Our little boy came up to his mother in the kitchen one evening while she was preparing supper, and handed her a piece of paper that he had been writing on. After his mom dried her hands on her apron (围裙) , she read it, and this is what was said:

For going to the store for you $2.

For cutting the grass in the garden $3.

For cleaning up the yard this week $2.5.

For cleaning up my room this week $2.

For setting the table for meals this week $1.

For baby-sitting my kid brother while you went shopping $1.5.

For getting a good school report $5.

Total owed: $17.

His mother looked at him, who was standing there with expectation. Memories flashed through her mind. Then she picked up a pen, turned over the paper he had written on, and wrote:

For the nine months I carried you while you were growing inside me, No Charge(收费) .

For all the nights that I’ve sat up with you and taken care of you, No Charge.

For all the problems and troubles that you’ve caused through the years, there is No Charge.

When you add it all up, the cost of my love is No Charge.

For all the nights that were filled with fear and for the worries I knew were ahead, No Charge. For the toys, food, clothes, and even wiping up your nose? There is No Charge. And when you add it all up, the full cost of real love is, No Charge, Son.

Well, friends, when our son finished reading what his mother had written, there were big tears in his eyes, and he looked straight up at his mother and said, “Mom, I sure do love you..” And then he took the pen and in great letters he wrote, “ PAID IN FULL.”

What might the mother be doing when the boy came into the kitchen?

   A. Getting the dishes ready.          B. Repairing the cooker.

   C. Washing dirty dishes.             D. Laying the table for dinner.

According to the boy’s bill, his mom owed him ______ for his helping with the house work.

   A. $7.50          B. $10.50          C. $12.00          D. $17.00

This story tries to tell us that ________.

   A. real love is priceless    B. housework is endless  C. the mother is wise     D. the boy is selfish

A few months ago I was at a bus stop in town in the evening. The bus came on time and I took the window seat. The bus route was by the seashore and I was enjoying the breeze (微风) while watching the sea waves. After a few minutes the bus made its next stop. A young boy and a girl got on. They were standing on my left when the bus pulled off. I looked at them curiously and realized that all the window seats were occupied (占据). They could sit but not together. Suddenly a different wave passed through my body and my inner mind gave me the advice to get up. I got up and offered them my seat. The young lady smiled kindly and said thanks. I occupied another seat and we parted our ways. I don’t remember whether I got off the bus before them or not.

       Months passed by. Suddenly one day while I was standing at the same bus stop waiting some time for the bus to arrive I heard a voice.

       “Excuse me, Uncle.” I looked in the direction of the voice. It was a beautiful young lady.

       Puzzled, I said, “I do not recognize you.”

       She said, “Do you remember you gave us your window seat?”

       Puzzled, I said, “Maybe, but what is so great in that?”

       She said, “If you had not given your seat that day, perhaps I would have not sat with my friend. By sitting together it helped us bridge a misunderstanding that had been between us forever. Do you know we are getting married next month?”

       “Good! God bless both of you,” I replied.

       The young lady again said thank you and went on her journey. I realized the importance of giving that day.

Why were the young boy and the girl standing on the bus?

A. Because they wanted to enjoy the sea view.

B. Because they couldn’t sit together.

C. Because there were no empty seats.

D. Because they preferred to stand.

The underlined sentence in the first paragraph probably means that the author had a feeling that ______.

A. he wanted to do something special        

B. the sea wave made him upset

C. a wave from the sea flooded him  

D. he wanted to make a sea wave in his heart

From the story, we can conclude that ______.

A. small things can create great happenings in life

B. it is giving rather than receiving that matters

C. offering one’s seat to others may win respect

D. we sometimes forget what happened in the past

Our plan was to drive into Cambridge, catch the 7:34 train to Liverpool Street Station, then to separate and meet again for lunch. We should have arrived at Liverpool at 9:19, but due to a typical London fog, the train had to move along so slowly that it was not until 10:30 that it got there. In spite of our late arrival, Joan, my wife’s sister, decided that she would go to see the Crown Jewels in the Tower of London while we went shopping. It was only after her sister had disappeared into the fog that my wife realized that we hadn’t decided where we should meet for lunch. Since I had our three tickets for the concert in my pocket, this was indeed a problem. There seemed to be nothing we could do except taking a taxi to the Tower of London, and try to find her there. Needless to say, we didn’t find her.

  It was now one o’clock, and the concert began at 2:30. “Perhaps she will think of waiting outside the concert hall,” suggested my wife hopefully. By this time the fog was so thick that road traffic had to stop, and the only way to get there was by underground railway. Hand in hand we felt our way along the road to where we thought the nearest station should be. An hour later we were still trying to find it. Just as I was about to lose my temper completely when we met a blind man tapping his way confidently through the fog. With his help we found Tower Hill tube station just fifty yards down the road.

