There is a story of a country where the rate of inflation(通货膨胀) is so high that clever people pay for a taxi ride before, instead of after the trip. The story may not be true, but inflation was almost that serious in Germany from July 1920 until December 1923. Prices went up so fast that by the end of 1923 they were 50 billion percent higher-arise of almost 2,500% a month.

There was so much paper money, and it had so little value, that people carried bags full of money around to pay for things. One woman tells the story of standing outside a shop with a basket full of 500,000 marks(马克) notes. She wanted to buy just one piece of meat, and she hoped she had enough money. But when she was looking, a thief robbed her. He didn't take her money, he threw it away and took the basket instead.

At first workers demanded to be paid every day, but as the situation became worse, they had to be paid twice a day. But they had to run out and spend the money at once, or it would lose its value. People bought anything that was for sale, but food was almost impossible to find. Farm workers refused to take money. They wanted to be paid in potatoes instead.

New policies ended the inflation in 1923, when the government introduced a new money, but about half of the German people lost everything in those three and a half years.

According to the text, in Germany the prices in 1920 were ______.

A.the lowest in history                               B.the highest in history

C.higher than those in 1923                        D.lower than those in 1923

The thief stole the basket instead of the money in it because he thought ______.

A.the basket was what he needed most

B.the money was of no value

C.the basket was more valuable than the money

D.he couldn't buy a piece of meat with the money

The farm workers demanded to be paid in potatoes because they believed ______.

A.the potato was valuable                                  B.the money might lose its value

C.the potato was too expensive                          D.the money could not buy potatoes

      It was raining. I went into a café and asked for a coffee.   21   I was waiting for my drink, I realized there were other people in the place, but I sensed   22  . I saw their bodies, but I couldn’t feel their souls   23   their souls belonged to the   24  .

      I stood up and walked between the tables. When I came to the biggest computer, I saw a thin, small man   25   in front of it. “I’m Steve,” he finally answered after I asked him a couple of times what his name was. “I can’t talk with you. I’m   26  ,” hw said. He was chatting online and,   27  , he was playing a computer game-a war game. I was   28  .

       Why didn’t Steve want to talk with me? I tried   29   to speak to that computer

 geek（怪人）,  30   not a word came out of his mouth. I touched his shoulder, but no reaction（反应）. I was   31  . I put my hand in front of the monitor, and he started to shout, “  32  !”

      I took a few steps back, wondering if all those people in the café were looking at me. I   33  , and saw nobody showed any interest.

        34  , I realized that the people there were having a nice conversation with their machines, not with people. They were more   35   having a relationship with the   36  , particularly Steve. I wouldn’t want to   37   the future of human beings if they preferred sharing their lives with machines   38  with people.

      I was worried and sank in my thoughts. I didn’t even   39   that the coffee was bad,   40  Steve didn’t notice there was a person next to him.

21. A. Before              B. Since                      C. Although                 D. While

22. A. pain                  B. loneliness                C. sadness            D. fear

23. A. because              B. when                       C. until                        D. unless

24. A. home                 B. world                      C. Net                         D. Café

25. A. sleeping              B. laughing             C. sitting                   D. learning

26. A. busy                  B. thirsty                     C. tired                        D. sick

27. A. first of all           B. just then                  C. at the same time D. by that time

28. A. Surprised           B. delighted                  C. moved                     D. frightened

29. A. once                  B. again                       C. first                        D. even

30. A. but                    B. so                            C. if                            D. or

31. A. excited               B. respected                  C. afraid                       D. unhappy

32. A. Shut up              B. Enjoy yourself     C. Leave me alone       D. Help me out

33. A. walked about      B. walked out               C. raised my hand  D. raised my head

34. A. From then on     B. At that moment  C. In all                       D. Above all

35. A. interested in       B. tired of                    C. careful about            D. troubled by

36. A. computer           B. soul                    C. shop                      D. geek

37. A. tell                   B. plan                         C. imagine                    D. design

38. A. other than          B. instead of                C. except for          D. as well as

39. A. pretend              B. understand         C. insist                       D. realize

40. A. as if                   B. just as                 C. just after               D. even though

The Man of Many Secrets — Harry Houdini — was one of the greatest American entertainers in the theater this century. He was a man famous for his escapes — from prison cells, from wooden boxes floating in rivers, from locked tanks full of water. He appeared in theaters all over Europe and America. Crowds came to see the great Houdini and his “magic” tricks.

