阅读理解

Goldie's Secret

　　She turned up at the doorstep of my house in Cornwall．No way could I have sent her away．No way, not me anyway．Maybe someone had kicked her out of their car the night before．"We're moving house．'; "No space for her any more with the baby coming．" "We never really wanted her, but what could we have done? She was a present．" People find all sorts of excuses for abandoning an animal．And she was one of the most beautiful dogs I had ever seen．

　　I called her Goldie．If I had known what was going to happen I would have given

　　her a more creative name．She was so unsettled during those first few days．She hardly ate anything and had such an air of sadness about her．There was nothing I could do to make her happy, it seemed．Heaven knows what had happened to her at her previous owner's．But eventually at the end of the first week she calmed down．Always by my side, whether we were out on one of our long walks or sitting by the fire．

　　That's why it was such a shock when she pulled away from me one day when we were out for a walk．We were a long way from home, when she started barking and getting very restless．Eventually I couldn't hold her any longer and she raced off down the road towards a farmhouse in the distance as fast as she could．

　　By the time I reached the farm I was very tired and upset with Goldie．But when I saw her licking(舔)the four puppies(幼犬)I started to feel sympathy towards them．"We didn't know what had happened to her," said the woman at the door．"I took her for a walk one day, soon after the puppies were born, and she just disappeared．" "She must have tried to come back to them and got lost," added a boy from behind her．'

　　I must admit I do miss Goldie, but I've got Nugget now, and she looks just like her mother．And I've learnt a good lesson：not to judge people．

阅读理解

　　Thank you, Mr．Morley, for your kind introduction．It was very nice of you to speak of me like that．While I was listening, I had trouble believing that I was the man you were talking about．

　　My thanks go out to all of you for being here at this dinner．I look around and say to myself,"These people are my friends．" And you know how good it is to be among friends．

　　Seven years ago, I became the tennis coach at this school．I can remember arriving here as if it were yesterday．When I started coaching, we only had a small team then, just three boys and two girls, and only one tennis court．So my first job was to increase the team．At the end of the first year, we had ten boys and six girls．And it seems like the team keeps getting stronger every year．

　　I've been lucky to have some really good players to coach．Coaches love good players．Some great players from our school over the past years include Herbert Bradbury, Christopher Stanton and Emma Austen, all champions during the years they played．

　　Among the players on our team now is Arthur Burney, perhaps the best of them all．I'm sure you all join with me in wishing him good luck as he leaves for Capetown next week．He's our first student to enter the Capetown Junior International Tennis Tournament(锦标赛), where he will play against some of the best young tennis players in the world．Good luck, Ace!

　　The time has come for me, however, to make a change．Recent health problems have made it difficult for me to continue coaching．

　　I must say, I'm looking forward to my retirement with mixed feelings．I'm certainly ready for a long rest, but I'm a bit worried about what I'll do with all my spare time．You might find me coming down to watch the games from time to time．If you can still remember me, you might say hello．

　　Thank you everyone．I'll miss you all．

阅读理解

　　John sent his mother expensive presents on his mother's birthday every year．He liked to show her how rich he was．

　　“I must find something wonderful for her, and it must be the only one in the whole world．” John thought．

　　He advertised(登广告)in the newspapers．“Wanted－the best present for the woman who has everything．”

　　For many days his telephone did not stop ringing．People phoned him from all over the world．They wanted to sell him “the best present”．But they did not have anything that was the only one in the whole world．

　　Then less than a week before his mother's birthday, a man came to his office．He was carrying a cage, and in the cage there was a large bird．

　　“This bird,” the man said, “can speak ten languages and sing any pop song．There is no other bird like it in the world．”

　　“I will listen to it,” John said．“If what you said is true, I will buy the bird from you．”

　　The man spoke to the bird．“Talk to me in French,” he said．The bird spoke to him in French．“Tell me a joke in Japanese,” he said．The bird told him a joke in Japanese．“Sing a famous pop song,” he said．The bird sang a famous pop song．

　　“I'll buy it,” John said．“How much do you want?”

　　“One hundred thousand dollars,” the man said．This was a lot of money but John paid him．Then he sent the bird to his mother with a birthday card．

　　The day after his mother's birthday he phoned her．“Well, mother,” he said, “Is the bird wonderful?”

　　“Oh, it was delicious, dear,” she said．