I'm writing this letter slowly because I know you can't read fast. We don't live where we did when you left home. Your dad read in the newspaper that most accidents happened within 20 miles from our home, so we moved.
I won't be able to send you the address because the last family that lived here took the house numbers when they moved so that they wouldn't have to change their address. This place is really nice. It even has a washing machine. I'm not sure it works so well though: last week I put a load in and pulled the chain (拉链) and haven't seen them since. The weather isn't bad here. It only rained twice last week; the first time for three days and the second time for four days. About that coat you wanted me to send you, your uncle Stanley said it would be too heavy to send in the mail with the buttons on so we cut them off and put them in the pockets.
John locked his keys in the car yesterday. We were really worried because it took him two hours to get me and your father out. Your sister had a baby this morning, but I haven't found out what it is yet. The baby looks just like your brother.
Uncle Ted fell in a whiskey vat（桶）last week. Some men tried to pull him out, but he fought them off playfully and drowned. We had him cremated（焚化）and he burned for three days.
Three of your friends went off a bridge in a pick-up trunk. Ralph was driving. He rolled down the window and swam to safety. You other two friends were in back. They drowned because they couldn't get the tail gate down.
There isn't much more news at this time. Nothing much has happened.
Love,
Mom
P.S. I was going to send you some money but the envelope was already sealed.
【小题1】From the passage, we can infer that _____.

When a first-time father saw his newborn son, he immediately noticed the baby's ears obviously standing out from his head. He expressed his concern to the nurse that some children might be made fun of his child. A doctor examined the baby and reassured the new dad that his son was healthy---- the ears presented only a small problem with its appearance.
But the nervous father continued. He wondered if the child might suffer psychological effects of ridicule, or if they should consider plastic surgery(整形手术). The nurse assured him that it was really no problem, and he should just wait to see if the boy grows into his ears.
The father finally felt more optimistic about his child, but now he worried about his wife's reaction to those large ears. She had been delivered by operation, and had not yet seen the child.
“She doesn't take things as easily as I do,” he said to the nurse.
By this time, the new mother was settled in the recovery room and ready to meet her new baby. The nurse went along with the dad to lend some support in case this inexperienced mother became upset about her baby's large ears.
The baby was in a blanket(毛毯) with his head covered for the short trip through the cold air-conditioned corridor. The baby was placed in his mother's arms, who eased the blanket back so that she could look at her child for the first time.
She took one look at her baby's face and looked to her husband and gasped, “Oh, Honey! Look! He has your ears!”
No problem with Mom. She married those ears...and she loves the man to whom they are attached.
The poet Kahlil Gibran said, “Beauty is not in the face; beauty is a light in the heart.” It's hard to see the ears when you're looking into the light.
【小题1】When the father first saw his baby, he was worried that________.

Authorities in Shanghai said Thursday night that another person has died from H7N9 bird flu, bringing the death toll to five around the country. The city has reported six infections (感染) to date, and four have died, said the Shanghai Municipal Health and Family Planning Commission. Of the rest two, there was a four-year-old, the agency said. The baby was recovering from mild illness, it added. The person died at Huashan Hospital on Wednesday and was confirmed infected with the H7N9 bird flu on Thursday.
Also on Thursday, the commission reported the city's third death from the H7N9 bird flu. The case involved a 48-year-old man surnamed Chu, a poultry (家禽) transporter from Rugao in neighboring Jiangsu Province. He developed symptoms(症状) of cough on March 28. After having a fever on Monday, he went to a private clinic for treatment. The man then sought help in the Tongji Hospital in Shanghai in the early hours of Wednesday after his condition worsened. Chu died three hours after being admitted to the hospital. He was confirmed infected with the H7N9 virus on Thursday. Eight people who had close contact with him have shown no abnormal symptoms.
So far, China has confirmed 14 H7N9 cases -- six in Shanghai, four in Jiangsu, three in Zhejiang and one in Anhui, in the first known human infections of the lesser-known type of bird flu. Of all, four died in Shanghai and one died in Zhejiang. China's Ministry of Agriculture said Thursday the H7N9 avian flu virus has been detected from pigeon (鸽子) samples collected at a marketplace in Songjiang District of Shanghai.
After gene sequence analysis, the national avian flu reference laboratory concluded that the H7N9 virus found on pigeons was highly congenetic with those found on persons infected with H7N9 virus. China's health authorities have promised transparency(透明) and cooperation (合作) to the World Health Organization in regards to human infections of the new type of bird flu. The Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention said Wednesday that no human-to-human transmission of H7N9 has been discovered.
【小题1】What does the underlined word “confirmed” probably mean?