　　Of course, his secret was not magic, or supernatural powers. It was simply strength. He had the ability to move his toes as well as he moved his fingers. He could move his body into almost any position he wanted.

　　Houdini started working in the entertainment world when he was 17, in 1891. He and his brother Theo performed card tricks in club in New York. They called themselves the Houdini Brothers. When Harry married in 1894, he and his wife Bess worked together as magician and assistant. But for a long time they were not very successful. Then Harry performed his first prison escape, in Chicago in 1898. Harry persuaded a detective to let him try to escape from the prison, and he invited the local newspapermen to watch.

　　It was the publicity(宣传) that came from this that started Harry Houdini’s success. Harry had fingers trained to escape from handcuffs and toes trained to escape ankle chins. But his biggest secret was how he unlocked the prison doors. Every time he went into the prison cell, Bess gave him a kiss for good luck — and a small skeleton key, which is a key that fits many locks, pass quickly from her mouth to his.

　　Harry used these prison escapes to build his fame. He arranged to escape from the local prison of every town he visited. In the afternoon, the people of the town would read about it in their local newspapers, and in the evening every seat in the local theater would be full. What was the result? World-wild fame, and a name remembered today.

According to the passage, Houdini’s success in prison escapes depends on _______.

　　A. his special tricks and supernatural power　 B. his unusual ability and a skeleton key

　　C. his magic tricks and supernatural powers     D. his wisdom and magic tricks

In the fourth paragraph, the underlined word “this” refers to _______.

　　A. his first prison escape        B. the year 1898

　　C. the publicity               D. Harry Houdini’s success

It can be inferred from the passage that Houdini became famous _______.

　　A. in 1894                   B. before he married

　　C. at the age of 17             D. when he was about 24

Which of the following is the best title for the passage?

　　A. A Skeleton Key             B. A Man of Many Secrets

　　C. World-wild Fame            D. Great Escape

 “BANG!” the door caused a reverberation(回声).It was just standing there, with father standing on one side , and I on the other side.

       We were both in great anger” Never set foot in this house again!” stormed father．With tears welling up in my eyes, I rushed out of the flat and ran along the street.

       The street lights were shining rather desolately(凄凉的).I wandered aimlessly.

       A young father who held a child in his arms walked past me．I felt as if I saw my childhood from another space: happy and harmonious.

       But now..．I don’t know whether it is because I have grown up or because dad is getting old．We differ in our ways of thinking．He always imposes his opinions and codes of behavior on me．Whenever I do something wrong, he never admits it．We are just like two people coming from two different worlds．It feels like there is an iron door between us that can never be opened.

       I wandered the streets, without a destination in mind．My heart was frozen on this hot summer night．As I walked on there were fewer and fewer people on the streets, until I had only the street lights to keep me company．When I finally reached the high-rise apartment block in which I lived ,I saw that the light was still on.

       I thought to myself: “Is father waiting for me, or is he still angry with me?”

       In fact, it was nothing．Perhaps, dad was throwing away some of his old stamps．Perhaps he thought they were useless．I never had the courage to tell him that I liked collecting stamps．I can’t stand his outrageous(蛮横的)words: “I can’t throw you away, let alone these old papers ?”

       All the lights were off except father’s.

       Dad was always like this．Maybe he didn’t know how to express himself．After shouting at me, he never showed any mercy or any moments of regret．After an argument he has the habit of creeping up in my sleep and then tucking me underneath the covers.

