July 21^st, 2007 was a typical English summer’s day – it rained for 24 hours! As usual, I rushed home from work at midday to check on the house. Nothing was amiss. By the time I left work at 5 pm, however, the road into our village was flooded （淹没的）. Our house had never been flooded but, as I opened the front door, a wave of water greeted me. Thank God the kids weren’t with me, because the house was 5 feet deep in water. We lost everything downstairs. And the plaster had to be torn off the walls, ceilings pulled down.

At first we tried to push on through. We didn’t want to move the children out of home. So we camped upstairs. We put a sheet of plastic across the floor to protect us from being wet. But after three months, we felt very sick, so we moved to a wooden house in a park. The house was small, but at first we were all just happy to be in a new place. Unluckily, things took longer than expected. What surprised me most was how much I missed being part of a community （社区）. We had lived in a friendly village with good neighbours, and I’d never thought how much I’d miss that. Although our situation was very bad, it’s difficult to feel too sorry for yourself when you look at what’s happening elsewhere.

We moved back home in August. With December coming, there’s reconstruction（重建）work to be done, so it’s difficult to prepare for Christmas. But I can’t wait- I’m going to throw a party for our friends in the village to say thanks for their support. This year, I won’t need any gifts-living away from home for months has made me realize how little we actually need or miss all the things we have. Although we are replacing things, there’s really no rush-we have our home back, and that’s the main thing.

53 What does the underlined word “amiss” in Paragraph I mean?

A. Wrong.                    B. Missing.                   C. Right.               D. Normal.

54. We can learn from the passage that the family _____.

A. was sick of staying downstairs

B. stayed away for nearly 10 months

C. was happy to live in the wooden house

D. did not deal well with the trouble during the flood

55. What does the writer mainly want to express by telling her story?

A. She valued human feelings more than before.

B. She realized she almost didn’t need anything.

C. She found Christmas gifts could be replaced easily.

D. She thought her own home was the most important.

One day, Jack’s parents told him that his grandpa would retire (退休) after working for forty years. Jack said in surprise, “I’m only seven, so it means Grandpa has been … err… A really long time!”
His parents said, “Yes. That’s why we are going to have a surprise party for him.”
Jack loved his Grandpa and wanted to do something special for him. He remembered the business card his grandpa had given him two years before. He knew that his grandpa would no longer have the position (职位) on that card, so he decided to build a new one for his grandpa.
When the big day came, Jack was ready. But he didn’t want to put his gift together with others’. He carried it around with him the whole evening.
When all the other people left, he took his grandpa’s hand and brought him over to a chair and gave him the gift.
His grandpa smiled, “Well, it must be a beautiful gift. May I open it now?”“Sure!” Jack said excitedly.
As Grandpa opened the gift, tears came into his eyes. Jack gave him the greatest gift he had ever got! They were business cards with his new position: FULL-TIME GRANDPA! Jack said, “Now your full-time job is my grandpa!”
“Well, how much do I get paid?” his grandpa asked, smiling. “As many hugs (拥抱) as you want!” With these words, Jack gave Grandpa a hug. “Well, I guess that means I’m the richest man in the world!” said Grandpa.
【小题1】What did Jack decide to do for his grandpa?