In Taiwan, “motorpool “ is commonly known as a place for the maintenance(维修) of official business and government cars. In ­___36___ it is a place for vehicle maintenance.

More than ten years ago, I came to America on business and I __37__advantage of the chance to visit my friend. My friend drove a car to ___38__ me at the airport, and took me to his home__39    the airport. My friend drove his car into the innermost lane, ___40__ had a sign ‘carpool only’ I wondered what “carpool” meant. I wondered ___41____he was going to a motorpool. So I thought myself ____42__ in asking:” Is there anything wrong with the car?” “Nothing.____43___?” said he. “Well then, why are you going to a carpool?” I responded. My friend couldn’t help ___44__ and told me that “ carpool” ___45___to the lane that only the cars with two or more passengers can ____46___. I felt rather embarrassed __47__ that.

After dinner, my friend’s neighbor 　４８　 to ask whether he could carpool the next day. “ ４９ ”, my friend said, “ I will accompany my friend to go shopping tomorrow.” I was puzzled again, 　５０ why he could not “ carpool” with him since we had “ carpooled”　５１.  My friend explained to me again that the “ carpool” with him that ____５2____ used meant they in turn drove the car to work so as to save 　５3　　. The first” carpool” is a noun; ____５4___ the second “carpool” is a verb. It is really difficult for 　　５５　in America to understand it in a short time.

1.                A．common        B．time           C．general   D．short

2.                A．took           B．had            C．used D．found

3.                A．see            B．take           C．meet D．accept

4.                A．In             B．Out of          C．Inside    D．From

5.                A．where         B．which          C．it    D．there

6.                A．what           B．whether        C．which    D．when

7.                A．puzzled         B．foolish          C．interested D．clever

8.                A．which          B．why            C．where    D．what

9.                A．laughing        B．shouting        C．stopping  D．saying

10.               A．means         B．refers          C．is    D．comes

11.               A．pass through    B．go over         C．drive in   D．sit in

12.               A．in saying        B．for doing       C．on hearing D．at listening to

13.               A．went out       B．came over      C．arrived    D．got off

14.               A．Yes            B．I’m afraid      C．Sure . D．No

15.               A．wondering      B．saying          C．suggesting D．hesitating

16.               A．yesterday       B．tomorrow       C．the last day D．today

17.               A．his neighbor     B．his friend       C．he.   D．I

18.               A．time           B．money         C．energy    D．pollution’

19.               A．and           B．while .         C．so    D．or

20.               A．newcomer      B．people         C．Chinese   D．those

My alarm o’clock rings in my ears at 5:00 every morning. On hearing the ring, I will get out of bed and put on my glasses. The house is quiet as I walk downstairs while my husband and three kids sleep in peace. Instead of going for a long run as usual, today I chose my favorite exercise DVD and started moving. Sweat rolled down my face and into my eyes. My heart beat wildly as I face my body to finish each movement before a mirror. Of course I felt extremely tired towards the end, but a smile spread across my face. I smiled because the DVD was over, and there appeared a brighter smile of success from pushing my body to its extreme limit.
While some people are fond of chocolate, shopping, smoking, or work, what I need is taking exercise to pass each day. People shake their heads when they see me run with sweating heavily through the town. Some look surprised when I refuse to try just one bite of chocolate cake. They seem greatly puzzled by my “no thank you,” or by my choice to just have a vegetable salad. I have come to realize that it doesn’t matter to just say “No.” to any kind of food that I don’t want to eat.
Do you wonder what drives me to roll out of bed at 5:00 a.m. every morning? What makes me refuse ice cream firmly? Commitment—I’m determined to change my life with a way which can not only free me from daily anxiety, but also increase energy and self–confidence. And above all it will surely help me to keep good body shape and maybe extend my life. This is the real reason why there’s a huge smile spreading across my face when I look at myself in the mirror or try on my favorite pair of jeans that now fit me just right and look perfectly on me. I never doubt that I cannot make a difference within myself inside and out without such commitment and sweat.
【小题1】From the text we can conclude that the author___________.

  The Pillow

At the age of sixteen, I joined a volunteer group with my dad. I went on my first volunteer project in West Virginia. On the night we arrived, we discovered that “our family” was living in a trailer (拖车) that was in poor condition. A crew had been working on it for two weeks, but every time they finished one problem, another surfaced.

We decided the only reasonable solution was to build a new house—something unusual but necessary under these circumstances. The family was overjoyed with their new house that was twenty by thirty feet with three bedrooms, a bath and a kitchen.

On Tuesday of that week, while we ate lunch together, I asked the family’s three boys, Josh, Eric and Ryan, “What do you want for your new room?” Expecting toys and other gadgets that children usually ask for, we were astonished when Josh responded, “I just want a bed.”

The boys had never slept in a bed! They were accustomed to plastic mats. That night we had a meeting and decided that beds would be the perfect gift. On Thursday night, a few adults in our group drove to the nearest city and bought beds and new bedding.

When we saw the delivery truck coming, we told the family about the surprise. We could hardly contain ourselves. It was like watching excited children on Christmas morning.

