We walked in so quietly that the nurse at the desk didn’t even lift her eyes from the book. Mum __36__ at a big chair by the door and I knew she wanted me to __37__ down. While I watched __38__ open in surprise, Mum __39__ her hat and coat and gave them to me to hold. She walked __40__ to the small room by the lift and took out a wet mop. She __41__ the mop past the desk and __42__ the nurse looked up, Mum nodded and said, “Very __43__ floors.”

“Yes, I’m __44__ they’ve finally decided to clean them,” the nurse answered. She looked at Mum __45__ and said, “But aren’t you working late?”

Mum just pushed harder, each swipe of the mop __46__ her farther and farther down the hall. I watched __47__ she was out of sight and the nurse had __48__ to writing in the big book.

After a long time Mum came back. Her eyes were __49__. She quickly put the mop back and took my __50__. As we turned to go out of the door, Mum bowed politely to the nurse and said, “__51__.”

Outside, Mum told me: “Dogmas is __52__. No fever.”

“You saw her, Mum?”

“Of course. I told her about the hospital __53__, and she will not expect us until tomorrow. Dad will stop __54__ as well. It’s a fine hospital. But such __55__! A mop is no good. You need a brush.”

36. A. stared             B. pointed                 C. came                     D. aimed

37. A. sit                  B. lie                        C. fall                       D. bend

38. A. eyes                       B. hands                C. mouth               D. arms

39. A. put on            B. took off                C. hung over          D. threw away

40. A. bravely           B. proudly                 C. poorly               D. quietly

41. A. dragged                 B. pulled                   C. pushed           D. rushed

42. A. as                   B. because                 C. after                 D. as soon as

43. A. pretty             B. good                     C. cheap                D. dirty

44. A. delighted            B. surprised              C. anxious            D. disappointed

45. A. respectfully            B. pitifully                C. carefully           D. strangely

46. A. taking             B. fetching                C. forcing           D. advancing

47. A. when            B. while                   C. after                   D. until

48. A. turned back       B. turned round        C. turned down   D. turned into

49. A. nervous                  B. sad                       C. crying               D. shining

50. A. clothes             B. hat                        C. hand              D. mop

51. A. Excuse me       B. I’m sorry             C. Good luck           D. Thank you

52. A. ill                   B. better                 C. well               D. wrong

53. A. rules               B. rights                    C. advice               D. limits

54. A. visiting            B. worrying               C. smoking         D. working

55. A. a hospital          B. beds                      C. floors                D. nurses

       Is there a magic cutoff period when children become responsible for their own actions? Is there a wonderful moment when parents can become spectators （audiences） in the lives of their children and shrug, “It’s their life,” and feel nothing?

       When I was in my twenties, I stood in a hospital  passage waiting for doctors to put a few stitches（缝线） in my son’s head．I asked, “When do you stop worrying?” The nurse said, “When they get out of the accident stage．” My mother just smiled faintly and said nothing．

      When I was in my thirties, I sat on a little chair in a classroom and heard how one of my children talked continually and disrupted the class．As if to read my mind, a teacher said．“Don’t worry．They all go through this stage and then you can sit back, relax and enjoy them．” My mother just smiled faintly and said nothing．

      When I was in my forties, I spent a lifetime waiting for the phone to ring, the cars to come home, the front door to open．A friend said, “They’re trying to find themselves．Don’t worry; in a few years, you can stop worrying．They’ll be adults．” My mother just smiled faintly and said nothing．

    By the time I was 50, I was sick and tired of being weak．I was still worrying over my children, but there was a new wrinkle．There was nothing I could do about it．My mother just smiled faintly and said nothing．

     I continued to suffer from their failures, and be absorbed in their disappointments．My friends said that when my kids got married I could stop worrying and lead my own life．I wanted to believe that, but I was haunted（萦绕心头） by my mother’s warm smile and her occasional “You look pale．Are you all right? Call me the minute you get home．Are you depressed about something?” Can it be that parents are sentenced to a lifetime of worry?

