It was midnight in Paris and we were rolling toward Avenue Bosguet. As we came to the Pont Alexandra Ⅲ, the taxi slowed down, for the traffic light was red against us, and then, without stopping, we sailed through the red in a sudden burst of speed. The same performance was repeated at the Alma Bridge. As I paid the driver, I asked him why he had driven through two red lights.

   “You ought to be ashamed of yourself, breaking the law and endangering your life that way.” I protested.

He looked at me, astonished, “Ashamed of myself? I am a law abiding(守法的) citizen and have no desire to get killed either.” He cut me off before I could protest.

“No, just listen to me before you complain. What did I do? Went through a red light. Well, did you ever stop to consider what a red light is? What it means?”

“Certainly,”I replied. “It’s a stop signal and means the traffic is rolling in the opposite direction.”

“Half-right,”said the driver, “But incomplete. It’s only an automatic(自动的) stop signal. And it does not mean that there is cross traffic. Did you see any cross traffic during our trip? Of course not. I slowed down at the light, looked carefully to the right and to the left. Not another car on the street at this hour. Well, then! What would you have me do? Should I stop like a stupid animal because an automatic, brainless machine turns red every forty seconds? No, sir,”he shouted, “I am a man, not a machine. I have eyes and a brain and judgment, given me by God. Ashamed of myself, you say? I would only be ashamed of myself if I let those blinking lamps do my thinking for me. Good night,sir.”

1.At the Alma Bridge,__________.

   A.the writer stopped the taxi and aid the driver

   B.the taxi went through a red light again

   C.there was a performance the writer had already watched

   D.the writer began to criticize the driver

2.To the taxi driver, a red light__________.

   A.was not a stop signal

   B.should not work at midnight

   C.sometimes made mistakes in judgment

   D.didn’t always mean that there was cross traffic

3.The main reason the driver dared to drive through the red light was that________________.

   A.he found there was no cross traffic there at that time

   B.he thought it a shame to be controlled by a machine

   C.he knew no other driver would see him at this hour

   D.he didn’t trust any brainless machine

4.According to the passage, the driver thought of what he had done was____________.

   A.law abiding                        B.law breaking

   C.something to be proud of             D.something to be ashamed of

People say teenagers are no good. They make too much noise in shopping malls; they drive recklessly（不顾一切地） up and down America’s main streets; they carry chips on their shoulders as big as the Sears Tower. And at least some of the time those things are true. But we shouldn’t forget that there are hard moments in the life of a teenager too.

I watched such a moment not long ago at a woman’s funeral. I didn’t expect the event to affect me. Through much of the ceremony, in fact, I remained unmoved.

The teenage grandson stepped forward. With his very first deep breath, every heart in that church was achingly reminded of something we had all forgotten. Softly he began: “I want to share a few values that Nana taught me. She never failed to see light in any situation. When our family dog would truely attract her, what would Nana say? ‘oh, what beautiful barking that dog has!’ That was Nana. ”

“She was a strong woman who often lived in the shadow of my grandpa, who was a successful businessman in this city. But she was the one behind the scenes who provided the strength and support for my grandpa’s career,” he said, with a voice now trembling, “That was Nana’s way.”

Through a low sob, he continued, “Whenever she did anything worth recognition, you ’d have to hear about it from a different source, because she was never one to show off.”

Finally, in a voice breaking free of sorrow, he looked up and said, “Nana taught me courage. She put up an incredible fight to the end, when she died peacefully, which is how she lived her life. That was Nana’s way, and I hope I can carry on in the same manner.”

There are no hearts as sensitive as those of teenagers, because everything is happening to them for the first time. The trouble with teenagers is that they haven’t learned to be controlled.

When that boy rose to speak about the woman who surely had been his truest and dearest friend, his honest voice dragged each of us out into the open where we could no longer hide in the calm ceremony . He exposed us to the truth about this very real woman who believed in a boy who probably tried the patience of many adults. He reminded us that his grandmother was more than another dot on the chart of life and death.

All over again we felt those powerful losses crossing our own hearts, and we knew that when you say good-bye to something happy, something young in yourself. And that something never really returns, and the pain never really goes away.

1.In the first paragraph, the writer gave some examples to_____.

A. support his idea that young people are no good.

B. introduce his point of view about young people.

C. tell people every coin has its two sides.

D. young people often make mistakes.

2. From the boy’s speech, we know _____.

A. his grandmother had great influence on him.

B. they had a dog which often attacked people

C. people had forgotten her until the boy appeared..

D. his grandmother was so weak that she is always living in the shadow of his grandpa

3. Which of the following statements is true?

A. The boy ‘s speech moved no one present at the funeral except the writer.

B. The boy’s being good at expressing himself enabled him to draw everyone’s attention.

C. The boy was too grieved to accept the fact that his grandmother had passed away.

D. The writer didn’t expect the event would affect him.

4.What words can best describe grandmother’s quality?

A. weak, mild and modest.

B.. easygoing, cautious and considerate

C. sensitive and hard on others.

D, patient, optimistic, strong and helpful.

5.The passage tells the readers____.

