One evening I went out and left my 17-year-old son in charge of his 8-year-old brother and 4-year-old sister. On this occasion, the work was made less troublesome by the presence of his girlfriend. I left with complete confidence that the older children would do a wonderful job of babysitting the younger children and the younger children would do a wonderful job of accompanying the older ones. Later, I discovered that complete confidence was the last thing I should have left home with.

I had decided to return home earlier than planned so that my son and his girlfriend could go out. I called home with this happy news. But instead of hearing his cheerful, grateful voice on the other end of the line, all I heard was the sound of a telephone ringing.

It was, I should point out, after 10 p.m., when the two younger children should have been in bed, and when the two older children should have been answering the phone. “I’ll give him a lesson,” I said. I decided they must be outside. Why they might be outside at 10:30 on a wintry night I had no idea, but it was the only explanation I could come up with.

Finally, in desperation, I called his girlfriend’s house. After what seemed like countless rings, his girlfriend answered. “Yes,” she said brightly, “He’s right here.”

He came on the phone. I was not my usual calm, rational(理智的) self. After all, one of the rules of survival for modern parents is that you can’t trust modern teenagers. “Where are the children?” I said. He said they were with him. They had done nothing wrong. My son had taken the younger children over to his girlfriend’s house just for ice cream and cake. This was too good to be believed. Well, it turns out that I shouldn’t have believed it. It was only part of the truth.

The following Saturday evening we were at my parents’ home, celebrating my birthday. My oldest son gave me the children’s gifts. Mounted and framed were a series of lovely color photographs of my children, dressed in their best clothes, and wearing their most wonderful expressions. They are pictures to treasure a lifetime, all taken by the father of my son’s girlfriend.

1.51.The author went out and left her eldest son in charge of the younger children because ______.

A. she knew that his girlfriend was a good baby-sitter

B. she believed he could take good care of the younger ones with the help of his girlfriend

C. the older children have always loved the younger ones

D. she could not find a baby-sitter on that winter night

2.52.Shortly after the author left home one evening, she discovered that ______.

A. she shouldn’t have completely trusted her son

B. her son had left home with his girlfriend

C. her son had brought his girlfriend home

D. she should have taken the children along with her

3.53.The sentence “It was only part of the truth.” (Para. 5) implies that the children not only enjoyed ice-cream but also ______.

A. had their pictures taken                B. had a birthday party

C. framed some photographs            D. showed off their best clothes

4.54.Which of the following possible titles best expresses the main idea of this passage?

A. An Evening Out              B. Modern Teenagers

C. A Precious Birthday Gift           D. Mother and Children

One afternoon, my son Adam asked me, “Are all people the same even if they are different in color?”

I thought for a minute, and then I said, “I’ll explain, 36  you can just wait until we make a quick 37  at the grocery store. I have something 38 to show you. ”

At the grocery store, we 39  some apples --- red, green and yellow ones. Back home, I told Adam, “It’s time to 40  your question.” I put one apple of each 41  on the table. Then I looked at Adam, who had a 42  look on his face. 

 “People are like apples. They come in all 43  colors, shapes and sizes. On the 44 ,  some of the apples may not 45  look as the others. ” As I was talking, Adam was 46  each one carefully. 

Then, I took each of the apples and peeled（削皮）them, 47  them back on the table, but 48   a different place. 

 “Okay, Adam, tell me which is which.”

He said, “I 49  tell. They all look same now. ” “Take a bite of 50 . See if that helps you 51  which one is which. ”

He took a 52 ,  and then a huge smile came across his face. . ”People are 53  like apples! They are all different, but once you 54  the outside, they’re pretty much the same on the inside. ”

He totally 55  it. I didn’t need to say or do anything else. 

1.. A. although        B. so              C. because        D. if        

2.A. stop              B. start           C. turn           D. stay        

3.A. expressive        B. encouraging     C. informative    D. interesting     

4.A. bought            B. counted         C. saw            D. collected      

5. A. check            B. mention         C. answer         D. improve       

6.A. size              B. type            C. shape          D. class        

7.A. worried           B. satisfied       C. proud          D. curious       

8.A. ordinary          B. normal          C. different      D. regular       

9.A. outside           B. whole           C. table          D. inside        

10. A. still           B. even            C. only           D. ever        

11.A. examining        B. measuring       C. drawing        D. packing       

12.A. keeping          B. placing         C. pulling        D. giving        

13. A. on              B. toward          C. for            D. in         

14.A. mustn’t         B. can’t          C. shouldn’t     D. needn’t       

15.A. each one         B. each other      C. the other      D. one another    

16.A. admit            B. consider        C. decide         D. believe

17. A. big bite        B. deep breath     C. firm hold      D. close look 

18. A. just            B. always          C. merely         D. seldom

19.A. put away         B. get down        C. hand out       D. take off 

20.A. made             B. took            C. got            D. did

One evening I went out and left my 17-year-old son in charge of his 8-year-old brother and 4-year-old sister.On this occasion,the work was made less troublesome by the presence of his girlfriend.I left with complete confidence that the older children would do a wonderful job of babysitting the younger children.Later,I discovered that complete confidence was the last thing I should have left home with.