       This was how he always was．He has been a leader for so long that telling everyone else what to do has become his second nature.

       The light was still on．“Am I wrong?” I whispered ,maybe...With the key in hand, I was as nervous as I had ever been．At last, I decided to open the door．As soon as I opened the door tears ran down my cheeks．I suddenly realized that the iron door that I had imagined between us did not exist at all．Love—it second to none.

Decide which is the best order of the following according to what happened in the passage.

       a．I opened the door and entered the house.

       b．Sadly I ran out into the street.

       c．I reached the place where I lived and saw my house still brightly lit.

       d．I thought of my father’s kindness towards me.

       e．I walked about in the street without any aim.

       A .b,e,d,c,a     B．b,e,c,d,a   C．b,e,a,c,d   D．b,e,c,a,d

What made the writer think of his childhood ?

       A．The sight of the desolate street lights.   

       B．The sight of the empty street.

       C．The sight of a father with a child in his arms.             

       D．The sight of light in his own house.

Why do you think the father often shouts at his son ?

       A．perhaps the father is getting older and older. 

B．perhaps the son has already grown up.

       C．perhaps they never agree with each other.            

D．perhaps the father has got used to doing that.

What conclusion can you draw after reading the passage ?

       A．The father treats his son in an unfair way.           

B．The father is actually kind to his son.

       C .The father is neither kind nor cruel to his son.

D．The father is always finding fault with his son.

A handsome middle??aged man walked quietly into the cafe and sat down. Before he ordered，he couldn’t help but notice a group of younger men at the table next to him. It was obvious they were making fun of something about him and it wasn’t until he remembered he was wearing a small pink ribbon(丝带) on the lapel of his suit that he became aware of what the joke was all about.

The man pretended not to notice it，but the whisper and laughter began to get to him. He looked one of the rude young men straight into the eye，placed his hand beneath the ribbon and asked，“This？”

With that the young men all began to laugh out loud. The man he spoke to said，“Hey，sorry，man, but we were just commenting on how pretty your little pink ribbon looks against your blue jacket！”

The middle??aged man calmly invited the joker to come over to his table, and politely seated him. As uncomfortable as he was, the young guy had to, not really sure why. In a soft voice，the middle??aged man said, “I wear this ribbon to bring awareness about breast cancer. I wear it in my mother’s honor.”

“Oh, sorry. She died of breast cancer？”

“No, she didn’t. She’s alive and well. But her breasts nourished me as a baby，and were a soft resting place for my head when I was scared or lonely as a little boy. I’m very grateful for my mother’s breasts, and her health.”

“Umm,” the young replied “yeah.”

“And I wear this ribbon to honor my wife” the man continued.

“And she’s okay, too？”the young guy asked.

“Oh, yes. She’s fine. Her breasts have been a great source of loving pleasure for both of us，and with them she nurtured and nourished our daughter 23 years ago. I’m grateful for my wife’s breasts，and her health.”

“Uh, huh. And I guess you wear it to honor your daughter, also？”

“No. It’s too late to honor my daughter by wearing it now...”

Shaken and ashamed，the young guy said, “Oh, I’m so sorry，mister.”

“So, in my daughter’s memory, too, I proudly wear this little ribbon, which allows me the opportunity to enlighten others. And here...”With this，he reached in his pocket and handed the young man a little pink ribbon. The young guy looked at it, slowly raised his head and asked, “...？”

The young men joked about the middle??aged man’s________.

A．looks       B．ribbon      C．attitude     D．clothes

What may have happened to the man’s daughter?

A．She died of breast cancer.                 B．She was ill with cancer.

C．She had gone abroad.                     D．She got married.

What will the young man probably ask at the end of the story?

A．May I give it to my mother?            B．Can you help me put it on?

C．Will you please forgive me?             D．Shall we have some drink together?

What is the best title for the passage?

A．An Unusual Meeting                B. An Impressive Lesson

C．Be Grateful to Your Beloved     D. A little Pink Ribbon