Mr Black once decided to travel by air on business because of some reason. He liked　16 beside a window when he was　17 ,so when he got onto the plane, he　18　 a window seat. He　19  that all of them had already been taken  20  one, and there was a soldier sitting in the seat beside this one. Mr Black was 21  that he had not taken the one by the window, but, anyhow, he at once went towards 22 .
When he  23 it, however, he saw that there was a notice on it. It was written 24  ink and said,“This is reserved for proper load balance. Thank you.” Mr Black had never seen such a notice in a plane  25 ,but he thought that the plane  26   be carrying something particularly heavy in 27  baggage room which made  28  necessary to have passengers properly balanced, so he walked on and  29  another empty seat, not beside the  30 ,to sit in.
Two or three other people tried  31   in the window seat beside the soldier, but they, too, 32  the notice and went on. Then, when the plane was nearly full, a very beautiful girl stepped into the plane. The soldier, who was 33  the passengers coming in, quickly took the notice off the seat beside him－and  34   that way succeeded in  35   the company of the girl during the whole of the trip.

Mr Black once decided to travel by air on business because of some reason. He liked　16 beside a window when he was　17 ,so when he got onto the plane, he　18　 a window seat. He　19  that all of them had already been taken  20  one, and there was a soldier sitting in the seat beside this one. Mr Black was 21  that he had not taken the one by the window, but, anyhow, he at once went towards 22 .

When he  23 it, however, he saw that there was a notice on it. It was written 24  ink and said,“This is reserved for proper load balance. Thank you.” Mr Black had never seen such a notice in a plane  25 ,but he thought that the plane  26   be carrying something particularly heavy in 27  baggage room which made  28  necessary to have passengers properly balanced, so he walked on and  29  another empty seat, not beside the  30 ,to sit in.

Two or three other people tried  31   in the window seat beside the soldier, but they, too, 32  the notice and went on. Then, when the plane was nearly full, a very beautiful girl stepped into the plane. The soldier, who was 33  the passengers coming in, quickly took the notice off the seat beside him－and  34   that way succeeded in  35   the company of the girl during the whole of the trip.

“Can I see my baby？” the happy new mother asked. When the bundle was in her arms and she moved the fold of cloth to look upon his tiny face, she gasped. The doctor turned quickly and looked out of the tall hospital window. The baby had been born without ears.

Time proved that the baby’ s hearing was perfect. It was only his appearance that was imperfect. When he rushed home from school one day and threw himself into his mother’s arms, she sighed(叹息), knowing that his life was to be misfortunate. He cried to his mum “A boy, a big boy... called me a freak (怪人)．”

He grew up, handsome. A favorite with his fellow students, he might have been class president, but for that. He developed a gift, a talent for literature and music. “But you might communicate with other young people，” his mother blamed him, but felt a kindness in her heart.

Two years went by. One day, his father said to the son, “You’ re going to the hospital, son. Mother and I have someone who will donate the ears you need. But it’ s a secret.” The operation was a great success, and a new person appeared.

Later he married and became a lawyer. One day, he asked his father, “Who gave me the ears? Who gave me so much? I could never do enough for him or her.” “I do not believe you could，” said the father, “but the agreement was that you are not to know... not yet.”

The years kept their secret, but the day did come. He stood with his father over his mother’ s casket棺材. Slowly, tenderly, the father stretched forth a hand and raised the thick, reddish brown hair to show the mother had no outer ears.

“Mother said she was glad she never let her hair be cut，” his father whispered gently, “and nobody ever thought Mother less beautiful, did they？”

1.Why did Mother gasp when she saw her newborn baby?

A. Because her son had a tiny face.　　　　 B. Because she saw her son crying.

C. Because her son was born imperfect.　　 D. Because her son was in her arms.

2.Which word can describe Mother’ s feeling when the son threw himself into her arms?

A. Nervous.　　　　　　 B. Sympathetic.　　 C. Proud.       D. Angry.

3.We can infer that the person who donate the ears is_____.

A. A doctor.        B. His father.　　　 C. His mother.     　D. A stranger.

4.From the passage we know the followings are True except________

A, the mother felt sorry for the son without ears   B. the doctor didn’t like the baby

C. the boy meant everything to the mother        D. the father kept the secret until mother died

5.The best title for the passage would be ________.

