It was at least two months before Christmas when nine-year-old Almie Rose told her father and me that she wanted a new bicycle. As Christmas drew nearer, her desire for a bicycle seemed to fade（消退）, or so we thought. We bought her a lovely doll, and a doll house. Then, much to our surprise, on December 23rd, she said that she “really wanted a bike more than anything else.” But it was just too late. With such a lot of preparations to do for the Christmas dinner we did not have the time to buy our little girl a bike. So, here we were Christmas Eve around 9:00 p.m., with Almie and her six-year-old brother, Dylan, sleeping in their beds. Now we could only think of the bicycle and the disappointment of our child. “What if I make a little bicycle out of clay (泥) and write a note that she could trade（交易，交换 ） the clay bike in for a real bike?” her dad asked. So he spent the next four hours making a tiny clay bike. On Christmas morning, we were excited for Almie to open the little gift box with the beautiful red and white clay bike and the note. Finally, she opened it and read the note aloud. “Does this mean that I can trade in this bike that Daddy made me for a real one?”  I said, “Yes.” Almie had tears in her eyes when she replied, “I could never trade in this beautiful bicycle that Daddy made me. I'd rather keep this than get a real bike.” At that moment, we would have moved heaven and earth to buy her every bicycle in the world!

1.Choose the right time order of the following events.

a. The girl asked for a new bike.

b. The girl opened the little gift box.

c. The parents bought the girl a modern and popular doll.

d. The father made the girl a bike with clay.

e. The girl would rather keep the clay bike than get a real one .

A．a, b, c, e, d              B．a, c, d, b, e

C．a, c, b, d, e              D．a, b, d, c, e

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

A．The parents wanted the girl to have the clay bike for ever.

B．Tears were in the girl's eyes because she didn't like the present at all.

C．The girl never lost her desire for a bike.

D．The parents paid little attention to the daughter's desire for a bike.

3.Why did Dad make the clay bicycle?

A．He wanted his daughter to buy a real one .  B．He didn't want to disappoint his daughter.

C．He thought his daughter would like it .       D．He wanted to give his daughter a surprise.

4.What can we know from the last sentence?

A．The parents were sad and encouraged.

B．The parents felt neverous and shy.

C．The parents were moved and felt proud of the girl

D．The parents felt unhappy for the girl.

5. Which do you think is the best title （标题）for the story?

   A. A lovely little girl　　　　　　　　B. A great and serious father

C. A clay bike　　　　　　　　　　　D. Christmas shopping

   It was at least two months before Christmas when nine-year-old Almie Rose told her father and me that she wanted a new bicycle. As Christmas drew nearer, her desire for a bicycle seemed to fade（消退）, or so we thought. We bought her a lovely doll, and a doll house. Then, much to our surprise, on December 23rd, she said that she “really wanted a bike more than anything else.” But it was just too late. With such a lot of preparations to do for the Christmas dinner we did not have the time to buy our little girl a bike. So, here we were Christmas Eve around 9:00 p.m., with Almie and her six-year-old brother, Dylan, sleeping in their beds. Now we could only think of the bicycle and the disappointment of our child. “What if I make a little bicycle out of clay (泥) and write a note that she could trade（交易，交换 ） the clay bike in for a real bike?” her dad asked. So he spent the next four hours making a tiny clay bike. On Christmas morning, we were excited for Almie to open the little gift box with the beautiful red and white clay bike and the note. Finally, she opened it and read the note aloud. “Does this mean that I can trade in this bike that Daddy made me for a real one?”  I said, “Yes.” Almie had tears in her eyes when she replied, “I could never trade in this beautiful bicycle that Daddy made me. I'd rather keep this than get a real bike.” At that moment, we would have moved heaven and earth to buy her every bicycle in the world!

1.Choose the right time order of the following events.

a. The girl asked for a new bike.

b. The girl opened the little gift box.

c. The parents bought the girl a modern and popular doll.

d. The father made the girl a bike with clay.

e. The girl would rather keep the clay bike than get a real one .

