On the Eve of the Spring Festival, we Chinese people like to play with fireworks, and the noise doesn’t ________ until after midnight.

A. die from             B. die off             C. die out              D. die down

One day，four lawyers were riding their horses along a country road. There had been a rain. Water was dripping (滴) from the trees，and the grass was wet. They rode slowly，talking and laughing. Suddenly they heard some noises from the tree above them. “What is the matter?” asked the first lawyer. “Oh, it's only some old birds!” said the second lawyer. “The storm made one of the babies fall out of the nest. It is too young to fly, and the mother bird is very worried.” “What a pity! It’ll die down there in the grass,” said the third lawyer. “It doesn't matter. It's only a bird,” said the second lawyer. Then they rode on, talking and laughing as before. But the fourth lawyer, whose name was Abraham Lincoln, stopped. He got down from his horse and took the little one in his big warm hands.
“Never mind, my little fellow ,” said Mr. Lincoln. “I will put you back in your little nest.” He climbed up the tree and put the bird softly into their warm little home. A few minutes later, Mr. Lincoln joined them again. His shoes were covered with mud and he was wet. Then the other three laughed at him. They thought it was foolish for a strong man to do so much just for a young bird. “Gentlemen,” said Mr. Lincoln, “I could not sleep tonight if I had left the helpless bird in the grass.” Later Abraham Lincoln became very famous as a lawyer. He also became the president of America. He was one of the greatest American presidents.
【小题1】The reason why the mother bird was worried was that __________.

It was a cold winter’s night when I stopped for gas on my way home from work. I was tired and had a slight   36  .

I worked in a   37   doctor’s office and this was one of those days when the unexpected happened, making the schedule run   38   than usual. It seemed I was going to be late   39   home and my husband, being the   40   person, would be ready to pronounce me late once again. Maybe   41   I hurried, I could still make it home.

I was heading inside to   42   for my gas when I noticed an older couple at the counter. I heard them asking for   43   to the local hospital. It was the same hospital that I had just   44   a few minutes ago.

The young man at the counter was trying to be   45   in explaining how to get there, with two other people making   46  . One of them was   47   trying to give them a whole different route back. It was then that I walked over to the couple and said, “Would you like to follow me to the   48  ?”

A look of   49   crossed the woman’s face.

“I’m going right by there,” I said, which wasn’t a(an)   50   since I had just made up my mind to do   51   that.

I got in my car and began the journey back. I was trying to watch to be sure they were right   52   me. It took only fifteen minutes to get there as rush hour traffic was beginning to   53  . I felt better than I had all day and my headache was nearly gone.

Later, as I arrived home, my husband   54  , “So you aren’t ever late any more.”

I said, “Sometimes it’s   55   to be late.”

1.A. break      B. fever            C. cold         D. headache

2. A. foreign       B. common       C. busy         D. noisy

3.A. earlier        B. later            C. easier           D. simpler

4. A. getting       B. cooking      C. calling          D. working

5. A. tough     B. punctual     C. generous     D. careful

6.A. as         B. since            C. while            D. if 

7.A. pay        B. change           C. wait         D. search

8.A. opinions   B. trouble          C. directions       D. money

9.A. reached        B. visited          C. called           D. left

10.A. skilled       B. helpful          C. experienced      D. active     

11.A. comments  B. promises     C. jokes            D. offers

12. A. only     B. still            C. even         D. ever

13.A. station       B. office           C. hospital     D. hotel

14.A. panic     B. relief           C. sadness      D. peace

15.A. duty      B. fact         C. reason           D. lie 

16.A. partly        B. properly     C. exactly      D. perfectly

17.A. across        B. before           C. beside           D. behind

18.A. go up     B. die down     C. speed up     D. turn down

19.A. teased        B. shouted      C. burst            D. laughed

20.A. possible      B. usual            C. good         D. safe

As a result these endangered animals may even        .

   A. die away     B. die down      C. die out      D. die off

The English in the future will be quite different from the English of today. It is possible that some English words may even ________ completely.