Last weekend, I was walking across the village green(草坪) when I saw an elderly gentleman on the bench, just overlooking the duck pond. I thought he looked a bit forlorn(被遗弃的) so I went over and sat next to him.

         After a few   36    about how nice the weather was and how there were a lot of ducks in the pond today, he told me how he used to come with his wife and watch the children feed the ducks with their mums. They didn't have any   37    of their own..So they cherished being together even more.

         He explained he had been married for 54 years   38    his wife died and how much he missed    39     all the little things with her, like a beautiful sunset. He now lives in a care home. I remarked at how wonderful it must've been to have been married for so long and to have so many happy memories. He took out a large    40   and wiped his eyes and said he had one regret that in all that time he   41    told her how much he really loved her.

         He showed me a photograph of them when they were young. The photo was taken more than 50 years ago. He couldn't believe how the time had   42   . I tried to comfort him by explaining that his wife would be still    43    over him and he could talk to her   44    he wants and that she knows how much he loved her because she can see into his heart. 

         The old man tried to   45    for blurting out his life story but I hushed him and said how privileged I felt he could talk to me and how much it meant to me.

         The   46    I learned from this chance encounter is that we must tell the ones close to us how much we love and care for them and not take them for granted.

         Don't   47    your kind acts until tomorrow; do them today because time flies.

1.A. discussionB. comments   C. quarrels       D. communication

2.A. children   B. ducks       C. pond        D. home

3.A. before       B. when       C. after        D. unless

4.A. doing         B. carrying        C. sharing         D. buying

5.A. paper        B. rubber     C. brush       D. handkerchief

6.A. never         B. often        C. sometimes  D. constantly

7.A. passed on          B. passed awayC. passed by   D. passed off

8.A. watching  B. looking          C. seeing     D. observing

9.A. every timeB. any time      C. some time   D. the time

10.A. blame     B. cry            C. regret      D. apologize

11.A. thing       B. class        C. lesson      D. knowledge

12.A. put up     B. put down     C. put away      D. put off

Where do most writers get their ideas? For Yoshiko Uchida, it all began with Brownie, a five-month-old puppy. So excited was Yoshiko by Brownie’s arrival that she started keeping a journal, writing about all the wonderful things Brownie did and the progress he made.

Soon she was writing about other memorable events in her life, too, like the day her family got their first refrigerator. She also began writing stories, thanks to one of her teachers. Yoshiko wrote stories about animal characters such as Jimmy Chipmunk and Willie the Squirrel. She kept on writing, sharing the kitchen table with her mother, who wrote poems on scraps of paper and the backs of envelopes.

Yoshiko grew up in the 1930s in Berkeley, California. Her parents, both of whom had been born in Japan, provided a loving and happy home for Yoshiko and her sister. They also provided a stream of visitors to their home who later found their way into Yoshiko’s stories. One visitor who later appeared in several of Yoshiko’s stories was the bad-tempered Mr. Toga, who lived above the church that her family attended. Mr. Toga would scold anyone who displeased him. The children all feared him and loved to tell stories about how mean he was and how his false teeth rattled (咯咯响) when he talked.

Yoshiko also included in her stories some of the places she visited and the experiences she had. One of her favorite places was a farm her parents took her to one summer. The owners of the farm, showed Yoshiko and her sister how to pump water from the well and how to gather eggs in the henhouse. They fed the mules that later pulled a wagon loaded with hay while Yoshiko and the others rode in the back, staring up at the stars shining in the night sky. Yoshiko, who lived in the city, had never seen such a sight. As Yoshiko gazed up at the stars, she was filled with hope and excitement about her life. The images of that hayride stayed with her long after the summer visit ended, and she used them in several of her stories.

The experiences Yoshiko had and the parade of people who marched through her young life became a part of the world she created in over twenty books for young people, such as The Best Bad Thing and A Jar of Dreams. Because of such books, we can all share just a little bit of the world and the times in which this great writer grew up.

1.The author tells about Mr. Toga’s false teeth in Paragraph 3 in order to ____________.

A. show health care was not good enough in Berkeley during the 1930s

B. provide an interesting detail in Yoshiko’s life and stories

C. show Yoshiko’s young life was difficult and frightening

D. tell about a beloved relative who helped Yoshiko learn how to write

2.In Paragraph 4 “the stars” probably refer to ____________.

A. family relationships                                          B. terrors in the night

C. limitless possibilities                                        D. sacrifices to benefit others

3. What does the underlined part in the last paragraph mean?

A. Yoshiko loved to write about parades.

B. Yoshiko met many interesting people.

C. Yoshiko liked to go for long walks with others.

D. Yoshiko preferred to talk to her pets instead of to people.

4.What is the main idea of this story?

A. People who live in the city should spend as much time as they can in the country.

B. Writers like Yoshiko Uchida must communicate with as many writers as possible.

C. Those who move to the United States often miss their homelands for many years.

D. Writers like Yoshiko Uchida look to the richness of their lives for material.

He never believed that true love existed.

    His parents divorced when he was young and he didn’t think that true love was able to survive in today’s world.

    He was   36   wrong.

    His grandparents were always supportive to the kids and tried to help them when their parents   37  . He knew they loved each other, he just wasn’t sure it was true love. He had   38   heard them say, “I love you” or they hadn’t shown any affection   39   hugging. They had been married for over fifty years and he thought that their true love was gone.

