As kids, my friends and I spent a lot of time out in the woods. “The woods” was our part-time address, destination, purpose, and excuse. If I went to a friend’s house and found him not at home, his mother might say, “Oh, he’s out in the woods, ” with a tone (语气) of airy acceptance. It’s similar to the tone people sometimes use nowadays to tell me that someone I’m looking for is on the golf course or at the gym, or even “away from his desk.” For us ten-year-olds, “being out in the woods” was just an excuse to do whatever we feel like for a while.

We sometimes told ourselves that what we were doing in the woods was exploring. Exploring was a more popular idea back then than it is today. History seemed to be mostly about explorers. Our explorations, though, seemed to have less system than the historic kind: something usually came up along the way. Say we stayed in the woods, throwing rocks, shooting frogs, picking blackberries, digging in what we were briefly persuaded was an Italian burial mound (坟冢).

Often we got “lost” and had to climb a tree to find out where we were. If you read a story in which someone does that successfully, be skeptical: the topmost branches are usually too skinny to hold weight, and we could never climb high enough to see anything except other trees. There were four or five trees that we visited regularly—tall beeches, easy to climb and comfortable to sit in.

It was in a tree, too, that our days of fooling around in the woods came to an end. By then some of us has reached seventh grade and had begun the rough ride of adolescence（青春期）. In March, the month when we usually took to the woods again after winter, two friends and I set out to go exploring. We climbed a tree, and all of a sudden it occurred to all three of us at the same time that we really were rather big to be up in a tree. Soon there would be the spring dances on Friday evenings in the high school cafeteria (自助餐厅).

1．The author and his fiends were often out in the woods to _________.

A. spend their free time                                     B. play golf and other sports

C. avoid doing their schoolwork                         D. keep away from their parents

2．What can we infer from Paragraph 2?

A. The activities in the woods were well planned.

B. Human history is not the result of exploration.

C. Exploration should be a systematic activity.

D. The author explored in the woods aimlessly.

3．The underlined word “skeptical” in Paragraph 3 is closest in meaning to _________.

A. calm                        B. doubtful                   C. serious                     D. optimistic

4．How does the author feel about his childhood?

A. Happy but short.                                                 B. Lonely but memorable.

C. Boring and meaningless.                                D. Long and unforgettable.

A. Goods for auction sales

B. Definition of bidding

C. Way to sell more goods by auction

D. Auction sales in history

E. Brief introduction to auctions

F. Making a larger profit as an auctioneer

Auctions are public sales of goods, conducted by an officially approved auctioneer. He asks the crowd assembled in the auction-room to make offers, or "bids", for the various items on sale. He encourages buyers to bid higher figures,and finally names the highest bidder as the buyer of the good. This is called "knocking down" the goods, for the bidding ends when the auctioneer strikes a small hammer on a table at which he stands.

The ancient Roman probably invented sales by auction, and the English word comes from the Latin auction, meaning "increase". The Romans usually sold in this way the goods taken in war. In England in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, goods were often sold "by the candle", a short candle was lit by the auctioneer, and bids could be made while it stayed alight.

Practically all goods whose qualities vary are sold by auction. Among these are coffee skins, wool, tea, furs, silk and wines. Auction sales are also usual for land and property. Furniture pictures, rare books, old china and similar works of art.

An auction is usually advertised beforehand with full particulars often articles to be sold and where and when they can be viewed by potential buyers. If the advertisement cannot give full details, catalogues are printed, and each group of goods to be sold together called a "lot" is usually given a number. The auctioneer need not begin with LOT I and continue in the order of numbers, he may wait until he notices the fact that certain buyers are in the room and then produce the lots they are likely to be interested in.

The auctioneer's services are paid for in the form of a percentage of the price the goods are sold for. The auctioneer therefore has a direct interest in pushing up the bidding as high as possible. He will not waste time by starting the bidding too low. He will also play on the opponents among his buyers and succeed in getting a high price by encouraging two business competitors to bid against each other.

