.

Al had been working in this factory only eleven months, but he excelled at everything he did. He looked for new tasks-as an opportunity to gain experience. To him, mistakes were not to be denied but considered an opportunity to learn. He was, by far, the most capable man among his workmates, One day, when he was finishing his work of the day, he heard Jack calling him.

“What are you going to do about…?” asked Jack.

“I’ll come off the end rail,” interrupted Al.

“No, I mean about Joe’s promotion?”

“I’m going back to school,” Al said.

“Excuse me!”

“I’m going back to school,” Al repeated.

“You mean you’re quitting!”

Was it that simple? Is this why there was so much misery in men’s lives? “I’m going back to school” was just an excuse, and Al knew it, thought Jack, or Al would not be drunk. It seemed that Al would rather get drunk than fight for his happiness. But why? Jack had no answer.

“Yes, and I’m going back to school. I don’t know what else to do. I can’t believe that this kind of thing can happen. Maybe if I get more education and a better job, it will be different.”

“Do you really believe that?”

“Well, what do you want we to do?” Al was getting angry: “I can’t stay here! I can’t work where the most incapable get the biggest reward! I can’t kill Joe and the boss like…”

Al stopped. They both knew what this meant.

“Like I did?”

Al did not answer.

“Yes, I killed two men with my bare hands; yes, I got punished and lost my job-but I kept my soul!”

Al undertood the hidden statement. Al did not know whether it was his anger, or the beer, or both that made him less cautious in the face. He held his hands firmly. Then be heard Jack: “You’ve got the right idea, Al. You’ve got to fight.”

Al needed to think. Instead of taking the subway, he walked five miles back home. By the time he entered his bedroom, he climbed into bed. Turned off his mind, and fell asleed.

67．Choose from the following a right word to describe Jack.

A．Tough.     B．Incapable. C．Lazy. D．Talkative.

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

A．Jack was not happy about Joe’s promotion.

B．Al and jack were workmates.

C．The conversation between Al and Jack happened in their workplace.

D．The conversation between Al and Jack happened during the working hours.

69．What can we infer from the underlined part?

A．Jack thinks Al has lost his soul.

B．Jack used to be a killer.

C．Al would be a killer.

D．Don’t be a killer like Jack.

70．Which of the following is true about Al at the end of the story?

A．Al felt so tired from the long walk home and couldn’t help falling asleep.

B．Al and made up his mind and knew what to do.

C．Al forgot all that had happened.

D．Al was too confused to think further.

阅读下面短文，并按照题目要求用英语回答问题（请注意问题后的词数要求）。

My name is Clara. I still remember that chilly December day, sitting in science class. I had finished a worksheet early and picked up a TIME for Kids magazine. A piece of news caught my eye: NASA (美国宇航局) was holding an essay contest to name its Mars rover (火星探测器). Before I even knew anything else about it, a single word flooded my 11-year-old mind, Curiosity.

I couldn’t wait for the bell to ring so I could get started on my essay. That afternoon, I raced home, sat down at the computer, and typed until my fingers ached. “Curiosity is an everlasting flame that burns in everyone’s mind…”

Five months later, my mom received a phone call, and immediately, a wide smile spread across her face.

On August 5, 2012, at 10: 31pm, the rover named Curiosity touched down safely on the surface of Mars, and I was honored to have a front-row seat in NASA.

Curiosity is such an important part of who I am. I have always been fascinated by the stars, the planets, the sky and the universe. I remember as a little girl, my grandmother and I would sit together in the backyard for hours. She would tell me stories and point out the stars. Grandma lived in China, thousands of miles away from my home in Kansas, but the stars kept us together even when we were apart. They were always there, yet there was so much I didn’t know about them. That’s what I love so much about space.

People often ask me why we go to faraway places like Mars. My answer is simple because we’re curious. We human beings do not just hole up in one place. We are constantly wondering and trying to find out what’s over the hill and beyond the horizon.

1.How did the author get the news about the essay contest? (within 7 words)

2.In which year was the author born according to the passage? (within 2 words)

3.Why did author have a front-row seat in NASA? (within 10 words)

4.What does the author remember about the time spent with Grandma? (within 15 words)[

5.What does the underlined phrase “hole up” in the last paragraph probably mean? (1 word)

