A strange woman comes to my door one day in early March.It’s a rich area so we often have people selling things door to door，dusters，make?up，frozen foods—but she doesn’t look like a professional saleswoman.She hasn’t got the patter(喋喋不休) either.She just smiles shyly and puts a card in my hand：“Amy Turner.Pet Portraits Undertaken.”

I run my fingernail along the cheap gold edge of the card and look at her，waiting for an explanation.

“I’ll paint any animal in the comfort of your own home.”Amy Turner says.“Wouldn’t you like a nice picture of your loved one？I’ve had experience of dogs，cats，parrots，prize bulls...”

“Prize bulls！”I can’t help looking up and down our street.The thought of any of my neighbours keeping bulls in their back gardens makes me smile.

“I don’t have any animals，”I say as we look past each other.She must be wishing some little cat or dog would come running down the hall to give the game away and it is the first chance I’ve had to smell the air outside.It is one of those spring mornings when you wake up and find winter’s gone.Even the camellia in the garden opposite has flowered overnight，pink blossoms which look shocking against the quiet greens and greys.

“Why are you still in your dressing gown？”Amy says，turning her attention back to me.“It’s nearly lunchtime.Are you ill？”

“I’m fine，”I lie.I’m not going to tell a stranger I’ve just been sick in the toilet upstairs and would still be sticking my fingers down my throat if the doorbell hadn’t rung.But now I’m not sure what to do next.Amy is still standing there.She_doesn’t_seem_to_think_that_not_having_a_pet_is

_a_good_enough_excuse.

“I’m starving.”she says and I smile politely，nodding the way you do before you say goodbye.

“No，”she puts her foot in the door.“I’m really starving.I’ve had nothing to eat for two days and no one has any pets for me to paint.I need some food or I’ll faint，right here on your doorstep.”

I stand to one side and let her in.

1．According to the text，what does a professional saleswoman usually do?

A．Sells things door to door with her cards.

B．Never puts a card into people’s hands.

C．Tries to talk people into buying her things.

D．Smiles，hands her cards and walks away.

2．What does the underlined word “one” in the third paragraph stand for?

A．Dog. 　　　　B．Child.　　　　　 C．Pet. 　　　　　D．Cat.

3．From the text we know that Amy is a ________.

A．young baby?sitter 　 B．poor beggar　 C．professional salesgirl D．poor painter

4．What does the writer mean by saying “She doesn’t seem to think that not having a pet is a good enough excuse.”？

A．It seems that she doesn’t want to leave.

B．She wants the writer to give another excuse.

C．She is sure there is a pet in the house.

D．She thinks that not having a pet is a bad thing.

D

Skyscrapers and domed stadiums can amaze us. These modern “wonders of the world” are great achievements in building. Some skyscrapers stretch more than 100 stories toward the sky. The Sears Tower, the tallest building in Chicago, soars 110 stories above the city. Domed stadiums like the Astrodome in Huston, Texas, have seats for thousands of people. Inside these stadiums, people can watch their favorite sports without the bother of heat, cold, rain, or snow. Modern skyscrapers and domed stadiums are certainly marvelous structures!

    On the other hand, our modern buildings may seem small when compared to some structures of the ancient world. Our buildings may be large, hold many people, and protect us from the weather. However, many ancient structures stand as some of the greatest achievements in building. Ancient builders used great creativity and physical strength to plan and complete these buildings. Today, we could make most of these ancient structures easily, but it is hard to understand how people built them hundreds and hundreds of years ago.

    Stonehenge is a huge stone circle in Europe. It was built more than 4,000 years ago. The circle has stone slabs that stand up to 30 feet tall. The heaviest stones in the circle weigh about 50 tons. How did people build Stonehenge without cranes or other modern equipment? Scientists have studied Stonehenge for years and think it probably took more than 30 million hours to complete the project.

    Tourists in Africa like to see the Great Pyramids of Egypt. These tombs for Egyptian kings were built over 4,000 years ago. Each tomb has walls shaped like triangles and a square base. The largest pyramid is more than 450 feet tall and contains more than two million stones. Each stone weighs more than two tons. Some of the stones weigh as much as 200 tons. More than 900 workers worked to move the largest stones into place.

    The stone faces are unusual structures on Easter Island. The faces are 12 to 20 feet high. Islanders made the stone faces more than 1,000 years ago. We do not know why they built them. There are more than 600 stone faces on the island. The great number of stone faces is surprising, since Easter Island is only 11 miles long and 15 miles wide.

    Stonehenge, the Great Pyramids, and the stone faces on Easter Island give only a glimpse of the ancient achievements in building. If we look back through history, we can find many more examples of marvelous structures built without the aid of modern tools and equipment.

68．What is the main idea of this passage?

    A．Modern builders have learned a great deal by studying ancient structures.

    B．Modern builders have shown great creativity in the structures they have made.

    C．Ancient builders could not create structures as great as modern ones.

    D．Ancient builders created some of the world’s finest structures without the use of the modern methods or materials.

69．According to the passage, ancient structures are amazing because they were built ______ .

    A．in places like Egypt and Europe              B．without the use of modern equipment

    C．from stone slabs                      D．over long periods of time

70．The author of this passage would probably describe the achievements of ancient builders as _____.

    A．ordinary      B．amazing       C．strange        D．impossible

71．Which of the following is an OPINION expressed in this passage?

    A．The stone slabs at Stonehenge stand up to 30 feet tall.

    B．Modern skyscrapers and domed stadiums are certainly marvelous structures.

