Maggie was very glad that James was not a frequent visitor to the house. So far as the children were concerned, they had a mystery about him that stirred their imagination. He stirred Maggie’s anger, however, so that she often said to her husband, “It’s mercy that brother of yours doesn’t come oftener.”

In fact James came once a year, unexpectedly, around eight o’clock in the evening, and he stayed for six hours of close discussion with his brother. His arrival was a signal to the children that their bedtime would be delayed. Not that he ever spoke to them or played with them. He took no notice of them, as if he was unable to see children, at least until the time came for him to go. Instead, after his first greeting and a careless kiss, James took no notice of Maggie either, except to add, “You’ll be getting on with the supper, Maggie.” Such was his regard for her.

Maggie paid him back in her own way. She kept the children up, the four of them, to keep her company, she said, but of course they sang and made a noise and broke the endless sound of James’s voice. Very late, they dropped off to sleep in their chairs. Then, when James was about to go, Maggie woke them up and so more or less forced him to part with four shillings before he left. That gave her some satisfaction, for James, though rich, was mean. He always went home by the last train, just after two o’clock.

Maggie’s children secretly stared at their uncle. They could not forget that he had, in their mother’s words, “lost two wives and taken a third, ” They wondered about those two unfortunate lost ladies. They asked each other what their fate had been, and if neither could ever be found again. James never brought his third wife with him nor ever mentioned her. The children decided that he must be so frightened of losing her that he never allowed her outside the door.

11. The underlined word “mercy” in the text most probably means _______.

A. loss       B. wonder    C. lucky thing         D. terrible thing

12. Maggie never prepared anything special for James because _______.

A. he was a man difficult to please

B. she never knew when he was coming

C. she was too busy looking after her children

D. he never stayed long enough for a meal

13. What do we know about James’ behavior?

A. He was a kind man, with love for the family.

B. He was generous, especially towards his brother.

C. He was anxious to please the family, especially the kids.

D. He was rude to his sister-in-law.

14. Maggie felt pleased when _______.

A. she paid James the money that she owed him

B. James gave some money to the children

C. she had to wake James up to catch his train

D. James thanked her for the nice supper

15. The children did not realize that two of James’ wives _______.

A. had been dead               B. suffered from loss of memory

C. had run away from him      D. might appear again one day

Everybody has one of those days when everything goes wrong. This is what happened to Harry.

  He got up one morning very late because he had forgotten to wind up（旋） his alarm clock(闹钟). He tried to shave(刮脸) quickly and cut himself. When he got dressed he got blood all over his clean shirt, so he had to find another one. The only other shirt that was clean needed ironing (熨), so he ironed it. While he was ironing it, there was a knock at the door. It was the man to read the electricity meter(表). He showed him where the meter was, said good-bye and found that the iron had burnt a hole in his shirt. So he had to wear the one with the blood on it after all. By this time it was very late, so he decided he couldn't go to work by bus. He telephoned for a taxi to take him to work. The taxi arrived and Harry got in and began to read the newspaper.

  In another part of the town, a man had killed a woman with a knife and was seen to run away in a taxi. When Harry's taxi stopped outside his office, a policeman happened to be standing there. He saw the blood on Harry's shirt, and took him to the police station. He was kept till 3 o'clock in the afternoon before the police were sure that he was not the man they wanted. When he finally arrived at the office at about four, his boss took a look at him and told him to go away and find another job.

64. Put the following sentences into correct order according to the passage.

   a. The man who read the electricity meter came.          b. Harry ironed his shirt.

   c. Harry got blood all over his clean shirt.      

d. There was a knock at the door.

   e. Harry wore the shirt with blood on it.