完形填空。阅读下面短文，从自短文后所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项。（每小题1.5分，满分30分）
It had been a tiring day and I was looking forward to__31__ evening. My husband__32__ back until late and I had __33___ to sit down in a comfortable armchair in the living room and read a book. I __34__  the children to bed early and __35__ a cold supper and some coffee. Soon I was sitting comfortably with a plate __36___ with food before me and a book at my side.
I was just beginning to eat __37__ the telephone rang. I put down my knife and fork and hurried to answer __38___ . By the time I got back to the living room，my coffee __39__ cold.  After I finished my __40__ I began to drink my coffee __41__ my book open at page one.  Suddenly there was a __42__ at the door. It gave me __43__ surprise that I spilt the __44__ and made an ugly stain（污迹）on my skirt.  Some stranger had got __45__ and wanted me to show him the way. It __46__   ages to get rid of him. At last I __47__ to sit down again __48__ actually read a whole page without __49__ more interruption until the baby woke up. He began crying loudly and I rushed up-stairs. The baby was __50__ awake at eleven o'clock when my husband came home. I should have cried myself when he asked me if I had a pleasant evening！
31. A. a quiet                   B. an exciting           C. a lovely          D. a lonely
32. A. would come                B. had not come        C. came         D. would not come
33. A. decided                   B. started             C. come            D. hurried
34. A. put                      B. made             C. threw            D. allowed
35. A. boiled                     B. heated                     C. cooked           D. prepared
36. A. full                 B. filled                 C. filling               D. to be filled
37. A. as                        B. then               C. when             D. while
38. A. him                       B. her                C. it                 D. them
39. A. was getting          B. had got           C. would get          D. got
40. A. supper            B. drinking               C. reading            D. coffee
41. A. while                      B. when             C. as                D. with
42. A. stranger                 B. loud knock          C. dog               D. man
43. A. such great                B. a so great          C. such a great        D. so great
44. A. food                       B. supper            C. plate              D. coffee
45. A. gone                      B. lost               C. missing             D. away
46. A. cost                      B. spent             C. paid               D. took
47. A. tried                      B. hoped             C. decided             D. managed
48. A. before                    B. after              C. but                D. and
49. A. some                     B. any               C. much              D. no
50. A. already                    B. still               C. possibly            D. almost

An anxious mother watched as rescuers freed her baby from a muddy well. After being pulled from the well，the baby joyfully ran to its mom as the rescuers took a break.
It was a difficult and potentially dangerous rescue: the baby was an 8-month-old elephant, and at first its mother thought the humans were trying to harm it. The baby elephant fell into the five-foot-deep well near Kenya's Amboseli National Park. Local people had dug the well for water.
It took 30 minutes to remove the trapped elephant. While Vicki Fishlock of the Amboseli Trust for Elephants made a loud shout to frighten the mother away, two men struggled to get a rope around the baby elephant. Once the rope was in place, Fishlock used her jeep to pull the baby out.
Fishlock recognized Zombe, the mother of the trapped baby elephant，from a mark on her ear. She believes that in the end Zombe realized the humans were trying to help.
“Rescues where the elephant’s family members are around are always stressful, and I'm always happy when everyone is safe,” Fishlock said.“The reunions (团聚) always bring tears to my eyes. The depth of their love for each other is one of the things that make elephants so unusual.”
The very next day, another baby elephant fell into the same well. The 3-month-old's family had been driven away from the area by local people. Once it had been rescued, the Amboseli Trust had to send it to an elephant orphanage (孤儿院) in Nairobi, Kenya's capital city.
The rescues showed the plight of elephants across Africa. Elephants are fighting to survive, as conflicts between the animals and humans are increasing. Thousands of elephants are also being killed for their tusks. The tusks are sold in Asia, where ivory trinkets are in high demand.
The Amboseli Trust has been studying elephants and trying to help them since 1972. Fishlock said, “We hope this rescue persuades people that elephants are special and deserve to be protected and treasured.”
【小题1】We can learn from the text that _____.