My elder brother Steve, in the absence of my father who died when I was six, gave me important lessons in values that helped me grow into an adult.

    For instance, Steve taught me to face the results of my behavior. Once when I returned in tears from a Saturday baseball game, it was Steve who took the time to ask me what happened. When I explained that my baseball had soared through Mrs. Holt’s basement window, breaking the glass with a crash, Steve encouraged me to confess to her. After all, I should have been playing in the park down Fifth Street and not in the path between buildings. Although my knees knocked as I explained to Mrs. Holt, I offered to pay for the window from my pocket money if she would return my ball.

    I also learned from Steve that personal property is a sacred thing. After I found a shiny silver pen in my fifth-grade classroom, I wanted to keep it, but Steve explained that it might be important to someone else in spite of the fact that it had little value. He reminded me of how much I’d hate to lose to someone else the small dog my father carved from a piece of cheap wood. I returned the pen to my teacher, Mrs. Davids, and still remembered the smell of her perfume as she patted me on the shoulder.

Yet of all the instructions Steve gave me, his respect for life is the most vivid in my mind. When I was twelve, I killed an old brown sparrow in the yard with a BB gun. Excited with my accuracy, I screamed to Steve to come from the house to take a look. I shall never forget the way he stood for a long moment and stared at the bird on the ground. Then in a dead, quiet voice, he asked, “Did it hurt you first, Mark?” I didn’t know what to answer. He continued with his eyes firm, “The only time you should ever think of hurting a living thing is if it hurts you first. And then you think a long, long time.” I really felt terrible then, but that moment stands out as the most important lesson my brother taught me.

31. What is the main subject of the passage?

A. The relationship between Mark and Steve.

B. The important lesson Mark learned in school.

C. Steve’s important role in Mark’s growing process.

D. Mark and Steve’s respect for living things.

32. In the story about the pen, which of the following lessons did Steve teach his brother?

   A. Respect for personal property.                         B. Respect for life.

   C. Sympathy for people with problems.                D. The value of honesty.

33. According to the writer, which was the most important lesson Steve taught his young brother?

   A. Respect for living things.                  B. Responsibility for one’s actions.

   C. The value of honesty.                       D. Care for the property of others.

34. The underlined word “knocked” in the second paragraph means ______.

   A. tapped            B. beat          C. struck            D. trembled

35. From the passage, we can infer the following statements EXCEPT that ______.

   A. Mark benefited a lot from Steve after their father passed away.

   B. Mark was not as excellent as his elder brother Steve.

   C. The small wood dog carved by his father meant a lot to Mark.

   D. Mark used to be a naughty boy in his childhood.

 The engineers have rejected the employers' proposals to end the strike and the other workers have come out in _____.

A. opposition          B. return                  C. sympathy            D. readiness

Ann，a mother of 3 children, is a warm-hearted social worker and she has done a lot to help people  36  . The family’s dinner conversation often turns to local poor families, and she  37   tries her best to seek help for them. This year, Ann   38  that Santa Claus would make a special   39  to a young unemployed mother named Ashley, who was   40  two sons by herself.

One Sunday morning, the family were joyfully having breakfast   41  the phone rang, saying that the aid she had requested for Ashley had  42  . No Santa Claus, no presents, nothing. On hearing the news, Ann noticed the   43   disappear from her children's faces. Kinzie, the youngest one,  44  down from her chair and ran out of the kitchen room. In a matter of   45  , she returned carrying her piggy bank and began to   46  the coins over and over again, $3.30 in total. “Mom,” she shook her head  47  , “I know it's not much. But maybe this will buy a   48  for the children.” Then suddenly everyone was reaching into their pockets and   49  their purses. Immediately the money –- coins and bills   50  on the table. On Christmas Eve, Ann as well as Kinzie drove to Ashley’s house. After Ann wished the   51  woman a merry Christmas, she began to unload the gifts from the car,  52   them to Ashley one by one and told her the whole story.

Ashley was moved to tears   53  the words: Kinzie opened not only her piggy bank but also her  54  , and my children as well as I myself would be able to do something   55  for someone else in need.

The engineers have rejected the employers' proposals to end the strike and the other workers have come out in _____.

A. opposition          B. return                  C. sympathy            D. readiness

The engineers have rejected the employers' proposals to end the strike and the other workers have come out in _____.

 A. opposition          B. return                  C. sympathy            D. readiness