John Fisher, a builder, and his wife Elizabeth wanted more living space, so they left their small flat for an old 40-metter-high castle tower. They have spent five years turning it into a beautiful home with six floors, winning three architectural prizes.

“I love the space, and being private,” Elizabeth says. “You feel separated from the world. If I am in the kitchen, which is 25 meters above the ground floor, and the doorbell rings, I don’t have to answer it because visitors can’t see I am in!”

There are 142 steps to the top so if I go up and down five or six times a day, it’s very good exercise! But having to carry heavy things to the top is terrible, so I never buy more than two bags of shopping from the supermarket at a time. Apart from that, it’s a brilliant place to live.

“When we first saw the place, I asked my father’s advice about buying it, because we couldn’t decide. After paying for it, we were a bit worried because it looked awful. But we really loved it, and knew how we wanted it to look.”

“Living here can be difficult-yesterday I climbed a four-meter ladder to clean the windows. But  when you stand on the roof you can see all the way out to sea on a clear day, and that’s a wonderful experience. I am really glad we moved. ”

1．What is the writer trying to do in the text?

      A．describe how to turn an old tower into a house.

       B．recommend a particular builder

       C．describe what it is like to live in a tower

       D．explain how to win prizes for building work

2．From the text, a reader can find out

       A．Why visitors are not welcome at John and Elizabeth’s house.

       B．Why Elizabeth asked her father to buy the tower

       C．Why Elizabeth exercises every day

       D．Why John and Elizabeth left their flat.

3．Which of the following best describes Elizabeth’s feelings about the tower?

       A．she wanted it as soon as she saw it

       B．she likes most things about it

       C．she ha been worried since they paid for it

       D．she finds it unsuitable to live in

4．What problem does Elizabeth have with living in such a tall building?

      A．Her visitors find it hard to see if she is at home

       B．She feels separated from others

       C．She cannot bring home lots of shopping at once

       D．It is impossible to clean any of the windows.

5．How will John and Elizabeth advertise their tower if they sell it?

A

B

C

D

D
Men and women who serve in the United States armed forces are proud of the names like
doughboy and GI Joe．The names have come from the American Civil War．
After the American Civil War in the eighteen sixties，a writer in a publication called Beadle’s Monthly used the word doughboy to describe Civil War soldiers．But word expert Charles Funk says that early writer could not explain where the name started．
About twenty years later，someone did explain．She was the wife of the famous American general George Custer．Elizabeth Custer wrote that a doughboy was a sweet food served to Navy men on ships．She also said the name was given to the large buttons on the clothes of soldiers．For example，the soldiers enjoyed their new GI very much．They looked smart and felt comfortable．Elizabeth Custer believed the name changed over time to mean the soldiers themselves．
By World War Two，soldiers were called other names．The one most often heard was GI, or GI Joe．Most people say the letters GI were a short way to say general issue or government issue．The name came to mean several things．It could mean the soldier himself．It could mean things given to soldiers when they joined the military such as weapons，equipment or clothes．And，for some reason，it could mean to organize，or clean．Soldiers often say，“We GI’d the place．”And when an area looks good．soldiers may say the area is“GI．”Strangely，though，GI can also mean poor work，a job badly done．
Some students of military words have another explanation of GI．They say that instead of government issue or general issue，GI came from the words galvanized iron．The American soldier was said to be like galvanized iron，a material produced for special strength．The Dictionary of Soldier Talk says GI was used for the words galvanized iron in a publication about the vehicles of the early twentieth century．
Today，a doughboy or GI may be called a grunt(咕哝声)．Nobody is sure of the exact beginning of the word．But，the best idea probably is that the name comes from the sound that troops make when ordered to march long distances carrying heavy equipment．
68．Originally the word“doughboy”referred to             ．
A．the American Civil War             B．a word expert in the 1860s
C．the American Civil War writers      D．a sweet food and the buttons
69．It was           who found how the name doughboy came about．
A．Elizabeth Custer                        B．George Custer
C．Charles Funk                                 D．Beadle's Monthly
70．What does GI mean in the example in Paragraph 4 ?
A．Clothes．                                B．Weapons．               
C．Government issues．                    D．Vehicles．
71．Which of the following statements is TRUE?
A．Navy soldiers used to 1ike sweet food a lot in the wars．
B．Much noise was made when soldiers carried equipment．
C．Galvanized iron was a symbol of the soldiers．
D．A US soldier can be called a doughboy，a GI or a grunt．

The Winter Palace was built between 1754 and 1762 for Empress Elizabeth, the daughter of Peter the Great. Unfortunately, Elizabeth died before the palace was completed and only Catherine the Great and her successors were able to enjoy the great interior (内部) of Elizabeth’s home. Many parts of the palace’s impressive interior have been remodeled since then, particularly after 1837, when a huge fire destroyed most of the building. Today the Winter Palace, together with four more buildings arranged side by side along the river embankment, houses the extensive collections of the Hermitage. The Hermitage Museum is the largest art gallery in Russia and is among the largest and most respected art museums in the world.

