“Can I see my baby？” the happy new mother asked. When the bundle was in her arms and she moved the fold of cloth to look upon his tiny face, she gasped. The doctor turned quickly and looked out of the tall hospital window. The baby had been born without ears.

Time proved that the baby’ s hearing was perfect. It was only his appearance that was imperfect. When he rushed home from school one day and threw himself into his mother’s arms, she sighed(叹息), knowing that his life was to be misfortunate. He cried to his mum “A boy, a big boy... called me a freak (怪人)．”

He grew up, handsome. A favorite with his fellow students, he might have been class president, but for that. He developed a gift, a talent for literature and music. “But you might communicate with other young people，” his mother blamed him, but felt a kindness in her heart.

Two years went by. One day, his father said to the son, “You’ re going to the hospital, son. Mother and I have someone who will donate the ears you need. But it’ s a secret.” The operation was a great success, and a new person appeared.

Later he married and became a lawyer. One day, he asked his father, “Who gave me the ears? Who gave me so much? I could never do enough for him or her.” “I do not believe you could，” said the father, “but the agreement was that you are not to know... not yet.”

The years kept their secret, but the day did come. He stood with his father over his mother’ s casket棺材. Slowly, tenderly, the father stretched forth a hand and raised the thick, reddish brown hair to show the mother had no outer ears.

“Mother said she was glad she never let her hair be cut，” his father whispered gently, “and nobody ever thought Mother less beautiful, did they？”

1.Why did Mother gasp when she saw her newborn baby?

A. Because her son had a tiny face.　　　　 B. Because she saw her son crying.

C. Because her son was born imperfect.　　 D. Because her son was in her arms.

2.Which word can describe Mother’ s feeling when the son threw himself into her arms?

A. Nervous.　　　　　　 B. Sympathetic.　　 C. Proud.       D. Angry.

3.We can infer that the person who donate the ears is_____.

A. A doctor.        B. His father.　　　 C. His mother.     　D. A stranger.

4.From the passage we know the followings are True except________

A, the mother felt sorry for the son without ears   B. the doctor didn’t like the baby

C. the boy meant everything to the mother        D. the father kept the secret until mother died

5.The best title for the passage would be ________.

A. Mother’s hair　　　　　　　　B. An unforgettable memory

C. Who gave me the ears?　　　 　D. Who is my best respectable person?

Last year, my mom found out that she had stomach cancer. I thought she’d be fine after she got 　36 as she was diagnosed(诊断)early. She had an operation to 37 a third of her stomach to stop the cancer from spreading. And for two months she went back and forth to the 　38 . But I never visited her because I was 　39 with school abroad and didn’t fully know what was 　40 . After her treatment, she 　41 working because of her poor health and ate a(n) 　42 diet. I visited her in the summer holiday. She seemed better, so I forgot that there was a possibility of cancer 　43 .

　When school 　44 , I said goodbye to my family. My mom called me from home every day. 　45 in early November, my dad called instead. He sounded 46 .

　 “What’s wrong? How come Mom’s not calling me today?” I asked. After a few seconds, he said my mom’s cancer had returned and spread throughout her 　47 . Her survival rate was less than 30%.

　 After I put down the phone, I 　48 . Tears kept coming out. I didn’t want to 　49 it. I couldn’t accept the 　50 that my mom might not have much time left. I cried and cried and at last, I stopped crying. I thought I should stop acting like a 　51 and pull myself together.

　 Looking back to when my mom first got cancer, I 　52 how stupid I was for not appreciating her. I feel bad that I didn’t visit her in the hospital. I should have cared. She’s my mom. 　53 , it’s not too late. She recovered. I’ll try to spend more time with my mom 　54 . I hope you will do the same for your mom. Spend some time with your loved ones 　55 it is too late.

