It was a busy morning,about 8:30, when an elderly gentleman in his 80s came to the hospital. I heard him saying to the nurse that he was in a hurry for an appointment(约会) at 9:30.
The nurse had him take a   36  in the waiting area,   37  him it would be at least 40 minutes     38 someone would be able to see him. I saw him   39  his watch and decided, since I was   40 busy-my patient didn’t   41  at the appointed hour, I woul examine his would.While taking care of his wound, I asked him if he had another doctor’s appointment.
The gentleman said no and told me that he  42 to go to the nursing home to eat breakfast with his  43 .He told me that she had been  44 for a while and that she had a special disease. I asked if she would be  45 if he was a bit late.He replied that she  46 knew who he was,that she had not been able to   47 him for five years now. I was   48   and asked him,“And you  49  go every morning, even though she doesn’t know who you are?”
He smiled and said, “She doesn’t know me, but I know who she in.” I had to hold back 50  as he left.
Now I    51   that in marriages,true love is    52  of all that.The happiest people don’t  53 have the best of everythng; they just  54 the best of everying they have.  55 is’t about how to live through the storm, but how to dance in the rain.

She is widely seen as proof that good looks can last forever. But, at nearly 500 years of age, time is catching up with the Mona Lisa.

The health of the famous picture, painted by Leonardo da Vinci in 1505, is getting worse by the year, according to the Louvre museum(卢浮宫博物馆)where it is housed.

“The thin, wooden panel on which the Mona Lisa is painted in oil has changed shape since experts checked it two years ago,” the museum said. Visitors have noticed the changes but repairing the world’s most famous painting is not easy. Experts are not sure about the materials the Italian artist used and their current chemical state.

Nearly 6 million people go to see the Mona Lisa every year, many attracted by the mystery of her smile. “It is very interesting that when you’re not looking at her, she seems to be smiling, and then you look at her and she stops,” said Professor Margaret Livingstone of Harvard University. “It’s because direct vision(视觉)is excellent at picking up detail, but less suited to looking at shadows. Da Vinci painted the smile in shadows.”

However, the actual history of the Mona Lisa is just as mysterious as the smile. Da Vinci himself loved it so much that he always carried it with him, until it was eventually sold to France’s King Francis I in 1519.

In 1911, the painting was stolen from the Louvre by a former employee, who took it out of the museum hidden under his coat. He said he planned to return it to Italy. The painting was sent back to France two years later.

During World War II, French hid the painting in small towns to keep it out of the hands of German forces.

Like many old ladies, the Mona Lisa has some interesting stories to tell.

1.The underlined sentence in the first paragraph means the Mona Lisa ________.

A．is losing its value

B．is being damaged after so many years

C．is getting more valuable with years passing

D．will rot away

2.Experts haven’t any repairs on the Mona Lisa because______.

A．it is now in a poor chemical state

B．they don’t know how to replace the wooden panel

C．they don’t have the materials Da Vinci used

D．they are afraid it will be done further damage.

3.The smile of the Mona Lisa can only be seen_______.

A．by indirect vision

B．at a distance

C．by direct vision

D．in shadows

4.From the last paragraph, we can infer that______.

A．many interesting stories have been written about the Mona Lisa

B．people are interested in the stories about the Mona Lisa.

C．some mysteries still remain to be solved about the Mona Lisa.

D．Many more stories will be told about the Mona Lisa.

“Yes, madam, your husband ran into some trouble,” he replied. “They were caught in a heavy storm.” .Storms often cause trouble. When I was a baby, Dad had to spend long weeks at sea as a fisherman. One day, I suddenly began to cry loudly. No matter how Mom comforted me, I just kept crying. Mom felt uneasy. A feeling told her that something bad would happen. Then a word hit her----“Mayday”. Mom called the Coast Guard, asking the man on duty about my Dad and his ship.

