"Mark Twain" was the name used by Samuel Langhorne Clemens (1835-1910) when he wrote books. His father was a lawyer, but a poor one, who lived at Florida, Missouri. The family was so poor that Samuel did not receive much teaching. He had to learn all that he could from the people whom he met. His father died when he was very young, and then there was even less money than before.

　　Many of the men in this part of America worked in the ships on the great River Mississippi, and he did this himself at one time (1857).

　　Where did he find the name "Mark Twain"? It came from the great river itself. It was part of one of the cries used by men who worked in the ships. When a man called "By the mark twain!" he meant that the river was "two marks deep" there, that is to say, six feet deep ( "Twain" is an old form of the work "Two".) Samuel Clemens often heard these words when he was young, and he used them as a penname all his life.

　　During his work on the Mississippi he met travelers of all kinds, and this helped him a great deal when he started to write. But the number of travelers became smaller when war started in America in 1861. Many of the great ships on the river stopped work. Samuel left then and went to Nevada with his brother, who was at that time Governor of Nevada. There, near the town of Carson, Samuel became a gold miner, but he never made much money at the time. He soon saw that life in the gold mines was not for him. He also tried writing for the newspapers in Nevada, and this seemed more hopeful. He found that he could write.

　　He went to Europe in 1867 and visited France and Italy. In 1870 he married Olivia Langdon, and two years later he was spending nearly all his time writing. Among his books is his own story (1908).

　　He is now always known as Mark Twain, and many people do not even know that his family name was Clemens. He traveled in America and in England, and went to Oxford in 1907. He was one of the great American writers of the time, and could make his readers laugh – a thing which few writers can do. He died in 1910.

"Mark Twain" was _________.

 A. a famous American writer    B. name of a book      

 C. a great river in America      D. a large ship

As a child, Samuel did not get much education because _________.

 A. his father died too early          B. the family was very poor 

C. he disliked school very much

D. he could learn what he liked from the people he met

What gave him a great deal when he started writing? _______

 A. His poor childhood               B. The Mississippi river   

 C. All kinds of travelers he met        D. His brother

We can infer from the passage that ________.

 A. Samuel loved writing from his early age  

 B. Samuel did not love writing at the beginning

 C. his writings to the newspaper were successful            

 D. his brother encouraged him to write more

According to the writer of the passage, a good writer could _________.

A.write a lot for his readers            B. make a lot of money for his family

C. cause his readers to laugh           D. travel everywhere he wanted

When my father died, one of the tasks that fell to me was to sort through and decide which objects to save and which to throw away. Now I look at the   51   of my life as if I were dead,   52   what my children will do with the human skull(骷髅) that   53   on the bookcase next to my desk. I couldn’t   54   them if they threw it out. They’ve been wanting to do that for some years,   55   will they know how much can be learned from   56   with a skull? And what about my books?   57   they can find some place in their   58   for ten thousand books. However, I know they will look at the white, plastic head of a horse on my desk and   59   it into a Glad trash bag without any   60  , never knowing that it is the only place   61   from the first chess set (棋子)I owned.

How many boxes of mine will my children   62  ? Can I trust my children with my   63   ? Every object of our lives is a   64   , and emotion swirls(旋动) around it like fog, hiding and   65   a tiny truth of the heart.

I look at these objects that are mine and know, too, that they are   66   of how alone I am, how alone each of us is,   67   no one knows what any object means except he or she who   68    it. I have the memory of taking it home   69   one of my newly-born children from the hospital; only I have the memory of what it looked like when I lived in that apartment and where it sat in that house. I look at the objects that are mine, and the memories are   70   and permeated（渗透着）with love. I look at the objects that are mine and know that I’m going to miss me very much.