A. Mother’s hair　　　　　　　　B. An unforgettable memory

C. Who gave me the ears?　　　 　D. Who is my best respectable person?

When I was young， my father used to grow carnations (康乃馨).His carnations were red， pink and white. Everyone who saw them admired them for their beauty.

 He took care of them with so much love and    　36　    . Every day he came home from work， he went   straight    to see them. He 　37　 watching them every day. We the kids did too. But he used to tell us， “No one should touch my flowers.”

One day my younger sister， who loved my dad very much， had wanted to help him and she    　38　     the carnations from their stems (枝干) one by one and arranged them   　39　      . She believed that he would be very    　40　    to see them that way.

When mom and I realized what my sister had done， we became completely hopeless. However， my sister had no idea why no one showed her any appreciation. When my dad arrived he went， 　41　， straight to see the flowers. When he saw his flowers    lying     on the floor like dead animals， he was 　42　 at first. He looked towards the street， to see if it was any of the   　43　    children who could have done it. Then he entered the living room and looked at mom in silence.

Finally mom， who always taught us to    　44　    no matter what， looked at dad and said： “We have no bad neighbors in our area”. Then with a nice tone she continued： “No outsider did this great job， only your lovely daughter Clémence.” My dad’s face   changed     into 　45　 and then he said： “Do I have a better    　46　     than my lovely daughter？” My younger sister smiled and   　47　    dad tightly.

A. devotion     B. spirits          C. gratitude       D. expectation

A. hated        B. approved       C. enjoyed        D. committed

A. divided      B. watered         C. cut            D. cleaned

A. by the window B. in the vase      C. on the desk      D. on the floor

A. surprised     B. pleased         C. disappointed     D. worried

A. as usual      B. at first          C. as well          D. at last

A. frightened    B. relieved         C. disappointed     D. shocked

A. enemies’     B. friends’         C. families’         D. neighbors’

A. say the truth  B. behave ourselves  C. follow the rules   D. keep secret

A. sadness     B. smiles          C. anger           D. depression

A. kid        B. flower          C. helper           D. gift

A. hugged     B. kissed          C. grasped         D. patted

The Great Fire of London started in the very early hours of 2 September, 1666. In four days it destroyed more than three-quarters of the old city, where most of the houses were wooden and close together. Over one hundred people became homeless, but only a few lost their lives.

The fire started on Sunday morning in the house of the King’s baker (面包师) in Pudding Lane. The baker, with his wife and family, was able to get out through a window into the roof. A strong wind blew the fire from the bakery (面包房) into a small hotel next door. Then it spread quickly into Thames Street. That was the beginning.

By eight o’clock three hundred houses were on fire. On Monday nearly a kilometer of the city was burning along the River Thames. Tuesday was the worst day. The fire destroyed many well-known buildings, old St Paul’s and the Guildhall among them.

Samuel Pepys, the famous writer, wrote about the fire, “People threw their things into the river. Many poor people stayed in their houses until the last moment. Birds fell out of the air because of the heat .”

The fire stopped only when the King finally ordered people to destroy hundreds of buildings in the path of the fire. With nothing left to burn, the fire became weak and finally died out.

After the fire, Christopher Wren, the architect (建筑师), wanted a city with wider streets and fine new houses of stone. In fact, the streets are still narrow, but he did build more than fifty churches, among them the mew St Paul’s

The fire caused great pain and loss, but after it London was a better place: a city for the future and not just of the past.

From the passage, we can learn that the fire began in ________.

A. a hotel　　　           B. the palace　　        C. Pudding Lane　　 D. Thames Street

The underlined word “family” in the second paragraph means ________.

A. wife and husband　　      B. wife and children　   C. home                  D. children

It seems that the writer of the text was most sorry for the fact that ________.

A. many famous buildings were destroyed

B. some people lost their lives

C. the birds in the sky were killed by the fire

D. the King’s bakery was burned down

Why did the writer cite (引用) Samuel Pepys?

A. Because Pepys was among those putting out the fire.

B. Because Pepys also wrote about the fire.

C. Because he wanted to give the reader a clearer picture of the fire.

D. Because he wanted to show that poor people suffered most.

How was the fire put out according to the text?

A. The King and his soldiers came to help.

B. Houses standing in the direction of the fire were pulled down.

C. All the wooden houses in the city were destroyed.

D. People managed to get enough water from the river.