A rat looked through a crack in the wall to see the farmer and his wife opening a package. What food might it contain? But he discovered that it was a rattrap (捕鼠夹）.

Going back to the farmyard, the rat started to give a warning.

The rat turned to the pig and told him：“There is a rattrap in the house, a rattrap in the house!”

‘Tm sorry，Mr. Rat，” said the pig，“I can only say this is something terrible to you, but it is of no influence to me. I cannot be bothered with it.”

The rat turned to the cow. But the cow said，“Like wow，Mr. Rat? A rattrap? I am in danger, Huh?”

The rat returned to the house, head down and dejected. So the rat had to face the farmer's rattrap alone.

That very night, a sound was heard throughout the house，like the sound of a rattrap catching its prey (猎物）The farmer's wife rushed to see what was caught. In the darkness，she did not notice that it was a poisonous snake whose tail had been caught by the trap. The snake bit her.

The farmer rushed her to hospital. She returned home with a fever. Everyone knows that a fever could be treated with fresh chicken soup, so the farmer took his knife to the farmyard for the soup. However, his wife's sickness continued.

The farmer's friends and neighbors came to sit with her around the clock. To feed them, the farmer killed the pig. But she didn't get well. Finally, she diedand so many people came for the last sight that the farmer had the cow killed to provide meat for all of them.

So the next time you hear that someone is facing a problem and think that it does not concern you, remember that the whole farmyard is at risk when there is a rattrap in the house.

1.From the passage we know that______.

A．the pig helped the rat get rid of the trap

B．the cow strongly believed in what the rat said

C．no animals showed concern over the rat's warning

D．the snake was killed immediately after being caught

2.The underlined word ‘‘dejected” is the closest in meaning to______.

A．disappointed       B．surprised          C．determined        D．excited

3.We can learn from the article that_____.

A．the farmer had planned to kill the rat

B．the rat was very wise in avoiding the trap

C．the farmer's wife got good treatment in hospital

D．the rat had expected what would happen to the pig and cow

4.What message does the story intend to pass?

A．We should mind our own business.

B．Everything is related to something else.

C．We'd better treat animals in a friendly way.

D．The farmer couple and their friends are all foolish.

John Blanchard stood up from the bench, straightened his Army uniform, and studied the crowd of people making their way through Grand Central Station. He looked for the girl whose heart he knew, but whose face he didn’t, the girl with the rose.

His interest in her had begun thirteen months before in a Florida library. Taking a book off the shelf he found himself intrigued, not with the words of the book, but with the notes penciled in the margin. The soft handwriting reflected a thoughtful soul and insightful mind. In the front of the book, he discovered the previous owner’s name, Miss Hollis Maynell. With time and effort he located her address. She lived in New York City. He wrote her a letter introducing himself and inviting her to correspond. The next day he was shipped overseas for service in World War II.

????????????? During the next year and one month the two grew to know each other through the mail. Each letter was a seed falling on a fertile heart. A romance was starting Blanchard requested a photograph, but she refused. She felt that if he really cared, it wouldn’t matter what she looked like.

When the day finally came for him to return from Europe, they scheduled their first meeting —7:00 PM at the Grand Central Station in New York. “You’ll recognize me,” she wrote, “by the red rose I’ll be wearing on my lapel.” So at 7:00 he was in the station looking for a girl whose heart he loved, but whose face he’d never seen.

????????????? I’ll let Mr. Blanchard tell you what happened: A young woman was coming toward me, her figure long and slim. Her blonde hair lay back in curls from her delicate ears; her eyes were blue as flowers. Her lips and chin had a gentle firmness, and in her pale green suit she was like springtime come alive. I stared at her, entirely forgetting to notice that she was not wearing a rose. As I moved, a small, attractive smile curved her lips. “Going my way , sailor?” she murmured.

????????????? Almost uncontrollably I made one step closer to her, and then I saw Hollis Maynell. She was standing almost directly behind the girl. A woman well past 40, she had graying hair tucked under a worn hat. She was more than plump, her thick-ankled feet thrust into low-heeled shoes. The girl in the green suit was walking quickly away. I felt as though I was split in two, so keen was my desire to follow her, and yet so deep was my longing for the woman whose spirit had truly companioned me and upheld my own.

????????????? And there she stood. Her pale, plump face was gentle and sensible, her gray eyes had a warm and kindly twinkle. I did not hesitate. My fingers gripped the small worn blue leather copy of the book that was to identify me to her.