Father and his crew radioed for help when water started pouring in his ship. We flew out there about an hour ago and dropped them a pump. “Take it easy. He will be back soon.” “What if the pump doesn’t work?” Mom questioned. “You should do another fly-over.” The man tried to comfort Mom, “He must be all right now, Mrs Hemingway, or we would have heard a radio signal from him.” “You haven’t got a Mayday?” “No, but we will let you know if we hear the radio signal.” Mom hung up.

I remained crying. Mom called the Coast Guard again. Finally, they said they would send out a rescue plane.

At midnight the phone rang. It was the Coast Guard. They had found my father and all his crew floating in sea 15miles off Jamaica. Dad’s ship had sunk, but fortunately all were safe.

“The pump they dropped didn’t work fast enough,” Dad said. “I radioed a Mayday, but I couldn’t get through.”

Dad didn’t get through to the Coast Guard because of the storm, but he got through to us. Really, there is something that can’t be seen but exists, as is said but can’t be explained, between us, the families. 

55. The underlined word “Mayday” in the first paragraph probably means “_________”.

A. a radio program                                        B. the signal for help   

C. the holiday in May                                           D. a sign of feeling sick

56. Why did the man on duty say the author’s father would return soon?

A. The pump they dropped was of high quality.

B. The author’s father called him and told him so.

C. The plane waited until the pump worked.

D. He thought no news was good news.

57. We can infer from the text that _________.

A. the man on duty in the Coast Guard was careless

B. the plane failed to find the ship which was in danger

C. the author’s father was in charge of the ship

D. the pump saved the author’s father finally

58. What may be the explanation for the author’s (as a baby) crying?

A. He might feel hungry in the evening

B. He might see something terrible in the room.

C. He might be afraid when left alone in room

D. He might have a feeling of uneasiness.

It was a busy morning，about 8:30, when an elderly gentleman in his 80s came to the hospital. I heard him saying to the   11  that he was in a hurry for an appointment(约会) at 9:30.
The nurse had him take a   12  in the waiting area, telling him it would be at least 40 minutes before someone would be able to see him. I saw him looking at his   13  and decided, since I was not busy—my patient didn’t   14  at the appointed hour, I would examine his wound. While taking care of his wound, I asked him if he had another doctor’s appointment. He said no and told me that he   15  to go to the nursing home to eat breakfast with his   16 , who had been there for a while for a special disease. I asked if she would be   17  if he was a bit late. He replied that she no longer knew who he was, that she had not been able to   18  him for five years. I was   19 , and asked him，“And you still go every morning, even though she doesn’t know who you are?”
He smiled and said. “She doesn’t know me but I know who she is.” I had to hold back   20  as he left.
Now I   21  that in marriages，true love is   22  of all that is. The happiest people don’t   23  have the best of everything; they just   24  the best of everything they have.   25  isn’t about how to live through the storm, but how to dance in the rain.

The winds had finally died down,and the rains stopped.Paige and her parents were inside their house,sitting in the living room,which was dark except for a single candlelight.
“Let’s find out what’s going on outside,”Paige’s mom suggested as she turned on the small radio.
“…has moved out of the area,”an announcer’s voice boomed. “Winds reaching nearly 100 miles an hour passed through our town this morning. But,the worst is over,and it is safe to go outside.In fact,the sun is now peeking out from behind the…”
Suddenly,the radio went dead.The house was quiet again.
“Well,”Paige’s dad said, “at least we heard some good news,even if it was cut short.Let’s look out of the window and survey the damage.”
Paige ran to the window and looked outside.She saw tree branches lie on the lawn.The mailbox was broken,and some of the address letters and numbers on the mailbox were missing.
“The wind must have ripped(擦)them off,” Paige’s father noted.As he read the remaining letters he began to laugh.
The mailbox dispalyed “_ _RAIN.”
“It says “rain”,”Paige said. “That’s appropriate for a day like today!”
【小题1】The weather event that took place that day in the story was        .