He met her at the party. She was so outstanding, with many boys around her, while he was so normal, with nobody paying attention to him.

At the end of the party, he invited her to have coffee with him. She was surprised, but due to being polite, she agreed.

They sat in a nice coffee shop. He was too nervous to say anything, and she felt uncomfortable, thinking, “Please let me go home.”

Suddenly he asked the waiter, “Would you please give me some salt? I’d like to put it in my coffee.”

 Everybody stared at him---so strange! His face turned red, but, still, he put the salt in his coffee and drank it.

She asked him curiously, “Why do you have this hobby?”

He replied, “When I was a little boy, I lived near the sea. I liked playing in the sea, and I could feel the taste of the sea, just like the taste of the salty coffee. Now every time I have the salty coffee, I always think of my childhood. I miss my hometown so much. I miss my parents who are still living there.”

While saying that, tears filled his eyes. She was deeply touched. That’s his true feeling, from the bottom of his heart. A man who can tell about his homesickness must be a man who loves home, cares about home, and has a good sense of responsibility.

Then she also started to speak, about her faraway hometown, her childhood, her family. That was a really nice talk, also a beautiful beginning of their story.

They continued to date. She found that actually he was a man who meets all her demands: he was kind-hearted, warm and careful. He was such a good person but she almost missed him!

Thanks to his salty coffee! Then the story was just like every beautiful love story, the princess married the prince, then they were living a happy life…And, every time she made coffee for him, she put some salt in the coffee.

After 40 years, he passed away, leaving her a letter which said, “My dearest, please forgive my whole-life lie. This was the only lie I said to you ---the salty coffee.”

“Remember the first time we dated? I was so nervous at that time. Actually I wanted some sugar, but I said salt. It was hard for me to change so I just went ahead.”

“I tried to tell you the truth many times in my life, but I was too afraid to do that, as I have promised not to lie to you for anything.”

“Now I’m dying, I’m afraid of nothing so I tell you the truth: I don’t like the salty coffee. What a strange and bad taste! But I have had the salty coffee for my whole life!”

“Since I knew you, I never feel sorry for anything I do for you. Having you with me is my biggest happiness for my whole life. If I can live for a second time, I still want to know you and have you for my whole life, even though I have to drink the salty coffee again.”

Her tears made the letter totally wet.

Someday, someone asked her, “What’s the taste of salty coffee?” “It’s sweet,” she replied.

After ordering some salt to put into the coffee, the young man must have felt _________.

A. excited         B. satisfied          C. embarrassed        D. displeased

Why did the man have salty coffee all his life?

A. To change lifestyle.                   B. To please his wife.

C. To keep his word.                     D. To remember the past

What does the write mean by saying “she almost missed him”?

A. She meant to leave him on their first date.

B. She thought of him every now and then.

C. She nearly misunderstood his explanation.

D. She could hardly believe this simple fact.

From the passage, we can see that the man is ___________.

A. dishonest but responsible              B. shy but kind-hearted

C. caring and loyal                       D. warm and understanding

It is implied in the passage that the woman ___________ when reading the letter left by her husband.

A. was confused about his behavior          B. was touched by his white lie

C. felt sorry to know the truth too late    D. felt angry about his dishonesty

    When I was a child, I often dreamed of the time when I could leave home and escape to the city. We lived on a small farm and it was very difficult for us to know what was happening outside the small farm, especially in the winter when we were quite cut off from the outside world. As soon as I left school, I packed my bags and moved to the capital. However, I soon discovered that city life has its own problems, too.

    One big disadvantage is money. It costs so much to go out, not to mention basic needs like food and housing. Another disadvantage is pollution. I suffer from a disease that makes breathing very difficult and the air is so bad that I am afraid to go outside as I like, even in the summer. Then there is the problem of traveling round. Although I have a car, I seldom use it because of the traffic jams. One choice is to go by bicycle, but that can be quite dangerous.

    Of course there are advantages. First, there is so much to do in the city, whatever you taste in culture or entertainment. Besides, there are wonderful jobs and greater chances of moving to a more important job or position. Finally, if you like shopping, the variety (多样性) of goods is very surprising—and, what is more, shops are often only a short walk away.

Is life better then, in the city? Perhaps it is, when you are in your teens or twenties. However, as you get older, and especially if you have small children, the peace of the countryside may seem preferable. I certainly hope to move back there soon.

56. What was the writer always thinking about when he was a child?

   A. Staying on the farm.

   B. Moving to the countryside.

   C. Leaving home for the city.

   D. Running away from the school.

57. What can we learn from the text?

   A. The writer is very old now.                    B. The writer is in good health.

   C. The write prefers driving a car.                  D. The writer lives in the city now.

58. In the passage, the writer tries to __________.

   A. express his opinions about way of life      

   B. describe his life in the countryside

   C. show an interest in the outside world

   D. persuade the reader to live in the city

59. How is the passage mainly developed?

   A. By questioning.                                             B. By comparing.

   C. By listing examples.                                       D. By giving explanations.

I came to India a year ago to find a village in which I could live and write but it was many months before I settled down happily in this Himalayan community.