    But again he was wrong. His grandfather, Ralph, was struck ill in his junior year of college and he didn’t know how serious it was until he fell and hurt his hip (臀). While in the hospital, the doctors   40     a tumor (瘤) in his lungs. They told him that he had lung cancer and due to previous illnesses, they could not operate and he was too   41   for chemotherapy (化疗).

    It was around Thanksgiving and by Christmas his condition worsened. The cancer spread and in late January his sister away at college too, called him crying and said she was on her way home because the doctors told their family that their   42   had only a week to live, that by the weekend he would   43    be with them. Their family came in from around the country and stayed next to his side.

    It was not until then that he   44   that true love did exist and would survive beyond death. Every night as his grandfather grew more fragile, he would   45   sweet words to grandmother, Madge. The night before he died grandmother was walking out of his room and he said to her “I love you Madgie baby”.

    The next morning he received a phone call at work that grandfather had passed during the night. Throughout his short battle   46   cancer, he realized how much two people can love each other and he realized how much it means to be loved and give love. It is the greatest   47   on earth and it lasts beyond life because you never forget your one true love.

1.A. believed       B. proved               C. asked                D. realized

2.A. died           B. married          C. divorced         D. fought

3. A. ever          B. never                C. even             D. often

4.A. other than     B. less than            C. rather than          D. better than

5. A. took out          B. found out            C. set out              D. put out

6.A. strong         B. fat              C. short                D. weak

7.A. grandfather        B. grandmother      C. father               D. mother

8.A. no better      B. no worse         C. no less              D. no longer

9.A. realized           B. said             C. saw              D. mentioned

10.A. speak         B. shout                C. whisper          D. talk

11.A. by                B. in                   C. on               D. with

12.A. smile         B. battle               C. gift             D. surprise

Dad came in the midnight. We heard every sound, but we pretended to be asleep.

Next morning he looked weak and thin, sitting in a chair by the kitchen fire. The light of the fire shone through his long empty sleeve. Everything went as usual. Grandma found something to do in the bedroom. Grandpa went out for some water. Mother, with her back to us, was getting the cakes ready for breakfast.

But nothing was right. When grandma came out of the bedroom, she walked on tiptoe. When grandpa came back, he said nothing about the weather. At breakfast Mother passed us the fruit and said something, but her voice was too high.

At last my sister, Lou, pushed back her chair. “It’s your turn to wash the dishes.” But I had washed the dishes the night before. I said nothing because it was not right to quarrel in front of Dad just home with the empty sleeve.

“It is your turn,” Lou said again. I looked at her in surprise.

“It is not,” I said because I suddenly remembered Mother had told us to go on as usual.

“Children, children,” Mother said in a quiet, glad kind of voice.

And Dad was smiling because he felt at home at last.

1.What do you know happened to Dad in the story?

2.The family       when they saw Dad’s empty sleeve.

3.From the story, we know         .

4.Which of the following can be the best title of the story?

A university graduate described as a “respectable and intelligent” woman is seeking professional help after being convicted of （证明有……罪）shoplifting for the second time in six months.

       Ana Luz, recently studying for her PhD, has been told she could end up behind bars unless she can control the desire to steal from shops.

       Luz ,who lives with her partner in Fitzwilliam Road, Cambridge, admitted stealing clothes worth ￡9.95 from John Lewis in Oxford Street, London, on March 9.

       Phillip Lemoyne, prosecuting（起诉）,said Luz selected some clothes from a display and took them to the ladies’ toilet in the store .When she came out again she was wearing one of the skirts she had selected, having taken off the anti-theft security alarms（防盗警报装置）.

       She was stopped and caught after leaving the store without paying, Mr. Lemoyne said.

       He added that she was upset on her arrest and apologized for her actions.

       Luz, 28, was said to have been convicted of shoplifting by Cambridge judges last October, but Morag Duff, defending, said she had never been in trouble with the police before that.

       “She is ashamed and embarrassed but doesn’t really have any explanation why she did this,” Miss Duff said. “She didn’t intend to steal when she went into the store. She is at a loss to explain it. She is otherwise a very respectable and intelligent young lady. She went to her doctor and asked for advice because she wants to know if there is anything in particular that caused her to do this.”

       Judge David Azan fined Luz ￡ 50,  and warned : “You’ve got a criminal record .If you carry on like this ,you will end up in prison ,which will ruin your bright future you may have.”

       Luz achieved a degree in design at university in her native Spain, went on to a famous university in Berlin, Germany for her master’s degree and is now studying for a PhD at Cambridge University, UK.

1. What does the underlined sentence “She is at a loss to explain it” mean?

A. In her opinion it was a loss to the clothes shops where she stole things.

B. She doesn’t have any idea why she has the desire to steal from shops.

C. She thinks it is a loss for her to explain why she stole things from shops.

D. Personally she feels ashamed and embarrassed for her shoplifting actions.

2.Which of the following best explains the meaning of the word “shoplifting” used in the passage?

A. Carrying goods in a lift for a shop.      B. Taking goods to the ladies’ toilet.

C. Selecting some goods from a display.      D. Taking goods from a shop without paying.

3.From the passage we can learn that           .

A. Ana Luz is already got her PhD at Cambridge University, UK

B. Ana Luz is ashamed and embarrassed and knows why she often did so

C. the university graduate will be put in prison if she steals in shops once more

D. Phillip Lemoyne is the “respectable and intelligent” woman’s defense lawyer