   A. a, b, c, d, e   B. b, a, d, c, e   

C. b, a, c, d, e   D. c, b, d, a, e

65. Why did Harry wear the shirt with blood on it ?

   A. He had only one shirt.                     B. The only other needed ironing.

   C. The iron had burnt a hole in his clean shirt.   

D. He cut himself and got blood all over his shirt.

66. Harry was taken to the police station because_______.

    A. his taxi stopped outside his office and a policeman happened to be there

    B. there was blood on his shirt and he was in a taxi

C. a man killed a woman with a knife    

D. the murderer(杀人犯) was seen to run away in a taxi

67. His boss told him to go away and find another job because_______.

    A. he had been kept by the police        B. there was blood on his shirt

    C. he was late for work                D. he had killed a woman

He came into the room to shut the windows while we were still in bed and I saw he looked ill. He was shivering, his face was white, and he walked slowly as though it ached to move.
“What's the matter, Schatz?”
“I've got a headache.”
“You better go back to bed.”
“No. I'm all right.”
“You go to bed. I'll see you when I'm dressed.”
But when I came downstairs he was dressed, sitting by the fire, looking a very sick and miserable boy of nine years. When I put my hand on his forehead I knew he had a fever.
“You go up to bed,” I said, “You're sick.”
“I'm all right,” he said.
When the doctor came he took the boy's temperature.
“What's is it?” I asked him.
“One hundred and two.”
Downstairs, the doctor left three different medicines in different colored capsules with instructions for giving them. One was to bring down the fever, another a purgative(泻药), the third to overcome an acid condition. The germs of influenza（流感）can only exist in an acid condition, he explained. He seemed to know all about influenza and said there was nothing to worry about if the fever did not go above one hundred and four degrees. This was a light epidemic(传染病；传染性的) of flu and there was no danger if you avoided pneumonia（肺炎）.
Back in the room I wrote the boy's temperature down and made a note of the time to give the various capsules.
“Do you want me to read to you?”
“All right. If you want to, “ said the boy. His face was very white and there were dark areas under his eyes. He lay still in the bed and seemed very detached（超然的；冷漠的）from what was going on.
I read aloud from Howard Pyle's Book of Pirates（海盗）;but I could see he was not following what I was reading.
“How do you feel, Schatz?” I asked him.
“Just the same, so far,” he said.
I sat at the foot of the bed and read to myself while I waited for it to be time to give another capsule. It would have been natural for him to go to sleep, but when I looked up he was looking at the foot of the bed, looking very strangely.
“Why don't you try to sleep? I'll wake you up for the medicine.”
“I'd rather stay awake.”
After a while he said to me, “You don't have to stay in here with me, Papa, if it bothers you.”
“It doesn't bother me.”
“No, I mean you don't have to stay if it's going to bother you.”
I thought perhaps he was a little lightheaded and after giving him the prescribed capsules at eleven o'clock I went out with my gun and the young hunting dog….I killed two quail(鹌鹑), and missed five, and started back pleased to have found a covey of quail close to the house and happy there were so many left to find on another day.
At the house they said the boy had refused to let anyone come into the room.
“You can't come in,” he said. “You mustn't get what I have.”
I went up to him and found him in exactly the position I had left him, white-faced, but with the tops of his cheeks flushed（发红）by the fever, staring still, as he had stared, at the foot of the bed.
I took his temperature.
“What is it?”
“Something like a hundred,” I said. It was one hundred and two and four tenths.
“It was a hundred and two,” he said.
“Who said so?”
“The doctor.”
“Your temperature is all right,” I said. “It's nothing to worry about.”
“I don't worry,” he said, “but I can't keep from thinking.”
“Don't think,” I said. “Just take it easy.”
“I'm taking it easy,” he said and looked straight ahead, He was evidently holding tight onto himself about something.
“Take this with water.”
“Do you think it will do any good?”
“Of course it will.”
I sat down and opened the Pirate book and began to read, but I could see he was not following, so I stopped.
“About what time do you think I'm going to die?” he asked.
“What?”
“About how long will it be before I die?”
“You aren't going to die. What's the matter with you? “
“Oh, yes, I am, I heard him say a hundred and two.”
“People don't die with a fever of one hundred and two. That's a silly way to talk.”
“I know they do. At school in France the boys told me you can't live with forty-four degrees. I've got a hundred and two.”
He had been waiting to die all day, ever since nine o'clock in the morning.
“You poor Schatz,” I said. “Poor old Schatz. It's like miles and kilometers. You aren't going to die. That's different thermometer. On that thermometer thirty-seven is normal. On this kind it's ninety-eight.”
“Are you sure?”
“Absolutely,” I said, “It's like miles and kilometers. You know, like how many kilometers we make when we do seventy miles in the car?”
“Oh,” he said.
But his gaze at the foot of the bed relaxed slowly. The hold over himself relaxed too, finally, and the next day it was very slack(松驰的) and he cried very easily at little things that were of no importance.
【小题1】The author writes about the doctor’s visit in order to _____.

