— How about a film tonight?

— __________ I haven’t been to the cinema for a long time.

The old couple who lived in a cottage on the edge of the village were envied for the happiness of their marriage． They never quarreled and were always affectionate to one another． Sadly, after thirty-four years of this happiness, the husband became ill and died．

The wife was overcome with grief． Her children tried to comfort her, but to no avail． Her neighbors tried to comfort her, but with similar lack of success． Weeks and months went by, and still the woman was grieving; tears fell down her cheeks from morning till night．

Then a holy man came to the village． People told him about the woman, and asked him to try to help her． The holy man went to the woman’s house． Dressed in his rough woolen robe, he sat down with the grieving widow and listened, carefully, to her story． When she had spilled out all her sorrow, he reached into one of the deep pockets in his robe, and drew out a tiny, little mustard（芥末） seed． “I think I may have a cure for your grief,” he said． “I want you to go round the people in this region, and look for a family that has no sorrows． When you find this family, give them this little mustard seed, and then come back to me．

The woman set off in search of such a family． She visited every home in the district, and talked to the people． She listened to their stories, just as the holy man had listened to hers． In time, she almost forgot about the mustard seed, because every single family she met was carrying some kind of sorrow．

One day, she happened to meet the holy man again, and he stopped to ask how she was feeling． She was surprised at first, at his question, and then she suddenly remembered the mustard seed, still safely in her purse． “I’m sorry, I haven’t found a family without sorrows yet,” she told him． “But you yourself are cured of your grief,” he smiled． “The mustard seed is a great healer!”

What does the underlined word “grieving” mean?

   A． amused     B． sad         C． angry       D． astonished

What did the holy man ask her to do to end her sorrow?

   A． to go to church for help．

   B． to live with the family that has no sorrows with the mustard seed．

   C． to help others so that she can feel the happiness from the bottom of her heart．

   D． to find a family that is always happy and give them the mustard seed before returning to him．

How did the woman treat the families she visited?

   A． She was a good listener．

   B． She helped them to solve the problems they met．

    C． She gave every family a mustard seed．．

   D． She told them her unfortunate story．

Who on the earth heals the woman’s grief?

   A． The mustard seed                B． Her children   

    C． The families in the district        D． She herself

Carl lost his job. He had so little money that he spent his days at home. He watched his neighbor’s room, where an old professor lived. He found the rooms were full of old furniture and vases. Carl thought, “Why haven’t I got an old and valuable vase? I can sell it for a lot of money.”
Carl had an old gun. It had been his great grandfather’s favorite thing a long time before. Carl didn’t want to use the gun but he thought, “Anything could happen.” He wanted to hide the gun under his coat but it was too long so he cut the end off with a saw(锯子).
Next morning he watched the professor leave home at 10 o’clock. Carl broke the window and entered the house. He didn’t know much about arts. He couldn’t choose. He reached his hands towards a big vase when he heard a noise. The front door opened and someone entered the house. It was the professor. He had forgotten to take an important document. Carl became so afraid that  he pulled out the gun, “I haven’t stolen anything. I just want to go away or I will shoot.” cried Carl. “With that gun? ”asked the professor and he began to laugh. He wasn’t afraid of Carl at all.
He said, “You can’t shoot with that old gun. Its place should be in a museum.”
“Is this really an old gun? ” asked Carl. “How much is it worth?”
“It was worth about 27,000 dollars,” said the professor, “But now you can get 20 dollars for it．”
“Why?” asked Carl.
The professor said, “Because its end is missing.”
36. Carl wanted to steal because he was interested in beautiful vases.
37. He cut the end of the gun off in order to hide it easily.
38. The professor came back because he saw Carl enter his house.
39. The professor was not afraid of Carl because he thought Carl dared not shoot.
40. The gun is worth 20 dollars now because Carl cut off its end.

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第三部分：阅读理解（共20小题，每小题2分，满分40分）

阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。

I moved to this area seven years ago. For years I have had noisy neighbors. Ever since I moved into this flat, I’ve had to put up with noise during the night. I decided I’d had enough and I’ve been looking for a new flat since the beginning of the year. I haven’t found anything till now. Every week I go to the estate agent’s（当地房地产代理人的）office, but it’s the same story. “I might have something by the end of the week” he says, or, “Wait till next week. I think I might have a few flats by then.” I’ve seen a few flats during my search, but I don’t like any of them. One flat I saw has been empty for two years. “It’s got a busy road on one side and a railway on the other!” I said loudly, “I want peace and quiet.” Last week I visited the agent again. “I won’t leave till you show me something,” I said. “I’ve got just the flat for you.” I went to see it and I was frightened. “But it’s next to a cemetery!” I cried. “But you won’t have noisy neighbors,” my agent said. “It’s exactly right for peace and quiet!”

56．The writer has had to bear the noise in this area for             years.

A．about seven      B．six    C．nine  D．four

57．The writer decided to move away because            .

A．he had been looking for a new flat

B．his neighbors were not friendly

C．he could no longer stand the noise

D．he wanted to sell his old flat

58．Which of the following is NOT true?

A．The writer would like a quiet place to live in.

B．The agent didn’t want to help the writer at all.

C．The writer has seen several flats already.

D．It seemed rather difficult to rind a right flat.

59．The main idea of the passage is         .

A．how the agent tried to help the writer find a flat

B．why the writer was satisfied with the agent’s service

C．how difficult it was to find a new flat

D．you can depend on the estate agents for a nice flat

It was a sunny day. A city man was driving along a country road with a new wagon（马车）and a beautiful pair of horses. He didn’t pay a lot of  16  to where he was going. Pretty soon he  17_ that he was lost, but he continued to drive, expecting to re-find his way or to  18  someone who could tell him how to get back to the  19  .
It was a long 20 road. For many __21__ he kept on driving. When it was almostdark ，he saw in a field a tall  22  ploughing（犁地） the land. He stopped his   23 team of horses near the fence and called out，“Hello，farmer.”
“Hello，yourself，”the farmer___24____，still ploughing .
“Where does the horse go？”he asked without knowing his language mistakes.
“I haven’t seen it go anywhere. It   25  stays right where it is，”said the farmer，withoutstopping his work.
“How far is it to the next town？” said the city man，speaking a little more   26  .
“Don’t know. I never　   27 it,” replied the farmer. By this time the city man was getting 28 .“What do you know？You’re the biggest fool I ever saw.”
Finally stopping, the farmer turned and looked for a long time  29  at the city man. Then he said，“Maybe I don’t know much.   30  I am a fool. But at least I’m not lost！”