Bill Javis took over our village’s news-agency at a time of life when most of us only wanted to relax. He just thought he would like something but not too much to do, and the news-a??gency was ready-made. The business produced little enough for him, but Bill was a man who only wanted the simplicity and order and regularity of the job. He had been a long-serving sailor, and all his life had done everything by the clock.

Every day he opened his shop at 6:00 a. m. to catch the early trade; the papers arrived on his doorstep before that. Many of Bill’s customers were city workers, and the shop was convenient for the station. Business was tailing off by 10 o’clock, so at eleven sharp Bill closed for lunch. It was hard luck on anybody who wanted a paper or magazine in the after??noon, for most likely Bill would be down on the river bank, fishing, and his nearest competitor was five kilometers away. Sometimes in the afternoon, the evening paper landed on the doorway, and at 4 o’clock Bill reopened his shop. The evening rush lasted till seven, and it was worthwhile.

He lived in a flat above the shop, alone. Except in the very bad weather, you always knew where to find him in the af??ternoon, as I have said. Once, on a sunny afternoon, I walked home along the river bank from a shopping trip to the village. By my watch it was three minutes past four, so I was aston??ished to see Bill sitting there on his little chair with a line in the water. He had no luck, I could see, but he was making no effort to move.

“What’s wrong, Bill?” I called out from the path.

For answer, he put a hand in his jacket and took out a big, golden object. For a moment I had no idea what it could be, and then it suddenly went off with a noise like a fire en??gine. Stopping the bell, Bill held the thing up and called back, “Ten to four, you see, and this is dead right.”

I had never known anyone carrying a brass alarm clock round with him before.

Bill Javis became a news-agent when _______.

A. he needed the money      

B. he was quite an old man

C. he decided to take up fishing  

D. he gave up clock-repairing

Bill opened the shop so early in the day because _______.

A. he liked to do as much as possible before he went to work

B. the shop had to be open when the morning papers came

C. he was never sure of time

D. it was then that he did a lot of business

From the information given in the passage, who or what do you think was wrong?

A. The bell was－it must have gone off at the wrong time.

B. Bill was－he had dropped off to sleep.

C. The writer’s watch was－it was fast.

D. Bill’s clock was－it was old.

短文改错(共10小题；每小题1.5分，满分15分)

此题要求改正所给短文中的错误。对标有题号的每一行作出判断：如无错误，在答题卡该行右边横线上画一个勾(√)；如有错误(每行只有一个错误)，则按下列情况改正：

此行多一个词：在答题卡短文上把多余的词用斜线(\)划掉，在答题卡该行右边横线上写出该词，并也用斜线划掉。

此行缺一个词：在答题卡短文缺词处加一个漏字符号(∧)，在答题卡该行右边横线上写出该加的词。

此行错一个词：在答题卡短文错的词下划一横线，在答题卡该行右边横线上写出该加的词。

注意：原行没有错的不要改。

Dear Grandpa,

Thank you for your letter.

My school is organizing a basketball team and

there’s just a chance which I can join it.I’m little of                                       76._______

course,but terribly quick and bravely.While the others                                    77._______

are jumping about in the air,I can run under my legs                                      78._______

and get the ball.It will be lots of fun for practicing out                                          79._______

in the playground in the afternoon with the tree                                             80._______

around us all red and yellow and everybody laughing                                     81._______

and shouting.These are the happier girls I’ve ever                                                 82._______

seen and I’m the happiest in all!                                                                   83._______

I meant to write long letter and tell you all the                                              84._______

things I’m doing at school,but the bell was ringing,                                       85._______

so I just have to stop here.

Love,

Judy

此题要求改正所给短文中的错误。对标有题号的每一行作出判断：如无错误，在答题卡该行右边横线上画一个勾(√)；如有错误(每行只有一个错误)，则按下列情况改正：

此行多一个词：在答题卡短文上把多余的词用斜线(\)划掉，在答题卡该行右边横线上写出该词，并也用斜线划掉。

此行缺一个词：在答题卡短文缺词处加一个漏字符号(∧)，在答题卡该行右边横线上写出该加的词。

此行错一个词：在答题卡短文错的词下划一横线，在答题卡该行右边横线上写出该加的词。

注意：原行没有错的不要改。

Dear Grandpa,

Thank you for your letter.

My school is organizing a basketball team and

there’s just a chance which I can join it.I’m little of                       1.______

course,but terribly quick and bravely.While the others                      2.______

are jumping about in the air,I can run under my legs                        3.______

and get the ball.It will be lots of fun for practicing out                      4.______

in the playground in the afternoon with the tree                            5.______

around us all red and yellow and everybody laughing                     6.______

and shouting.These are the happier girls I’ve ever                         7.______

seen and I’m the happiest in all!                                      8.______

I meant to write long letter and tell you all the                           9.______

things I’m doing at school,but the bell was ringing,                       10.______

so I just have to stop here.