A．a, b, c, e, d              B．a, c, d, b, e

C．a, c, b, d, e              D．a, b, d, c, e

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

A．The parents wanted the girl to have the clay bike for ever.

B．Tears were in the girl's eyes because she didn't like the present at all.

C．The girl never lost her desire for a bike.

D．The parents paid little attention to the daughter's desire for a bike.

3.Why did Dad make the clay bicycle?

A．He wanted his daughter to buy a real one .  B．He didn't want to disappoint his daughter.

C．He thought his daughter would like it .       D．He wanted to give his daughter a surprise.

4.What can we know from the last sentence?

A．The parents were sad and encouraged.

B．The parents felt neverous and shy.

C．The parents were moved and felt proud of the girl

D．The parents felt unhappy for the girl.

5. Which do you think is the best title （标题）for the story?

   A. A lovely little girl　　　　　　　　B. A great and serious father

C. A clay bike　　　　　　　　　　　D. Christmas shopping

It was a quarter past nine as Marie hurried into the office building where she would be working. Her bus had inched along through heavy morning traffic, making her a few minutes late for her very first job. She decided she would start out half an hour earlier the next day. Once inside the building, she had to stand at the lifts and wait several minutes before one arrived. When she finally reached the office marked "King Enterprises," she knocked at the door nervously and waited. There was no answer. She tapped on the door again, but still there was no reply. From inside the next office, she could hear the sound of voices, so she opened the door and went in. Although she was sure it was the same office she had been in two weeks before when she had had the interview with Mr. King, it looked quite different now. In fact, it hardly looked like an office at all. The employees were just standing around chatting and smoking. At the far end of the room, somebody must have just told a good joke, she thought, because there was a loud burst of laughter as she came in. For a moment she had thought they were laughing at her. Then one of the men looked at his watch, clapped his hands and said something to the others. Quickly they all went to their desks and, in a matter of seconds, everyone was hard at work. No one paid any mind to Marie. Finally she went up to the man who was sitting at the desk nearest to the door and explained that this was her first day in the office. Hardly looking up from his work, he told her to have a seat and wait for Mr. King, who would arrive at any moment. Then Marie realized that the day's work in the office began just before Mr. King arrived. Later she found out that he lived in Connecticut and came into Manhattan on the same train every morning, arriving in the office at 9:35, so that his staff knew exactly when to start working.

1.Marie felt nervous when she knocked at the door because _______.

A. she had never met the boss once before

B. she was a little bit late for work

C. she was afraid that she had gone to the wrong place

D. there was no answer from inside the office

2.Marie could hardly recognize the office she went into as _______.

A. she had been there only once

B. Mr. King was not in the office

C. nobody was doing any work

D. the office had a new appearance

3.The people in the office suddenly started working because _______.

A. they saw a stranger in the office

B. they had finished their morning break

C. no one wanted to talk to Marie

D. the boss was about to arrive

4.We can infer from the passage that the employees of the enterprise

_______.

A. would start their work day by listening to a joke

B. were considerate to newcomers

C. were always punctual for work

D. lacked devotion to the company

5.What is probably the best title for the passage?

A. Punctual Like a Clock

B. A Cold Welcome

C. An Unpunctual Manager

D. Better Late Than Never

.