（注：E 填涂AB　　　　　　　　 F填涂AC　　　　　　 G填涂AD ）

三节．阅读理解（40%）
阅读理解下面的短文，然后按要求答题。
I was born in New York, but I grew up in San Francisco. I began to live in London 25 years ago. If I am asked now where I want to live forever, I would say London. But I will always be American.
San Francisco, like London, has many parks. Every day my sisters and I were taken to play in the parks as children. I didn't go to school. I only had three hours of formal education when I was five. I was sent to school in the morning but came home at noon on the first day. I said I didn't enjoy it and hadn't learned anything. My parents thought that school was unsuitable for me. They agreed with me, so I never went back to school.
Then my mother taught me and my two sisters at home, in the way of an English lady who had good education. We learned languages and reading more than sciences and maths. Sometimes she taught us herself, but we also had other teachers. They asked us to take lessons every day. About once a week we walked to Golden Gate Park. While we were walking, my mother taught me to read music. One day I noticed a little toy train in the window of a shop and I remember now how I'd like to have it. I couldn't say "r" when I was small. My mother said if I could say an "r" well, I would have the toy train. I practiced and practiced. Then one morning I woke everybody up with my "r"s. I got the toy train. I usually get the things I want in life — but I work hard for them.
1 The writer ___ .
A. was born in San Francisco      B. likes living in London
C. is living in New York now      D. doesn't like America
2. The writer didn't go to school in America because ___ .
A. his mother wanted him to go to school in English
B. his parents didn't think formal education was right for him
C. his mother wanted him to play outdoors in the parks
D. he couldn't get on well with the other children
3. Which of the following is TRUE?
A. The writer was taught by his mother and other teachers.
B. The writer had no education at all.
C. The writer didn't have lessons every day.
D. The writer walked to the park to learn languages once a week.
4. The writer got the little toy train at last because ___ .
A. his mother gave him the money
B. he tried his best to read music
C. he wanted it very much
D. his mother was pleased with his progress

三节．阅读理解（40%）

阅读理解下面的短文，然后按要求答题。

I was born in New York, but I grew up in San Francisco. I began to live in London 25 years ago. If I am asked now where I want to live forever, I would say London. But I will always be American.

San Francisco, like London, has many parks. Every day my sisters and I were taken to play in the parks as children. I didn't go to school. I only had three hours of formal education when I was five. I was sent to school in the morning but came home at noon on the first day. I said I didn't enjoy it and hadn't learned anything. My parents thought that school was unsuitable for me. They agreed with me, so I never went back to school.

Then my mother taught me and my two sisters at home, in the way of an English lady who had good education. We learned languages and reading more than sciences and maths. Sometimes she taught us herself, but we also had other teachers. They asked us to take lessons every day. About once a week we walked to Golden Gate Park. While we were walking, my mother taught me to read music. One day I noticed a little toy train in the window of a shop and I remember now how I'd like to have it. I couldn't say "r" when I was small. My mother said if I could say an "r" well, I would have the toy train. I practiced and practiced. Then one morning I woke everybody up with my "r"s. I got the toy train. I usually get the things I want in life — but I work hard for them.

1 The writer ___ .

A. was born in San Francisco      B. likes living in London

C. is living in New York now      D. doesn't like America

2. The writer didn't go to school in America because ___ .

A. his mother wanted him to go to school in English

B. his parents didn't think formal education was right for him

C. his mother wanted him to play outdoors in the parks

D. he couldn't get on well with the other children

3. Which of the following is TRUE?

A. The writer was taught by his mother and other teachers.

B. The writer had no education at all.

C. The writer didn't have lessons every day.

D. The writer walked to the park to learn languages once a week.

4. The writer got the little toy train at last because ___ .

A. his mother gave him the money

B. he tried his best to read music

C. he wanted it very much

D. his mother was pleased with his progress

三节．阅读理解（40%）

阅读理解下面的短文，然后按要求答题。

I was born in New York, but I grew up in San Francisco. I began to live in London 25 years ago. If I am asked now where I want to live forever, I would say London. But I will always be American.

San Francisco, like London, has many parks. Every day my sisters and I were taken to play in the parks as children. I didn't go to school. I only had three hours of formal education when I was five. I was sent to school in the morning but came home at noon on the first day. I said I didn't enjoy it and hadn't learned anything. My parents thought that school was unsuitable for me. They agreed with me, so I never went back to school.

Then my mother taught me and my two sisters at home, in the way of an English lady who had good education. We learned languages and reading more than sciences and maths. Sometimes she taught us herself, but we also had other teachers. They asked us to take lessons every day. About once a week we walked to Golden Gate Park. While we were walking, my mother taught me to read music. One day I noticed a little toy train in the window of a shop and I remember now how I'd like to have it. I couldn't say "r" when I was small. My mother said if I could say an "r" well, I would have the toy train. I practiced and practiced. Then one morning I woke everybody up with my "r"s. I got the toy train. I usually get the things I want in life — but I work hard for them.

1 The writer ___ .

A. was born in San Francisco      B. likes living in London

C. is living in New York now      D. doesn't like America

2. The writer didn't go to school in America because ___ .

A. his mother wanted him to go to school in English

B. his parents didn't think formal education was right for him

C. his mother wanted him to play outdoors in the parks

D. he couldn't get on well with the other children

3. Which of the following is TRUE?

A. The writer was taught by his mother and other teachers.

B. The writer had no education at all.

C. The writer didn't have lessons every day.

D. The writer walked to the park to learn languages once a week.

4. The writer got the little toy train at last because ___ .

A. his mother gave him the money

B. he tried his best to read music

C. he wanted it very much

D. his mother was pleased with his progress