????????????? This would not be love, but it would be something precious, something perhaps even better than love, a friendship for which I had been and must ever be grateful. I squared my shoulders and saluted and held out the book to the woman, even though while I spoke I felt choked by the bitterness of my disappointment.　　"I'm Lieutenant John Blanchard, and you must be Miss Maynell. I am so glad you could meet me; may I take you to dinner?"
　　The woman's face broadened into a tolerant smile. "I don't know what this is about, son," she answered, "but the young lady in the green suit who just went by, she begged me to wear this rose on my coat. And she said if you were to ask me out to dinner, I should go and tell you that she is waiting for you in the big restaurant across the street. She said it was some kind of test!"
? ????????????? It's not difficult to understand and admire Miss Maynell's wisdom. The true nature of a heart is seen in its response to the unattractive. "Tell me whom you love," Houssaye wrote, "And I will tell you who you are． "

1.How did John Blanchard get to know Miss Hollis Maynell?

A. They lived in the same city．????????????????

B. They were both interested in literature．

C. John knew Hollis's name from a library book．??

D. John came across Hollis in a Florida library．

2.Hollis refused to send Blanchard a photo because ?????????? .

A. she was only a middle - aged woman??????????

B. she wasn't confident about her appearance

C. she thought true love is beyond appearance?????

D. she had never taken any photo before they knew

3.How could Blanchard recognize Hollis?

A. She would be wearing a rose on her coat．?????

B. She would be holding a book in her hand．

C. She would be standing behind a young girl．???

D. She would be wearing a scarf around her neck．

4.What was the real Miss Hollis Maynell like?

A. She was a plump woman with graying hair．???

B. She was a slightly fat girl, with blonde hair．

C. She was a middle - aged woman in her forties．??

D. She was a young, pretty girl wearing a green suit．

5.When Blanchard went over to greet the woman, he was????????? ．

A. satisfied and confident

B. disappointed but well - behaved

C. annoyed and bad - mannered

D. shocked but inspired

6.Which of the following can be the best title for the passage?

A. A Test of Love??? ????????????? ????????????? B. The Symbol of Rose

C. Love is blind??? ????????????? ????????????? D. Don't Judge a Book by its Cover

Before she appeared on the reality show (真人秀) Britain's Got Talent, Susan Boyle was just an ordinary middle­aged British woman.Now all this is going to change.

She lives in a house with her cat Pebbles in a tiny Scottish town.Because of learning difficulties, she doesn't have much education.But what she does have is a very good voice.As a kid, she sang in church and choirs and school plays.For a living, she sang at local pubs.

When she took the stage on April 10th her hair was untidy and her clothes seemed just_one_step_up_from rags.The audience laughed at her.

But then she opened her mouth.A few bars into the song and the laughing audience went silent.A beautiful voice was singing I Dreamed a Dream from the musical Les Miserables.Everyone was amazed.At the end of her song, the audience jumped to their feet and applauded wildly.

Almost overnight, Susan became a household name.She won fans and millions of admirers.Her online videos have drawn over 85.2 million hits.

Susan's story proved the truth of an old saying: “Never judge the book by its cover.” Susan may look ordinary, and doesn't have much dress sense, but she can certainly sing.

Susan's fans admire her courage, as much as they do her voice.She has experienced mockery and many disappointments, but her love for music has kept her going, which is worth anyone's respect.

1.According to the passage, Susan Boyle ________.

A．is a famous young actress                 B．became famous after a show

C．used to be a good student                 D．is good at dancing and has millions of admirers

2.The underlined phrase “just one step up from” in the third paragraph probably means ________.

A．far from          B．close to           C．different from      D．the same as

3.The audience jumped and applauded wildly because ________.

A．her hair was untidy and her clothes seemed just one step up from rags

B．she looked very funny

C．she sang so well that everyone was amazed

D．she made a foolish mistake in the end

4.Susan Boyle has many fans now because of ________.

A．her beautiful face                       B．her knowing how to dress

C．her good education                      D．her beautiful voice and courage

5.The passage is mainly about ________.

A．how to win fans                         B．how to sing well

C．a woman's sudden success                D．a woman's simple life

One evening I went out and left my 17-year-old son and his girlfriend in charge of his 8-year-old brother and 4-year-old sister. I left with complete confidence that the older children would do a wonderful job of babysitting the younger children and the younger children would do a wonderful job of accompanying（陪伴）the older ones. Later, I discovered that I was completely wrong.

I had decided to return home earlier than planned so that my son and his girlfriend could go out. I called home with this happy news. But instead of hearing his cheerful, grateful voice on the other end of the line, all I heard was the sound of a telephone ringing.

