My wife and I used to feel that it was impossible to be a true friend to someone whose name we didn't know. How wrong we were! Years of Sunday-morning bus trips through the city with the same group of “nameless” people have changed our thinking. Before the bus takes off, we all join in a conversation: where’s the silent woman who sits up front and never responds to our cheery greetings? Here she comes. Her worn clothing suggests she doesn't have much money to spare, but she always takes an extra cup of coffee for the driver.

We get smiles from a Mexican couple as they get on the bus hand in hand. When they get off, they’re still holding hands. The woman was pregnant late last year, and one day her change of shape confirmed that she’d delivered the child. We even felt a little pride at the thought of our extended family.?

    For many months, our only sadness lay in our inability to establish the same friendship with the silent woman at the front of the bus. Then, one evening, we went to a fish restaurant. We were shown to a table alongside someone sitting alone. It was the woman from the bus.?

    We greeted her with friendly familiarity we’d shown all year, but this time her face softened, then a shy smile. When she spoke, the words escaped awkwardly from her lips. All at once we realized why she hadn’t spoken to us before. Talking was hard for her.?

    Over dinner, we learned the stay of a single mother with a disabled son who was receiving special care away from home. She missed him desperately, she explained. “I love him… and he loves me, even though he doesn’t express it very well,” she murmured. “Lots of us have that problem, don’t we? We don’t say what we want to say, what we should be saying. And that’s not good enough.” The candles flared on our tables. Our fish had never tasted better. But the atmosphere grew pleasant, and when we parted as friends—we shared names.

1.All the following statements can describe the woman except ______.

A. poor              B. warm -hearted               C. silent                      D. cold

2.The underlined word “establish” in the 3th paragraph has the same meaning as_________.

A. keep             B. discover                          C. set up            D. accept 

3.The woman had the same problem with her son in the way that ______.

A. they both disabled people

B. they both had some difficulty in expressing

C. they both liked bus travel

D. they both brought interest to the passengers

4.Which of the following might be the best title of this passage?

A. Friends of the Road                      B. The Silent Woman on the Bus

C. Going to Work by Bus                     D. Different Kinds of Friendship

There are many kinds of friends. Some are always   1. you, but don't understand you. Some say only a few words to you, but understand you. Many people will step in your life, but only  2. friends leave footprints (脚印).

I shall always recall (回忆) the autumn and the girl with the 3. .She will always bring back B. Dr. Carrol escaped the death in the end

the friendship between us. I know she will always be my best friend.

It was the golden season. I could see the yellow leaves 4. on the cool 5. .In such a season, I liked walking alone in the leaves, 6. to the sound of them.

Autumn is a 7. season and life is uninteresting. The free days always get me 8. .But one day, the sound of a violin 9. into my ears like a stream (小溪) flowing in the mountains. I was so surprised that I jumped to see what it was. A young girl, standing in the wind, was 10. in playing her violin.

I had 11. seen her before. The music was so nice that I listened quietly. Lost in the music, I didn't know that I had been 12. there for so long but my existence (存在) did not seem to disturb her.

Leaves were still falling. Every day she played the violin in the corner of the building 13.I went downstairs to watch her performance. I was the only listener. The autumn seemed no longer lonely and life became  14. .  15. we didn't know each other, I thought we were already good friends. I believe she also loved me.

Autumn was nearly over. One day, when I was listening carefully, the sound suddenly  16. . To my astonishment (惊讶), the girl came over to me.

“You must like violin.” she said.

“Yes. And you play very well. Why did you stop?” I asked.

Suddenly, a 17. expression appeared on her face and I could feel something unusual.

“I came here to see my grandmother, but now I must leave. I once played very badly. It was your listening every day that 18. me.” she said.

“In fact, it was your playing 19. gave me a meaningful autumn,” I answered, “Let's be friends.”

The girl smiled, and so did I.

I never heard her play again in my life. I no longer went downstairs to listen like before. Only thick leaves were left behind. But I will always remember the fine figure (身影) of the girl. She is like a 20. —so short, so bright, like a shooting star giving off so much light that it makes the autumn beautiful.

