Tomorrow was his girlfriend’s birthday and the young man was having a difficult time deciding on a present for her. She already had more clothes than she knew what to do with them, so he couldn’t get any kind of apparel. She never ate sweets, so candy was out of the question. What then? He had a very special reason for wanting to impress her with just the right gift,for tomorrow he was going to make an offer of marriage to her. He finally decided on perfume(香水). All girls liked perfume. That raised another problem, however. What kind did she prefer? He couldn’t ask her because that would ruin the surprise.
At last the young man hit upon a brilliant idea. That afternoon, pretending to take his girlfriend’s fox terrier(小猎狗),Fritz, for a walk, the young man and the dog went directly to the perfume counter of the town’s biggest department store. Good! There was a large array(长列)of perfume. He beckoned(招呼)a clerk, asking her to open a large number of bottles and wave the stoppers （塞子）under the dog’s nose. Nestled(依偎于) in the young man’s arms, the terrier began to be restless and bored as this seemingly meaningless game went on. Then Fritz suddenly became frisky, wiggling in the young man’s arms and barking excitedly, as the clerk waved one stopper under its nose.
“I’ll take that one,” said the young man to the clerk. The price was high, but it was worth it, he thought.
“ My favorite perfume!” said the delighted girl the next evening as she unwrapped the package. “ How did you know?” she asked, dabbing（轻擦）some perfume behind each ear.
“ Intuition(直觉), I guess.”said the young man, deciding that it wasn’t exactly wrong to tell a lie at that time. One day, after they were married, he would admit that his intuition had really been the little dog named Fritz.
【小题1】Which of the following words best describes the young man in the story?

-- Tom was late for class this morning again．

-- You know，_____

A．all good things come to an end

B．an old dog cannot change its way of barking

C．honesty is never too much practiced

D．a work ill done must be twice done

I HEAR America beeping(嘟嘟响)．

 Beep，says my cellophane when it gets a text message．

  Beep，says my microwave oven when my sandwich  is warmed up． 

 Sometimes  I long for a natural sound：a bird singing，dog barking，children laughing， anything to drown out  the maddening beeps that have become the soundtrack(配乐)to modern life．

  My cellophane? It isn’t enough that its ring tone offerings seem to stretch from  “annoymg” toextremely “annoying”． It also has to beep whenever someone texts messages me． 

The microwave? A bell rings when it's finished heating my food．But is that enough? No．If I don’t rush to it right away, it starts beeping，like an impatient child tugging(用力拉) at my sleeve(袖子)．

 The smoke detector(探测器) is the worst offender．When its batteries are in need of replacement，it 1ets out a series of chirps．The things that don’t beep buzz(嗡嗡响)．And for some reason，beeping and buzzing is beneath them，they clear their throats and perform a symphony． Like my TV, each time I turn it on, it performs an aria(咏叹调)：La di da di dum．Salutions! Here I am! Same thing when I turn it off: La di da di dum．Good bye, kind sir! Until the next time

But at 1east I know where each of these sounds is coming from．That isn’t always the case．For weeks, my wife and I were awoken in the night by a beeping．There，in the stillness， we went through the possible suspects．Could we have a text message? Could it be any of the devices(装置)able to make a sound? Curling iron, rice cooker, smoke detector, TV set，clock radio．．．

The only way to tell was to chase the sound down ，but no sooner  would we pull on our bathrobes than the beeping would stop. We didn’t hear it every night but often enough that we would climb into bed wondering whether our sleep  would be interrupted by that maddening sound，that beep．

  Finally,early one morning，my wife found it：in the study,under a desk，a big plastic cube that was plugged into the wall．It was an uninterruptible power supply that we’d inherited(继承)from my wife’s mother．We’d never known it was capable of speech． 

I think it just wanted someone to talk to.

14．What does the writer truly mean by saying“I hear America beeping”?

A．American people like devices that beep．

B．Americans are crazy about sending text messages．

C．In modern society people are dependant on technology．

D．The soundtrack to modern life is no longer natural．

15．Why couldn’t the author and his wife find the source of the noise in their house in the beginning?

A．There were too many devices for them to check．

B．They were unwilling to get up at midnight．

C．They had never known that thing could beep too．

D．The noise didn’t come every day．

16．After reading this passage，we can probably tell the author    ．

   A．enjoys being surrounded by beeps  B．has a touch of humor in his writing

C．tries to avoid using anything that beeps

D．understands the beeping is designed to be user-friendly

Forty years ago Sadie left her drunk and violent husband. Needing shelter（住所）for herself and her young son, she took a job as a doorkeeper in a housing project for ___36___people. It meant she could live “on site” in one of the ___37___.

    Eventually, she got to know the residents（居民）. One resident, Archie, didn't have a family of his own, ___38___his nephew’s wife and her naughty kids would drop in from time to time. They were there to help the old guy.    

    Sadie helped care for Archie as he ___39___illness and it was she who called the ___40___who diagnosed（诊断） his deadly cancer.

