He was about to tell me the secret_____ someone patted him on the shoulder.

　 A. as 　 B. until    C. while 　 D. when

阅读理解

　　When Charles Stratton was five, he stopped growing. His mother took him to see the famous showman, P. T. Barnum. Mr. Barnum thought a small person would be the perfect addition to his show. He hired Charles' parents along with him, and they traveled the world together.

　　He gave the two - foot - tall Charles name, General Tom Thumb. He taught Tom how to sing, dance, act and tell jokes. When he felt Tom was ready to perform on stage, he made up ads. To stir up(激起)great interest, he said that Tom was eleven years old and had come from England.

　　During the show, Tom fought battles pretendedly with tall people. He also danced upon a wooden plate held by a person who was eight feet tall.

　　Tom's act was very popular and brought in a lot of money. By the time Tom was an adult, he had grown very rich. He had become a billionaire at the age of twenty-five.

　　Fortunately for Tom, Mr. Barnum added more little people to his show, and Torn became lucky in love as well. One of the little people was Lavinia Warren, a school teacher. Tom was able to win her love, and they married.

　　The ceremony (庆典) and reception were the talk of the town. They were attended by many rich and famous people and by about 2,000 guests. Crowds filled the streets of New York to have a look at their tiny wedding marriage. The couple even met with President Abraham Lincoln on their honeymoon just before going to live in Tom's house in Connecticut.

　　Their wedding, which took place during the Civil War, provided a welcome escape from the sad problems of war. Not willing to let this bit of sunshine fade(浅谈), communities throughout the country sponsored (主持)“Tom Thumb”weddings. In these weddings, small boys and girls, all dressed up, went through marriage ceremony for fun.

1．“Talk of the town”means ________.

[　　]

A．it was in the newspaper

B．people spread mean rumors(谣言) about it

C．it was the most popular happening

D．it was discussed in a city meeting

2．What does the author think about Tom Thumb's wedding?

[　　]

A．People gave it too much of their attention.

B．It helped people cheer up in a dark time.

C．It was funny and ridiculous(荒谬可笑的).

D．Tom and Lavinia were stupid.

3．Which of the following is the best clue to the fact that Tom was smart?

[　　]

A．He became a billionaire at twenty-five.

B．He learned how to sing, dance, and act at a very young age.

C．He met with President Lincoln during his honeymoon.

D．He married a school teacher.

4．Tom would dance on a wooden plate held by a person who was eight feet tall because ________.

[　　]

A．the wooden plate would make it sound as if Tom was tap dancing

B．it made Tom feel taller

C．the eight-foot-tall man was the only tall person Tom trusted

D．die difference between them would make Tom look even smaller

5．What is the main idea of the last paragraph?

[　　]

A．Weddings always make people feel full of sunshine.

B．People are always disappointed during war time.

C．Entertainment can serve an important purpose.

D．People should be married when they are small children.

完形填空

　　Mr. and Mrs. Brown were going abroad for their holiday. They had a dog called Blackie which they liked very much, but they could not 1 him abroad with them, 2 they looked for a good place to 3 him while they were away, and at last found a place which looked after dogs very well while 4 were away. They took Blackie there just before they left 5 their holiday, and 6 said good bye to him.

　　At the end of their holiday, they got back to England 7 at night, and as they thought that the place where Blackie was 8 might be closed at that late hour ,they　　9　　to wait until the next morning when they were going 10 him.

　　So the next morning Mr. Brown got 11 his car and 12 off happily to 13 Blackie. 14 he reached home with the dog, he said to his wife, “Do you know, dear, I don’t think blackie 15　　his stay at that place very much. He barked (吠)all the way home in the car 16　　he wanted to tell me something.” Mrs. Brown looked at the dog 17 and then answered, “You are quite right, dear. He was certainly trying to 18　　you something. But he wasn’t trying to tell you that he hadn’t enjoyed his stay at that place. He was trying to tell you that you were bringing the 19 dog home. This 20　　Blackie!”

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We all, at one time or another, have pretended to be a rock star, singing and dancing along to our favorite song. Most of us have done this in the privacy of our own room when we were kids and as adults, in the privacy of our homes. Me? I love to do that when I drive! I turn on the radio, find a song that I can sing along too and pretty soon my arms are in the air and I am moving along to the rhythm. Most of the time, I do this on my way to work.

　　Yes, that is true. I will be in my nice work clothes, jamming while driving or stopped at a traffic light. I get weird looks from some people and others laugh. Personally, I love to get lost in the rhythm of a song which leads me to share with you the importance of being silly!

　　The definition for the word silly, according to the dictionary is: stupid, foolish and nonsensical. I know many people do not want to look foolish. So they walk around all serious, which in all honesty, is foolish!

　　No one is perfect, I repeat: no one is perfect. I don’t care how educated, how thin, how beautiful, how simple, how frugal, how rich, and so on… No one is perfect! So why pretend to be something you are not?

Life is so short… You never know when this beautiful journey will be over, so why waste a single second on being so full of rigidity(呆板)? Here is a quote by Souza, that I think says it all and is a great recipe for life:

　　"Dance as though no one is watching you,

　　Love as though you have never been hurt before,

　　Sing as though no one can hear you,

　　Live as though heaven is on earth."

　　When we were kids, we had no idea of what limitations were and we had no care in the world so we could do things without worrying about how we appeared to others. However, as we grew up, we lost that childlike innocence.

　　So don’t lose the child that still lives within you. The next time you feel down, go turn on your favorite song, and sing and dance along like there is no tomorrow. Or watch something that makes you laugh. Laughter is the best medicine to whatever ails you and nothing is better than laughing so hard that your tummy hurts. Trust me, you will feel a whole lot better, and who doesn’t want to feel good?

1. According to the passage, what does the writer usually do?

2.What do other people think of the writer?

3. What is the writer’s opinion about the people who look very serious?

4. The writer quotes Souza to show that _______.

5.The underlined part “the child” in the last paragraph probably refers to _______.