Jeremy Fox, a retired businessman in a small city in England, recently bought an old farmhouse with a yard and a small field, about five miles out of the town. There he planned to lead a simple life with his wife, Amelia.

　　It was while clearing out the old barn on the far side of the yard that he made an interesting discovery. In a corner, under some old sacks, he found some large fragments（碎片）of an antique bowl. Out of curiosity, he took them into the kitchen and, much to the anger of his wife, washed the mud off them. That evening he spread newspapers over the kitchen table and carefully study the fragments together. However, two pieces were found missing.

　　Two days later, having pulled down the barn, Mr. Fox was digging over the ground in preparation for the installation（安装）of a greenhouse, when he discovered the two missing pieces. When he had stuck them in position, the bowl looked so fine that Amelia agreed to its being placed on a table in the living room, in front of the window.

　　“We might have something a bit special here, ” he said to his wife. A few days later, Jeremy took several photographs of the bowl, which he sent off to Sotheby's in London.

　　Unexpectedly, Sotheby's was extremely interested in the bowl and sent an expert to inspect it. It turned out that it was a Chinese Ming fish bowl, dating back to around 1 500, and might be expected to get a five-figure sum at an auction.

　　A week later still more unexpectedly, two police officers called and told the Foxes the bowl was stolen property.

　　So the bowl never reached the auction room, and Mr. Fox never received the five-figure sum that had been mentioned. However, he framed one of the photographs he had taken and hung it on the wall.

(1)At first Mrs. Fox seemed to be ________.

[　　]

A．greatly annoyed at Mr. Fox's enthusiasm

B．very much interested in the discovery

C．uncertain of Mr. Fox's enthusiasm

D．curious about Mr. Fox's findings

(2)Most likely“Sotheby's”was ________.

[　　]

(3)According to the expert, the bowl could be sold at the price of ________.

[　　]

A．five thousand pounds

B．less than ten thousand pounds

C．one thousand, five hundred and ninety pounds

D．at least ten thousand pounds

(4)Which of the following is NOT true?

[　　]

A．Most probably Sotheby's purchased the bowl in the end.

B．It turned out that Mr. Fox got neither the money nor the bowl.

C．Mr. Fox preferred country life to city life after his retirement.

D．Mr. Fox was fond of gardening.

During my review for the medical boards, I gained 101 pounds in four months and promised to exercise when all of this was over. I successfully passed the medical boards and now I have to face the music.

One morning, I woke up and decided to go to a park to start working out. I got out of bed, washed my face, brushed my teeth and put on my sports shoes. Then I headed for the park. While going there, I decided to set a goal for myself, that, I had to finish 10 rounds before I went home.

Upon reaching the park, I joined the people in walking around the park. I was enjoying every step, breathing in fresh air, appreciating the green grass and looking at the dried leaves falling from the trees while listening to my iPod.

On my 5th round, I felt tired, hungry and thirsty. I thought of giving it up, going home and sleeping again. As the idea battled in my mind, I was reminded about the goal I had set just a while ago. I kept on walking and as I looked around, I saw myself in the midst of men and women much older than me who continued to move on. Some even suffered from a stroke(中风) that had difficulty walking, some took on small steps with a cane on hand and some took on pauses before they continued their walk but still they kept on walking.

Suddenly I realized that each of us has set our own goals in our lives, such as reaching a dream, building up a career, correcting a past mistake or starting a business. The process won’t be easy. We may encounter(遇到) a lot of difficulties and obstacles that may push us to just give up.

Amazed by the men and women whom I walked with that morning, I finished my goal in the end.

Let us be inspired with the people around us who experience the same or even a greater amount of difficulty but still don’t give up and continue until they reach their goals and now are savoring(享受) their success.

1.What does the underlined sentence in Paragraph 1 mean?

A．Now I don’t feel like listening to my iPod.

B．Now I have to care more about my health.

C．Now I have to take physical exercise.

D．Now it is time for me to listen to music.

2.What did the author do on his way to the park?

A．He worked out a plan for his future.

B．He reflected on the causes of his overweight.

C．He decided to finish 10 rounds that morning.

D．He planned to take exercises every day.

3.When the author was walking the 5th round _____.

A．he didn’t want to continue walking

B．he found it easy to keep his promise

C．he was enjoying walking in the park

D．he was too tired to keep up with others

4.What inspired the author to finish 10 rounds that morning?

A．The goal he kept in mind.                 B．His strong will to keep fit.

C．The good figure he wanted.                D．The people exercising in the park.

A car drew up outside the Swan Hotel and a young man got out．Pausing only for a moment to see that he had come to the right place，he went into the hotel and rang the bell on the counter of the bar．

    Mrs．Crump，the landlady，who was busy in the kitchen at the time，hurried out，wiping her hands．The young man raised his hat．

    “Excuse me，”he said．“I’m looking for my uncle，Mr．White．I believe he is staying here．”

    “He was staying here．”Mrs．Crump corrected him．“But I’m afraid that he went back to London yesterday．”

    “Oh，dear，”said the young man，looking disappointed．“I understood that he was going to stay here until the end of the month．At least that is what his servant told me when I rang up his house．”

    “Quite right，”said Mrs，Cramp．“He planned to stay here the whole of July，as he always does． But yesterday he got a telegram to say that his relative was ill．So he caught the train back to London immediately．”

    “I wish he had let me know, ”The young man said．“I wrote him a letter saying that I was coming．I’ve had all this trouble for nothing．Well，since he isn’t here，there’s no point in waiting．”

    He thanked Mrs．Grump and went out．Mrs．Grump went to the window and watched him drive off．When his car was out of sight，she called out：“You can come out now, Mr．White. He’s gone．”

    Mr．White came out of the kitchen，where he had been waiting．

    “Many thanks，Mrs．Grump，”he said，laughing，“you did that very well．These nephews of mine never gave me any peace．That young man is the worst of them all．As you see，when he needs money, he even follows me into the country．Well，perhaps next time he won’t warn me by writing a letter!”

