Joanne was stuck in a traffic jam in central Birmingham at 5：30, and at 6：30 she was expected to be chairing a meeting of the tennis club．At last，the traffic was moving．She swung quickly racing to her house. As she opened the door，she nearly tripped over Sheba．

    “Hey，Sheba，”she said，“I’ve got no time for you now，but I’ll take you out as soon as I get

back from tennis club．”Then she noticed Sheba seemed to be coughing or choking. Obviously，she could hardly breathe．Immediately, Joanne realized she would have to take her to the vet（兽医）

When she got there，the vet was just about to close for the day. Seeing the state of Sheba，Dr．Sterne brought her quickly into his office．

    “Listen，doctor，I’m really in a rush to get to a meeting—can I leave her with you，and go and get changed? I’ll be back in ten minutes to pick her up，and then I’ll take her on to the meeting with me. Is that OK?”

    “Sure．”said the doctor

    Joanne made the quick trip back to her house in a couple of minutes. As she was once more

 entering the hallway，the phone by the door began to ring．

    “This is Dr．Sterne，”said an anxious voice．“I want you to get out of that house immediately，”said the doctor’s voice．“I’m coming round fight away，and the police will be there any time now．Wait outside!”

    At that moment，a police car screeched to a stop outside the house．Two policemen got out and ran into the house．Joanne was by now completely confused and very frightened．Then the doctor arrived．

    “Where’s Sheba? Is she OK?”shouted Joanne．

    “She’s fine，Joanne．I took out the thing which was choking her，and she’s OK now．”

    Just then，the two policemen reappeared from the house，half-carrying a white—faced man，who could hardly walk．There was blood all over him．

    “My God，”said Joanne，“how did he get in there? And how did you know he was there?”

    “I think he must be a burglar．”said the doctor．“I knew he was there because when I finally removed what was stuck in Sheba’s throat; it turned out to be three human fingers”

What was Joanne supposed to do at 6：30？

    A．To walk her dog．        B．To see her doctor．

    C．To attend a club meeting．       D．To play tennis with her friends．

Joanne wanted to get back to her home again            ．

    A．to dress up for the meeting      B．to phone the police station

    C．to catch the badly hurt burglar      D．to wait for her dog to be cured  

From the passage，we can infer that          ．

    A．Sheba fought against the burglar

    B．the police found the burglar had broken in

    C．Joanne had planned to take her dog to the meeting

    D．the doctor performed a difficult operation on the dog

In this passage，the writer intends to tell us that the dog is            ．

    A．clever       B．friendly    C．frightening D．devoted

It was the old lady’s eightieth birthday. She was sure Myra wouldn’t forgot her mother’s birthday, even if she was busy. After all, eighty was a special birthday. Perhaps Myra might come. Even if Myra did not come, she would send a present. The old lady was sure of that. Two spots of colour brightened her cheeks. She was excited like a child.

    Mrs. Morrison had brought a card and a bunch of flowers when she came to do the breakfast. Mrs. Grant downstairs had made a cake. Johnnie, the little boy next door, was now up with her with a packet of sweets.

    “I guess you’ll get lots and lots of presents, ” he said. “I did last week when I was six.”

    What would she like? A pair of slippers, perhaps. A blue new cardigan. Or a table lamp. Or a little clock, with clear black numbers. So many lovely things.

    She stood by the window, watching. The postman turned round the corner on his bicycle. Her heart beat fast. Johnnie had seen him too and ran to the gate.

    “Granny, granny, ” Johnnie returned. “I’ve got your post!”

    He gave her four envelopes. Three were from old friends. The fourth was in Myra’s writing.

    “No parcel(包裹), Johnnie?”

    “No, granny.”

    Almost reluctantly, she tore the fourth envelope open. Folded in the card was a check. Written on the card was a message: Happy Birthday—Buy yourself something nice with the check, Myra and Harold.

    The six-figure check fell to the floor like a bird with a broken wing. Slowly the old lady bent to pick it up. Her present, her lovely present. With trembling fingers she tore it into little bits.

As can be inferred from the passage, _______.

    A. the old lady lived alone in a flat away from her daughter

B. the friends sent the old lady many lovely presents by post

C. Myra was stopped by her husband from seeing her mother

D. the neighbours cared little about the old lady in daily life

The old lady felt _______ when she saw no packet came with her daughter’s card.

