When you are little, the whole world feels like a big playground. I was living in Conyers, Georgia the summer it all happened. I was a second grader, but my best friend Stephanie was only in the first grade. Both of our parents were at work and most of the time they let us go our own way.

It was a hot afternoon and we decided to have an adventure in Stephanie’s basement. As I opened the basement door, before us lay the biggest room, full of amazing things like guns, dolls, and old clothes. I ran downstairs, and spotted red steel can. It was paint. I looked beyond it and there lay even more paint in bright colors like purple, orange, blue and green.

“Stephanie, I just found us a project for the day. Get some paintbrushes. We are fixing to paint.” She screamed with excitement as I told her of my secret plans and immediately we got to work. We gathered all the brushes we could find and moved all of our materials to my yard. There on the road in front of my house, we painted bit stripes (条纹) of colors across the pavement (人行道). Stripe by stripe, our colors turned into a beautiful rainbow. It was fantastic!

The sun was starting to sink. I saw a car in the distance and jumped up as I recognized the car. It was my mother. I couldn’t wait to show her my masterpiece. The car pulled slowly into the driveway and from the look on my mother’s face, I could tell that I was in deep trouble.

My mother shut the car door and walked towards me. Her eyes glaring, she shouted, “What in the world were you thinking? I understood when you made castles out of leaves, and climbed the neighbors’ trees, but this! Come inside right now!” I stood there glaring hack at her for a minute, angry because she had insulted (侮辱) my art. 

“Now go clean it up!” Mother and I began cleaning the road. Tears ran down my cheeks as I saw my beautiful rainbow turn into black cement.  

Though years have now passed, I still wonder where my rainbow has gone. I wonder if, maybe when I get older, I can find my rainbow and never have to brush it away. I guess we all need sort of rainbow to brighten our lives from time to time and to keep our hopes and dreams colorful.

What did the writer want to do when his mother came home?

       A. To introduce Stephanie to her.       

       B. To prevent her from seeing his painting. 

       C. To put the materials back in the yard.      

       D. To show his artwork to her.

In his mother’s eyes, the writer_______.

       A. was a born artist              B. always caused trouble

       C. was a problem solver       D. worked very hard

The underlined word “rainbow” in the last paragraph refers to ______.

       A. the rainbow in the sky  

       B. the stripes on the pavement

       C. something imaginative and fun      

       D. important lessons learned in childhood

It can be learned from the passage that parents should ________.

       A. encourage children to paint    

       B. value friendship among children

       C. discover the hidden talent in children     

       D. protect rather than destroy children’s dreams

I began working in journalism(新闻工作) when I was eight.It was my mother’s idea.She wanted me to“make something”of myself,and decided I had better start young if I was to have any chance of keeping up with the competition.

With my load of magazines I headed toward Belleville Avenue.The crowds were there.There were two gas stations on the corner of Belleville and Union.For several hours I made myself highly visible,making sure everyone could see me and the heavy black letters on the bag that said THE SATURDAY EVENING POST.When it was suppertime,I walked back home.

“How many did you sell,my boy?”my mother asked.

“None.”

“Where did you go?”

“The corner of Belleville and Union Avenues.”

“What did you do?”

“Stood on the corner waiting for somebody to buy a Saturday Evening Post.”

“You just stood there?”

“Didn’t sell a single one.”

“My God,Russell!”

Uncle Allen put in,“Well,I’ve decided to take the Post.”I handed him a copy and he paid me a nickel(五分镍币).It was the first nickel I earned.

Afterwards my mother taught me how to be a salesman.I would have to ring doorbells,address adults with self-confidence(自信),and persuade them by saying that no one,no matter how poor,could afford to be without the Saturday Evening Post in the home.

One day,I told my mother I’d changed my mind.I didn’t want to make a success in the magazine business.

“If you think you can change your mind like this,”she replied,“you’ll become a good-for-nothing.”She insisted that,as soon as school was over,I should start ringing doorbells,selling magazines.Whenever I said no,she would scold me.

My mother and I had fought this battle almost as long as I could remember.My mother,dissatisfied with my father’s plain workman’s life,determined that I would not grow up like him and his people.But never did she expect that,forty years later,such a successful journalist as me would go back to her husband’s people for true life and love.

1.Why did the boy start his job young?

2.From the dialogue between the boy and his mother,we learn that the mother was _______.

3.What did the mother do when the boy wanted to give up?

4.What does the underlined phrase “this battle”(last paragraph) refer to?

5.What is the text mainly about?

I began working in journalism(新闻工作) when I was eight. It was my mother’s idea. She wanted me to “make something” of myself, and decided I had better start young if I was to have any chance of keeping up with the competition.

With my load of magazines I headed toward Belleville Avenue. The crowds were there. There were two gas stations on the corner of Belleville and Union. For several hours I made myself highly visible, making sure everyone could see me and the heavy black letters on the bag that said THE SATURDAY EVENING POST. When it was supper time, I walked back home.

“How many did you sell, my boy?” my mother asked.

“None.”

“Where did you go?”

“The corner of Belleville and Union Avenues.”

“What did you do?”

“Stood on the corner waiting for somebody to buy a Saturday Evening Post.”

“You just stood there?”

“Didn’t sell a single one.”

“My God, Russell!”

Uncle Allen put in, “Well, I’ve decided to take the Post.” I handed him a copy and he paid me a nickel(五分镍币). It was the first nickel I earned.

Afterwards my mother taught me how to be a salesman. I would have to ring doorbells, address adults with self-confidence, and persuade them by saying that no one, no matter how poor, could afford to be without the Saturday Evening Post in the home.