A. tasks              　　 B. objects                  C. books            D. pictures

A. wondering         B. designing       C. concluding        D. weaving

A. cries                B. sleeps             C. sits             D. smiles

A. educate              B. understand         C. blame           D. strike

A. and               B. so               C. or              D. but

A. helping     　　B. living             C. playing          D. speaking

A. Honestly           B. Luckily         C. Naturally       D. Surely

A. desks                B. bags            C. apartments        D. hearts

A. drag              B. take            C. move                   D. throw

A. hesitation          B. love            C. care              D. worry

A. casting           B. expanding      C. remaining        D. shining

A. enjoy            B. reserve           C. find           D. prepare

A. life             B. passion           C. respect          D. heart

A. mark              B. pleasure         C. belief                   D. memory

A. preventing        B. spreading       C. protecting        D. encouraging

A. symbols         B. phenomena        C. measures        D. tracks

A. when            B. once           C. unless            D. as

A. prefers           B. repairs                  C. owns            D. remembers

A. like             B. for              C. with           D. to

A. strange          B. warm          C. new           D. bitter

　　"Mark Twain" was the name used by Samuel Langhorne Clemens (1835-1910) when he wrote books. His father was a lawyer, but a poor one, who lived at Florida, Missouri. The family was so poor that Samuel did not receive much teaching. He had to learn all that he could from the people whom he met. His father died when he was very young, and then there was even less money than before.
　　Many of the men in this part of America worked in the ships on the great River Mississippi, and he did this himself at one time (1857).
　　Where did he find the name "Mark Twain"? It came from the great river itself. It was part of one of the cries used by men who worked in the ships. When a man called "By the mark twain!"  he meant that the river was "two marks deep" there, that is to say, six feet deep ( "Twain" is an old form of the work "Two".) Samuel Clemens often heard these words when he was young, and he used them as a penname all his life.
　　During his work on the Mississippi he met travelers of all kinds, and this helped him a great deal when he started to write. But the number of travelers became smaller when war started in America in 1861. Many of the great ships on the river stopped work. Samuel left then and went to Nevada with his brother, who was at that time Governor of Nevada. There, near the town of Carson, Samuel became a gold miner, but he never made much money at the time. He soon saw that life in the gold mines was not for him. He also tried writing for the newspapers in Nevada, and this seemed more hopeful. He found that he could write.
　　He went to Europe in 1867 and visited France and Italy. In 1870 he married Olivia Langdon, and two years later he was spending nearly all his time writing. Among his books is his own story (1908).
　　He is now always known as Mark Twain, and many people do not even know that his family name was Clemens. He traveled in America and in England, and went to Oxford in 1907. He was one of  the great American writers of the time, and could make his readers laugh – a thing which few writers can do. He died in 1910.
【小题1】"Mark Twain" was _________.

  阅读下面 短文，从短文后所给各题的四个选项A、B、C、D中选出能填入相应空白处的最佳选项。

The Mullah couldn’t break his word. That would be    1   for an important person in the village. He certainly    2   to sell his donkey for a dollar. So he said, “    3   me at the donkey fair (集市) on 　　4   . I shall sell her at that time. I shall    5   my donkey to the one who will treat her most    6   .”

Everybody was kind to animals in the village. So the Mullah    7   out a plan. He wanted to　　 8  his word and also to keep his donkey.

On the night before the donkey fair, the Mullah bought a piece of 　　  9   .No one had any idea why the Mullah should want that.

On Saturday, man and boy in the village came to the donkey fair.

They found a 　　 10   tied with a piece of rope　　 11  the tail of the Mullah’s donkey! Beside them stood the Mullah, who looked　　 12   .

“It is    13   , I’ll sell my donkey for a dollar,” said the Mullah. “Just one    14   , though, my donkey and my cat are very good friends. They must not be　　 15   . The kind man who    16   my donkey must buy my cat also.”

“How much is your cat?” asked many    17   .

“Oh, my cat is a very    18   animal,” said the Mullah. “Her father    19   a mouse for a king. Her mother caught a mouse for 　　10  .She is one of the finest cats. For such a great cat I want one hundred dollars”.

The men laughed, and gave up the idea of owning the donkey.

1．A. right　　　　  B. wrong　　　　   C. impossible　　　　　　 D. strange

2. A. didn’t want　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　    B. wanted

C. hadn’t decided　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　  D. intended

3. A. Meet　　　　   B. Pay　　　　　　  C. Talk　　　　　　  D. Help

4. A. tomorrow afternoon

B. the day after tomorrow

C. the evening

D. Saturday

5. A. give　　　　   B. take　　　　　　 C. sell　　　　    　　  D. show

6. A. cruelly　　　　 B. warmly　　　　  C. kindly　　　　    D. carefully.

7. A. put　　　　　　 B. thought　　　　    C. carried　　　　　　 D. made

8．A. say　　　　　　 B. keep　　　　　　   C. break　　　　　　   D. send

9．A. bread　　　　   B. paper　　　　　　   C. cloth　　　　　　   D. rope

10．A. cat　　　　　　  B. dog　　　　　　    C. cock　　　　　　  D. rope

11．A. with　　　　　　 B. on　　 　　　　　　C. to　　　　　　　　 D. around

12．A sad　　　　　　   B happy　　　　　　 C tired　　　　　　    D fine

13．A. a lie　　　　　　 B. true　　　　　　　　 C. real　　　　　　    D. a pity

14．A. matter　　　　 B. problem　　　　　　 C. thing　　  　　   D. question

15．A. killed　　　　  B. sold　　　　　　  C. beaten　　　　　　  D. parted

16．A. sees　　　　    B. buys　　　　　　   C. likes　　　　　　  D. wants

17．A. voices　　　　   B. sounds　　　　　　 C. noises　　　　　　   D. cries

18．A. pretty　　　　　　 B. cruel　　　　　　  C. strong　　　　　　   D. important

19．A. looked after　　   B. caught　　　　　　 C. drove　　　　　　   D. grasped

20．A. me　　　　　　 B. her father　　　　    C. the Queen　　　　　　 D. her