It must have been around nine o’clock when I drove back home from work because it was already dark． As I came near to the gates I turned off the head lights of the car so as to prevent the beam from swinging (摆动) through the window and waking Jack, who shared the house with me． But I needn’t have done so． I noticed that his light was still on, so he was awake anyway—unless he had fallen asleep while reading． I put the car away and went up the steps．
Then I opened the door quietly and went to Jack’s room． He was in bed awake, but he didn’t even turn towards me．
“What’s up, Jack﹖” I asked．
“For God’s sake, don’t make a noise,” he said．
The way he spoke reminded me of someone in pain who is afraid to talk in case he does himself serious injury．
“Take your shoes off, Neville,” Jack said．
I thought that he must be ill and that I had better give way to him to keep him happy． “There is a snake here,” he explained． “It’s asleep between the sheets． I was lying on my back reading when I saw it．I knew that moving was out of the question． I could not have moved even I’d wanted to．” I realized that he was serious． “I was depending on you to call a doctor as soon as you came home,” Jack went on． “It has not bitten me yet but I dare not do anything to upset it． It might wake up． I’m sick of this,” he said．“I took it for granted that you would have come home an hour ago．”
There was no time to argue or apologize for being late．I looked at him as encouraging as I could and went to telephone the doctor．
【小题1】When he got home, Neville found that ＿＿＿＿＿．

语法填空。阅读下面短文，按照句子结构和上下文的要求，在空格处填入一个适当的词或使用括号词语的正确形式填空。（每题1.5分，共15分）

When I was18, one morning, my father told me to drive  16  into a town, about 18 miles away. I had just learned to drive, so I  17  (agree) with pleasure. First we came to the town. Then I took the car to a nearby garage to have it  18  (repair) and promised to pick Dad up at 4 p.m. Because I had a few hours to spend, I decided to go to the cinema.  19   ,  I became so interested in the films  20  I forgot the time. When the last film finished, it was 6 o’clock. I drove back quickly to meet Dad and made an excuse for my being late.                     

“I’m disappointed that you lied to me, Jack. I’m angry, not with  21  but with myself. I have failed because I’ve brought up a son who can not even tell the  22  (true) to his own father. I’m going to walk home now and think seriously about  23  I have gone wrong all these years.”

Dad began walking alone the road. I begged all the way, telling him  24  sorry I was. I drove behind him for 18 miles, at a speed of 5 miles  25  hour. It was the most unforgettable lesson I have never lied to him ever since.

For a commuter rushing to catch a train, a minute can mean the difference between dinner with the family and leftovers (剩饭) in the microwave. What most passengers don’t realize is that their minute is already there.

Every commuter train that departs from New York City — about 900 a day — leaves a minute later than scheduled. If the timetable says 8:14, the train will actually leave at 8:15. In other words, if you think you have only a minute to get that train — well, relax. You have two.

The courtesy (礼貌) minute, in place for decades and published only in private timetables for employees, is meant as a grace period（宽限期）for those who need the extra time to get off the platform and onto the train.

“If everyone knows they get an extra minute, they’re going to waste time doing unimportant things,” explained Marjorie Anders, a spokeswoman for the Metro-North Railroad. Told of this article, Ms. Anders laughed. “Don’t blow our cover!” she said.

Entirely hidden from the riding public, the secret minute is an odd departure from the railroad culture of down-to-the-second accuracy. The railroad industry helped invent the concept of standard time, and time zones were established in the United States in the 1880s, 35 years before they were written into law. And most commuters know their train by the precise minute it departs. The trains quickly make up the minute: at all other stops, the public timetable prevails. The phantom minute does not exist at commuter railroads in Chicago, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, or San Francisco. But in New York, the secret minute dates back decades.

“That’s been done forever, from my knowledge,” said Jack Swanberg, 70, an unofficial historian of Metro-North. “I was the trainmaster starting in 1970 and I’m sure it’s been the case since 1870 for all I know.”

1.The courtesy minute was hidden from the public to _____.