  By now it was far too late even to try to get to the concert hall before the performance began at 2:30, so we decided to return to Cambridge. It took seven long hours instead of the usual two to make that journey. Nor were we able to get any food and drink on the train. Tired and hungry we finally reached home at ten, opening the door to the sound of the telephone bell. It was Joan; she had seen the Crown Jewels, had managed to get another ticket for concert, and had had a wonderful dinner at a restaurant near the hotel where she decided to stay for the night. Now she was ringing to discover whether we had had an equally successful day.

Why was Joan separated from her sister and her brother-in-law?

  A. they could not see each other because of the fog.

  B. Joan had not seen Crown Jewels.

  C. They planned to do different things until lunch time.

  D. The writer didn’t want to go to the concert.

What did the writer plan to do in the afternoon?

  A. Go to the concert.           B. See the Crown Jewels.

  C. Return to Cambridge.           D. Go shopping.

The reason why they didn’t all meet for lunch was that _______.

  A. They lost their way in the fog

  B. they forgot to make necessary arrangement

  C. they waited at different places and didn’t meet each other

  D. the couple couldn’t find the underground station

It’s quite clear that for Joan the trip to London had been ________.

  A. spilt by the fog               B. quite tiring

  C. rather disappointing           D. very enjoyable

A couple of years ago, I received a $ 600 insurance dividend (保险股息).Sitting at the kitchen table, my wife and I discussed what we might do with the money. I realized now that the refrigerator overheard our talk. The very next day it went wrong. The repairman told us we needed a new unit. Cost:$600. Not long after that, we got a refund（赔偿金）from the shop, enough to pay for a trip to Mexico. “I’ve something to tell you,” I said to my wife in a low voice. “How about the living-room?” she suggested. I remembered the color TV set was there. “No, not there. Let’s go out.” I showed her the check as we stood on the driveway. We held each other excitedly and hardly noticed the rain. My car was parked within5 meters. I didn’t think anything about it at the time. As I started for the airport the next day, the car began making strange sounds. Changing the engine cost about $ 1, 000.

Then I looked through our financial records. I discovered that during the last ten years we spent all our “found money” repairing a hot water heater, a television and a stove.

I never mention money in front of our mechanical equipment. But if this article is published and I am paid for, the word processor（文字信息处理机）is going to go for sure. It’ll know.

What went wrong first as the writer’s?

   A. The refrigerator          B. The stove

   C. The TV set              D. The engine of the car

What has been repaired and still remains all right?

   A. The car                 B. The color TV set

   C. The stove               D. The hot water heater

Which statement is wrong according to the passage?

There are many pieces of modern equipment in the writer’s home

The writer often discusses with his wife on how to spend their money.

The writer has gone into a lot of trouble to repair his things

The writer’s refrigerator can overhear him

My dad was never the kind to offer many words of love or encouragement. But we knew he loved us... he just had his own way of showing it.

    When I was a teen, we were seasonal campers at a family campground almost an hour outside the city where we lived. Each family had their own campsite with water and electric, and you basically parked your camper there from May through October. Most "Seasonals" visited them every weekend during those months, with the occasional weeklong stay. There were plenty of other kids who camped seasonally each weekend, and they came to be some of my closest friends. Of course, many of them were boys.

    We kids paired up with our little boyfriends or girlfriends, and we'd hold hands as we'd walk around the campground. We'd play ping-pong, have some snacks, and play songs. Most weekends were pretty similar, but the couples would change. You'd see so-and-so with a different so-and-so than they were with the weekend before. You know how it is when you're a teen — a three-week relationship is a really long time.

    So, needless to say, my teen years were spent with quite a few different boys. But every single one of them had something in common... they'd all received The Evil Eye.

    The Evil Eye was a magical sort of thing. One simple look from my dad, and the boy immediately knew not to mess with me. It was as if he could send his warnings through invisible laser（激光）beams that shot directly from his eyes to the boys' brains.

    "You will not put your hands on my daughter... You will not kiss my daughter... You will not even whisper sweet nothings into my daughter's ear."

    I remember one night in particular, walking with a boy around the campground after dark. We came from one direction, and my dad from the other. The boy and my dad locked eyes for a brief second, then the boy dropped my hand like a hot potato and turned away, giving me a quick, "See ya later."

    Yes, the Evil Eye. Best way ever to keep wandering teen boy hands away from your daughters.  

The Evil Eye in the passage implies that__________.

A. Dad gets angry easily                    B. Dad’s eyes are like evil’s

C. Dad’s eyes are ugly-looking         D. Dad’s eyes are protective to his daughter

The underlined words “mess with” in paragraph 5 most probably means_________.

A. cause trouble        B. make untidy      C. get married to       D. talk to

A. As teenagers, we went camping every weekend.

B. We made lots of friends during the seasonal camping.

C. We had regular boyfriends or girlfriends and enjoyed ourselves.

D. The boy dropped my hand and turned away because he loved The Evil Eye.

It can be inferred from the passage that the author ___________.

A. is a teenage girl who loves her father

B. is a teenage boy who hates his father

C. is now an adult who has come to understand her father’s love

D. used to be a naughty boy who changed girlfriends now and then