阅读理解

　　When Charles Stratton was five, he stopped growing. His mother took him to see the famous showman, P. T. Barnum. Mr. Barnum thought a small person would be the perfect addition to his show. He hired Charles' parents along with him, and they traveled the world together.

　　He gave the two - foot - tall Charles name, General Tom Thumb. He taught Tom how to sing, dance, act and tell jokes. When he felt Tom was ready to perform on stage, he made up ads. To stir up(激起)great interest, he said that Tom was eleven years old and had come from England.

　　During the show, Tom fought battles pretendedly with tall people. He also danced upon a wooden plate held by a person who was eight feet tall.

　　Tom's act was very popular and brought in a lot of money. By the time Tom was an adult, he had grown very rich. He had become a billionaire at the age of twenty-five.

　　Fortunately for Tom, Mr. Barnum added more little people to his show, and Torn became lucky in love as well. One of the little people was Lavinia Warren, a school teacher. Tom was able to win her love, and they married.

　　The ceremony (庆典) and reception were the talk of the town. They were attended by many rich and famous people and by about 2,000 guests. Crowds filled the streets of New York to have a look at their tiny wedding marriage. The couple even met with President Abraham Lincoln on their honeymoon just before going to live in Tom's house in Connecticut.

　　Their wedding, which took place during the Civil War, provided a welcome escape from the sad problems of war. Not willing to let this bit of sunshine fade(浅谈), communities throughout the country sponsored (主持)“Tom Thumb”weddings. In these weddings, small boys and girls, all dressed up, went through marriage ceremony for fun.

1．“Talk of the town”means ________.

[　　]

A．it was in the newspaper

B．people spread mean rumors(谣言) about it

C．it was the most popular happening

D．it was discussed in a city meeting

2．What does the author think about Tom Thumb's wedding?

[　　]

A．People gave it too much of their attention.

B．It helped people cheer up in a dark time.

C．It was funny and ridiculous(荒谬可笑的).

D．Tom and Lavinia were stupid.

3．Which of the following is the best clue to the fact that Tom was smart?

[　　]

A．He became a billionaire at twenty-five.

B．He learned how to sing, dance, and act at a very young age.

C．He met with President Lincoln during his honeymoon.

D．He married a school teacher.

4．Tom would dance on a wooden plate held by a person who was eight feet tall because ________.

[　　]

A．the wooden plate would make it sound as if Tom was tap dancing

B．it made Tom feel taller

C．the eight-foot-tall man was the only tall person Tom trusted

D．die difference between them would make Tom look even smaller

5．What is the main idea of the last paragraph?

[　　]

A．Weddings always make people feel full of sunshine.

B．People are always disappointed during war time.

C．Entertainment can serve an important purpose.

D．People should be married when they are small children.

I was 9 years old when I found out my father was   36  . It was 1994, but I can remember my mother’s words as if it   37   yesterday: “Kerrel, I don’t want you to take food   38   your father, because he has AIDS. Be very careful when you are around him.”

AIDS wasn’t   39   we talked about in my country when I was growing up. From then on, I knew that this would be a family   40  . My parents were not together anymore, and my dad lived alone. For a while, he could take care of himself. But when I was 12, his condition worsened. My father’s   41   children lived far away, so it   42   to me to look after him. We couldn’t afford all the necessary medication for him, and   43   Dad was unable to work, I had no money for school supplies and often couldn’t   44   buy food for dinner. I would sit   45   feeling completely   46  , the teacher’s words muffled as I tried to figure out   47   I was going to manage.

I didn’t share my burden with anyone. I had seen how people reacted to AIDS. Kids   48   classmates who had parents with the disease. And even adults could be cruel. When my father was moved to the hospital, the nurses would leave his food on the bedside table even though he was   49   weak to feed himself. I had known that he was going to die,   50   after so many years of keeping his condition a secret, I was completely unprepared when he reached his final days. Sad and   51  , I   52   a woman at the non profit National AIDS Support. That day, she   53   me on the phone for hours. I was so lucky to find someone who cared. She saved my life.

I was 15 when my father died. He took his secret away with him, having never spoken about AIDS to anyone, even me. He didn’t want to call attention to   54  . I   55  .