A. prevent the passengers’ idleness              B. help invent the concept of standard time

C. show the railroad company’s consideration     D. follow the ancient tradition of New York City

2. The underlined part “Don’t blow our cover” in Para. 4 probably means “_____”.

A. Don’t publish the timetable                 B. Don’t blame commuter trains

C. Don’t make it known by the public           D. Don’t forget our chances of catching trains

3.What can we conclude from the passage?

A. The courtesy minute exists in many cities in the US.

B. One minute means a lot for most of the commuters.

C. The courtesy minute has been in place for about ten years.

D. Most railroad staff in New York have no idea of the courtesy minute.

4. The passage mainly talks about _____.

A. the railroads in the US                      B. the secret New York minute

C. the mistake of the railroad industry         D. the history of New York commuter trains

It must have been around nine o'clock when I drove back home from work because it was already dark． As I came near to the gates I turned off the head lights of the car so as to prevent the beam from swinging (摆动) through the window and waking Jack, who shared the house with me． But I needn't have done so． I noticed that his light was still on, so he was awake anyway—unless he had fallen asleep while reading． I put the car away and went up the steps．

Then I opened the door quietly and went to Jack's room． He was in bed awake, but he didn't even turn towards me．

“What's up, Jack﹖” I asked．

“For God's sake, don't make a noise,” he said．

The way he spoke reminded me of someone in pain who is afraid to talk in case he does himself serious injury．

“Take your shoes off, Neville,” Jack said．

I thought that he must be ill and that I had better give way to him to keep him happy． “There is a snake here,” he explained． “It's asleep between the sheets． I was lying on my back reading when I saw it．I knew that moving was out of the question． I could not have moved even I'd wanted to．” I realized that he was serious． “I was depending on you to call a doctor as soon as you came home,” Jack went on． “It has not bitten me yet but I dare not do anything to upset it． It might wake up． I'm sick of this,” he said．“I took it for granted that you would have come home an hour ago．”

There was no time to argue or apologize for being late．I looked at him as encouraging as I could and went to telephone the doctor．

1.When he got home, Neville found that ＿＿＿＿＿．

    A．Jack had fallen asleep while reading     B．Jack had been reading for some time

    C．Jack's light was not turned off          D．Jack was ready to answer the doctor

2.The underlined phrase in Paragraph 6 means ＿＿＿＿＿．

    A．impossible     B．no problem       C．no doubt     D．without difficulty

3.Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage﹖

    A．Neville and Jack lived in the same house．

    B．Neville thought that Jack had fallen ill．

    C．Neville really believed that Jack was not making a joke．

    D．Neville refused to argue or to make an apology for being late．

4.The reason why Neville thought that Jack must be ill is that Jack ＿＿＿＿．

    A．asked Neville to take off his shoes

    B．made a gesture to show the presence of the snake

    C．was afraid to upset the snake sleeping between the sheets

    D．behaved strangely as if he were badly hurt

5.According to the passage, Neville should have been home at ＿＿＿＿．

    A．7 p．m．     B．8 p．m．     C．9 p．m．    D．6 p．m．

用单词的正确形式填空（每题1分，共15分）

1. Mary did do some bad things on me, but I have ____(宽恕)her for that.

2. I have the ____(好奇心)about my father’s work, because he does not stay at home for half a year.

3. I don’t think it’s my _____ (过错)and I’m not going to say sorry to him.

4. I am completely p_____(困惑)what to do with the problem.

5. Last night , my elder sister _____(分娩)a lovely girl baby.

6. The Spring Festival, a  _____(传统的)Chinese festival, is celebrated in many other Asian countries.

7. The scientist was rewarded by the government for his great  ________(成就).

8. Jack gave me an  a_________(吃惊的) look when I told the truth.

9. After 30 years of opening to the outside, the Chinese people are  ___  ___(富裕) than before.

10.They stood _____(拥抱) and kissing on the platform.

11.This report is based strictly on _____(客观的) information.

12.The man handed me a thin _______(信封)and I did not know what it contained.

13.Time  p_______(允许)，I will visit Professor Lee, who was once my father’s friend.

14.To our great  a______(吃惊), the Becks really moved to Los Angeles.

15. The e_____(精疲力竭的) climbers are looking forward to a good night’s sleep.