It was raining as I got off the train in Nashville, Tennessee. I was tired so I went straight to my hotel.

A big, heavy man was walking up and down in the hotel lobby. Something about the way he moved made me think of a hungry dog looking for a bone. He had a big, fat, red face and a sleepy expression in his eyes. He introduced himself as Wentworth Caswell – Major Wentworth Caswell – from “a fine southern family”. Caswell pulled me into the hotel’s barroom and yelled for a waiter. We ordered drinks. While we drank, he talked continually about himself, his family, his wife and her family. He said his wife was rich. He showed me a handful of silver coins that he pulled from his coat pocket.

By this time, I had decided that I wanted no more of him. I said good night.

I was born in the south myself. But I live in New York now. I write for a large magazine. My boss had asked me to go to Nashville. The magazine had received some stories and poems from a writer in Nashville, named Azalea Adair. The editor liked her work very much. The publisher asked me to get her to sign an agreement to write only for his magazine.

I left the hotel at nine o’clock the next morning to find Miss Adair. It was still raining. As soon as I stepped outside I met Uncle Caesar. He was a big, old black man with fuzzy gray hair. Uncle Caesar was wearing the strangest coat I had ever seen. It must have been a military officer’s coat. It was very long and when it was new it had been gray. But now rain, sun and age had made it a rainbow of colors. Only one of the buttons was left. It was yellow and as big as a fifty cent coin.

Uncle Caesar stood near a horse and carriage. He opened the carriage door and said softly, “Step right in, sir. I’ll take you anywhere in the city.”

“I want to go to 861 Jasmine Street,” I said, and I started to climb into the carriage. But the old man stopped me. “Why do you want to go there, sir?”

“What business is it of yours?” I said angrily. Uncle Caesar relaxed and smiled. “Nothing, sir. But it’s a lonely part of town. Just step in and I’ll take you there right away.”

861 Jasmine Street had been a fine house once, but now it was old and dying. I got out of the carriage.

“That will be two dollars, sir,” Uncle Caesar said. I gave him two one-dollar bills. As I handed them to him, I noticed that one had been torn in half and fixed with a piece of blue paper. Also, the upper right hand corner was missing.

1.The narrator （故事的叙述者）got to Nashville probably _______.

A. in the morning   B. at noon    C. in the afternoon    D. in the evening

2. The narrator didn’t like Caswell mainly because of ________.

A. his appearance   B. his family    C. the way he talked and behaved  D. his wife

3. The publisher told the narrator to go to Nashville ______.

A. to get a writer to sign an agreement for his magazine

B. to collect some stories and poems from a writer

C. to look for good writers for his magazine

D. to visit his old friend Azalea Adair

4. Uncle Caesar’s strange coat ________.

A. was worn by a military officer      B. was a new gray coat

C. was an old yellow raincoat         D. had only one button left

5. From the question “Why do you want to go there, sir?”, we guess that Uncle Caesar _______.

A. wanted to know why the narrator wanted to go there

B. knew the place and was concerned about the narrator 

C. would charge two dollars for taking the narrator there

D. must have lived in the neighbourhood before

It was raining as I got off the train in Nashville, Tennessee. I was tired so I went straight to my hotel.
A big, heavy man was walking up and down in the hotel lobby. Something about the way he moved made me think of a hungry dog looking for a bone. He had a big, fat, red face and a sleepy expression in his eyes. He introduced himself as Wentworth Caswell – Major Wentworth Caswell – from “a fine southern family”. Caswell pulled me into the hotel’s barroom and yelled for a waiter. We ordered drinks. While we drank, he talked continually about himself, his family, his wife and her family. He said his wife was rich. He showed me a handful of silver coins that he pulled from his coat pocket.
By this time, I had decided that I wanted no more of him. I said good night.
I was born in the south myself. But I live in New York now. I write for a large magazine. My boss had asked me to go to Nashville. The magazine had received some stories and poems from a writer in Nashville, named Azalea Adair. The editor liked her work very much. The publisher asked me to get her to sign an agreement to write only for his magazine.
I left the hotel at nine o’clock the next morning to find Miss Adair. It was still raining. As soon as I stepped outside I met Uncle Caesar. He was a big, old black man with fuzzy gray hair. Uncle Caesar was wearing the strangest coat I had ever seen. It must have been a military officer’s coat. It was very long and when it was new it had been gray. But now rain, sun and age had made it a rainbow of colors. Only one of the buttons was left. It was yellow and as big as a fifty cent coin.
Uncle Caesar stood near a horse and carriage. He opened the carriage door and said softly, “Step right in, sir. I’ll take you anywhere in the city.”
“I want to go to 861 Jasmine Street,” I said, and I started to climb into the carriage. But the old man stopped me. “Why do you want to go there, sir?”
“What business is it of yours?” I said angrily. Uncle Caesar relaxed and smiled. “Nothing, sir. But it’s a lonely part of town. Just step in and I’ll take you there right away.”
861 Jasmine Street had been a fine house once, but now it was old and dying. I got out of the carriage.
“That will be two dollars, sir,” Uncle Caesar said. I gave him two one-dollar bills. As I handed them to him, I noticed that one had been torn in half and fixed with a piece of blue paper. Also, the upper right hand corner was missing.
【小题1】The narrator （故事的叙述者）got to Nashville probably _______.

A．was worn by a military officer	B．was a new gray coat
C．was an old yellow raincoat	D．had only one button left

In the past year, the number of parenting contracts­statements signed by parents agreeing to bring their child to school — has gone up by 41% to 6,861. The number of court­issued punishment notices went up by 12% to 7,793 last year.

 The Department for Children, Schools and Families said that part of the rise was due to a ban on parents taking their child out of school during term time to go on holiday. The Labour government has a target to cut truancy (逃学) by a third, but the current rate of unauthorised absence in England is a third higher than in 2001.

 The government has introduced tough new permission to force parents to deal with their child's truancy. Parents can be fined, asked to sign contracts, or ordered to make their child go to school. Finally they can be sent to prison. The first parent to be put in prison was Patricia Amos, from Banbury, Oxfordshire, in 2006. Separate figures from the Ministry of Justice today show that 133 parents were put in prison between 2004 and 2011 for failing to prevent their child's truancy.

 Children's Minister Delyth Morgan said, “It's important that we back schools and local authorities in using these powers to deal with problem pupils and bad behaviour. They rightly make parents take responsibility for their children. These latest figures show that schools and local authorities continue to make good use of these measures.”

 David Laws, the Liberal Democrat education spokesman, said, “While parents need to take responsibility for their children's behaviour and have the duty to ensure they attend school, truancy rates across the country remain sky high. What is needed is a more effective local approach involving parents, schools and the police. Extra money to cut class sizes and provide more one­to­one support will enable teachers to work with individual children and make sure that they are occupied in the classroom.”

60．Parenting contracts are signed to ________.

A．remind parents to help their child with his homework

B．make parents accompany their child to school

C．keep children safe on the way to school

D．ensure children attend school

61．The underlined word “back” in Paragraph 4 probably means “________”．

A．adjust        B．limit           C．oppose         D．support

62．We know from the passage that ________.

A．the government's approach has had little effect on children's truancy

B．the government should take tougher measures against parents

C．the number of parents sent to prison has reduced

D．schools and local authorities misuse the measures

63．In David Laws' opinion, ________.

A．only schools are responsible for children's behaviour

B．schools have got less support from the government

C．parents, schools and the police are to blame for children's truancy

D．more effective measures should be taken to prevent children's truancy