第三部分：阅读理解（共20小题；每小题2分；满分40分）
阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项（A、B、C、D）中选出最佳选项。
A
The first time I saw Carlos, I had my arms full of books and I was tearing into the classroom when I ran into something solid．It was Carlos．
"My, you're tall," he exclaimed． Of course, the class began to laugh．Annoyed, I walked to my seat without a word．
I glanced back to see if Reed Harrington was laughing with the rest．That would be the last straw．To my relief．Reed was studying and did not seem to be aware of it．I didn't know why I considered Reed my friend．Maybe just because he was a good two inches taller than I．
"Take that seat," Mr．McCarthy told the newcomer, pointing to the only empty one, in the back of the room．
Carlos smiled broadly．"But I need a couple of dictionaries．" Again the class laughed, but now they were laughing with Carlos, not at him．He had been here only 10 minutes and already he had them on his side．
It was the school election that made me think of Carlos again．Reed Harrington was voted president and Carlos vice-president．"How come?" I kept asking myself．"How come this shrimp （虾） who's only been in town for a little over a month gets to be so popular?"
So when I met Carlos this morning, I said to him, "It doesn't seem to bother you — being short, I mean．" He looked up at me．"Of course I mind being short．But there isn't anything I can do about it．When I realized I was going to have to spend my life in this undersized skin, I decided to make the best of it．My motto is — don't be afraid to be yourself．"
56．This passage is mainly about a short boy who ____________．
A．won the school election       B．is ashamed of his height
C．has learned to accept his size   D．is embarrassed by the class
57．From the story, we can see that Carlos is ________．
A．shy but diligent    B．humorous and confident                                  
C．proud and popular        D．honest but sensitive
58．Paragraph 4 suggests that the author ______．
A．cared much about Reed's attitude
B．thought Reed was the same as the others
C．couldn't stand Carlos playing tricks on her 
D．hoped Reed was laughing with the others
59．According to the passage, what happened after the election?
A．Carlos and the author argued with each other．                                 
B．Carlos and Reed became very good friends．                            
C．The author changed her attitude toward Carlos．                                     
D．Carlos was elected president of the student committee．

第三部分：阅读理解（共20小题；每小题2分；满分40分）

       阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项（A、B、C、D）中选出最佳选项。

A

       The first time I saw Carlos, I had my arms full of books and I was tearing into the classroom when I ran into something solid．It was Carlos．

       "My, you're tall," he exclaimed． Of course, the class began to laugh．Annoyed, I walked to my seat without a word．

       I glanced back to see if Reed Harrington was laughing with the rest．That would be the last straw．To my relief．Reed was studying and did not seem to be aware of it．I didn't know why I considered Reed my friend．Maybe just because he was a good two inches taller than I．

       "Take that seat," Mr．McCarthy told the newcomer, pointing to the only empty one, in the back of the room．

       Carlos smiled broadly．"But I need a couple of dictionaries．" Again the class laughed, but now they were laughing with Carlos, not at him．He had been here only 10 minutes and already he had them on his side．

       It was the school election that made me think of Carlos again．Reed Harrington was voted president and Carlos vice-president．"How come?" I kept asking myself．"How come this shrimp （虾） who's only been in town for a little over a month gets to be so popular?"

       So when I met Carlos this morning, I said to him, "It doesn't seem to bother you — being short, I mean．" He looked up at me．"Of course I mind being short．But there isn't anything I can do about it．When I realized I was going to have to spend my life in this undersized skin, I decided to make the best of it．My motto is — don't be afraid to be yourself．"

56．This passage is mainly about a short boy who ____________．

       A．won the school election        B．is ashamed of his height

       C．has learned to accept his size   D．is embarrassed by the class

57．From the story, we can see that Carlos is ________．

       A．shy but diligent     B．humorous and confident                                  

       C．proud and popular         D．honest but sensitive

58．Paragraph 4 suggests that the author ______．

       A．cared much about Reed's attitude

       B．thought Reed was the same as the others

       C．couldn't stand Carlos playing tricks on her 

      D．hoped Reed was laughing with the others

59．According to the passage, what happened after the election?

       A．Carlos and the author argued with each other．                                 

       B．Carlos and Reed became very good friends．                            

       C．The author changed her attitude toward Carlos．                                     

       D．Carlos was elected president of the student committee．

I'm feeling sad．My 19-year-old∞nleft home about a week ago to  36  the Air Force, and my 23-year-old daughter left two days ago to marry in another state．I'm so  37  of my son as he had to really work hard to get into the Air Force, and my daughter moved to be with her fiance（未婚夫）．I'm just simply upset．It  38  feels like someone has ripped my heart from my chest．I’ve tried to talk to their father, friends, and family but it just feels like no one around me   39  what I'm going through．

My children were  40  to me．I put all my energy into   41  both of them and doing all types of activities with them, even sometimes at the  42 of my own best interests．I understand they grow up and need their _43 ,but for some reason I just can't seem to let go．I am go _ 44  that they're establishing their own lives,   45 I get so depressed whenever I have even a simple _46 of them．I've been crying for over a week now．I really don't know what to do to make this  47 go away．I can't even walk by either one's room without bursting into tears．I don't understand why I'm unable to _48 this sense of great loss．I'm  49  that I need to move on with my own life and find  _50 things to devote my attention to, but I _51 being a mom and spending time on my children．I've    52  adopting a child but it's _53  atthe moment for me considering my poor health．

I'm just thankful to have found this website and found there are others who are  54 similar problems．It helps to   55 I'm not crazy or overreacting．Thank you for sharing your problems and showing others like myself this isn’t so abnormal．