    A. excited      B. happy                C. disappointed     D. impatient

Which of the following might serve as the best title for the passage?

    A. The Present      B. The Check            C. The Birthday     D. The Daughter

The reason why the old lady tore the check into small pieces was that _______.

    A. she was sure her daughter would come, not the check

B. she didn’t notice there were six figures on the check

C. she didn’t think the check was large enough for a present

D. she would prefer a present with love from her daughter

Joanne was stuck in a traffic jam in central Birmingham at 5:30 and at 6:30 she was expected to be chairing a meeting of the tennis club．At last，the traffic was moving．She swung quickly racing to her house. As she opened the door，she nearly tripped over Sheba．

“Hey，Sheba,” she said，“I’ve got no time for you now，but I’ll take you out as soon as I get

back from tennis club.” Then she noticed Sheba seemed to be coughing or choking. Obviously，she could hardly breathe．Immediately, Joanne realized she would have to take her to the vet(兽医)

When she got there，the vet was just about to close for the day. Seeing the state of Sheba，Dr. Sterne brought her quickly into his office．

“Listen，doctor，I’m really in a rush to get to a meeting. Can I leave her with you，and go and get changed? I’ll be back in ten minutes to pick her up，and then I’ll take her on to the meeting with me. Is that OK?”

“Sure.” said the doctor.

Joanne made the quick trip back to her house in a couple of minutes．As she was once more

 entering the hall，the phone by the door began to ring．

“This is Dr. Sterne,” said an anxious voice. “I want you to get out of that house immediately,” said the doctor’s voice．“I’m coming round right away，and the police will be there any time now．Wait outside!”

At that moment，a police car screeched to a stop outside the house．Two policemen got out and ran into the house．Joanne was by now completely confused and very frightened．Then the doctor arrived．

“Where’s Sheba? Is she OK?” shouted Joanne．

“She’s fine，Joanne．I took out the thing which was choking her, and she’s OK now．”

Just then, the two policemen reappeared from the house, half-carrying a white-faced man，who could hardly walk. There was blood all over him．

“My God,” said Joanne，“how did he get in there? And how did you know he was there?”

“I think he must be a burglar.” said the doctor. “I knew he was there because when I finally removed what was stuck in Sheba’s throat：it turned out to be three human fingers.”

Joanne wanted to get back to her home again            ．

A．to dress up for the meeting    B．to phone the police station

C．to catch the badly hurt burglar       D．to wait for her dog to be cured  

From the passage we can infer that          ．

A．Sheba fought against the burglar

B．the police found the burglar had broken in

C．Joanne had planned to take her dog to the meeting at first

D．the doctor performed a difficult operation on the dog

The underlined word a burglar in the last paragraph probably means ____________.

A. a cleaner         B. a physician        C. a thief           D. a murderer

In this passage, the writer intends to tell us that the dog is            ．

A．clever   B．friendly        C．frightening      D．devoted

Joanne was stuck in a traffic jam in central Birmingham at 5：30．and at 6：30 she was expected to be chairing a meeting of the tennis club．At last，the traffic was moving．She swung quickly racing to her house As she opened the door，she nearly tripped over Sheba．

    “Hey，Sheba，”she said，“I've got no time for you now，but I'll take you out as soon as I get back from tennis club．”Then she noticed Sheba seemed to be coughing or choking Obviously，she could hardly breathe．Immediately．Joanne realized she would have to take her to the vet.(兽医) When she got there，the vet was just about to close for the day. Seeing the state of Sheba，Dr．Sterne brought her quickly into his office．

    “Listen，doctor，I'm really in a rush to get to a meeting . Can I leave her with you，and go and get changed? I'll be back in ten minutes to pick her up，and then I'll take her on to the meeting with me. Is that OK?”

    “Sure．”said the doctor

    Joanne made the quick trip back to her house in a couple of minutes．As she was once more entering the hallway，the phone by the door began to ring．

    “This is Dr．Sterne，”said an anxious voice．“I want you to get out of that house immediately，”said the doctor's voice．“I'm coming round right away，and the police will be there any time now．Wait outside!”

