PART THREE   READING COMPREHENSION (30%)
Directions: Read the following three passages．Each passage is followed by several questions or unfinished statements．For each of them there are four choices marked A, B, C, and D．Choose the one that fits best according to the information given in the passage
They say a cat has nine lives, and I think that possible since I am now living my third life and I’m not even a cat. My father died when I was 15, and we had a hard struggle to make a living. And my mother, who was seriously ill in her last years, died while still in her 60s. My sister married soon after, and I followed her example within the year.
This was when I began to enjoy my first life. I was very happy, in excellent health. I had a good job in San Jose and a beautiful home up the peninsula (半岛) in San Carlos. Life was a pleasant dream. Then the dream ended. I became afflicted (使苦恼) with a slowly progressive disease of the motor nerves, affecting first my right arm and leg, and then my other side. Thus began my second life...
In spite of my disease I still drove to and from work each day, with the aid of special equipment installed in my car. And I managed to keep my health and optimism (乐观), to a degree, because of 14 steps. Crazy? Not at all. Our home was an affair with 14 steps leading up from the garage to the kitchen door. Those steps were a standard measure of life. They were my yardstick, my challenge to continue living. I felt that if the day arrived when I was unable to lift one foot up one step and then drag the other painfully after it ---repeating the process 14 times, I would be through---I could then admit defeat and lie down and die.
Then on a dark night in August, 1971, I began my third life. It was raining when I started home that night; strong winds and slashing rain beat down on the car as I drove slowly down one of the less-traveled roads. Suddenly the steering wheel jerked (猝然一动). In the same instant I heard the bang of a blowout. It was impossible for me to change that tire! Utterly impossible!
I started the engine and thumped slowly along until I came to the dirt road, where I turned in and where I found lighted windows welcomed me to a house and pulled into the driveway and honked the horn.
The door opened and a little girl stood there. When she knew what happened to me, she went into the house and a moment later came out, followed by a man who called a cheerful greeting. I sat there comfortable and dry, and felt a bit sorry for the man and the little girl working so hard in the storm.
About an hour later, the man’s voice was heard, “This is a bad night for car trouble, but you’re all set now.” “Thanks,” I said. “How much do I owe you?” He shook his head, “Nothing. Cynthia told me you were a cripple. Glad to be of help. I know you’d do the same for me. There’s no charge, friend.” I held out a five-dollar bill, “No! I like to pay my way.” He made no effort to take it and the little girl stepped closer to the window and said quietly, “Grandpa can’t see it.”
56. “A cat has nine lives” here means ___________.
A. a cat can live nine times longer than any other animal  B .a cat can die ninth
C .a lucky man can not die easily                     D the writer will live nine times
57. What do you think of the man who helped change the tire?
A. Old, warm-hearted but pitiable             
B. Blind, but warm-hearted and happy
C. A blind old man that has nothing to do every day.
D. A poor old man that is always ready to help others.
58. How will the story be ended?
A. The writer paid the little girl but the old man did not accept.
B. The writer drove away with tears running down his cheek.
C. The writer stayed there, without knowing what to do and how to do it.
D. In the next few frozen seconds the writer felt the shame and astonishment he had never felt
before.
59. How do you understand the underlined sentence “I followed my sister’s example?”
A.  He listened to his sister carefully.
B  Mother told him that he must get the agreement from his sister for whatever he would do.
C  His sister got married. He, too.
D  His sister was a great woman.. He must learn from her.
60. The best title for this passage perhaps will be _____.
A.The Old Man and His Daughter              B. Heart Leaping Up
C.Never Lose Heart                        D. Good Will Be Rewarded Good

PART THREE   READING COMPREHENSION (30%)

Directions: Read the following three passages．Each passage is followed by several questions or unfinished statements．For each of them there are four choices marked A, B, C, and D．Choose the one that fits best according to the information given in the passage

They say a cat has nine lives, and I think that possible since I am now living my third life and I’m not even a cat. My father died when I was 15, and we had a hard struggle to make a living. And my mother, who was seriously ill in her last years, died while still in her 60s. My sister married soon after, and I followed her example within the year.

This was when I began to enjoy my first life. I was very happy, in excellent health. I had a good job in San Jose and a beautiful home up the peninsula (半岛) in San Carlos. Life was a pleasant dream. Then the dream ended. I became afflicted (使苦恼) with a slowly progressive disease of the motor nerves, affecting first my right arm and leg, and then my other side. Thus began my second life...

