Love Is Just a Thread

Sometimes I really doubt whether there is love between my parents. Every day they are very busy trying to earn money in order to pay the  ?　36　? tuition for my brother and me. They don't ?　37　? in the romantic ways that I read in books or  I see on TV. My father has a bad temper; it's easy for him to lose his temper.?

One day, my mother was sewing a quilt. I ?　38　? sat down beside her and looked at her.

“Is there any ?　39　? between you and Dad?” I asked her in a very low voice.

My mother stopped her work and raised her head with ?　40　? in her eyes. She didn't answer immediately. Then she bowed her head and continued to sew the quilt.

?　41　? at last I heard my mother say the following words:?

“Susan,” she said ?　42　?.“Look at this thread. Sometimes it appears, but most of it disappears in the quilt. The thread really makes the quilt strong and durable(耐用的).If life is a

?　43　?,then love should be a thread. It can ?　44　? be seen anywhere or ?anytime, but it's really there. Love is ?　45　?.”?

I listened carefully but I couldn't understand her until the next ?　46　?.At that time, my father suddenly got sick seriously. My mother had to stay with him in the hospital for a month. After they were ?　47　?,every day in the morning and dusk(黄昏),my mother helped my father walk ?　48　? on the country road. My father had never been so ?　49　?.Along the country road, there were many beautiful flowers, green grass and trees. The sun gently shone through the leaves. All of these ?　50　? the most beautiful picture in the world. The doctor had said my father would ?　51　? in two months. But after two months he still couldn't walk alone. We were all worried.?

“Dad, how are you feeling now?” I asked him one day.?

“Susan,”he said gently.“To tell you the truth, I just like ?　52　? with your mom. I like this kind of life.” ?　53　? from his eyes, I knew he loved my mother deeply.

Once I thought love meant flowers, gifts and sweet kisses. But from this ?　54　?,I understand that love is just a ?　55　? in the quilt of our life. Love is inside, making life strong and warm.

36. A. expensive    B. low     C. cheap  D. high

37. A. play     B. talk     C. act      D. perform

38. A. silently B. carefully    C. certainly     D. happily

39. A. money  B. love    C. time    D. distance

40. A. surprise       B. pride   C. disappointment  D. satisfaction

41. A. So       B. But     C. And    D. For

42. A. sadly    B. excitedly    C. regretfully  D. thoughtfully

43. A. trouble B. pleasure     C. quilt   D. cloth

44. A. hardly  B. often   C. always       D. ever?

45. A. valuable      B. inside  C. true    D. priceless

46. A. winter  B. autumn      C. summer      D. spring

47. A. free      B. back   C. fine    D. ready?

48. A. continuously       B. worriedly   C. constantly   D. slowly?

49. A. gently  B. perfect       C. pleased       D. thankful

50. A. put up  B. took up      C. made up     D. set up?

51. A. run      B. recover      C. Stand  D. work

52. A. walking       B. living  C. sitting D. chatting?

53. A. Examining   B. Seeing       C. Noticing     D. Reading

54. A. practice       B. observation C. experience  D. activity?

55. A. thread  B. thing   C. jewel  D. light

HOLIDAY HOMES IN MALLORCA　　
Holiday houses in Mallorca sailing and fishing port—quiet even in summer season. Beautifully situated houses with sights of sea and mountains, yet near to shops and restaurants. Cars and bicycles for hire. Sailing and sports clubs nearby.
ITALY IN COMFORT　　
Luxury coach(carriage) trips of Italy, out of normal holiday season. 21days to visit five Italian cities starting from London 1st May, 1st September. The trips are guided by profess or Martin Davis, head of Italian Studies, London University. See the arts and culture of historic Italy.
KIBBUTZ HOLIDAYS IN ISRAEL(以色列)　　
Working holidays on a kibbutz (co-operative farm) in Israel. All nationalities welcome for one to three months, if prepared to work morning with kibbutz members. Accommodation, food and trips to historic sights all provided free—you pay only for the special low- cost return flight.
TWO WEEKS ON A CARIBBEAN ISLAND　　
Two- week holidays in the Hotel Splendid, on a lovely beach with golden sands and deep-blue sea. Tennis, golf, sailing and all water sports, trips around the island arranged. Near to town of Castries with lively evening entertainment—dancing.　　
1st November—31st March = ￡720 per person　　
1st April—30th October = ￡850 per person　　
Jack and his wife Mary, who have recently retired, want to see places of cultural and historic interest abroad, but Mary hates flying.　　
Peter and Maria, university students, want to travel as far as possible on little money, and would like to get to know a country by working there for three months with other young people.
Michael, a young computer programmer, has been working hard and needs a holiday to relax in winter. He would like to go somewhere warmer and sunny, where he can swim in the sea, and he enjoys sports and dancing.　　
Harry and Kate, both teachers, and their two sons, have to take their holiday during the school summer holidays. There must be plenty for the boys to do, although Harry and Kate just want to have beautiful scenery, good food and wine and peace.
【小题1】 Michael would most probably go to ________ for his holiday.　　

Mr. Smith wrote to your newspaper to complain that his telephone was out of order for more than a week.

We received a complaint from Mr. Smith at 2:30 p.m. on May 6. The next day we sent workmen to Mr. Smith’s house to repair his telephone. The men discovered that there was something wrong with the underground cable. They dug up 15 feet of the cable and saw many white ants. These ants had attacked the cable and damaged it badly.