Love,

Judy

Big Ben is the nickname for the great bell of the clock in London. The name was given in honor of Sir Benjamin Hall, who was in charge of the work when the bell was built in 1856.

The clock has become a landmark of the United Kingdom and London, particularly in the visual media. When a television or film-maker wishes to quickly show a non-UK audience a certain location in Britain, a popular way to do so is to show an image of the Clock Tower.

The Clock Tower is a focus of New Year celebrations in the United Kingdom, with radio and TV stations turning to its chimes（报时钟声） to welcome the start of the year.

Londoners who live a proper distance from the Clock Tower and Big Ben can, by means of listening to the chimes both live and on the radio or television, hear the bell strike thirteen times on New Year’s Eve. This is possible because the speed of sound is a lot slower than the speed of radio waves.

Big Ben has appeared in many films. In the 1978 version of The Thirty-Nine Steps, the hero attempted to halt the clock’s progress to prevent a linked bomb blowing up by hanging from the minute hand of its western face. It was also used in the filming of Shanghai Knights starring Jackie Chan and Owen Wilson, and was described as being partially destroyed in the film Doctor Who. An animated version（卡通版） of the clock was also used as the setting in the Walt Disney film The Great Mouse Detective, and was shown being destroyed by a UFO in the film Mars Attacks! 

66. Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?

A. The nickname of the clock was given by Benjamin.

B. The clock strikes thirteen times to welcome the New Year.

C. The radio and TV make a mistake about the clock’s chimes.

D. Benjamin was responsible for the work when the bell was built.

67. The second paragraph mainly wants to show us that Big Ben is_______ .

A. a symbol of the UK and London

B. a most popular scene for film-makers

C. a must-see sight for tourists to London

D. a popular place to have pictures taken

68. The underlined word“halt” in Paragraph 5 probably means“_______”.

A. look into something

B. get something to stop

C. make something work again

D. draw people’s attention to something

69. In which of the following movies was the clock destroyed?

A. The Thirty-Nine Steps and Shanghai Knights.

B. Shanghai Knights and Doctor Who.

C. The Great Mouse Detective and Doctor Who.

D. Mars Attacks and Doctor Who.

70. In which section of a newspaper would the passage be found?

A. Entertainment & Sports

B. Business & Economy

C. Sightseeing & Tourism

D. Culture & Arts

Bill Javis took over our village’s news-agency at a time of life when most of us only wanted to relax. He just thought he would like something but not too much to do, and the news-a??gency was ready-made. The business produced little enough for him, but Bill was a man who only wanted the simplicity and order and regularity of the job. He had been a long-serving sailor, and all his life had done everything by the clock.

Every day he opened his shop at 6:00 a. m. to catch the early trade; the papers arrived on his doorstep before that. Many of Bill’s customers were city workers, and the shop was convenient for the station. Business was tailing off by 10 o’clock, so at eleven sharp Bill closed for lunch. It was hard luck on anybody who wanted a paper or magazine in the after??noon, for most likely Bill would be down on the river bank, fishing, and his neatest competitor was five kilometers away. Sometimes in the afternoon-, the evening paper landed on the doorway, and at 4 o’ clock Bill reopened his shop. The evening rush lasted till seven, and it was worthwhile.

He lived in a flat above the ship, alone. Except in the very bad weather, you always knew where to find him in the af??ternoon, as I have said. Once, on a sunny afternoon, I walked home along the river bank from a shopping trip to the village. By my watch it was three minutes past four, so I was aston??ished to see Bill sitting there on his little chair with a line in the, water. He had no luck, I could, see, but he was making no effort to move. “What’s wrong, Bill?” I called out from the path.

For answer, he put a hand in his jacket and took out a big, golden object. For a moment I had no idea what it could be, and then it suddenly went off with a noise like a fire en??gine. Stopping the bell, Bill held the thing up and called back, "Ten to four, you see, and this is dead right. "

I had never known anyone carrying a brass alarm clock round with him before.

5. Bill Javis became a news-agent when ________.

A. he need the money.                         B. he decided to take things easy

C. he was quite an old man                 D. he gave up clock-repairing

6. Bill opened the shop so early in the day because ________.

A. he liked to do as much as possible before he went to work

B. the shop had to be open when the morning papers came

C. he was never sure of time

D. it was then that he did a lot of business

7. On that sunny afternoon, the writer was surprised when he saw Bill because ________.

A. he thought it was late for Bill to be still fishing

B. he thought Bill was ill, since he was not moving at all

C. Bill had not caught anything, and that seemed strange

D. Bill stayed in his flat

8. From the information given in the passage, who or what do you think was wrong?

A. The bell was; it must have gone off at the wrong time.

B. Bill was; he had dropped off to sleep.

C. The writer’s watch was fast.

D. Bill’s clock was wrong; it was old.