1.This story is about a man          ．

A．who was very much loved by his nephews

B．whose nephew went to visit him at the hotel

C．who was not willing to meet his nephew

D．whose nephew is always asking him for help

2.When his nephew came to the hotel，Mr．White             ．

A．took the train back to London

B．left to visit a sick relative

C．went to pick up a telegram

D．hid himself in the kitchen

3.Mr. White didn’t like his nephews because          ．

A．they always follow him around

B．they frequently disturb their relatives

C．they won’t write to him often

D．they usually visit him in hotels

Teens' lives hit by economy

Some teenagers are crossing their dream colleges off their lists.Others are thinking of skipping their senior trips or reducing prom(毕业舞会)costs.Many are finding their work hours cut while their expenses rise.

　　 So，who exactly is punishing them？Is it their parents，teachers or employers？No，it's the economy.

　　 If you are like most teenagers，you probably don't understand what“recession”，“negative economic growth”and“subprime mortgage crisis(次贷危机)”actually mean.And you probably don't spend your days watching the ups and downs of the stock market.

　　 It's safe to say that most teens don't know much about the economy except for one thing：it's bad.But just how exactly is the economy affecting teens?

“The single largest thing I have noticed is the recession's ability to affect my college choice，”said Heather Richars from Downey High School in California，US.

“With the economic situation the way it is，I have thought less about going to a private or out?of?state university，and more about public schools in California，mainly because of the price of tuition，”said Richars.“I had been a fan of attending a private school up until this year.”

　　 The economy cuts into other areas of teenagers' lives，too.

　　 Joey Camarda，a student at Modesto High School in California，who works at an ice cream store，said，“Probably due to the economy，I have been getting less hours at my job，and because of that，I am not getting enough money to help pay for college.”

　　 Tara Mooney，a senior at Beyer High School，has also begun to notice that money is tight.

“Things are getting expensive，”she said.“When it comes to applying for colleges and wanting to go on senior trips，I have to pick and choose instead of doing it all.”

1．The purpose of writing the passage is mainly to tell us ________.

A．the economic recession has had a big impact on teens' work，life and study

B．teenagers are now having difficulty in deciding which colleges to apply for

C．teenagers don't know much about the economic recession

D．teenagers are considering giving up their senior trips to save money

2．Because of the bad economic situation，Heather Richars will most probably ________.

A．go to a private university

B．attend an out?of?state college

C．attend a public college in California

D．find a good university as he planned

3．How has Joey Camarda found the recession affects him?

A．He has to find more part?time jobs.

B．He has to help his mother do more chores.

C．He has found that he had more time to study.

D．His plan to pay for college will be hard to realize.

4．What can we conclude from the passage?

A．Parents punish their teens by giving them less money.

B．Most teens understand what negative economic growth means.

C．Teenagers are finding it harder to do what they want than before.

D．Teenagers have realized the importance of managing their own money.

完形填空

　　All kinds of people came in to have their shoes shined. Most folks were friendly. But this man was different.

　　“How much do you make a week, boy?”he asked me. I felt he was __1__ at me.

　　He kept giving a sharp __2__ around every now and then. All the time I kept __3__ where I'd seen his face. Suddenly I knew. I'd seen his __4__ in the post office many times. He was the big robber: __5__ by the police in three states!

　　“You know, ”he was saying,“it's imagination people __6__. You'll never get anywhere as a shoeshine boy.”

　　I kept brushing on his shoes as __7__ as I could. The sooner I finished, the better. He said,“When I was sixteen, I had __8__ $ 2 500 of my own.”

　　That reminded me of something. Was it $ 2 500 or $ 5 000 or $ 25 000? I wasn't __9__. I knew a big reward was __10__ for him.

　　But what could I do about it? __11__ him with a can of shoe polish（擦亮剂）? A man his __12__ could grind（压碎）me into the floor. If only someone would come in! He kept talking away（喋喋不休）.“Along with __13__, it takes courage. The courage to take a chance. Start something on a shoestring（鞋带）.”

　　Suddenly I saw Officer Dailey __14__ across the street. Then, real fast, I began tightening the man's shoestrings.

　　The policeman was at the window when I cried out,“Officer Dailey, __15__! This man's a robber.”

　　“__16__,”the man shouted angrily. He started to jump off the stand. But he didn't go the __17__ he planned. He fell flat on his face and knocked himself out cold.

　　“That was __18__ clever of you,”the officer said. “You'll get a reward of $ 7 500 for him.”

　　“Well, it really wasn't my __19__,”I said.“It was his. He told me that __20__ you had courage and imagination, you could start something big on a shoestring.”