On May 8~10, our workmen dug up another 30 feet of the cable and found that it was also damaged. On May 11~13 the men took out the useless cable and replaced it with a new one. To do this they had to connect more than 4 000 wires and the work was not easy.

On May 14, the cable was completely repaired and Mr. Smith’s telephone was working properly. He did not have to pay for the work.

Yours faithfully,

B.Jones

Manager of Telephone Company

1.Mr. Jones wrote to a newspaper because he wanted to ______.

A. explain why his telephone did not work properly

B.complain about his telephone

C.explain why Mr. Smith’s telephone was out of order for several days

D.complain that the Telephone Company was slow to repair his telephone

2.The workmen spent ______ days in repairing the cable.

A. eight　　　　　　　　　　    B.three　　　　　　　　　　　　 C.four　　　　　　　　   D.six

3.The workmen had to join thousands of wires when they ______ the old cable.

A. damaged　　　　　　　　  B.repaired　　　　　　　　　　 C.replaced　　　　　　　　    D.put in

4.The ______ to the cable were paid by the Telephone Company.

A. damage　　　　　　　　    B.damages　　　　　　　　    C.repairs　　　　　　　　　　  D.replacement

5.The word “discovered” means ______.

A. were learned　　　　　　 B.were seeing　　　　　　   C.find out　　　　　　　　　　 D.found out

　　Some time ago ,I discovered that one of my chairs had a broken leg. I didn’t think there would be any difficulty in getting it mended ,as there are a whole lot of antique（古董）shops near my home. So I left home one morning carrying the chair with me. I went into the first shop expecting a friendly reception（接待）. I was quite wrong. The man wouldn't oven look at my chair.

　　The second shop, though slightly more polite, was just the same, and the third and the fourth - so I decided that my approach must be wrong.

　　I went into the fifth shop with a plan in my mind. I placed the chair on the floor and said to the shopkeeper,“ Would you like to buy a chair?” He looked it over carefully and said,“ Yes, not a bad chair. How much do you want for it, sir?” “Twenty pounds,”I said. “OK, ”he said, “I’ll give you twenty pounds. ”“It ‘s got a slightly broken leg,”I said. “Yes, I saw that, it's nothing.”

　　Everything was going according to plan and I was getting excited. “What will you do with it?”I asked. “Oh, it will be easy to sell once the repair is done. ”“I'll buy it,”I said. “What do you mean？ You’ve just sold it to me,”he said. “Yes, I know but I’ve changed my mind. I'm sorry, I'll give you twenty -seven pounds for it. ”“ Your must be crazy, ”he said. Then, suddenly the penny dropped. “I know what you want. You want me to repair your chair. ”“ You’re right, ”I said. “And what would you have done if I had walked in and said,’Would you mend this chair for me　I wouldn't have agreed to do it,” he said. “We don’t do repairs, not enough money in it and too much trouble. But I’ll mend this for you, shall we say for a fiver?”He was a very nice man and was greatly amused（感到有趣）by the whole thing.

　　We can learn from the text that in the first shop the writer ________.

　　A. was rather impolite

　　B. was warmly received

　　C. asked the shopkeeper to buy his chair

　　D. asked the shopkeeper to repair his chair

　　The expression “the penny dropped” in the last paragraph means the shopkeeper ________.

　　A. changed his mind　　　　　　　 B. accepted the offer

　　C. saw the writer’s purpose　　　　　D. decided to help the writer

　　How much did the writer pay?

　　A. ￡ 5.　　　　B. ￡ 7.　　　　 C. ￡ 20.　　　　D. ￡ 27.

　　From the text, we can learn that the writer was ________

　　A. hanest　　　　B. careful　　　　C. smart　　　　 D. funny

Stepping into a pool of water is common enough, but who could ever imagine stepping into a pool of fish? In February of 1974, Bill Tapp, an Australian farmer, saw a rain of fish that covered his farm. How surprised he must have been when he heard many fish hitting against his roof!

　　 What caused this strange occurrence? This is a question that had long puzzled people who study fish. The answer turned out to be a combination of wind and storm.

　　When it is spring in the northern part of the world, it is fall in Australia. Throughout the autumn season, terrible storms arise and rains flood the land. The strong winds sweep over Australia like huge vacuum cleaners, collecting seaweed, pieces of wood, and even schools of fish. Strong winds may carry these bits of nature for many miles before dropping them on fields, houses, and astonished people.

　　Although they seem unusual, fish-falls occur quite frequently in Australia. When Bill Tapp was asked to describe the scene of fish, he remarked, “They look like millions of dead birds falling down.” His statement is not surprising. The wonders of the natural world are as common as rain. Nature, with its infinite wonders, can create waterfalls that flow upward and fish that fall out of the sky.

　　56. What is this passage about?

　　A. A sad story. 　　　　　　　　　　　　B. A rain of fish.

　　C. Australia’s northern part.　　　　　D. The damage done by floods.

　　57. Fish-falls occur in Australia_________ .

　　A. quite often 　　　　　　B. on large farms

　　C. only in winter　　　　　D. when the air is calm

　　58. It is a known fact that ________.

　　A. one should watch where one steps

　　B. Bill Tapp is a scientist who studies farming

　　C. the natural world can never create waterfalls that fall upward

　　D. the seasons in the southern part are different from those in the northern part

 　59. The word “infinite” is closest in meaning to _________.

　　A. easy 　　　B. difficult 　　　C. countless 　　　D. dangerous