One of the best-loved American writers was William Sydney Porter, or O.Henry. From 1893 he lived with his family in a house in Austin, Texas, which is now a museum. Visitors to Austin can see the house. It was saved from destruction (破坏) and turned into a museum in1934. The museum is a good way to learn about the interesting life of the American writer.

William Porter rented this house in Austin and lived there with his wife Athol and daughter Margaret for about two years. Many objects in the museum belonged to the Porters. Others did not. An important piece in the room is the original photograph over here. It was taken there in the house about 1895. The piano there goes back to the 1860s. His wife took lessons on it when she first moved to Austin.

Porter did not start his career as a successful writer. He worked at a farm, land office and bank. He also loved words and writing. The museumm has a special proof of Porter’s love of language --- his dictionary. It is said that he had read every word in that dictionary.

Later William Porter was forced to leave Austin because he was charged with financial wrongdoing at the bank and lost his job. Because he was afraid of a trail (审判), he left the country secretly. But he returned because his wife was dying. After her death, he faced the trial and became a criminal. He served three and a half years in a prison in Ohio.

William Porter would keep his time in prison a secret. But there was one good thing about it. It provided him with time to write. By the time he was freed, he had published 14 stories and became well known as O.Henry.

Porter later moved to New York City and found great success there. He published over 180 stories in the last eight years of his life.

1.O.Henry’s house in Austin has been well kept up till now so that ____.

A. Americans can explore their history

B more visitors will be attracted to Austin

C. visitors can learn about O.Henry’s life

D. it can show the way of life in the 1860s

2.What do we know about the piano in the house?

A. It was hated by Porter’s daughter.

B. It has a long history of about 150 years.

C. Porter’s wife gave music lessons on it.

D. Porter usually created music on it.

3.How does the museum prove (证明) Porter was fond of language?

A. With a dictionary he used.

B. With the records they keep.

C. Using the books they wrote.

D. Using the photograph they keep.

4.Why did Porter escape from Austin?

A. He didn’t want to lose his job.

B. He didn’t want to make trouble.

C. He meant to save his wife’s life.

D. He was charged with a crime.

5.From the last two paragraphs we know that _______.

A. Porter became famous suddenly

B. Porter spent his time in prison writing

C. Porter suffered a lot from his time in prison

D. life in prison provided what he could write for Porter

Scientists used to explore(探测)on the surface of the ocean. Now they are exploring below the surface， too. They want to know about ocean water and the plant and animal life deep in the ocean.

In 1934 the scientist William Beebe dived 3 000 feet below the surface in a hollow steel ball. In 1935 August Piccard dived 10 330 feet. In 1960 his son Jean dived to a depth of 35 800 feet.

All these early dives were deep. But the divers could not stay down for very long. They had to come back up to the surface after a few seconds. Scientists needed to stay down longer to study life below surface. Gradually they succeeded.Cousteau，a Frenchman，was able to keep men down to a depth of 36 feet for one month and to a depth of 90 feet for a week.

Now scientists are developing even better equipment. With this new equipment，men can stay below the surface for days or even weeks. In 1962 Cousteau set up a research station 35 feet below the surface. Then，in 1964，he set up another station on the ocean floor of the Red Sea.This was the first undersea station to operate without help from the surface.

Many countries are now studying undersea living. The former Soviet Union has an undersea laboratory in the Crimean Sea.The United States has a laboratory 50 feet down on the ocean floor off the Virgin Islands. In 1970 five men lived there for two weeks. Then a team of five women scientists stayed in the laboratory. Next came other teams of men. All were there to explore the ocean depths and to make plans for the use of its resources. Scientists hope to find enough mineral，vegetable，and animal wealth there to provide food for the entire world.

1.In order to　　　　 ，scientists are exploring below the surface of the ocean.

A.know about the ocean water deep in the ocean

B.stay down longer to study life of the plant and animal below the surface

C.know about the plant and animal life deep in the ocean

D.both A and C

2.Who made the deepest dive?

A.William Beebe.　　　　　　　　　　 B.August Piccard.

C.Jean Piccard.　　　　　　　　　　　 D.Cousteau.

3.Who set up the first undersea station?

A.A Frenchman.　　　　　　 　　　　　 B.An American.

C.A Russian. 　　　　　　　　　　　　 D.The passage made no mention.

4.Which of the following statements is true?

A.The early divers could not stay down for very long.

B.Up to now only five women scientists have stayed in the undersea laboratory.

C.The purpose of setting up the undersea laboratories is to make plans for the use of the resources in the ocean.

D.None of the above is true.

5.The author wants to tell us　　　　 .