In spite of my disease I still drove to and from work each day, with the aid of special equipment installed in my car. And I managed to keep my health and optimism (乐观), to a degree, because of 14 steps. Crazy? Not at all. Our home was an affair with 14 steps leading up from the garage to the kitchen door. Those steps were a standard measure of life. They were my yardstick, my challenge to continue living. I felt that if the day arrived when I was unable to lift one foot up one step and then drag the other painfully after it ---repeating the process 14 times, I would be through---I could then admit defeat and lie down and die.

Then on a dark night in August, 1971, I began my third life. It was raining when I started home that night; strong winds and slashing rain beat down on the car as I drove slowly down one of the less-traveled roads. Suddenly the steering wheel jerked (猝然一动). In the same instant I heard the bang of a blowout. It was impossible for me to change that tire! Utterly impossible!

I started the engine and thumped slowly along until I came to the dirt road, where I turned in and where I found lighted windows welcomed me to a house and pulled into the driveway and honked the horn.

The door opened and a little girl stood there. When she knew what happened to me, she went into the house and a moment later came out, followed by a man who called a cheerful greeting. I sat there comfortable and dry, and felt a bit sorry for the man and the little girl working so hard in the storm.

About an hour later, the man’s voice was heard, “This is a bad night for car trouble, but you’re all set now.” “Thanks,” I said. “How much do I owe you?” He shook his head, “Nothing. Cynthia told me you were a cripple. Glad to be of help. I know you’d do the same for me. There’s no charge, friend.” I held out a five-dollar bill, “No! I like to pay my way.” He made no effort to take it and the little girl stepped closer to the window and said quietly, “Grandpa can’t see it.”

56. “A cat has nine lives” here means ___________.

A. a cat can live nine times longer than any other animal  B .a cat can die ninth

C .a lucky man can not die easily                     D the writer will live nine times

57. What do you think of the man who helped change the tire?

A. Old, warm-hearted but pitiable             

B. Blind, but warm-hearted and happy

C. A blind old man that has nothing to do every day.

D. A poor old man that is always ready to help others.

58. How will the story be ended?

A. The writer paid the little girl but the old man did not accept.

B. The writer drove away with tears running down his cheek.

C. The writer stayed there, without knowing what to do and how to do it.

D. In the next few frozen seconds the writer felt the shame and astonishment he had never felt

before.

59. How do you understand the underlined sentence “I followed my sister’s example?”

A.  He listened to his sister carefully.

B  Mother told him that he must get the agreement from his sister for whatever he would do.

C  His sister got married. He, too.

D  His sister was a great woman.. He must learn from her.

60. The best title for this passage perhaps will be _____.

A.The Old Man and His Daughter              B. Heart Leaping Up

    C.Never Lose Heart                        D. Good Will Be Rewarded Good

    Researchers also note an increase in the number of areas setting new records for high and low temperatures.

    More severe storms have been reported in some areas．Other areas have suffered from a severe lack of rain.

    Alex Green of the University of Florida believes a general warming in Earth’s atmosphere is to blame．This warming is commonly called the Green-house Effect.

    Scientists believe it is caused by burning fuels such as oil and coal．Many scientists say the pollution released by burning the fuels enters the atmosphere and may lead to higher temperatures on Earth.

    Professor Green says the more carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere, the more extreme weather systems we can expect.

    But not all researchers agree．Tom Ross is a weather expert with the National Climatic Data Center in North Carolina．Mister Ross says what is happening now could become less of an issue at a future date．He notes that only twenty years ago some scientists were warning about the start of a new ice age.

    Mister Ross says more information needs to be collected before scientists can blame current weather conditions on the Greenhouse Effect．However, Mister Green says that by the time scientists agree about the problem it may be too late to do anything about it.

1．The number of areas setting new records for high and low temperature which have suffered from a severe lack of rain or more severe storms is ________;

A．one

B．two

C．under three

D．above three

2． The underlined “the Greenhouse Effect” means ________.

A．a general warming in Earth’s atmosphere

B．that the more carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere, the more extreme weather systems we can expect

C．burning fuels such as oil and coal

D．that the pollution released by burning the fuels enters the atmosphere

3．What is your opinion after reading the last paragraph? My opinion is that ________.