    One of my children became quite anxious about me recently, saying, “Where were you? I’ve been calling for three days, and no one answered．I was worried．”

     I smiled a warm smile．

The author intends to tell us in the passage that_______．

     A．parents long for a period when they no longer worry about their children

     B．there is no time when parents have no worry about their children

     C．it’s parents’ duty to worry about their children

     D．there should be a period when parents don’t have to worry about their children

We can infer from the underlined sentence “My mother just smiled faintly and said nothing．” that ______．

     A．her mother shared the same idea as the nurse

     B．her mother didn’t agree with the nurse

     C．her mother thought the nurse was lying

     D．her mother wouldn’t express her opinion upon the matter

The author mentioned her ages of twenties, thirties, forties and fifty in order to show_______．

      A．the hard times she experiences in her life

      B．the different stages of her children

      C．the support she received from her mother

      D．she had been worrying about her children in her life

What can we infer from the last sentence?

      A．The mother was happy that her child began to worry about her, too

      B．Finally the mother didn’t have to worry about her children

      C．At last the mother could live her own life without worry．

      D．The mother succeeded in turning her children into adults．

Which of the following should be the best title?

     A．Life             B．Parents   C．Worry          D．Children

___ the room, the nurse found the tape-recorder ___.

A. Entering; stealing               B. Entering; gone

C. To have entered; being stolen    D. Having entered; to be stolen

In many ways, our society doesn’t simply prepare for the kinds of lives that the elderly must lead. We have made medical advances that allow people to live longer than ever before, but we do not seem to know what to do with them after we have saved their lives. Too little allowance (津贴) is made for the person who is no longer earning a living, who can not walk long distances or drive a car, or who may have physical or mental disabilities that keep him from communicating with others. The institutional (慈善机构的) care we give our older people is a good reflection of the overall attitude of our society toward the aged.

In the past few years, nursing homes have received wide attention as boring, meaningless places where old people often have little else to do but wait for the end of their lives. Elderly wards in mental hospitals are even worse. One of the most shocking things abort nursing homes has been the unwillingness of people on the outside to show real concern for what happens in these institutions. Even people who are entrusting (委托) a parent to the care of a home rarely ask about the nurse-parent ratio (比率), about the kinds of creative facilities or physical treatment equipment available, or about the frequency of doctors’ visits.

And the government has provided federal money without enforcing high standards of care. In fact federal standards were lowered in 1974. Therefore, in some sense our concern for the aged seems to be moving backwards, not forwards. This picture is in striking contrast to the treatment of respectable patriarchs (男长者) and matriarchs (女长者) in many societies.

1. What would be the most suitable title for this passage?

A. Failure of Care for the Elderly                    B. The Elderly

C. Institutional Care                             D. A National Shame

2. We can conclude from this passage that the writer feels ____.

A. nursing homes should be got rid of

B. a country that can help people live longer should also be able to care for them better

C. people have no thanks toward their parents

D. our society’s institutions need to be reformed

3. The writer believes that people who place a parent in a nursing home should ____.

A. demand higher federal standards

B. consider the example set in other countries

C. be ashamed of not keeping the parents in their own homes

D. investigate it first

4. The writer complains ____.

A. about the indifference of some people towards nursing homes

B. about the shortage of equipment in nursing home

C. that nursing homes keep the aged from communicating with others

D. both A and B

Two men, both seriously ill, were in the same hospital room. One man was allowed to _16_ up in his bed for an hour each afternoon. His bed was _17_ the room’s only window. The other man on the other side of the room had to _18_ all his time lying on his back in bed.
Every afternoon when the man by the window could sit up he _19_ pass the time by describing to his _20 all the things he could see outside the window. “The window overlooks a _21_ with a lovely lake. Ducks and swans play on the water _22_ children sail their model boats. Young lovers walk _23_ among flowers of every colour. Grand old trees grace(装扮) the landscape, and a fine _24_ of the city skyline can be seen in the distance.” As the man by the window _25_ all this in detail, the man on the other side of the room would close his eyes and _26_ the scene.
Days and weeks passed. On morning, the day nurse came only to find the man by the window had died _27_ in his sleep. When the man’s body was _28_, the other man asked if he could be moved next to the _29_. The nurse agreed and after making sure he was _30_, she left. Slowly and painfully, the man raised himself _31_ to take his first look at the _32_ world outside by himself. But to his _33_, he found it faced nothing _34_ a blank wall.
In fact, the man by the window was _35_ and could not even see the wall. He just wanted to encourage his roommate.