One day, I told my mother I’d changed my mind. I didn’t want to make a success in the magazine business.

“If you think you can change your mind like this,” she replied, “you’ll become a good-for-nothing.” She insisted that, as soon as school was over, I should start ringing doorbells, selling magazines. Whenever I said no, she would scold me.

My mother and I had fought this battle almost as long as I could remember. My mother, dissatisfied with my father’s plain workman’s life, determined that I would not grow up like him and his people. But never did she expect that, forty years later, such a successful journalist as me would go back to her husband’s people for true life and love.

1. Why did the boy start his job young?

A．He wanted to be famous in the future.

B．The job was quite easy for him.

C．His mother had high hopes for him.

D．The competition for the job was fierce.

2.From the dialogue between the boy and his mother, we learn that the mother was _______.

A．excited                               B．interested

C．ashamed                              D．disappointed

3.What did the mother do when the boy wanted to give up?

A．She forced him to continue.

B．She punished him.

C．She gave him some money.

D．She changed her plan.

4. What does the underlined phrase “this battle” refer to?

A．The war between the boy’s parents.

B．The arguing between the boy and his mother.

C．The quarrel between the boy and his customers.

D．The fight between the boy and his father.

5. What is the text mainly about?

A．The early life of a journalist.

B．The early success of a journalist.

C．The happy childhood of the writer.

D．The important role of the writer in his family.

第二部分：阅读理解(第一节20小题。第二节5小题；每小题2分，满分50分)
第一节：阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中，选出最佳选项，并在答题纸上将该
选项标号涂黑。
When you are little, the whole world feels like a big playground. I was living in Conyers, Georgia the summer it all happened. I was a second grader, but my best friend Stephanie was only in the first grade. Both of our parents were at work and most of the time they let us go our own way.
It was a hot afternoon and we decided to have an adventure in Stephanie's basement. As I opened the basement door, before us lay the biggest room, full of amazing things like guns, dolls, and old clothes. I ran downstairs, and spotted a red steel can. It was paint. I looked beyond it and there lay even more paint in bright colors like purple, orange, blue and green.
"Stephanie, I just found us a project for the day. Get some paintbrushes. We are fixing to paint. " She screamed with excitement as I told her of my secret plans and immediately we got to work. We gathered all the brushes we could find and moved all of our materials to my yard. There on the road in front of my house, we painted big stripes ( 条纹) of colors across the pavement (人行道). Stripe by stripe, our colors turned into a beautiful rainbow. It was fantastic!
The sun was starting to sink. I saw a car in the distance and jumped up as I recognized the car. It was my mother. I couldn't wait to show her my masterpiece. The car pulled slowly into the driveway and from the look on my mother's face, I could tell that I was in deep trouble.
My mother shut the ear door and walked towards me. Her eyes glaring, she shouted, "What in the world were you thinking? I understood when you made castles out of leaves, and climbed the neighbors' trees, but this! Come inside right now !" I stood there glaring back at her for a minute, angry because she had insulted (侮辱) my art.
"Now go clean it up!" Mother and I began cleaning the road. Tears ran down my cheeks as I saw my beautiful rainbow turn into black cement.
Though years have now passed, I still wonder where my rainbow has gone. I wonder if, maybe when I get older, I can find my rainbow and never have to brush it away. I guess we all need some sort of rainbow to brighten our lives from time to time and to keep our hopes and dreams colorful.
1. What did the writer want to do when his mother came home?
A. To introduce Stephanie to her.          B. To prevent her from seeing his painting.
C. To put the materials back in the yard.    D. To show his artwork to her.
2. In his mother's eyes, the writer __ .
A. was a born artist                          B. always caused trouble
C. was a problem solver                      D. worked very hard
3. The underlined word "rainbow" in the last paragraph refers to __ .
A. the rainbow in the sky                    B. the stripes on the pavement
C. something imaginative and fun              D. important lessons learned in childhood
4. It can be learned from the passage that parents should       .
A. encourage children to paint          
B. value friendship among children
C. discover the hidden talent in children 
D. protect rather than destroy children's dreams

December 24 arrived along with a heavy snow. It was my first Christmas Eve without my mother, and the day’s usual  36  had disappeared.
The telephone rang. I  37  it and went to my bedroom to bury the continuous 38 , knowing it must be my friend Rebecca calling. How could I be  39 ? I wanted to be left  40 .
My heart felt as  41  as the falling snow.  42  can I stop missing my mother?
I  43  the window. Seeing Rebecca’s car parked out front, I went back to my bed and drew the covers over my head.
“Lucy!” she shouted. “I know you’re in there. Answer the door!”
“Leave me alone!” I  44  back. I heard paper rustling(沙沙作响) as she slid  45  under the door.
“Merry Christmas, ” she called out.
Not answering the  46  made me even 47. It wasn’t fair to my best friend. Her father and sister  48  in a car accident when she was eight years old.  49 , her mother had to return to  50 , and Rebecca was left to look after herself.
When she left, I carried the small package, sat down and  51  it. Inside was a golden pen and a journal. When I opened the journal’s front cover, out fell a bookmark with a(n)   52  written on it:
Dear Lucy,  
My words won’t heal（治愈）the 53  . But your own words can.
Love,
Rebecca
As I stared at the journal’s blank pages, a single tear fell on the page which quickly absorbed it.
That night, I  54  the phone and dialed her number.
“Looks like the snow is melting(融化), ” I said. “Spring was just ___55____the corner.”