    The museum was founded in 1764 when Catherine the Great bought a collection of 255 paintings from the German city of Berlin. Today, the Hermitage boasts over 2.7 million exhibits and displays, a diverse range of art and artifacts (手工艺品) from all over the world and throughout history (from Ancient Egypt to the early 20th century Europe). The Hermitage’s collections include works by Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael and Titian, a collection of Rembrandts and Rubens, many French Impressionist works by Renoir, Cezanne, Monet and Pissarro, and several works by Rodin. The collection is really worth a stop for all those interested in art and history. The experts say that if you were to spend a minute looking at each exhibit on show in the Hermitage, you would need 11 years before you’d seen them all. However, we suggest you choose a guided tour instead!

    Location: Dvortsovaia Naberezhnaia, 32-38.

    Open: 10:30 am to 5:30 pm, Sunday till 5 pm.

    Closed: Mondays. Ticket-office closes 1 hour before closing time.

1. According to the passage, the Winter Palace was built for ______.

A. Catherine the Great.      B. Empress Elizabeth

C. Peter the Great.           D. Empress Elizabeth’s successors

2. What’s the main reason why many parts of the palace’s impressive interior were remodeled?

A. Catherine the Great and her successors didn’t like the design.

B. Empress Elizabeth wanted to remodel the palace.

C. A huge fire destroyed most of the building in 1837.

D. The building became old itself.

3. According to the passage, which of the following is CORRECT?

A. The Winter Palace was built between 1753 and 1761.

B. The Hermitage’s collections don’t include works by Monet.       

C. The Hermitage Museum is the largest art gallery in Russia.

D. The Hermitage Museum was founded in 1764 when Empress Elizabeth bought a collection of 255 paintings from Berlin.

4.If you want to visit the museum, when can you go?

A. At 10:30 am on Monday.      B. At 10:00 am on Tuesday.

C. At 11:00 am on Sunday.       D. None of the above.

Elizabeth Clay decided to go home and spend the holiday with her parents. The next day she drove her old car home along the road.    36    she found she got a flat. The 22-year-old student    37    to stop her car by the side of the road in the winter night and opened the trunk. No    38   tire.
At this time, a car   39   . Paul and Diane told Clay to   40    them to a service station near their    41   . They arrived to see that it had no suitable tires to   42    with her car. “Follow us home,” said Paul.
The couple called around to find a tire. No   43     . They decided to let her use their own car. “Here,” Paul said, handing Clay a    44    of keys, “Take our car. We   45    be using it over the holiday.”
Clay was    46     . “But I’m going all the way to South Carolina, and I’ll be gone for two weeks,” she    47    them.
“We know,” Paul said. “We’ll be    48    when you get back. Here’s our number if you need to    49    us.”
Unable to believe her eyes, Clay watched as the    50     put her luggage into their car and then   51     her off. Two weeks later she    52    to find her old car cleaned inside and out with three new tires and the radio     53  .
“Thank you so much,” she said. “How much do I    54    you?” “Oh, no,” Paul said, “we don’t want any money. It’s our    55    .” Clay realized that while it might have been their pleasure, it was now her duty to pass on their “do unto others” spirit.

B
I’ve loved my mother’s desk since I was just tall enough to sit above the top of it. Mother sat writing letters. Standing by her chair, looking at the ink bottle, pens, and white paper, I decided that the act of writing must be a most wonderful thing in the world.
Years later, during her final illness, Mother kept different things for my sister and brother. “But the desk,” she said again, “is for Elizabeth.”
I never saw her angry, never saw her cry. I knew she loved me; she showed in action. But as a young girl. I wanted to have heart-to-heart talks between mother and daughter.
They never happened. And a gulf opened between us. I was “too emotional (易动感情的)”. But she lived “on the surface (表面)”.
As years passed and I had my own family. I loved my mother and thanked her for our happy family. I wrote to her in careful words and asked her to let me know in any way she chose that she did forgive me.
My hope turned to disappointment, then little interest and, finally, peace – it seemed that nothing happened. I couldn’t be sure that the letter had even got to Mother. I only knew that I had written it, and I could stop trying to make her into someone she was not.
But the present of her desk told me, as she’d never been able to, that she was pleased that writing was my chosen work. I cleaned the desk carefully and found some papers inside – a photo of my father and a one-paper letter, folded and refolded many times. It was my letter.
“In any way you choose, Mother, you always chose the act that speaks louder than words.”
【小题1】The writer began to love her mother’s desk________.