A．all the scientists can blame current weather conditions on the Greenhouse Effect

B．not all the scientists agree about the Greenhouse Effect

C．it is never too late to do anything almost Greenhouse Effect

D．it maybe too late to do anything about Greenhouse Effect

4．many Chinese are anxious to go to the United States

B．America is not a great country, compared with China

C．China too, is a great country and his friends don’t always see that

D．beauty in one’s own backyard is some times taken for granted

4．From this passage we can learn ________.

A．people sometimes made stupid mistakes

B．people sometimes take a one- sided view of things

C．people must look at things from all sides

D．beauty lies in love’s eyes

A．storms and the environment

B．the pollution caused by burning the fuels

C．the change of the environment and study

D．the Greenhouse Effect

Directly across the street was our house from the clinic entrance of John Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore. We lived downstairs and rented the upstairs rooms to out-patients at the clinic.

One summer evening as I was fixing supper, there was a knock at the door. I opened it to see a truly awful looking man. “Why, he’s hardly taller than my eight-year-old,” I thought as I stared at the shriveled (皱缩的) body. But the shocking thing was his face-twisted from swelling，red and raw.

Yet his voice was pleasant as he said, “Good evening. I’ve come to see if you’ve a room for just one night. I came for a treatment this morning from the eastern shore, and there’s no bus till morning.”

He told me he'd been hunting for a room since noon but with no success, no one seemed to have a room. "I guess it's my face…, I know it looks terrible, but my doctor says with a few more treatments …"
  I told him we would find him a bed, but to rest on the porch. I went inside and finished getting supper. When we were ready, I asked the old man if he would join us. “No thank you，I have plenty.” And he held up a brown paper bag.

When I had finished the dishes, I went out on the porch to talk with him a few minutes. It didn’t take a long time to see that this old man had an oversized heart crowded into that tiny body. He told me he fished for a living to support his daughter, her five children, and her husband, who was hopelessly disabled from a back injury.
  He didn't tell it by way of complaint; in fact, every other sentence began with a thanks to God for a blessing. He was grateful that no pain accompanied his disease, which was apparently a form of skin cancer. He thanked God for giving him the strength to keep going.
    At bedtime, we put a camp cot in the children’s room for him. When I got up in the morning, the bed linens were neatly folded and the little man was out on the porch.

He refused breakfast, but just before he left for his bus, haltingly, as if asking a great favor, he said, “Could I please come back and stay the next time I have a treatment? I won’t put you out a bit. I can sleep fine in a chair.” He paused a moment and then added, “Your children made me feel at home. Grownups are bothered by my face, but children don’t seem to mind.” I told him he was welcome to come back again.
  In the years he came to stay overnight with us, there was never a time that he did not bring us fish or oysters or vegetables from his garden.
  Other times we received packages in the mail, always by special delivery; fish and oysters packed in a box of fresh young spinach or kale, every leaf carefully washed. Knowing that he must walk three miles to mail these, and knowing how little money he had made the gifts doubly precious.

When I received these little gifts, I often thought of a comment our next-door neighbor made after he left that first morning.

"Did you keep that awful looking man last night? I turned him away. You can lose roomers by accommodating such people!"

Maybe we did lose roomers once or twice. But oh! If only they could have known him, perhaps their illnesses would have been easier to bear.

I know our family always will be grateful to have known him; from him we learned what it was to accept the bad without complaint and the good with gratitude to God.

58. The first time I met the man, _____.

A. he had an eight-year-old son        B. he was looking for a place to stay overnight
C. he frightened my kid               D. he was in need of something to eat

59. The next-door neighbor refused the man because _____.

A. he had no spare room               B. the man didn't bring him gifts

C. he might lose roomers               D. the man was bad-tempered

60. Which of the following is NOT true about the man?

A. He developed skin cancer.         B. He didn't complain about his sufferings.
C. He fished to support a large family.  D. God helped him to get over his disease.

61. What attitude did the man have toward life?

A. Confident.       B. Grateful.        C. Regretful.     D. Passive.

62. What message is conveyed in the passage?

A. Give others a hand               B. Accept good and bad with gratitude
C. Be the architect of life                        D Never judge a book by its cover.