Everybody has one of those days when everything goes wrong. This is what happened to Harry.

  One morning he got up  41   because he has forgotten to  42  up his alann. Clock He  43  To shave quickly and cut himself When he got  44  , he got blood all over his  45  ,so he had to find another one The  46  other shirt that was  47  needed ironing While he was  48  it, there was a knock at the door. It was the man to  49  the meter. He showed him where the meter was. After he paid the gas  50  and so the man out, he found the iron had  51  a hole in his shirt, so  52  the one with blood on it  53  By this time it was very late, so he  54  he couldn’t go to work by bus He  55  for a taxi to take him to work. The taxi arrived, and Harry  56  in.

  In another part of the town, a man had killed a woman with a knife and was seen run away in a

  57  When Harry’s taxi stopped outside his office, a policeman  58  to be standing there. He saw the blood on Harry’s shirt, and took him to the police station. He was  59  till 3 o’ clock p.m. before the police were sure that he was not the man they  60  When he finally arrived at the office at about 4, his boss took a look at him and told him to go away and find another job.

A. early      B. worriedly     C. late       D. nervously

A. set       B. hang          C. send      D. wind

A. tried      B. hoped         C. managed  D. liked

A. worn       B. injured     C. dressed     D. damaged

A. coat       B. shirt      C. sweater       D. jacket

A. very       B. similar    C. only          D. different

A. white      B. pretty     C. blue         D. clean

A. washing    B. cleaning    C. brushing    D. ironing

A. read       B. repair      C. examine     D. test

A. money     B. fee        C. bill         D. charge

A. burnt      B. made      C. drilled       D. fired

A. put        B. wear      C. change       D. choose

A. at all      B. after all     C. first of all    D. above all

A. doubted   B. wondered    C. discovered   D. decided

A. looked    B. reached      C. searched     D. telephoned

A. sat       B. stepped      C. seated       D. got

A. bus       B. hurry        C. taxi        D. fear

A. seemed    B. happened     C. appeared    D. proved

A. held       B. caught       C. kept        D. left

A. met        B. needed       C. arrested     D. wanted

Everybody has one of those days when everything goes wrong. This is what happened to Harry.
He got up one morning very late because he had forgotten to wind up his alarm clock（闹钟）. He tried to shave（刮脸）quickly and cut himself. When he got dressed he got blood all over his clean shirt, so he had to find another one. The only other shirt that was clean needed ironing（熨）, so he ironed it. While he was ironing it, there was a knock at the door. It was the man to read the electricity meter（表）. He showed him where the meter was, said good-bye and found that the iron had burnt a hole in his shirt. So he had to wear the one with the blood on it after all. By this time it was very late, so he decided he couldn’t go to work by bus. He telephoned for a taxi to take him to work. The taxi arrived and Harry got in and began to read the newspaper.
In another part of the town, a man had killed a woman with a knife and was seen to run away in a taxi. When Harry’s taxi stopped outside his office, a policeman happened to be standing there. He saw the blood on Harry’s shirt, and took him to the police station. He was kept till 3 o’clock in the afternoon before the police were sure that he was not the man they wanted. When he finally arrived at the office at about four, his boss took a look at him and told him to go away and find another job.
【小题1】Harry had __________.