Today I visited the Smiths — my first time visit 1.________

to a American family. They live in a small 2 _________

town. It was very kind for them to meet me 3.__________

at the railway station and drove me to their home 4.__________

The Smiths did his best to make me feel 5.__________

at home. They offered me coffee and other 6.__________

drinks. We have a good time talking and laughing 7.__________

together. They eager to know everything about 8.__________

China and asked me lots of question. In fact, 9 .__________

they are planning to visit China in next year. 10.__________

What is the basis of 'sick' humor? Whether we find a joke funny or not largely depends on where we have been brought up. The sense of humor is mysteriously connected with national characteristics. A Frenchman, for instance, might find it hard to laugh at a Russian joke. In the same way, a Russian might fail to see anything amusing in a joke which would make an Englishman laugh to tears.

 Most funny stories are based on comic situations. In spite of national differences, certain funny situations have a universal appeal. No matter where you live, you would find it difficult not to laugh at, say, Chaplin's early films. However, a new type of humor, which comes largely from US, has recently come into fashion. It is called 'sick humor'. Comedians base their jokes on tragic situations like violent death or serious accidents. Many people find this sort of joke distasteful. The following example of 'sick humor' will enable you to judge for yourself.

A man who had broken his right leg was taken to hospital a few weeks before Christmas. From the moment he arrived there, he kept on begging his doctor to tell him when he would be able to go home. He was afraid of having to spend Christmas in hospital and missing the fun. Though the doctor did his best, the patient's recovery was slow. On Christmas day, the man still had his right leg in plaster. He spent a miserable day in bed sadly. The following day, however, the doctor comforted him by telling him that his chances of being able to leave hospital in time for New Year celebrations were good.

The man took heart and sure enough, on New Year's Eve he was able to hobble（蹒跚）along to a party. In order to make up for his unpleasant experiences in hospital, the man drank a little more than was good for him. In the process, he enjoyed himself thoroughly and kept telling everybody how much he hated hospitals. He was still mumbling something about hospitals at the end of the party when he slipped on a piece of ice and broke his left leg.

The man spent Christmas day feeling miserable because ________.

A. he thought he would miss the New Year’s Eve celebration

B. the doctor had failed to cure him

C. he hated the hospital and his roommates

D. being unable to walk, he could not enjoy himself.

The point of the joke taken to explain “sick humor” is that________.

   A. the man should have said how much he hated hospitals

   B. the man had not got a leg to stand on

C. no sooner had the man been out of hospital than he had to go back in again

D. being unable to walk, he did not enjoy the celebration

What can you learn about the man from the story?

A. The man got well soon because the doctor took good care of him.

B. He had to go to hospital again though he hated it.

C. On New Year’s Eve, the man was able to walk properly to the party.

D. At the party, he enjoyed himself but only drank a little.  

下面文中共有10处语言错误，要求你在错误的地方增加、删除或修改某个单词。

增加：在缺词处加一个漏词符号（/\），并在该句下面写出该加的词。

删除：把多余的词用斜线（\）划掉。

修改：在错的词下划一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。

注意：                                                          

1．每处错误及其修改均仅限一词；

2．只允许修改10处，多者（从第11处起）不计分。

A Frenchman was once visiting London．He wished to take a walk to see a city．But he was afraid he might get lost because he knew no words of English．So before he left his hotel, he stopped in the first corner and carefully copied in his notebook the names of the street that he was staying．Then he walked on．At last, he got being lost．After several hours he found a policeman．The Frenchman tried his best to explain the policeman that he didn’t know the name of his hotel, and he knew the name of the street．He then showed the policeman that he copied in his notebook．It was read: “One-way street”．

　　Forests have always been useful and important to man who makes use of them in many ways. Every day trees are serving man everywhere. Trees supply man with fruits and building materials in the form of wood. Without trees it would be impossible to build houses, boats, bridges and so on. Furniture such as desks, chairs and beds is made of wood. Trees can stop man from terrible heat. They're also useful in preventing good and rich top soil from being washed away during heavy rains.

　　If there were no trees, heavy rains would wash away the rich top soil that is so important to plants. The result is that the land will become a desert. There are plenty of desert areas in the world. A long time ago these desert areas used to be very rich areas, but man in the past had no enough knowledge about science of nature, they cut down too many trees in the area where they lived and never planted new ones. By and by the rich top soil was blown and washed away by strong winds and heavy rains. In the end the rich land changed into useless deserts where nothing could grow.

According to the passage, ______.

　　　　A. a long time ago, man didn't know how to make use of wood

　　　　B. trees are not as useful as they were in the past

　　　　C. trees were more found in the past than they are today

　　　　D. people have always found trees useful

　　If there were no trees, ______.

　　　　A. the land would become better　　　　B. heavy rains would be very clean

　　　　C. the rich soil couldn't be kept　　　　 D. there wouldn't be any plants

　From the passage, we know that man must ______.

　　　　A. do nothing to keep the balance（平衡）of nature

　　　　B. take his best to keep the balance of nature

　　　　C. try his best to keep the balance of nature

　　　　D. do his best to stop the balance of nature

George Gershwin, born in 1998, was one of America’s greatest composers. He published his first song when he was eighteen years old. During the next twenty years he wrote more than five hundred songs.

Many of Gershwin’s songs were first written for musical plays performed in theatres in New York City. These plays were a popular form of entertainment in the 1920s and 1930s. Many of his songs have remained popular as ever. Over the years they have been sung and played in every possible way — from jazz to country.

In the 1920s there was a debate in the United States about jazz music. Could jazz, some people asked, be considered serious music? In 1924 jazz musician and orchestra leader Paul Whiteman decided to organize a special concert to show that jazz was serious music. Gershwin agreed to compose something for the concert before he realized he had just a few weeks to do it. And in that short time, he composed a piece for piano and orchestra which he called Rhapsody in Blue. Gershwin himself played the piano at the concert. The audience were thrilled when they heard his music. It made him world-famous and showed that jazz music could be both serious and popular.

In 1928, Gershwin went to Paris. He applied to study composition (作曲)with the well-known musician Nadia Boulanger, but she rejected him. She was afraid that classical study would ruin his jazz-influenced style. While there, Gershwin wrote An American in Paris. When it was first performed, critics (评论家)were divided over the music. Some called it happy and full of life, to others it was silly and boring. But it quickly became popular in Europe and the United States. It still remains one of his most famous works.

George Gershwin died in 1937, just days after doctors learned he had brain cancer. He was only thirty-nine years old. Newspapers all over the world reported his death on their front pages. People mourned the loss of the man and all the music he might have still written.

1.Many of Gershwin’s musical works were ________ .

A．written about New Yorkers                B．Composed for Paul Whiteman

C．played mainly in the countryside            D．performed in various ways

2.What do we know about the concert organized by Whiteman?

A．It attracted more people to theatres

B．It proved jazz could be serious music

C．It made Gershwin leader of the orchestra

D．It caused a debate among jazz musicians

3.What did Gershwin do during his stay in Paris?

A．He created one of his best works           B．He studied with Nadia Boulanger

C．He argued with French critics              D．He changed his music style

4.What do we learn from the last paragraph?

A．Many of Gershwin’s works were lost

B．The death of Gershwin was widely reported

C．A concert was held in memory of Gershwin

D．Brain cancer research started after Gershwin’s death.

5.Which of the following best describes Gershwin?

A．Talented and productive                  B．Serious and boring

C．popular and unhappy                    D．Friendly and honest