It was, I should point out, after 10 p.m., when the two younger children should have been in bed, and when the two older children should have been answering the phone. “I’ll give him a lesson, ” I said．I decided they must be outside．Why they might be outside at 10:30 on a winter night I had no idea, but it was the only explanation I could come up with.

Finally, in desperation（绝望）, I called his girlfriend’s house. His girlfriend answered. “Yes,” she said brightly, “He’s right here.”

He came on the phone．I was not my usual calm, patient. After all, one of the rules of survival for modern parents is that you can’t trust modern teenagers. “Where are the children?” I said. He said they were with him. They had done nothing wrong. My son had taken the younger children over to his girlfriend’s house just for ice cream and cake. Well, it turns out that I shouldn’t have believed it. It was only part of the truth.

The following Saturday evening we were at my parents’ home, celebrating my birthday. My oldest son gave me the children’s gifts — a series of lovely color photographs of my children, dressed in their best clothes, and wearing their most wonderful expressions. They are pictures to treasure a lifetime, all taken by the father of my son’s girlfriend.

1.The author went out and left her eldest son in charge of the younger children because________.

A．she knew that his girlfriend was a good baby-sitter

B．she believed he could take good care of the younger ones with the help of his girlfriend

C．the older children have always loved the younger ones

D．she could not find a baby-sitter on that winter night

2.Shortly after the author left home one evening, she discovered that _________.

A．her son had brought his girlfriend home

B．her son had left home with his girlfriend

C．she shouldn’t have completely trusted her son

D．she should have taken the children along with her

3.“It was only part of the truth.” implies that the children not only enjoyed ice-cream but also _________.

A．had their pictures taken                  B．received some gifts

C．had a birthday party                     D．showed off their best clothes

4. Which is the best title of this passage?

A．An Evening Out                         B．Modern Teenagers

C．Mother and Children                     D．A Precious Birthday Gift

The day that I met my best friend for the first time, I was full of anxiety. I was trying to do some ______ for an important oral exam in the local library, but people kept ______ me. I was getting annoyed and of course, I wasn’t able to ______. Suddenly I heard someone singing behind me. I ______ and glared at the person who was singing. It was a tall girl about the same age as me.

She looked like a sensitive, friendly girl didn’t matter. If anything, it made me even angrier.” How could she be so selfish?” I thought ______.

I picked up my books, glared at her and whispered coldly, “Thanks to your ______, I’ve been unable to study. You’re so ______!”

I left the library in such a hurry, I left the most important textbook ______. when I got home two hours later, I found that textbook gone. I was so ______ that I almost cried. Just then, the phone rang. a gentle voice ______ the speaker as Jenny and asked if I was Jane. After ______ that I was, she said that she had noticed I’d left my book in the library and as my ______ was in it, she’d asked a librarian to get my phone number f. She said that she didn’t live far away and could bring it around for me if I needed it. 

I sighed with ______and agreed to meet her at the convenience store down the road. Of course you’ve ______ who Jenny was. She was the girl I had shouted at for singing in the library. When I recognized her in the convenience store, I was filled with ______ and apologized for my ruled behavior I felt so ______, but Jenny just laughed, saying she was glad to see that I’d also left my ______ in the library! I couldn’t help laughing at this and I invited her back to my apartment for a quick cup of tea. 

Ever since then we’ve been best friends and we got along really well. To be honest, I trust her more than any one else. I often think how ______ I am. If Jenny hadn’t been a kind person who was willing to ______ my shortcomings, I would ______ have experienced such true friendship.

1.A. research    B. revision         C. work     D. experiment

2.A. watching    B. asking   C. warning         D. disturbing

3.A. speak          B. improve         C. concentrate  D. follow

4.A.turned around    B. turned down          C. turned off     D. turned over

5.A. sadly  B. hopelessly     C. angrily  D. crazily

6.A. practice     B. noise     C. attitude          D. existence

7.A. selfish         B. active    C. sensitive        D. stupid

8.A. out     B. around C. aside     D. behind

9.A. nervous     B. careless         C. upset    D. forgetful

10.A. introduced       B. considered   C. took      D. remembered

11.A. deciding  B. conforming   C. realizing         D. thinking

12.A. address    B. class      C. writing  D. name

13.A. comfort   B. relief     C. confidence   D. satisfaction

14.A. recognized       B. found    C. guessed         D. heard

15.A. courage   B. energy  C. doubt    D. shame

16.A. worried   B. sorry     C. terrible D. excited

17.A. glare         B. expression    C. virtue    D. friendship

18.A. considerate      B. pleased          C. luck       D. grateful

19.A. overcome         B. share    C. hide      D. forgive

20.A. ever         B. never    C. seldom D. Fstill