    On April twenty-second, some American children stayed out of school but they were not punished. They were with their parents. As Faith Lapidus tells us, it was Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day.
The Ms. Foundation for Women started the program seventeen years ago, in 1993. At first it was just called Take Our Daughters to Work. Gloria Steinem and other foundation leaders pointed to studies showing that self-image suffers as girls become teenagers. They can lose trust in their abilities and intelligence, especially in areas like science, math and technology. So the Ms. Foundation planned a day for parents in New York City to show girls all the possibilities for them in the professional world. But there was so much interest, the organizers decided to make it national.
At first, girls mostly followed their mom or dad around at work to learn about their jobs. Later, employers and schools began to offer organized activities. But from the beginning there were protests(反对) from parents and others about the exception of boys. So in 2003 the day was renamed Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work.
2007 was the last year that the Ms. Foundation for Women headed the program. Now, the event is run by a twelve-person group called the Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Foundation.
The event is connected with Mattel, the company that makes Barbie dolls.
Carolyn McKecuen is president of the foundation. She says a total of about thirty-three million children and adults are involved in the program. About one-third of the adults work at large companies or nonprofit organizations. Another third are in small businesses. The rest work in education.
Carolyn McKecuen says the numbers from this year's event are not final yet. But early reports suggest that participation was up at least ten percent from last year. And she says the foundation is hoping to find support to expand the program internationally. She says there are lots of requests from other countries for information about how to set up similar programs.
【小题1】It was called Take Our Daughters to Work at first because ______.

What is Bay? The simple answer is that it is a global trading platform where nearly anyone can trade practically anything. People can sell and buy all kinds of products and goods. Including cars, movies and DVDs, sporting goods, travel tickets, musical instruments, clothes and shoes- the list goes on and on 
The idea came from Peter Omidyar, who was born in Paris and moved to Washington when he was still a child, At high school, be became very interested in computer programming and after graduating from Tuft University in 1988, He worked for the next few years as a computer engineer. In his free time he started Bay as a kind of hobby, at first offering the service free by word of mouth. By 1996 there was so much traffic on the website that he had to upgrade（升级） and he began charging a fee to members. Joined by a friend, Peter Skill. and in 1998 by his capable CEO, Meg Whitman, he has never looked back. . Even in the great. com crashes of the late 1990s,abay has gone from strength to strength ,. It is now one of the ten most visited online shopping websites on the Internet 
eBay sells connections, not goods, putting buyer and seller into contact with each other. All you have to do is lake an e-photo, write a description, fill out a sales form and you are in business: the world is your market place. Of course for each item （商品）sold eBay gets a percentage and that is great deal of money. Every day there are more than sixteen million items listed on eBay and eighty percent of the items are sold.
【小题1】We learn from the text that eBay provides people with__ 

If a person tells you that something is “the real McCoy”，he is telling you it is the real thing，not a copy or replacement．There is nothing false about “the real McCoy”．It is the best that can be found．

    There are different ideas on how the expression came into common use．Perhaps the most popular story is about a famous boxer，Charles Kid McCoy，a one-time world famous welter-weigh champion．One day，McCoy was having a drink in a bar with a lady friend．A man came up and began to talk to her．He was not a nice man．

    McCoy wanted no trouble．He asked the man to leave．He said．“I'm Kid McCoy．”McCoy thought his name was so well-known that he didn’t need to say more．But the man did not believe him．“Oh，yeah?” he said．“Well，if you are Kid McCoy，then I am George Washington!” And he continued to speak to the prize-fighter’s friend in all unpleasant way．

    McCoy hit the man with a fist－not hard－actually it was really a light touch．But the man fell to the ground，unconscious．Ten minutes later，when he came to sense，he called out. “That was the real McCoy!” And so，as told by kid McCoy，that was how the expression “the real McCoy” got started．

    There are other versions，however．One is that the expression goes back to the days of prohibition（禁止）when it was illegal in the United States to sell whiskey．Although whiskey was against the law，many sold it．And many sold bad whiskey．They were not afraid to do so，because there was so little that anybody could do about it．Buying whiskey，good or had，was as illegal as selling it．

    But there was one whiskey dealer who was honest．His name was McCoy．He refused to sell bad whiskey．He sold  only the best imported whiskey．His product became recognized as the best．It was called “the real McCoy”．

    The expression survived prohibition days and soon became a general term．One way or another，no matter how the expression began，“the real McCoy” is an expression that everyone understands．It means the one and only—the best one．They are indeed words of special praise．

1.What is the main idea of the first paragraph?

    A．It is about the exact meaning of the version．

    B．It tells how a person gets his name．

    C．It shows how to tell the real from the false．

    D．It explains how to find the best．

2.In the third paragraph，“the prize-fighter” refers to______．

    A．a champion                   B．George Washington

    C．a fellow                     D．McCoy

3.Which of the following is TRUE about the days prohibition?

    A．A national law forbade the sale of alcoholic drinks．

    B．Bad whiskey was not allowed to sell．

    C．People at that time preferred nothing but whiskey．

    D．The days of prohibition resulted in MeCoy’s selling wine．

4.What is the main idea of the whole passage?

    A．The story of a famous boxer．

    B．The general use of the version．

    C．The expression and its story．

    D．The friendship between an athlete and a seller．