It was a quarter past nine as Marie hurried into the office building where she would be working. Her bus had inched along through heavy morning traffic, making her a few minutes late for her very first job. She decided she would start out half an hour earlier the next day. Once inside the building, she had to stand at the lifts and wait several minutes before one arrived. When she finally reached the office marked "King Enterprises," she knocked at the door nervously and waited. There was no answer. She tapped on the door again, but still there was no reply. From inside the next office, she could hear the sound of voices, so she opened the door and went in. Although she was sure it was the same office she had been in two weeks before when she had had the interview with Mr. King, it looked quite different now. In fact, it hardly looked like an office at all. The employees were just standing around chatting and smoking. At the far end of the room, somebody must have just told a good joke, she thought, because there was a loud burst of laughter as she came in. For a moment she had thought they were laughing at her. Then one of the men looked at his watch, clapped his hands and said something to the others. Quickly they all went to their desks and, in a matter of seconds, everyone was hard at work. No one paid any mind to Marie. Finally she went up to the man who was sitting at the desk nearest to the door and explained that this was her first day in the office. Hardly looking up from his work, he told her to have a seat and wait for Mr. King, who would arrive at any moment. Then Marie realized that the day's work in the office began just before Mr. King arrived. Later she found out that he lived in Connecticut and came into Manhattan on the same train every morning, arriving in the office at 9:35, so that his staff knew exactly when to start working.

1. Marie felt nervous when she knocked at the door because _______.

A. she had never met the boss once before

B. she was a little bit late for work

C. she was afraid that she had gone to the wrong place

D. there was no answer from inside the office

2. Marie could hardly recognize the office she went into as _______.

A. she had been there only once

B. Mr. King was not in the office

C. nobody was doing any work

D. the office had a new appearance

3. The people in the office suddenly started working because _______.

A. they saw a stranger in the office

B. they had finished their morning break

C. no one wanted to talk to Marie

D. the boss was about to arrive

4. We can infer from the passage that the employees of the enterprise

_______.

A. would start their work day by listening to a joke

B. were considerate to newcomers

C. were always punctual for work

D. lacked devotion to the company

5 . What is probably the best title for the passage?

A. Punctual Like a Clock

B. A Cold Welcome

C. An Unpunctual Manager

D. Better Late Than Never

    It was a quarter past nine as Marie hurried into the office building where she was going to work. Her bus had inched along through heavy morning traffic, making her a few minutes late for her very first job. She decided to start out half an hour earlier the next day 

Once inside the lobby, she had to stand at the elevators and wait several minutes before she could get on one going to the sixth floor. When she finally reached the office marked "King Enterprises", she knocked at the door nervously and waited. There was no answer. She tapped on the door again, but still, there was no reply. From inside the next office, she could hear the sound of voices, so she opened the door and went in. Although she was sure it was the same office she had been in two weeks before when she had had the interview with Mr King, it looked quite different now. In fact, it hardly looked like an office at all. The employees were just standing around chatting and smoking. At the far end of the room, somebody must have just told a good joke, she thought, because there was a loud burst of laughter as she came in.

For a moment she had thought they were laughing at her. Then one of the men looked at his watch, clapped his hands and said something to the others. Quickly they all went to their desks and, in a matter of seconds, everyone was hard at work. No one paid any attention to Marie.

Finally she went up to the man who was sitting at the desk nearest to the door and explained that this was her first day in the office. Hardly looking up from his work, he told her to have a seat and wait for Mr King, who would arrive at any moment. Then Marie realised that the day's work in the office began just before Mr King arrived.

Later she found out that he lived in Connecticut and came into Manhattan on the same train every morning, arriving in the office at 9:35, so that his staff knew exactly when to start working. 

53．Marie could hardly recognize the office she went into as_______.

     A．she had been there only once            B．Mr King was not in the office 

    C．nobody was doing any work             D．the office had a new appearance 

54．The people in the office suddenly started working because______ 

       A．they saw a stranger in the office       B．they had finished their morning break 

    C．no one wanted to talk to Marie            D．the boss was about to arrive 

55．We can infer from the text that the employees of the enterprise______ 

    A．would start their work by listening to a joke 

    B．were cold to new comers 

    C．were always punctual for work 

    D．lacked devotion to the company 

56．The best title for this text would be ______ 

    A．Punctual Like a Clock                      B．A Cold Welcome 

    C．An Unpunctual Manager                  D．Better Late Than Never