    I wasted a lot of time looking for the “typical” village. Yet no such thing exists. Conditions are quite different from village to village. But the villages I stayed in had much in common---poor, dirty and backward. Often the villagers themselves were puzzled and doubtful. Why had I come? I had put aside my work as a political journalist because my ideas had changed. I had come to believe that what was happening in the Third World was more important than anything else. But to understand how three—quarters of the world population live, and what effect their future might have on ours, I felt that I first had to try and share their way of life.

   In the end I chose a mountain village because it was little cooler than those in the plains. I took the bus from town along a rocky road. Then came a rough walk down a steep path to the river. After this I began the climb into the hills. Whenever I stopped to catch my breath, there was a beautiful scene. After several hours’ walk the village came into sight.

After the writer had arrived in India,________.

A.he spent a year writing about the place he lived in

B.he spent quite some time looking for a suitable place to live in

C.he stayed in an Indian village working for the poor

D.he lived in a Himalayan community for many months.

While looking for a typical village, the writer found__________.

A.he was searching for the impossible

B.all the villages were exactly the same

C.he was doing something enjoyable

D.the villagers were curious about him

Before coming to India, the writer________.

A.had been a successful politician

B.had made a decision to work for India

C.had studied India culture for some months

D.had worked for newspapers and magazines

The write decided to change his way of life because__________.

A.he no longer found his work interesting

B.he hoped to live a peaceful life in the countryside

C.he wanted to find out more about the Third World

D.he wanted to try his luck in a foreign country

The village the writer finally chose to live in_________.

A.lay at the end of a rocky road

B.had a beautiful sight of the river

C.was a short walk from the river

D.had better weather than those in the plains.

If there's a child in your house who likes pixies（精灵）, nature, or magic, Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure is sure to be a hit． This beautifully animated film is a first class production in every way, and features the familiar voices of Kristin Chenoweth, Anjelica Huston, Jane Horrocks, Lucy Liu, and Raven Symone．The movie offers up an adventure that's easy enough to follow, but complex enough to hold one's
attention, and even throws in a nice little moral about friendship．What can I say? I'm pleasantly surprised．
The promising Mae Whitman voices Tinker Bell herself, a far more dynamic character than we met in Peter Pan．Though Tinker still possesses her fiery temper,  it doesn't manifest itself immediately,  and takes a backseat to this pixie's many good qualities． As it turns out, Tinker Bell is extremely skilled at tinkering （修补 ）, so she is a natural choice to build a special scepter（拐杖）,for Pixie Hollow's Autumn Celebration．The scepter will hold the moonstone through which the light of the Blue Moon will pass,  supplying Pixie Hollow with enough pixie dust for the year ahead．
For days, Tinkers works hard on the perfect scepter design while her good friend Terrence does his best to assist． When Terrence accidentally breaks the Moon Stone, Tinker Bell "explodes and sends him away．One of Tinker's more literal friends finds this extremely concerning, as she doesn't' quite understand
that the outburst was emotional rather than physical - very funny indeed．
After hearing the legend of the lost treasure, Tinker Bell strikes out on her own to find a new Moon Stone．She faces many difficulties and meets new friends along the way, but when Terrence comes to the rescue at Tinker's darkest hour, she realizes the value of a truly loyal friend． Though the film offers a positive message to young viewers, it's the animation that makes Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure stand out．Pixie Hollow is a charming, visually stunning world basked in lush colors．It's so lovely, so detailed, so
three - dimensional that you almost want to step inside．
【小题1】From the first paragraph, we can learn that        ．

I came to India a year ago to find a village in which I could live and write but it was many months before I settled down happily in this Himalayan community.
I wasted a lot of time looking for the “typical” village. Yet no such thing exists. Conditions are quite different from village to village. But the villages I stayed in had much in common---poor, dirty and backward. Often the villagers themselves were puzzled and doubtful. Why had I come? I had put aside my work as a political journalist because my ideas had changed. I had come to believe that what was happening in the Third World was more important than anything else. But to understand how three—quarters of the world population live, and what effect their future might have on ours, I felt that I first had to try and share their way of life.
In the end I chose a mountain village because it was little cooler than those in the plains. I took the bus from town along a rocky road. Then came a rough walk down a steep path to the river. After this I began the climb into the hills. Whenever I stopped to catch my breath, there was a beautiful scene. After several hours’ walk the village came into sight.
【小题1】After the writer had arrived in India,________.