    C．Some ancient structures required 900 workers to complete them.

D．The Sears Tower is 110 stories high.

I am a good mother to three children. I have tried never to let my profession stand in the way of being a good parent.

I no longer consider myself the center of the universe. I show up. I listen. I try to laugh. I am a good friend to my husband. I have tried to make marriage vows(誓约) mean what they say. I am a good friend to my friends，and they to me. Without them，there would be nothing to say to you today.

So here’s what I want to tell you today：get a life. A real life，not a desire of the next promotion(提升)，the bigger paycheck and the larger house.

Get a life in which you are not alone. Find people you love，and who love you. And remember that love is not leisure(休闲) but work. Pick up the phone. Send an e­mail. Write a letter. And realize that life is the best thing and that you have no business taking it for granted.

It is so easy to waste our lives，our days，our hours，and our minutes. It is so easy to exist instead of living. I learned to live many years ago. Something really，really bad happened to me，something that changed my life. If I had my choice，it would never have been changed at all. And what I learned from it is what，today，seems to be the hardest lesson of all.

I learned to love the journey，not the destination. I learned to look at all the good in the world and tried to give some of it back because I believed in it，completely and totally. And I tried to do that，in part，by telling others what I had learned.

By telling them this：read in the backyard with the sun on your face. Learn to be happy. And think of life as a deadly illness，because if you do，you will live with joy and passion(激情) as it ought to be lived.

1.The best title of this passage probably is “________”．

A．Love Your Friends                                             B．Live a Real Life

C．Don’t Waste Time                                              D．Be a Good Mother and Wife

2.How did the author form her view of life?

A．Through social experience.

B．By learning from her friends.

C．Through an unfortunate experience. 

D．From her children and husband.

3.By the underlined sentence “It is so easy to exist instead of living.” in the fifth paragraph，the author really means that people tend to________.

A．make a living rather than live a real life

B．work rather than enjoy life

C．waste a lot in life

D．forget the most important lesson in life

4.It can be inferred from the passage that________.

A．the author is a success in personal life

B．the author doesn’t try her best to work well

C．the author spends all her time caring for her children

D．the author likes traveling very much

Here is a picture where we can see grass growing in stones strongly． This picture    36  me of my father, a most determined man． He was born in a very    37 black family in the country, and both of my grandparents were   38  ．My father began to work in the cotton(棉花) fields when he was seven years old． He had a strong desire to change his own fate（命运） ever since he was a little boy． He   39 himself how to read and write in the evening． Later with his parents'    40    he managed to go to school where he studied computer science at Yale University． He later became a professor of Stanford University and was an expert in programming． He could   41  programs (程序) for supermarkets, restaurants, hotels, parks and bookstores all by himself． I'm    42  of my father   43   of his determination.

The best way to know a strong man, I think, is to let him   44   a severe test． Whenever we want to test a man's character, we should find out whether he can   45   __ adversity （逆境）, because adversity can always prove the   46  character of a man．Only when we make up our own mind can we overcome any    47  ． Some people would give up halfway． Such men can hardly expect to succeed． If we do not give up hope, nothing is impossible．

Two runners stand side by side at the starting line of a race．  36    look very strong and fast．  37  one runner speeds ahead and wins the race．The other __38__．

Some athletes can reach great   39   such as winning an Olympic gold medal．Others never live up to their  40  ．What kind of preparation before a race or before other kinds of events makes the   41  ?    

Everyone knows that athletes try to   42   their bodies．But research shows that strengthening the mind may be just as   43  ．Careful study indicates that the best athletes win  44   because they think they can win．

Positive thoughts seem to provide the edge for   45   in sports．People who say "I know I can do this" to themselves over and over   46   find that they have the advantage to win．On the other hand, people who think "I can't win" often   47  ．

One procedure that helps many athletes is creating   48   in their mind．They are told to think of each jump they must make to   49  ．Some use pictures that are more fanciful．One skater liked to think about a star bursting inside her,  50   her with energy．Another athlete who wanted to feel   51   pictured himself as a bird floating in the air．

Next time you want to do something well．try training your   52   to help you．Perhaps a teacher or other instructors can   53   you plan your training．If you imagine yourself doing better, you may soon see improvements in   54   you really can do．Positive thinking and pictures   55   in your mind can help you win!

1. A．Neither           B．All              C．Each             D．Both

2.A．But        B．So                       C．Or               D．And．

3.A．falls down         B．leaves behind                        C．leaves alone      D．falls behind

4.A．prizes       B．goals                  C．medals                   D．places

5.A．promise      B．name                   C．level                    D．ability

6.A．progress           B．mistake          C．achievement              D．difference

7.A．determine    B．expand                C．strengthen                D．extend

8.A．possible           B．interesting                          C．difficult          D．important

9.A．partly             B．entirely         C．completely       D．mostly

10.A．failure           B．luck             C．success          D．competition

11.A．often        B．never                 C．hardly                   D．rarely

12.A．fail              B．succeed         C．understand               D．expect

13.A．ideas             B．thoughts        C．wonders          D．pictures

14.A．fail              B．run              C．win              D．go

15.A．giving            B．helping                              C．taking           D．tiring

16.A．encouraged    B．calm           C．excited          D．anxious

17.A．mind         B．body           C．brain           D．imagination

18.A．help        B．advise                 C．allow                    D．persuade

19.A．which             B．that             C．what            D．how

20.A．made              B．hung             C．discovered               D．created