A.that scientists try to explore the ocean depths

B.that scientists try to make use of resources in the ocean

C.about the secret of the plant and animal life in the ocean

D.both A and B

Another food which is closely associated with Americans is apple pie．Apple pie is often served hot with a spoon of ice cream or a slice of cheese at the end of the biggest meal of the day—dinner, and it is a favorite dessert throughout the nation, if a person is typical of Americans, we can say, "He is as American as apple pie．"

It is true that the apple and apple pie do not originate in America, but the expression "as American as apple pie" is not the product of a pure imagination．As early as 1625, the English colonists, having brought orchards （果园） on this new land and in most of the colonial times, the apple was a main material of both plain and fancy cooking．The first Massachusetts governor, William Endicott, was one of many keen apple planters who helped to lay the foundations for today' s apple-growing industry in America．

A major attraction of the apple for the colonists was that it could be made into cider （苹果酒）. Like most Europeans, English colonists held a strong suspicion （怀疑） of drinking water, and since grapegrowing was hindered by plant peats, cider became an alternative to wine．Cheap and easy to produce, it was the American drink of first choice well into the nineteenth century． Whether it was dried, raw or cooked, the apple also found its way into numerous colonial dishes, including apple sauces, pudding, stuffings and many desserts．Therefore, the conclusion to be drawn here is obvious．The apple pie became known as American, not because it was invented on this land （since it was proved that Europeans had been eating apple pies for centuries）, but because, thanks to the huge orchards in the states of Washington and New York, America became the world's largest apple-producing nation．

1.If a person is said to be as American as apple pie, it means that _______．

2.The apple can be used to make into all of the following except _______．

3.The underlined word hindered in Paragraph 3 means．________．

4.It can be concluded from the passage that_______．

.

Bill Gates was born on October 28th, 1955. He and his two sisters grew up in Seattle. Their father, William H. Gates II, was a Seattle lawyer. Mary Gates, their late mother, was a school teacher.

Gates attended public elementary school before moving on to the private Lakeside School in North Seattle. It was at Lakeside that Gates began his career in personal computer soft- ware, programming computers at age 13.

In 1973, Gates entered Harvard University as a freshman, where he lived down the hall from Steve Ballmer, who is now Microsoft's president. While at Harvard, Gates developed a version (版本) of the programming language BASIC for the first microcomputer---the MITS Astair. In his junior year, Gates dropped out of Harvard to devote his energies full-time to Microsoft, a company he had started in 1975 with his boyhood friend Paul Allen. Guided by a belief that the personal computer would be a valuable tool on every office desk-top and in every home, they began developing software for personal computers.

Gates' foresight has led to the success of Microsoft and the software industry. He plays an important role in the technical development of new products. Much of his time is devoted to meeting with customers and staying in touch with Microsoft employees around the world through e-mail.

In the dozen years since Microsoft went public, Gates has donated more than $ 800 million to charities (慈善机构), including $ 200 million to the Gates Library Foundation to help libraries in North America make use of new technologies and the Information Age.

50. Where did Bill Gates begin his career in personal computer software?

A. At public elementary school.                  B. At the private Lakeside School.

C. At Harvard University.                           D. At Microsoft Company.

51. Why did he drop out of Harvard?

A. To change school.                                 B. To spend all his energies to Microsoft.

C. To find a full-time job.                          D. To earn money.

52. How does Gates spend much of his time?

A. Meeting with people.                            B. Travelling around the world.

C. E-mailing some friends.  

D. Meeting with customers and e-mailing Microsoft employees.

53. What does the underlined word "donated" in the last paragraph mean?

A. gave.                B. earned.              C. made.               D. received.

William James, the great psychologist (心理学家), said that most men are “old fogies (守旧者) at twenty-five”. He was right. Most men at twenty-five are satisfied with their jobs. They have closed their minds to all new ideas; they have stopped to grow.
The minute a man stops to grow –no matter what his years –that minute he begins to be old. On the other hand, the really great man never grows old. Goethe passed away at eighty-three, and finished his Faust only a few years earlier; Gladstone took up a new language when he was seventy. Laplace, the astronomer, was still at work when death caught up with him at seventy-eight. He died crying, “What we know is nothing; what we do not know is immense (extremely large).”
And there you have the real answer to the question, “When is a man old?”
Laplace at seventy-eight died young. He was still unsatisfied, still sure that he had a lot to learn.
As long as a man can keep himself in that attitude of mind, as long as he can look back on every year and say, “I grew”, he is still young.
The minute he ceases (stops) to grow, the minute he says to himself, “I know all that I need to know,” –that day youth stops. He may be twenty-five or seventy-five; it makes no difference. On that day he begins to be old.
【小题1】According to William James, _______.