss Maynell's wisdom. The true nature of a heart is seen in its response to the unattractive. "Tell me whom you love," Houssaye wrote, "And I will tell you who you are． "

1.How did John Blanchard get to know Miss Hollis Maynell?

A. They lived in the same city．????????????????

B. They were both interested in literature．

C. John knew Hollis's name from a library book．??

D. John came across Hollis in a Florida library．

2.Hollis refused to send Blanchard a photo because ?????????? .

A. she was only a middle - aged woman??????????

B. she wasn't confident about her appearance

C. she thought true love is beyond appearance?????

D. she had never taken any photo before they knew

3.How could Blanchard recognize Hollis?

A. She would be wearing a rose on her coat．?????

B. She would be holding a book in her hand．

C. She would be standing behind a young girl．???

D. She would be wearing a scarf around her neck．

4.What was the real Miss Hollis Maynell like?

A. She was a plump woman with graying hair．???

B. She was a slightly fat girl, with blonde hair．

C. She was a middle - aged woman in her forties．??

D. She was a young, pretty girl wearing a green suit．

5.When Blanchard went over to greet the woman, he was????????? ．

A. satisfied and confident

B. disappointed but well - behaved

C. annoyed and bad - mannered

D. shocked but inspired

6.Which of the following can be the best title for the passage?

A. A Test of Love??? ????????????? ????????????? B. The Symbol of Rose

C. Love is blind??? ????????????? ????????????? D. Don't Judge a Book by its Cover

It is difficult for parents of nearly every family to teach their children to be responsible （有责任的）for housework, but with one of the following suggestions, you really can get your children to help at home.

　　 If you give your children the impression that they can never do anything quite right, then they will regard themselves as unfit or unable persons. Unless children believe they can succeed, they will never become totally independent.

　　My daughter Carla’s fifth - grade teacher made every child in her class feel special. When students received less than a prefect test score, she would point out what they had mastered and declared firmly they could learn what they had missed.

　　You can use the same technique when you evaluate （评价）your child’s work at home. Don’t always scold and give lots of praise instead. Talk about what he has done right, not about what he hasn’t done. If your child completes a difficult task, promise him a Sunday trip or a ball game with Dad.

　　Learning is a process（过程）of trying and failing and trying and succeeding. If you teach your children not to fear a mistake of failure, they will learn faster and achieve success at last.

The whole passage deals with ________.

　　A. social education　　　　　　　　B. school education

　　C. family education　　　　　　　　D. pre - school education

The author thinks that________.

　　A. there is no way to get children to help at home

　　B. the more encouragement and praise you give, the more responsible and helpful children will become

　　C. it is very difficult to make children responsible for housework

　　D. children can be forced to help with housework

The article gives us a good suggestion about how to evaluate（评价）your child’s work at home. That is to ________.

　　A. praise his success　　　　　　　 B. promise him a trip

　　C. give him a punishment　　　　　 D. promise him a ball game

The author advises readers to________.

　　A. learn from himself, for he has a good way of teaching

　　B. take pride in Carla’s fifth - grade teacher

　　C. do as what Carla’s teacher did in educating children

　　D. follow Carla’s example because she never fails in the test

Having read the last paragraph, we can conclude that ________.

　　A. pride goes before a fall

　　B. practice makes perfect

　　C. no pains, no gains

D. failure is the mother of success