    ___41___time passing, Sadie’s son ___42___up, got married and settled several hundred miles away. Sadie ___43___and moved into a nice little house of her own. To ___44___the loneliness, she took in a series of ___45___over the years.

    A heavy fall of snow came a year and a half ago. She was pleased when a neighbor ___46___to walk her current dog, Muffin, until the weather improved. Each day he would ___47___a while talking to her, making sure she was okay, and ___48___if she needed anything.

    Although she had known him for a long time, Sadie ___49___thought to wonder what his last name was. This morning she asked. His surname was the same ___50___old Archie’s. It brought back a memory and she talked about the ___51___. She told him about working at the old residents’ flats and was ___52___to discover the man who had been “caring” for her for the past year and a half had been one of the little kids who used to run ___53___on his way to visit “Uncle Archie”.

    She had cared for his family, now he was caring for her. ___54___of them knew it until that moment but they were living proof of the old saying,  “What goes around comes around, ” and the ___55___of kindness will not be broken.

1.A. poor             B. senior            C. disabled        D. unfortunate

2.A. groceries    B. stadiums                C. flats           D. cages

3.A. otherwise    B. but                     C. though          D. because

4.A. battled    B. banned                    C. cured           D. beat

5.A. servant            B. master            C. neighbor        D. doctor

6.A. As                 B. Since             C. With            D. When

7.A. grew               B. got               C. went            D. came

8.A. complained    B. retired                C. fired           D. hesitated

9.A. refuse             B. reduce            C. stop            D. escape

10.A. programs    B. projects                C. birds           D. dogs

11.A. attempted    B. declared               C. offered         D. wished

12.A. spend             B. cost              C. take            D. spare

13.A. observing    B. requiring              C. indicating      D. checking

14.A. often             B. never             C. sometimes       D. once

15.A. to                B. from              C. as              D. of

16.A. coincidence    B. comprehension    C. tradition          D. statement

17.A. puzzled    B. frightened               C. concerned       D. surprised

18.A. calling    B. screaming                C. barking         D. whispering

19.A. All               B. None              C. Neither         D. Both

20.A. custom            B. glory             C. pattern         D. circle

People say teenagers are no good. They make too much noise in shopping malls; they drive recklessly（不顾一切地） up and down America’s main streets; they carry chips on their shoulders as big as the Sears Tower. And at least some of the time those things are true. But we shouldn’t forget that there are hard moments in the life of a teenager too.

I watched such a moment not long ago at a woman’s funeral. I didn’t expect the event to affect me. Through much of the ceremony, in fact, I remained unmoved.

The teenage grandson stepped forward. With his very first deep breath, every heart in that church was achingly reminded of something we had all forgotten. Softly he began: “I want to share a few values that Nana taught me. She never failed to see light in any situation. When our family dog would truely attract her, what would Nana say? ‘oh, what beautiful barking that dog has!’ That was Nana. ”

“She was a strong woman who often lived in the shadow of my grandpa, who was a successful businessman in this city. But she was the one behind the scenes who provided the strength and support for my grandpa’s career,” he said, with a voice now trembling, “That was Nana’s way.”

Through a low sob, he continued, “Whenever she did anything worth recognition, you’d have to hear about it from a different source, because she was never one to show off.”

Finally, in a voice breaking free of sorrow, he looked up and said, “Nana taught me courage. She put up an incredible fight to the end, when she died peacefully, which is how she lived her life. That was Nana’s way, and I hope I can carry on in the same manner.”

There are no hearts as sensitive as those of teenagers, because everything is happening to them for the first time. The trouble with teenagers is that they haven’t learned to be controlled.

When that boy rose to speak about the woman who surely had been his truest and dearest friend, his honest voice dragged each of us out into the open where we could no longer hide in the calm ceremony . He exposed us to the truth about this very real woman who believed in a boy who probably tried the patience of many adults. He reminded us that his grandmother was more than another dot on the chart of life and death.

All over again we felt those powerful losses crossing our own hearts, and we knew that when you say good-bye to something happy, something young in yourself. And that something never really returns, and the pain never really goes away.

In the first paragraph, the writer gave some examples to_____.

A. support his idea that young people are no good.

B. introduce his point of view about young people.

C. tell people every coin has its two sides.

D. young people often make mistakes.

From the boy’s speech, we know _____.

A. his grandmother had great influence on him.

B. they had a dog which often attacked people

C. people had forgotten her until the boy appeared..

D. his grandmother was so weak that she is always living in the shadow of his grandpa

Which of the following statements is true?

A. The boy ‘s speech moved no one present at the funeral except the writer.

B. The boy’s being good at expressing himself enabled him to draw everyone’s attention.

C. The boy was too grieved to accept the fact that his grandmother had passed away.

D. The writer didn’t expect the event would affect him.

What words can best describe grandmother’s quality?

A. weak, mild and modest.

B.. easygoing, cautious and considerate

C. sensitive and hard on others.

D, patient, optimistic, strong and helpful.

70. The passage tells the readers____.

A. facing certain bitter facts help young people to grow.

B. young people have to control themselves

C. the adults should learn from the young.

D. the adults should teach the young how to be brave