Our neighbour's son was getting married at an out-of-town church, and my husband and I were invited. We immediately rushed out to a store, and I bought a nice pink dress with a jacket. The dress was a little tight, but I had a month to go before the June 30 wedding and I would lose a few pounds.

    June 29 came and, of course, I hadn't lost a single pound; in fact I had gained two. But I figured a nice new girdle (紧身内衣) would cure everything. So on our way out of the city we stopped once again at the store. I ran in and told the clerk I needed a large-size girdle. The shop assistant found the box with the described girdle marked "LG", and asked if I would like to try it on. “Oh, no, a large will fit just right. I needn't try it on.”

The next morning was rather hot, so I waited to get dressed until about 45 minutes before time to go. I opened the box only to find a new girdle in a small size. Since it was too late to find another one and the dress wouldn't fit right without a girdle, a fight broke out in the hotel room between me and the girdle. Have you ever tried to shake 20 pounds of potatoes into a five-pound bag? That's it. Finally my husband, laughing like crazy, got hold of each side and shook me down into it. At once I put on the pink dress, which didn't match my red face well, and was ready to go.

Finally we got to the church. I heard one of the people say that they were having a High Mass. I turned to my husband and asked, "What is a High Mass?" He shrugged his shoulders.

Unfortunately, I learned that this particular mass would last one hour, twenty-two minutes and eight and one half seconds—the priest (神父) was going to bless everything except my girdle.

The author most probably bought a nice pink dress with a jacket ______.

  A. 4 weeks later    B. 4 weeks ago    C. a fortnight ago     D. a fortnight later

What had the author wanted to do with the tight dress?

  A. To make herself thinner.           B. To buy a large-size girdle.         

  C. To put on some weight.            D. To shake herself into it.

Which of the following statements about the author is TRUE according to the story?

A. She was very lucky to buy a girdle to go with her dress.

B. She had no choice but to put on the dress without a girdle.

C. She complained to the shop assistant about her carelessness.

D. She managed to put on the girdle with her husband’s help.

The purpose of this passage is ______.

  A. to show a husband’s selfless love         B. to share an interesting experience

  C. to describe a changeable girdle           D. to tell us how to keep calm in trouble

What would be the best title for the passage?

A. A Funny Wedding      B. A Wise Decision    C. A Tight Situation     D. A Fierce Fight

It was a Sunday and the heavy storm had lasted all night. The morning after the storm, though, was beautiful: blue skies, warm air and a calm, inviting sea touching the shore gently.

My father realized it was a good day for fishing and invited my sister and me to go with him. I was only 14 and fishing had never been my thing, but I decided to go all the same. I’m so glad I did.

On the road to the harbour we could see the terrible destruction on the coast, but the harbour itself was in fairly good shape. After all, it was protected by the arms of a bay that only one tiny channel to the sea. As we got on board, we noticed two big humps(脊背)in the distance.

On approaching them, we saw it was a mother whale with her baby. We couldn’t believe it—there aren’t any whale along the coast here. The storm must have driven them across the ocean into the bay, in which the still water was so badly polluted that nothing could survive.

The little baby whale actually as big as our boat was obviously stuck and could not move. The mother dived under the water and came up suddenly, making big whirlpools(漩涡)and waves. “She’s trying to help her baby, but on the wrong side,” my father said. At this point, my father moved our boat in a semicircle to the other side and, heading the boat towards the baby whale, pushed it gently. With several gentle pushes the big hump turned over and disappeared under water. Then it swam up right beside its mum. They struggled in their desperate attempts to escape but missed the exit and started heading in the wrong direction. We hurried up to the whales and tried to lead them towards the bay channel. Slowly, they let us lead them, sometimes rising from the water right beside us to breathe and to give us a trusting look with those huge eyes. Once they hit their first part of clean water flowing straight from the sea, the mum gave us a wave with her tail and off they swam into the distance.

In the excitement it had felt like only a few minutes, but we had been with those wonderful animals for almost an hour and a half. That was the simple and lasting beauty of the day. Nearly four decades later, I still look back fondly to that golden day at sea.

1.The author says “I’m so glad I did.”(in Para.2)because_______.

A．he witnessed the whole process of fishing

B．he enjoyed the beauty of the calm sea

C．he experienced the rescue of the whales

D．he spent the weekend with his family

2.The harbour survived the storm owing to ______.

A．the shape of the harbor                  B．the arms of one bay

C．the still water in the channel               D．the long coast line

3.The mother whale failed to help her baby because _______.

A．she had stayed in the polluted water for too long

B．the whirlpools she had made were not big enough

C．she had no other whales around to turn for help

D．the waves pushed her baby in the wrong direction

4.What is the theme of the story?

A．Saving lives brings people a sense of happiness.

B．Fishing provides excitement for children.