完形填空（共20小题；每小题1分，满分20分）
阅读下面短文，从短文后各题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中选出可以填入空白的最佳选项，并在答题纸上将该项涂黑。
I was 9 years old when I found out my father was   36 ．It was 1994, but I can remember my mother’s words as if it   37  yesterday: “Kerrel, I don’t want you to take food   38  your father, because he has AIDS．Be very careful when you are around him．”
AIDS wasn’t  39  we talked about in my country when I was growing up．From then on, I knew that this would be a family   40 ．My parents were not together anymore, and my dad lived alone．For a while, he could take care of himself．But when I was 12, his condition worsened．My father’s   41  children lived far away, so it   42  to me to look after him．We couldn’t afford all the necessary medication for him, and   43  Dad was unable to work, I had no money for school supplies and often couldn’t  44  buy food for dinner．I would sit  45  feeling completely  46  , the teacher’s words muffled（压低）as I tried to figure out   47  I was going to manage．
I didn’t share my burden with anyone．I had seen how people reacted to AIDS．Kids __48__ classmates who had parents with the disease．And even adults could be cruel．When my father was moved to the hospital, the nurses would leave his food on the bedside table even though he was __49__ weak to feed himself．I had known that he was going to die, __50__ after so many years of keeping his condition a secret, I was completely unprepared when he reached his final days．Sad and __51__, I __52__ a woman at the non-profit National AIDS Support．That day, she __53__ me on the phone for hours．I was so lucky to find someone who cared．She saved my life．
I was 15 when my father died．He took his secret away with him, having never spoken about AIDS to anyone, even me．He didn’t want to call attention to __54__．I __55__．

完形填空（共20小题；每小题1分，满分20分）

阅读下面短文，从短文后各题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中选出可以填入空白的最佳选项，并在答题纸上将该项涂黑。

    I was 9 years old when I found out my father was   36  ．It was 1994, but I can remember my mother’s words as if it   37   yesterday: “Kerrel, I don’t want you to take food   38   your father, because he has AIDS．Be very careful when you are around him．”

    AIDS wasn’t  39   we talked about in my country when I was growing up．From then on, I knew that this would be a family   40  ．My parents were not together anymore, and my dad lived alone．For a while, he could take care of himself．But when I was 12, his condition worsened．My father’s   41   children lived far away, so it   42   to me to look after him．We couldn’t afford all the necessary medication for him, and   43   Dad was unable to work, I had no money for school supplies and often couldn’t  44  buy food for dinner．I would sit  45   feeling completely  46  , the teacher’s words muffled（压低）as I tried to figure out   47   I was going to manage．

    I didn’t share my burden with anyone．I had seen how people reacted to AIDS．Kids __48__ classmates who had parents with the disease．And even adults could be cruel．When my father was moved to the hospital, the nurses would leave his food on the bedside table even though he was __49__ weak to feed himself．I had known that he was going to die, __50__ after so many years of keeping his condition a secret, I was completely unprepared when he reached his final days．Sad and __51__, I __52__ a woman at the non-profit National AIDS Support．That day, she __53__ me on the phone for hours．I was so lucky to find someone who cared．She saved my life．

    I was 15 when my father died．He took his secret away with him, having never spoken about AIDS to anyone, even me．He didn’t want to call attention to __54__．I __55__．

1.A．bad     B．ill   C．good                         D．well

2.A．were        B．was             C．had been       D．has been

3.A．to            B．from          C．in             D．on

4.A．anything      B．everything    C．something     D．all

5.A．secret         B．problem C．trouble             D．matter

6.A．another      B．other          C．the other     D．others

7.A．came          B．fell          C．felt           D．turned

8.A．before    B．after             C．because        D．so

9.A．still                          B．even           C．yet        D．already

10.A．at homeB．in the hospital C．on the chair    D．in class

11.A．lost                          B．sad            C．puzzled        D．curious

12.A．what                          B．where          C．how        D．when

13.A．laughed at  B．smiled atC．played a joke about D．made fun of

14.A．too          B．so                              C．enough         D．very

15.A．and         B．but            C．however        D．yet

16.A．hopeful B．excited            C．disappointed   D．hopeless

17.A．visited     B．called         C．asked          D．advised

18.A．kept        B．told           C．spoke          D．talked

19.A．him         B．me             C．disease        D．AIDS

20.A．do          B．did            C．am             D．will