36. A. medicine　　　　　　 B. attention　　　　　 C. care　　　　　　　　　　　　 D. treatment

37. A. remove　　　　　　　 B. rescue　　　　　　　 C. check　　　　　　　 D. protect

38. A. school　　　　　　　 B. house　　　　　　　 C. hospital　　　　　　　　　 D. office

39. A. content　　　　　　　 B. careful　　　　　　　　　　 C. popular　　　　　　　　　 D. busy

40. A. going up　　　　　　 B. going on　　　　　 C. taking on　　　　　 D. showing up

41. A. continued　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 B. hated

C. considered　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 D. stopped

42. A. special　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 B. delicious

C. normal　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 D. interesting

43. A. changing　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 B. returning

C. destroying　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 D. appearing

44. A. ended　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 B. required

C. responded　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 D. started

45. A. Since　　　　　　　　 B. Although　　　　　 C. But　　　　　　　　　　　　 D. So

46. A. bored　　　　　　　　 B. sad　　　　　　　　　　　　 C. excited　　　　　　　　　　 D. angry

47. A. back　　　　　　　　　 B. skin　　　　　　　　　　　　 C. body　　　　　　　　 D. head

48. A. went through　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 B. looked down

C. broke up　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 D. broke down

49. A. say　　　　　　　　　　　　　 B. answer　　　　　　　　　　 C. believe　　　　　　　　　　 D. remember

50. A. report　　　　　　　　 B. fact　　　　　　　　　　　　 C. message　　　　　 D. lie

51. A. stranger　　　　　　　　　　 B. doctor　　　　　　　 C. man　　　　　　　　　　　　 D. child

52. A. realize　　　　　　　　 B. pretend　　　　　　　　　　 C. imagine　　　　　　　　　 D. ask

53. A. Luckily　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 B. Unfortunately

C. Surprisingly　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 D. Strangely

54. A. in the past　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 B. from now on

C. at times　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 D. in the future

55. A. if　　　　　　　　　　　 B. as　　　　　　　　　　　　　 C. before　　　　　　　 D. when

Started in 1636, Harvard University is the oldest of all the many colleges and universities in the United States. Yale, Princeton, Columbia and Dartmouth were opened soon after Harvard.
　 In the early years, these schools were much alike(*similar).Only young men went to college. All the students studied the same subjects, and everyone learned Latin, Greek and Hebrew. Little was known about science then, and one kind of school could teach everything that was known about the world. When the students graduated(*毕业),most of them became ministers or teachers.
　In 1782, Harvard started a medical school for young men who wanted to become doctors. Later, lawyers could receive their training in Harvard’s law school. In 1825, besides Latin and Greek, Harvard began teaching modern languages, such as French and German. Soon it began teaching American history.
　As knowledge increased, Harvard and other colleges began to teach many new subjects. Students were allowed to choose the subjects that interested them.
　Today, there are many different kinds of colleges and universities. Most of them are made up of smaller schools that deal with special fields of learning. There’s so much to learn that one kind of school can’t offer it all.
【小题1】The oldest university in the US is _________.

My 8­year­old son，Kevin，has made friends with some boys in the neighborhood. He has been 36    with them after school. My wife，and I are 37    he has other kids to be with and we have __38__ and encouraged him to play with his friends. We also want Kevin to learn __39__，so we have asked him to tell us __40__ he's going and to come home at a specified time.

The __41__ started when Kevin didn't come home on time. On one occasion，I asked Kevin to be back at 6 pm. By 6：30，I needed to go __42__ him. I found him at a friend's house，and he looked 43    that he couldn't continue playing. After we came home，I sat  Kevin down for a talk about the _44  _ of  keeping his word. I told him I was not worried about his arriving a few __45__ late， after a half hour， he told me he understood and I was _46_  _.

The next day，I came home from work at about 6:30 pm and my wife asked me to go and get Kevin back __47__ she said he should be back home at 6. I walked to his friend's house and a look of __48__ appeared on Kevin's face when he came to the door.

At __49__，my wife and I spoke to Kevin about why he didn't come home on time again. He said he just wanted to _50__ playing. This was __51__，so we decided to ground(罚不准出门)him for a week. This __52_ no playing with his friends.

For the next week，whenever his friends came to ask for Kevin，we let him __53__ to them that he was grounded. We felt this would help him be responsible for his __54__.

As a __55__，I believe one of the most important things we can teach our kids is self-responsibility and that actions have consequences.

阅读理解

　　In the 1970s, with ever-increasing international travel and tourism, the United States Department of Transportation decided to design a set of symbols(符号)for airports, stations, and public facilities(设施). The aim was to design symbols that would be clear to people in a hurry and to those who can not read English. Therefore, the set of symbols shown below was designed. Then the designers planned an experiment with an international sample(抽样调查) of 8-year-old children from Sweden. Japan, France, Canada, and Britain. The purpose of the experiment was to determine how clear the symbols would be to the children, who were not experienced international travelers.

　　The children were shown the set of sample symbols, and were then asked to explain to the experimenters what the symbols meant. The researchers thought that if the international sample of children could understand them, the grown-up travelers would probably also recognize their meanings. The following graph(图表) shows the percentages of correctly explained symbols.

　　The experiments discovered that most of the children easily understand the telephone receiver and cigarette symbols. However, there were some interesting differences in their answers to the other four symbols. The Japanese children most easily understood the symbol standing for“coffee shop”. The experimenters thought that this fact showed children in Japan are more familiar with such shops than children in Sweden and Canada. The Japanese, French, and Canadian children all equally recognized the idea of“information”showed by the question mark.

　　Interestingly, the French and Canadian children understood the symbol referring to“campground(露营地)”better than the other children. Again, the researchers thought that recognition of a symbol shows how common the activity is in a country.

　　One particularly difficult symbol was that of the umbrella and glove used for“lost and found”, which was correctly explained by less than 50％ of the children in four of the five countries. On the basis(基础) of this finding, the experimenters decided to add a question mark to make this symbol easier to understand.

1．Which of the following shows the correct meaning of(X), (Y), and (Z) in the graph above?

[　　]

A．Campground, Coffee Shop, Lost and Found.

B．Lost and Found, Campground, Coffee Shop.

C．Coffee shop, Lost and Found, Campground.

D．Telephone, No smoking, Information.

2．If we compare the Japanese and French children's understanding of the question mark and cigarette symbols, then we can find a difference of _____ between these symbols.

[　　]

A．0％　　　B．10％

C．80％　　 D．90％

3．The _____ symbol was the most difficult for the Japanese children to understand.

[　　]

A．cup　　　B．question mark

C．tent　　　D．umbrella and glove

4．Which of the following statements is TRUE?

[　　]

A．The experimenters thought Japanese children drink coffee.

B．The most difficult symbol was changed to make it clearer.

C．The question mark symbol is the least difficult in all five countries.