One of the best-loved American writers was William Sydney Porter, or O.Henry. From 1893 he lived with his family in a house in Austin, Texas, which is now a museum. Visitors to Austin can see the house. It was saved from destruction (破坏) and turned into a museum in1934. The museum is a good way to learn about the interesting life of the American writer.

William Porter rented this house in Austin and lived there with his wife Athol and daughter Margaret for about two years. Many objects in the museum belonged to the Porters. Others did not. An important piece in the room is the original photograph over here. It was taken there in the house about 1895. The piano there goes back to the 1860s. His wife took lessons on it when she first moved to Austin.

Porter did not start his career as a successful writer. He worked at a farm, land office and bank. He also loved words and writing. The museum has a special proof of Porter’s love of language --- his dictionary. It is said that he had read every word in that dictionary.

Later William Porter was forced to leave Austin because he was charged with financial wrongdoing at the bank and lost his job. Because he was afraid of a trail (审判), he left the country secretly. But he returned because his wife was dying. After her death, he faced the trial and became a criminal. He served three and a half years in a prison in Ohio.

William Porter would keep his time in prison a secret. But there was one good thing about it. It provided him with time to write. By the time he was freed, he had published 14 stories and became well known as O.Henry.

Porter later moved to New York City and found great success there. He published over 180 stories in the last eight years of his life.

1.O.Henry’s house in Austin has been well kept up till now so that ____.

A. Americans can explore their history

B more visitors will be attracted to Austin

C. visitors can learn about O.Henry’s life

D. it can show the way of life in the 1860s

2.What do we know about the piano in the house?

3.How does the museum prove (证明) Porter was fond of language?

4.Why did Porter escape from Austin?

5.From the last two paragraphs we know that _______.

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做出判断：如无错误，在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：把多余的词用斜线(＼)划掉。

  此行缺一个词：在答题卡对应横线上写“在X词后加上所缺的词”。

  此行错一个词：在错的词后划“→”，再写出改正后的词。

  注意：原行没有错的不要改。

My husband and I had decided to buy a new house, and I 

made the appointment to see our bank manager. I’ve never met             1.    

him ago and was a little nervous. I drove into town and                   2.  

was luck enough to find a parking space outside the bank. I was     

3.  

just starting into the space while another car drove into it. I was very

4.  

angry. I opened my window and shouted the other driver. He                5.  

ignored me and walked away. It spent me 20 minutes to find                 6.  

another space. As soon as I had parked the car. I rushed into              7.  

the bank. I was 10 minutes later for my appointment. I went to             8.  

the manager office, knocked and walked in. The manager was sitting          9.  

behind his desk. It was the man who has taken my parking space.      

 10.   

There was a boy in India who was sent by his parents to a boarding school. Before being sent away this boy was the brightest student in his class. He was at the top in every competition. He was a champion.
But the boy changed after leaving home and attending the boarding school. His grades started dropping. He hated being in a group. He was lonely all the time. And there were especially dark times when he felt like killing himself. All of this was because he felt worthless and that no one loved him.
His parents started worrying about the boy. But even they did not know what was wrong with him. So his dad decided to travel to the boarding school and talk with him.
They sat on the bank of the lake near the school. The father started asking him casual questions about his classes, teachers and sports. After some time his dad said, “Do you know son, why I am here today?”
The boy answered back, “to check my grades?”
“No, no” his dad replied, “I am here to tell you that you are the most important person for me. I want to see you happy. I don’t care about grades. I care about you. I care about your happiness. YOU ARE MY LIFE.”
These words caused the boy’s eyes to fill with tears. He hugged his dad. They didn’t say anything to each other for a long time.
Now the boy had everything he wanted. He knew there was someone on this earth who cared for him deeply. He meant the world to someone. And today this young man is in college at the top of his class and no one has ever seen him sad!
Thanks a lot, dad. YOU ARE MY LIFE.
【小题1】The boy changed after he went to the boarding school because________.

Lillian Hanson, a college student, expects to graduate in about two years. What makes Mrs Hanson different from her classmates is her age-----73 years. She has been studying at college, a few courses at a time, for 27 years.

　　When Lillian Hanson graduated from high school, she went to the bank to borrow money for further education. The banker gave her no encouragement. He didn‘t think that a country girl should borrow money to go to college. He thought she should be at home doing work in the house or around the farm. So Lillian Hanson went home and raised a family of nine children instead of going to college. Mrs Hanson never forgot her dream of getting a higher education. When her children were grown, she tried again.

　　She finds that it is the hardest part of going back to school at her age to sit in class for long periods of time. Because she is not as quick as she used to be, Mrs Hanson often gets up and walks around classes to keep from getting stiff(不灵活). At the beginning of a course in using the computer, the other students all stood up to give her a warm welcome when she introduced herself and explained why she was there and what her aims were.

1. Mrs Hanson couldn’t go to college immediately after she graduated from high school because _____.

2.The computer students welcomed Mrs Hanson warmly because ______.

3. Mrs Hanson is the sort of person who ________.

4. In which order did Mrs Hanson do the following things?

　　a. she began her studies at college.

　　b. She finished high school.

　　c. She got married and gave birth of nine children.

　　d. She had her 73 rd birthday.

　　e. She went to the bank to borrow money.

根据句子结构或括号中所给的词在空格处填上合适的词或所给词的正确形式。

1.There have been severe floods, __________ (bring) chaos to the region.

2.The story is about global warming and __________ it will destroy cities and change the world in the future.

3._________ the society developing rapidly, we’d better keep changing our views on different things with the times.

4.Chaos is a terrible situation __________ everything goes wrong.

5.We see people in the restaurant __________ (eat) happily.

6.At the entrance __________ the bank, there are two white marble lions.

7.Some people think smoking is harmful to health, __________ others consider smoking is helpful for reducing pressure of work.

8.Most of the products __________ (make) in China are popular in the world.

9.The house __________ roof is red is theirs.

10.Her son believes Father Christmas is real and __________ he lives in the North Pole.