I had decided to return home earlier than planned so that my son and his girlfriend could go out.I called home with this happy news.But instead of hearing his cheerful,grateful voice on the other end of the line,all I heard was the sound of a telephone ringing.

It was,I should point out,after 10 p.m.,when the two younger children should have been in bed.and when the two older children should have been answering the phone.“I’ll give him a lesson.”I said.I decided they must be outside.Why they might be outside at 10∶30 on a winter night I had no idea,but it was the only explanation I could come up with.

Finally,in desperation,I called his girlfriend’s house.After what seemed like countless rings,his girlfriend answered.“Yes,”she said brightly,“He’s right here.”

He came on the phone.I was not my usual calm,rational(理智的)self.After all,one of the rules of survival for modern parents is that you can’t trust modem teenagers.“Where are the children?”I said.He said they were with him.They had done nothing wrong.My son had taken the younger children over to his girlfriend’s house just for ice cream and cake.This was too good to be believed.Well,it turns out that I shouldn’t have believed it.It was only part of the truth.

The following Saturday evening we were at my parents home,celebrating my birthday.My oldest son gave me the children’s gifts.Mounted and framed were a series of lovely color photographs of my children,dressed in their best clothes,and wearing their most wonderful expressions.They are pictures to treasure a lifetime,all taken by the father of my son’s girlfriend.

1.The author went out and left her eldest son in charge of the younger children

 because        .

A.she knew that her eldest son was a good baby-sitter

B.she thought it no hard work to take care of the younger ones

C.she believed he could do well with his girlfriend’s help

D.she could not find a baby-sitter on that winter night

2.When the author called home that evening,she found that        .

A.two younger children had already been in bed

B.the children were preparing a birthday gift for her

C.her son was quarrelling with his girlfriend

D.there was no one answering the telephone

3.What can you learn from the underlined sentence in the fifth paragraph?

A.The author didn’t believe what her son had told her.

B.The author had complete confidence in her son.

C.The author believed her son was telling the truth.

D.The author was moved by what her children had done.

4.What might the children do that evening?

A.They had a birthday party.

B.They framed some photographs.

C.They had their pictures taken.

D.They made some beautiful clothes.

5.What does the author intend to teIl us by the story?

A.Modem teenagers are not worth trusting.

B.It is no easy job to look after young children.

C.It’s no good to have a girlfriend at an early age.

D.Her children have a caring and tender heart.

After graduation I returned home to my small town in Indiana. I didn’t have a job yet. Mr. Hobbs, a friend of my father’s, owned a small shirt factory in town. Within the past five years it had grown from twenty to eighty workers. Mr. Hobbs was worried that his plant was getting too big and inefficient, so he asked me to come in on a short-term basis as a consultant.
I went to the plant and spent about a week looking around and making notes. I was really a mazed at what I saw.
Most curious of all, there was no quality control at all. No one inspected the final product of the factory. As a result some of the shirts that were put in boxes for shipment were missing one or two buttons, the collar, and even a sleeve sometimes!
The working conditions were poor. The tables where the workers sat were very high and uncomfortable. Except for a half hour at lunchtime, there were no breaks in the day to relieve the boring work. There was no music. The walls of the workrooms were a dull gray color. I was amazed that the workers hadn’t gone on strike.
Furthermore, the work flow was irregular. There was one especially absent-minded young man in the assembly（组装）line who sewed on buttons. After a while I recognized him as "Big Jim", who used to sit behind me in math class in high school. He was very slow and all the shifts were held up at his position. Workers beyond him in line on his shift had to wait with nothing to do; therefore, a great deal of time and efficiency were lost as Big Jim daydreamed while he worked. All week I wondered why he wasn’t fired.
After I made observations for a week, Mr. Hobbs asked me for an oral report of my findings.
【小题1】The shirts from Mr. Hobbs’ factory can be described as ____.

One day around 5:30 pm, I was going home on a bus and everybody on the bus was quiet.  People had just  36  from work, students had just finished their  37 class and everybody was a little  38 from a long day. I was just looking outside of the   39  without any specific（具体的）thought in my mind. It was the same  40  I have seen many times before, people hurrying home.

In front of me, there was a guy who didn’t look very clean.   41  he was looking out of the window, he suddenly  42  to me and pointed at something outside. “Hey, look! ”He had a big smile on his face. I turned to the   43 he was pointing in and there it was the beautiful Catalina mountains burning with a beautiful   44  . He turned to other people on the bus and told them to look at the mountains. He  45  “Wow” and “It’s so beautiful” again and again. Everybody on the bus  46  the view indeed.

The  47  view also helped me to  48  my long tiring day with a good feeling in my heart. But, more  49  , I was so inspired to see that this man wanted to  50  the beautiful view with everybody on the bus, totally strangers. His  51  act made me accidentally find something that I had lost which I didn’t even know I had lost. He made me  52  that I had lost the feelings and the   53 I used to have every day. In my daily life, many things had  54 their color and movement, but he  55 me that things are still there—they never get lost.

1.A.  given up      B.  got off            C.  gone on                 D     stopped by