21.               A．with           B．for            C．against    D．to

22.               A．good           B．true           C．new  D．old

23.               A．sound          B．song           C．play D．violin

24.               A．shaking         B．hanging        C．falling D．floating

25.               A．wind           B．snow           C．air   D．rain

26.               A．watching        B．listening        C．seeing    D．hearing

27.               A．lively          B．lovely          C．harvest    D．lonely

28.               A．up            B．off            C．down     D．over

29.               A．flowed         B．grew           C．entered   D．ran

30.               A．lost            B．active          C．busy D．interested

31.               A．once           B．never          C．often D．usually

32.               A．waiting         B．stopping        C．standing   D．hearing

33.               A．because        B．so             C．when     D．but

34.               A．interesting      B．moving         C．encouraging    D．exciting

35.               A．But            B．However       C．Even D．Though

36.               A．stopped        B．began          C．gone D．changed

37.               A．happy          B．sad            C．strange    D．surprised

38.               A．surprised       B．excited         C．encouraged    D．interested

39.               A．that           B．which          C．it    D．who

40.               A．song           B．dream          C．fire   D．sister

When I decided to get married, my father decided to share some wisdom. “Lori, it is just as easy to love a rich man as it is to love a poor man, “ he said. My boyfriend didn’t have much money, but I loved him. “What?” I cried. “ How can you say that? I want to marry for love, NOT for money.” “ But why not marry someone you love who has money?” he asked. “Rich men are materialistic（物质主义的）. I’d rather marry a poor man who loves me,” I said and he gave in.

And as we went on, with my family growing, I learned why my father put such importance on money. We had to cover the rent, car, electricity, food, and medical bills. We were under lot of pressure. The worries over whether we would be asked to move out or if we had the money to wash our clothes at the Laundromat this week made me question if I did the right thing by marrying a “poor” man.

I realized that I had entered the ranks of the poor. Not that I’d ever been rich. Most of my life, I considered us in the lower middle-class rank. We had a house of our own, food on the table, cars, clothes, and money for college. But now, as I listened to an apartment neighbour talk about her monthly “Mother’s Day” gift, I realized she was talking about her welfare check（政府发放的救济金）. And another young mother tried to “help” me out by connecting me with a friend who stole baby clothes from a department store. “ For a small cut,” she said, “ I could return my ‘purchase’(购买的东西）for cash.” It made me sick. How poor was I?

I had a college education but wasn’t using it. I insisted on not missing a minute of our children’s childhood and it came at a price. My husband was working as hard as he could and it wasn’t enough. But somehow we made it.

The kids grew. Today, we look back and see the great values gained by going through those hard years. My children are not materialistic. They never thought they were poor growing up because we always managed to give a little bit of food, money, or clothes to the “poor”. They were satisfied with the simple things in life that come free such as a beach day or a horse back ride from their dad.

We had our worries, but we still treasured our very favorite part of the day when we’d nest (栖息地）under the covers and talked about our future, the kids and how much we loved each other. Sure our financial(财政的) troubles caused a lot of fights, but we didn’t leave each other. We began to live a better life. We moved to a better community(社区）with good schools for the kids. And soon, we’ll face a new challenge with wealth. But we’ll never give up.

My father died three years ago. Before he died, he knew I made the right choice. I’m proud of my decision.

1..The writer argued with her father because _________________.

2..After getting married, the writer questioned if she had done the right thing to marry her husband because___________.

3..After their children were born, the writer_______________.

4.. Why didn’t the writer’s children think they were poor growing up?

5..What do you think is the theme(主题）of the story?

I was in a rush as always，but this time it was for an important date I just couldn't be late for ! I found myself at a checkout counter behind an elderly woman seemingly in no hurry as she paid for her groceries.A PhD student with not a lot of money，I had hurried into the store to pick up some flowers.I was in a huge rush，thinking of my upcoming evening.I did not want to be late for this date.

We were in Boston，a place not always known for small conversation between strangers.The woman stopped unloading her basket and looked up at me.She smiled.It was a nice smile—warm and reassuring—and I returned her_gift by smiling back.

“Must be a special lady, whoever it is that will be getting those beautiful flowers，”she said.

“Yes，she's special，”I said，and then to my embarrassment，the words kept coming out.“It's only our second date，but somehow I am just having the feeling she's‘the one.’”jokingly，I added，“The only problem is that I can't figure out why she'd want to date a guy like me.”

