One Sunday a few of us decided to take advantage of the first sunny day we’d have for ages to take a trip down to the coast to visit the penguins again. Last time I went down there was a couple of months ago and it was a dull cold day. Sunday couldn’t have been more different — clear skies and sunshine made it feel like summer, although it was still -25°C.
Six of us drove to the coast. It was the first time we’d been off the base on our own without our field assistant, so it had a slightly different feeling — more like a few friends going to the seaside than an Antarctic field trip! When we reached Windy Creek, we luckily caught sight of quite a few small flying seabirds, which are seldom seen there.
Once on the sea ice we found that some of the more curious penguins had wandered over from the main group to come and check us out. We’d been told that then they were nursing their chicks (刚孵出的幼雏) and they would be more careful and nervous than last time, but that didn’t seem to be the case. We walked across to the main group which were stretched for a couple of miles along the coast. We sat down for some sandwiches and soon found ourselves surrounded by many curious observers. Without any attackers on land, they were very brave and came within a meter of us to pose (摆姿势) for photos.
Before heading back, we spent a few hours on the sea ice watching the penguins and their chicks, which had grown dramatically (明显地) since our last visit. It was such a nice day.
【小题1】
When did the trip most probably happen?

We were standing at the top of a church tower. My father had brought me to this spot in a small town not far from our home in Rome. I wondered why.
“Look down, Elsa,” father said. I gathered all my courage and looked down. I saw the square in the center of the village. And I saw the crisscross (十字形) of twisting, turning streets leading to the square. “ See, my dear,” father said gently. “ There is more than one way to the square. Life is like that. If you can’t get to the place where you want to go by one road, try another.”
Now I understood why I was there. Earlier that day I had begged my mother to do something about the awful(糟糕的) lunches that were served at school. But she refused because she could not believe the lunches were as bad as I said.
When I turned to father for help, he didn’t say anything. Instead, he brought me to this high tower to give me a lesson. By the time we reached home, I had a plan.
At school the next day, I secretly poured my luncheon（午餐）soup into a bottle and brought it home. Then I asked our cook to serve it to mother at dinner. The plan worked perfectly. She swallowed one spoonful and sputtered（喷溅出） “ The cook must have gone mad！” Quickly I told her what I had done, and Mother stated firmly that she would take up the matter of lunches at school the next day!
In the years that followed I often remembered the lesson father taught me. I began to work as a fashion designer two years ago. I wouldn’t stop working until I tried every possible means to my goal. Father’s wise words always remind me that there is more than one way to the square.
【小题1】The author's father took her to the top of a church tower to _____．

Our boat floated on between walls of forest. It was too thick for us to get a view of the land we were passing through, though we knew from the map that our river must be passing through chains of hills from time to time. Nowhere did we find a place where we could have landed: although the jungle did not actually spread right down into the river, banks of soft mud prevented us from going ashore. In any case, what would we have gained by landing? The country was full of snakes and other dangerous creatures and the jungle was so thick that one would be able to advance slowly, cutting one's way with knives the whole way. So we stayed in the boat, hoping that when we reached the sea, a friendly fisherman would pick us up and take us to civilization.

As for water, there was a choice. We could drink the muddy river water, or die of thirst. We drank the water. Men who have just escaped from what appeared to be certain death lost all worries about such small things as diseases caused by dirty water. In fact, none of us suffered from any illness as a result.

One day we passed another village, but fortunately nobody saw us. We did not wish to risk being taken prisoners a second time: we might not be so lucky as to escape in a stolen boat again.

What they could see on the boat was only   .

A. high walls   B. chains of hills  C. heavy woods D. vast land

They couldn't land because .

A. the mud on the shore was too soft    B. they could not find anyone

C. they could not find the mark on the map  D. the forest was too thick to go through

From the passage, we can learn that    .

A. they were in an uninhabited area B. they were on a journey home happily

C. the country was a civilized society  D. the country was a tropical jungle coutry

The best title for this passage might he______

A. I he Problem of Landing  B. Escape in the Jungle

C. An Entirely New Experience   D. Exploration of a River

I had just finished high school when a disaster hit our family. It was October 1962, and    21   was out of the question. So I found a job. In 1971, my employer announced only graduates(大学毕业生) would get   22  . My job seemed at a dead end unless I    23    further. And to graduate, I had to pass the higher secondary examination first.
I    24   an admission form（表格） and rode to the Human Resource（人力资源） Management office. On arriving there, I was    25   ---I couldn’t find the form. It was the last day to    26   the form, and no blank forms were   27   at the office. I was standing there, disappointed,    28   an elderly gentleman asked me why I looked so    29  . I told him what happened,    30  , “Now I’ll have to wait another year.”
“Well,” he said, “if you’re really serious about studying further, come with me. I have a    31   blank form at home.”
It was 12:30 pm. The counter（柜台） would    32   at 2 pm. His home was 10 km away and I had a slight   33 of going somewhere with a stranger. Anyway, this was my last chance. We reached his house on my bike. He advised me to remain    34  , and gave me a pen and the form. When it was    35  , he told me to rush back and     36   carefully. I reached the office at 1:58 pm. There were two people in line, waiting for their   37   . Just then, the counter official announced that no more forms would be    38   after mine. I breathed a sigh of    39   .
I passed the exam and later got a bachelor’s degree. I also got the promotions. I     40   it all to the timely help from a true gentleman whose name I forgot to ask.

Our holidays were coming to an end but we had not yet realized our plan to drive to Dalat. Our  1  about Dalat with its shining cherry blossoms (花) and scenic views were   2  us to start our journey.
Then one morning our dream  3. We hired a car and drove  4  to Dalat early in the morning. Splendid landscapes  5  on either side of the road   6   before us. The refreshing morning breeze was caressing (抚摸) our skin and in  7   spirits we were singing merrily.
When we reached Blao Pass, we saw a white  8  in front of us. We   9  down the pass. It seemed to us that the young girl in the white car did not want to be   10  as she was driving at full speed. Suddenly she lost  11  of her car; it turned to the left and crashed into the slope and  12  .
Quite frightened, we braked   13  and jumped out of our car. We turned her car over and pulled out the girl who was  14   in the car. The girl had narrowly escaped death. She was shivering like an aspen (白杨) leaf. In spite of her  15 , she looked very beautiful, just like an angel. When she had  16  from her panic, she timidly (胆小地) thanked us for having rescued her, then she looked at her flat  17  in despair.
Reading her thoughts, we took off our shirts and began to   18   the punctured tyre. We then put on the  19  wheel for her. As soon as the work had been done, we started our  20   again and followed Da Huong Lan—the girl we had helped.