A. facing certain bitter facts help young people to grow.

B. young people have to control themselves

C. the adults should learn from the young.

D. the adults should teach the young how to be brave

Hans was an honest fellow with a funny round good-humored face. Living alone, every day he worked in his garden. In all the countryside there was no garden so lovely as his. All sorts of flowers grew there, blooming in their proper order as the months went by, one flower taking another flower’s place, so that there were always beautiful things to see, and pleasant odors to smell.

    Hans had many friends, the most devoted being the Miller. So devoted was the rich Miller to Hans that he’d never go by his garden without plucking a large bunch of flowers or a handful of sweet herbs, or filling his pockets with fruits. The Miller used to talk about noble ideas, and Hans nodded and smiled, feeling proud of having such a friend.

    The neighbors thought it strange that the rich Miller never gave Hans anything in return, though he had hundreds of sacks of flour, many cows and sheep, but Hans never troubled his head about these, and nothing gave him greater pleasure than to listen to all the wonderful things about the unselfishness of true friendship.

    In spring, summer, and autumn Hans was very happy, but when winter came, and he had no fruit or flowers to sell, he suffered from cold and hunger. Though extremely lonely, the Miller never came to see him then.

One Saturday afternoon in February, 1943, a farmer in Mexico stopped working for a moment and looked across his fields of corn. Suddenly he saw a thin line of white smoke curling up out of his field, about 200 feet from where he stood. As he went toward the smoke to see what it was, he heard a strange noise. The line of smoke became bigger. It looked as if some great force were pushing it up into the sky.

The farmer rushed home to get his wife. While he was urging his wife to hurry from the house, the earth shook violently. When he stood up after the earth stopped shaking, he looked across the field and saw that great flames were rising from his cornfield. A volcano was being born!

They hurried across the shaking earth to the village of Particutin, which was toward their farm. They found the village was seriously destroyed and the road from the village was filled with frightened people hurrying to safety.

Particutin did not become dark that night. The volcano lighted up the sky for miles around. Flames rushed out of the ground. The volcano threw hot stones a thousand feet through the air. Great explosion shook the earth and heavy black ashes fell from the sky, covering the roofs in Mexico city, 180 miles away.

But that was not all. On the third evening a float of lava（火山岩）began to boil up from the centre of the volcano. It came over the edge in a heavy flow, 2,000 feet wide, and travelled slowly across the valley, bringing certain death to everything that could not move from its path.

1..

. From the passage we can conclude EXCEPT that         .

A. the volcano threw out a lot of ashes and hot stones  

B. the volcano lasted several days 

C. many people had to escape from the village  

D. it caused many deaths and great loss 

2..

. You can find the passage in a         .

A. newspaper                             B. government report

C. leaflet for travellers                       D. handbook 

3..

. Which of the following is true according to the passage?

A. At the beginning the farmer heard a strange cry. 

B. The farmer was working in the field when the disaster happened.  

C. The farmer’s wife was working in the field at that moment. 

D. The village was badly damaged. 

4..

 What does the passage mainly tell us?

A. The damage of a volcano.         B. A terrible volcano.

C. An unforgettable memory.          D. A farmer’s experience.

Calvin Coolidge (1872 – 1933) was the thirtieth president of the United States. He looked down on a person as being unworthy of respect who was too fond of talking about the details of others people’s actions and private lives because he had no time for small talks. The following two incidents clearly show how Collidge treasured silence.

When he was vice president, Coolidge had plenty of opportunities to participate (参加) in Washington’s social life, especially the many dinner parties. As be ignored the art of conversation, he couldn’t exactly make himself dear to his hostesses. One lady felt she could solve this problem. She placed him next to Alice Roosevelt Longworth, daughter of the former President Roosevelt. Mrs. Longworth, a very brilliant conversationalist (谈话者), began to talk in her usual charming manner, but all attempts to a wake the interest on the part of the vice president were unproductive. Finally, being shamed into anger, she said, “I’m sure that going to as many dinners as you do, you must get terribly bored.”

Without lifting his eyes from his plate, Coolidge said not very clearly, “Well, a man has to eat somewhere.”

Later, when he was president and once again at a dinner party, Collidge was seated next to an outstanding society woman, one of those busybodies, who seemed to take delight in trying to change the lives of everyone they met. “Oh, Mr. President,” she spoke with too much enthusiasm, “you are always so quiet. I made a bet (打赌) today that I could get more than two words out of you.”

1.President Collidge considered those people as being unworthy of respect          .

       A．who liked to talk about the affairs of others

       B．who never talked about anything serious

       C．who often spoke insincerely

       D．who talked much but did little

2.The hostesses thought Collidge was unfriendly because        in her eyes.

       A．he treated women coldly and rudely

       B．he paid no attention to conversational skills

       C．he was too serious to please any women

       D．he was pretty easy and quick to get angry

3.Mrs. Longworth got shamed and angry because         .

       A．the vice president took part in too many dinner parties

       B．the vice president didn’t lift his eyes from his plate

       C．the vice president didn’t speak exactly and clearly

       D．the vice president didn’t react to all her efforts

4.The underlined sentence “Well, a man has to eat somewhere” probably means        .

      A．Mr. Coolidge didn’t want to talk with Mrs. Longworth at all

       B．Mr. Coolidge had really got tired of so many social dinners

       C．Mr. Coolidge was unhappy with the dinner he was eating that day

       D．Mr. Coolidge was really hungry and had to find something to eat