C．It’s necessary to live in harmony with animals.

D．It’s vital to protect the environment.

Have you ever thought of taking a train and having an adventure？Riding the train can be a real adventure. That is how I feel every time I take Amtrak. I often take a four-hour trip to visit my children. Every time I take this trip I never know what will happen.
Last week when I was on the train, there was a man sitting by himself in the back of the train carrying on a mobile phone conversation—in another language. It was loud and disturbed most of the people on the train. I think it was annoying.
Fortunately I sat next to a wonderful old lady who was taking a two-day trip by train. She said her two daughters were worried at the thought of driving for three days to reach her home, although she had no trouble driving. The train ride was the only choice for her. She loved to look out of the window and watch the world go by on the train.
She was fun to talk to and asked me when my children started being parents. That is a very good question. Both of us are old and have children. She asked that same question from time to time.
There are always many people on the train from all walks of life, different countries, and many languages. Riding the train is a great way to increase your knowledge and learn all kinds of cultures. If you get hungry, you can buy food in the food car at any time. If you need to use the restroom, there is always one for you.
It surely beats driving the car, which has to stop for food and restrooms. And it is better than taking the bus.
【小题1】According to the passage, the purpose of the author’s train ride was ______.

On my birthday this year, I decided to do something very different. I had been   31   so much and I wanted to reach out to bring happiness to someone else. So, that   32  , I bought some flowers and went to a hospital. I had no   33   who I was going to present the flowers to, but I would find someone who needed   34  .

I asked the nurses in the hospital, who thought it   35   that I didn’t have anyone in particular to see.   36  , they gave me the room number of a(n)   37   lady, who needed some comfort.

I entered the room with the flowers. The elderly woman looked up, staring at me   38  . She was greatly moved when I told her about my   39   in being there. She was an amputee(被截肢者) and she explained to me that she was very worried   40   they were going to fit her with prosthetic leg(假肢). She knew that as she was getting used to the “  41 ”leg, she would be in  42  .

Later, in the following two hours, we  43  a lot and both felt very happy. I  44   until it was dark. I will always remember how   45   she was the moment she received the flowers from me—a   46  . She called me her angel and said she had no more   47  .

I   48   that story with my neighbor and she   49  that she was going to do the same thing on her birthday. And I hope that she will   50  others to be kind and do the same thing. You never know you might be considered someone’s angel one day.

A. shown            B. told                  C. given                D. bought

A. week             B. afternoon          C. hour                 D. night

A. belief            B. sense                C. message            D. idea

A. paying attention to              B. cheering up

          C. looking after                  D. looking down upon

A. strange        B. lucky              C. difficult         D. true

A. Instead        B. Still               C. Besides          D. Therefore

A. young         B. old                C. happy           D. strong

A. angrily        B. suddenly        C. quickly          D. confusedly

A. purpose       B. experience      C. failure            D. trouble

A. unless         B. but                     C. because         D. until

A. thin          B. long                    C. short            D. new

A. surprise       B. pain                    C. need            D. sight

A. talked         B. asked             C. imagined        D. smiled

A. worked        B. stood             C. stayed          D. rested

A. busy          B. shy               C. disappointed   D. moved

A. stranger     B. friend             C. relative       D. doctor

A. fun             B. interest              C. fear                  D. challenge

A. repeated     B. shared            C. learned       D. changed

A. agreed         B. forgot            C. joked         D. promised

A. force          B. warm                   C. allow         D. encourage

A boy, about 10 years old, got to my clinic with his sick cat for cure. Thc cat was a tiny beautiful thing, about the boy's own  36  . I could see she was  37   very strong and lovely with the fur of a 38   and Tigress was her name. She  39  me with a friendly nub against my hand.
I  40   her and found a tumor(肿瘤). She had no 41  of recovery. I looked at the fresh-faced boy and back at Tigress. I began to 42  pity on the boy. At such a young age, he had to face to part with his beloved one.
I told him as 43 as I could what I had found, and what it meant. The boy's face twisted (扭曲) and turned away. I sat down and 44  Tigress to give the boy some time to recover. I felt Tigress's old beautiful fur 45  we discussed the possible choice with him: I could give her an operation, which would be very  46   and would not make her live longer than a month, or an  injection and put her to sleep.
After some time, the boy accepted the reality.  "I've seen her 47 recently, so I'd like her to die peacefully." I could see  how  48   it was costing him in making such a 49  .
I asked if he wanted to take her home overnight to say goodbye. He said he just wanted to be 50  with her for a few minutes. I went to get the 51 which I would use to put her to sleep. I could not control the  52  streaming down my face.
She fell asleep, her head  53   in his hand, lovely and quiet, but her owner now had all the 54 . "This is the finest  55   you could give. You bear the pain so that the loved one might rest." The boy nodded and he understood.