That afternoon, as we fitted the frames of the beds together, Eric ran into the house to watch us. Too dirty to enter his room, he observed with wide-eyed enthusiasm from the doorway.

As my father slipped a pillowcase onto one of the pillows, Eric asked, “What is that?”

“A pillow,” he replied.

“What do you do with it?” Eric continued to ask.

“When you go to sleep, you put your head on it,” I answered softly. Tears came to my eyes as my father handed Eric the pillow.

“Oh…that’s soft,” he said, hugging it tightly.[来源:学.科.网Z.X.X.K]

Now, when my sister or I start to ask for something that seems urgent, my dad gently asks, “Do you have a pillow?”

We know exactly what he means. [来源:ZXXK]

1.The writer’s first volunteer project was ______. [来源:]

A. working on a poor trailer                                  B. helping a poor family

C. donating beds and bedding                                       D. dealing with a housing problem

2.On hearing Josh’s answer, the writer was shocked because ______. 

   A. the family lived in a trailer                                  B. he expected to get some toys

   C. he didn’t know what a bed was                        D. the boys had no bed to sleep in

3.From the passage, we can learn that Eric had never seen ______ before.

A. a trailer                  B. a truck                           C. a pillow                          D. a house

4.By saying “Do you have a pillow?”, the writer’s father means that ______.  

A. what they want to get may be unnecessary 

B. they should not waste money on small things

C. they should do more volunteer work for the poor

D. what he will buy is not what they want but a pillow

A year ago, I paid no attention to English idioms, though my teacher emphasized the importance again and again. But soon, the importance of English idioms was shown in an amusing experience.

One day, I happened to meet an Englishman on the road, and soon we began to talk. As I was talking about how I was studying English, the foreigner seemed to be astonished, gently shaking his head, shrugging his shoulders, he said,“You don’t say!” I was puzzled. I thought, perhaps this is not an appropriate topic. “Well, I’d better change the topic.” So I said to him, “Well, shall we talk about the Great Wall? By the way, have you ever been there?” “Certainly, everyone back home will laugh at me if I leave China without seeing it. It was magnificent.” He was deep in thought when I began to talk like a tourist guide.” “The Great Wall is one of the wonders in the world. We are very proud of it.” Soon I was interrupted again by his words. “You don’t say!” I couldn’t help asking, “Why do you ask me not to talk about it?” “Well, I didn’t request you to do so,” he answered, greatly surprised. I said, “Didn’t you say ‘You don’t say’?” Hearing this, the Englishman laughed to tears. He began to explain, “‘You don’t say’ actually means ‘really’. It is an expression of surprise. Perhaps you don’t pay attention to English idioms.”

Only then did I know I had made a fool of myself. Since then I have been more careful with idiomatic expressions. Remember: what the English teachers said is always right to us students.

1.A year ago, I paid no attention to English idioms because_________.

A．English idioms were not important

B．I had no interest in English learning

C．my teacher didn’t emphasize the importance of them

D．I cared little about the teacher’s instruction

2.At first, on hearing “You don’t say”, I thought the foreigner meant_________.

A．I had talked too much

B．he was only interested in the Great Wall

C．he was not interested in the topic

D．I had to stop talking

3.The underlined word “amusing” in paragraph 1 means_________.

A．funny            B．important         C．lucky             D．terrible

4.After the Englishman explained the idiom, _________.

A．I thought the Englishman had made me a fool

B．the Englishman became a real fool

C．I felt very silly

D．I became more careful in everything

5.Which of the following is true according to the passage？

A．The Englishman left china without seeing the Great Wall.

B．The Englishman wanted to see the Great Wall after I talked about it.

C．The Englishman wanted me to act as his guide.

D．The Englishman visited the Great Wall and thought it worth visiting.

A year ago, I paid no attention to English idioms, though my teacher stressed the importance again and again. But soon, the importance of English idioms was shown in an amusing experience.
One day, I happened to meet an Englishman on the road, and soon we began to talk. As I was talking about how I was studying English, the foreigner seemed to be astonished. Gently shaking his head and shrugging his shoulders, he said, “You don’t say!” “You don’t say!” I was puzzled. I thought, perhaps this is not a proper topic. “Well, I’d better change the topic.” So I said to him, “Well, shall we talk about the Great Wall? By the way, have you ever been there?” “Certainly, everyone back home will laugh at me if I leave China without seeing it. It was wonderful.” He was deep in thought when I began to talk like a tourist guide. “The Great Wall is one of the wonders in the world. We are very proud of it”. Soon I was interrupted again by his words：“You don’t say!” I couldn’t help asking, “Why do you ask me not to talk about it?” “Well, I didn’t request you to do so,” he answered, greatly surprised. I said, “Didn’t you say ‘you don’t say’?” Hearing this, the Englishman laughed to tears. He began to explain, “‘You don’t say’ actually means ‘really?’ It is an expression of surprise. Perhaps you don’t pay attention to English idioms.” Only then did I know I had made a fool of myself. Since then I have been more careful with idiomatic expressions.
Always remember: what the English teachers say is always right to us students.
【小题1】A year ago, I paid no attention to English idioms because _______.