“Well，I think she's very lucky to have a boyfriend who brings her such lovely flowers and who is obviously in love with her.”the woman said.“My husband used to bring me flowers every week—even when times were tough and we didn't have much money.Those were incredible days；he was very romantic and—of course—I miss him since he's passed away.”

I paid for my flowers as she was gathering up her groceries.There was no doubt in my mind as I walked up to her.I touched her on the shoulder and said，“You were right，you know.These flowers are indeed for a very special lady.”I handed her the flowers and thanked her for such a nice conversation.

It took her a moment to realize that I was giving her the flowers I had just purchased.“You have a wonderful evening.”I said.I left her with a big smile and my heart warmed as I saw her smelling the beautiful flowers.

I remember being slightly late for my date that night and telling my girlfriend the above story.A couple of years later，when I finally worked up the courage to ask her to marry me，she told me that this story had helped to seal it for her—that was the night that I won her heart.

64．Why was the writer in a hurry that day?

A．He was to meet his girlfriend.

B．He had to go back to school soon.

C．He was delayed by an elderly lady.

D．He had to pick up some groceries.

65．What does the underlined phrase“her gift”(Paragraph 2 ) refer to?

A．Her words.     B．Her smile.

C．Her flowers.  D．Her politeness.

66．Why did the writer give his flowers to the elderly lady?

A．She told him a nice story.

B．She allowed him to pay first.

C．She gave him encouragement.

D．She liked flowers very much.

67．What is the message conveyed in the story?

A．Flowers are important for a date.

B．Small talk is helpful.

C．Love and kindness are rewarding.

D．Elderly people deserve respecting.

Things of Value

Our area was just a few miles from the largest wildfire in Colorado’s history. We were on “evacuation alert (疏散警报)”. If we got the   1  to evacuate, we would have to leave immediately.

We   2  suitcases with some clothes and set them by the door. We didn’t  3 these things were valuable, but time was. We moved the computers, with which I wrote for newspapers and made a   4 . We took family pictures off the   5  and packed them in boxes. These were truly valuable and could not be replaced.

Then we took a hard look at all that   6 . There was a lamp that belonged to my great grandmother. It was a   7  to my family. And there was the piano my wife   8  to play when she was a little girl. Not of great   9  in itself, but another family connection. It was impractical to move everything from our home and store them for an indefinite (无限的) time. Some important items would have to stay behind.

The thought of   10  something passed down from our families saddened me deeply,   11  I’d never been much attached to things. It’s about what they   12  —family and love. They each had a(n)   13  to tell, and some of them spoke in the   14  of our parents and grandparents.

The fire   15  reached our home. We were lucky. And though I felt grateful that all was   16 , I also realized just how fortunate I had been   17 . I saw just how rich my life had been.

Someone  18 said, “There are people so poor that the only thing they have is money.” And now I  19  I was indeed rich. I was rich in family, rich in memories, rich in everything that really  20 to me. I am wealthier than I ever believed possible.

It took a fire to teach me, I wonder if there is any other kind of wealth worth seeking.

1.                A．answer         B．task            C．chance   D．call

2.                A．packed         B．bought         C．searched D．sold

3.                A．worry          B．think           C．care D．doubt

4.                A．mark           B．sign            C．living D．plan

5.                A．albums         B．ceilings         C．windows  D．walls

6.                A．left            B．remained       C．burnt D．unmoved

7.                A．connection      B．present         C．symbol   D．treasure

8.                A．forgot          B．agreed         C．learned   D．refused

9.                A．quality         B．taste           C．sense    D．value

10.               A．knocking out     B．leaving behind   C．giving away D．picking out

11.               A．even though     B．unless          C．but   D．or

12.               A．contained       B．included        C．represented    D．gathered

13.               A．idea           B．lie             C．right  D．story

14.               A．sounds         B．speeds         C．voices D．feelings

15.               A．once          B．never          C．seldom    D．finally

16.               A．spared         B．returned       C．stopped   D．found

17.               A．at last          B．in return        C．in another way  D．at most

18.               A．curiously       B．accidentally     C．coldly D．wisely

19.               A．knew          B．promised       C．announced D．thanked

20.               A．affects         B．matters         C．helps D．desires