    At that moment，a police car screeched to a stop outside the house．Two policemen got out and ran into the house．Joanne was by now completely confused and very frightened．Then the doctor arrived．

    “Where’s Sheba? Is she OK?”shouted Joanne．

    “She’s fine，Joanne．I took out the thing which was choking her，and she’s OK now．”

    Just then，the two policemen reappeared from the house，half-carrying a white—faced man，who could hardly walk．There was blood all over him．

    “My God，”said Joanne，“how did he get in there? And how did you know he was there?”

    “I think he must be a burglar．”said the doctor．“I knew he was there because when I finally removed what was stuck in Sheba’s throat：it turned out to be three human fingers”

What was Joanne supposed to do at 6：30？

    A．To walk her dog．

    B．To see her doctor．

    C．To attend a club meeting．

    D．To play tennis with her friends．

Joanne wanted to get back to her home again            ．

   A．to dress up for the meeting

   B．to phone the police station

   C．to catch the badly hurt burglar

   D．to wait for her dog to be cured  

From the passage，we can infer that          ．

   A．Sheba fought against the burglar

   B．the police themselves found the burglar had broken in

   C．Joanne had planned to take her dog to the meeting

   D．the doctor performed a difficult operation on the dog

In this passage，the writer intends to tell us that the dog is            ．

   A．clever      B．friendly      C．frightening   D．devoted

I was hurrying to class one morning when Hillary Barnes, the most popular girl in school, stopped me. “Are you the twin who won the art contest?” she asked.

“No, that’s Christine. I’m Katie,” I said.

We’re not identical twins; we look quite different. Still, we’re the Carpenter Twins. It was making you angry having a twin straight out of a fairy tale. She could defeat Snow White in a beauty contest and attract friends like the Pied Piper! Compared to Christine, I felt like one of Cinderella’s stepsisters.

In math class I dug into my school bag, searching for my homework. “Here, Katie,” said Christine, offering a crumpled paper. “It was under your pillow.” “Thanks,” I said. She’d made my bed again! Truly she was an amazing sister. How could I be angry with her? It wasn’t her fault I was the one with wild, unmanageable hair and no talent.

The bell rang, and I slapped my math book shut. “Katie, don’t forget our basketball game after school,” reminded Christine.

“I won’t,” I said. Joining Christine’s basketball team was my latest effort to be like her. Though I’d practiced hard all season, my shots still bounced off the rim of the basket. I ran awkwardly when trying to dribble(运球) the ball. Once a pass I threw hit Coach Struthers in the shoulder, practically knocking her over.

This was a new day, a new game. As I was breathing slowly, thinking positive thoughts, Christine called, “Katie, here!” She threw me a ball. I jumped for it; it slipped through my fingers and flew into the bleachers. No one was seated right there, but my relief disappeared when the ball crashed into the tape recorder that was used to play The Star Spangled Banner before each game.

I apologized in a low voice as I picked up the broken pieces of the recorder. Coach looked at the mess and asked, “How are we going to play the song now?”

Christine suggested, “Let Katie sing it! She’s always singing at home.”

Coach asked, “Would you?” I found myself nodding. Coach announced the national anthem and everyone stood. Standing before a microphone, I looked at the flag and took a deep breath. The notes seemed to flow from deep inside me, and my voice was steady and clear. When I finished, the gym was silent. Then it filled with cheering. As the game started, teammates patted my back and gave me the “thumbs up” sign.

Laura Jamison said, “You should try out for the school musical!” I nodded and said that I might.

The next morning, Hillary Barnes stopped me in the hallway and asked, “Are you the twin who sings?”

“Yes, that’s me,” I answered, smiling as I walked to class.

The author wrote this story most likely to ______.

A．show that people are talented in different ways

B．explain why some people are not talented

C．inform readers about making the most of bad situations

D．persuade readers to always be kind to others

Which question does paragraph 6 answer?

A．How did Christine help Katie on the basketball court?

B．How often does the team practice?

C．How does Katie like Christine?

D．Why does Katie join the basketball team?

Which detail from the story supports the idea that Katie does a good job singing at the basketball game?

A．She looks at the flag and takes a deep breath.

B．A teammate says she should try out for the school musical.

C．Coach Struthers asks her to sing before the game. 

D．Her sister says she is always singing at home.

Based on the event described in this story, Katie can best be described as ______

A．foolish          B．cheerful    C．clumsy     D．jealous