My father had always been an alert(警觉的) observer of human character. Within seconds of meeting someone, he could sum up their strengths and weaknesses. It was always a challenge to see if any of my boyfriends could pass Dad’s test. None did. Dad was always right---they didn’t pass my test either. After Dad died, I wondered how I’d figure it out on my own.

That’s when Jack arrived on the scene. He was different from any other guy I’d dated. He could sit for hours on the piano bench with my mother, discussing some composers. My brother Rick loudly announced that Jack wasn’t a turkey like the other guys I’d brought home. Jack passed my family’s test. But what about Dad’s?

Then came my mother’s birthday. The day he was supposed to drive, I got a call. “Don’t worry,” he said, “but I’ve been in an accident. I’m fine, but I need you to pick me up.”

When I got there, we rushed to a flower shop for something for Mom. “How about gardenias?” Jack said, pointing at a beautiful white corsage(胸花). The florist put the corsage in a box.

The entire ride, Jack was unusually quiet. “Are you all right?” I asked. “I’ve been doing a lot of thinking,” he said. “I might be moving.” Moving? Then he added, “Moving in with you.” I nearly put the car on the sidewalk. “What?” I asked. “I think we should get married,” he said. He told me he’d planned his proposal in a fancy restaurant, but after the accident, he decided to do it right away. “Yes,” I whispered. We both sat dumbfounded, tears running down our cheeks. I’d never known such a tender moment. If only Dad were here to give his final approval.

“Oh, let’s just go inside.” Jack laughed. My mother opened the door. “Happy Birthday!” we shouted. Jack handed the box to her. She opened it up. Suddenly, her eyes were filled with tears. “Mom, what’s wrong?” I asked. “I’m sorry,” she said, wiping her eyes. “This is only the second gardenia corsage I’ve ever received. I was given one years ago, long before you kids were born.” “From who?” I asked. “Your father,” Mom said. “He gave me one right before we were engaged.” My eyes locked on Jack’s as I blinked away(眨掉) tears. Dad’s test? I knew Jack had passed.

1.According to the text, we know the writer’s father was __________.

A．interested in observing things around

B．good at judging one’s character

C．strict with her boyfriend

D．fond of challenges

2.What is the main idea of Paragraph 2?

A．Jack got the family’s approval except Dad’s.

B．Jack was different from any other boy.

C．Jack was getting on well with Mother.

D．Jack knew a lot about piano.

3.The underlined word “proposal” in Paragraph 5 means __________.

A．piece of advice                         B．wedding ceremony

C．celebration of birthday                   D．offer of marriage

4.On hearing “moving in with you”, the writer felt          .

A．pleased           B．worried           C．surprised          D．disappointed

5.Why did the writer’s mother cry?

A．The gift was the same as the one her husband gave her.

B．She had never received such a beautiful gift.

C．Her daughter found her life partner at last.

D．The gardenia corsage was too expensive.

假定你是某英文杂志“编读往来”栏目的编辑，下面是一位读者的来信，请你根据来信的内容给予回复。

注意：词数120左右。

Ｍy second father

My father died when I was five. It was hard on us all. My brother, who is eight years older than me, began to __36____my mother and me. He made sure the trash was taken out and the yard mowed. He did this _37____ without being told to do so.

Because of my father’s death, my mother was __38___ to get a full time job. My brother, __39____ , would get me up for school and make me __40____ . On our way to school, he would play games with me. He made every__41___to make me happy and he succeeded __42____.

When we arrived home from school, we were__43____for about half an hour until mom was home from work. He would__44____something for supper, and have everything ready for mom __45___she could start cooking. After that, we would go outside and have some __46___. This was my brother’s time to be a(n)___47___ , enjoying himself in the games.

It was a Saturday in June a couple years later. My mother and I were at the store when I __48____ they had the Father’s Day cards out. Feeling __49___, I asked my mother why they hadn’t Brother’s Day cards. She smiled and said, “You’re right.___50___ your brother has been a father to you. Go and__51____ a card.”

So I did, and on Father’s Day, my mother and I _52__ my brother down and gave him the card.

As he read it, I saw the tears __53____ in his eyes. I heard my mom’s __54____    trembling as she said, “Son, your father is proud of you, seeing that he___55___ a good man. We love you, and thank you.”

1.                A．look out        B．watch over      C．care about D．depend on

2.                A．carefully        B．smoothly        C．quickly   D．willingly

3.                A．prepared       B．allowed         C．forced    D．accepted

4.                A．therefore       B．though         C．otherwise D．however

5.                A．supper         B．meal           C．breakfast D．lunch

6.                A．method        B．effect          C．way  D．effort

7.                A．as usual        B．every time      C．once again D．as well

8.                A．independent    B．asleep          C．alone D．free

9.                A．cut            B．cook           C．find  D．wash

10.               A．unless         B．before         C．when D．so

11.               A．rest           B．fun            C．adventure D．practice

12.               A．kid            B．adult           C．friend D．brother

13.               A．heard          B．noticed         C．felt   D．thought

14.               A．interested      B．excited         C．disappointed   D．hurt

15.               A．No wonder      B．In all           C．Above all  D．Without doubt

16.               A．take out        B．pick out        C．ask for    D．check out

17.               A．led            B．signed         C．sat   D．required

18.               A．filling          B．forming        C．floating    D．piling

19.               A．hand          B．laughter        C．body D．voice

20.               A．raised          B．turned         C．taught D．promised

I cheated on a unit test in math class this morning during second period with Mr. Burke. Afterward, I was too sick to eat lunch just thinking about it.

I came straight home from school, went to my room, and lay on the floor trying to decide whether it would be better to run away from home now or after supper. Mostly I wished I was dead. It wasn't even an accident that I cheated.

Yesterday Mr. Burke announced there'd be a unit test and anyone who didn't pass would have to come to school on Saturday, most particularly me, since I didn't pass the last unit test. I did plan to study just to prove to him that I'm plenty smart—which I am mostly—except in math.

Anyway, I got my desk ready to study on . Just when I was ready to work, Nicho came into my room with our new rabbit and it jumped on my desk and knocked the flashcards all over the floor. What a mess! Nicho and I finally took the rabbit outside but then Philip came to my room and also Marty from next door and before long it was dinner.

After dinner my father said I could watch a special on television if I'd done all my homework. Of course I said I had. That was the beginning. I felt terrible telling my father a lie about the homework.

It was nine o'clock when I got up to my room and that was too late to study for the unit test so I lay in my bed with the light off and decided what I would do the next day when I was in Mr. Burke's math class not knowing the 8- and 9-times tables. So, you see, the cheating was planned after all.

The next day, I'd go into class as usual, acting like things were going just great. I'd sit down next to Stanley Plummer—he is so smart in math it makes you sick—and from time to time, I'd glance over at his paper to copy the answers.

Lying on the floor of my room, I begin to think that probably I've been bad all along. It just took this math test to clinch it. I'll probably never tell the truth again. I tell my mother I'm sick when she calls me to come down for dinner. She doesn't believe me, but puts me to bed anyhow. I lie there in the early winter darkness wondering what terrible thing I'll be doing next when my father comes in and sits down on my bed.

"What's the matter?" he asks. "I've got a stomachache," I say. Luckily, it's too dark to see his face. "Is that all?" "Yeah." "Mommy says you've been in your room since school." "I was sick there too," I say. "She thinks something happened today and you're upset." That's the thing that really drives me crazy about my mother. She knows things sitting inside my head the same as if I was turned inside out.

"Well," my father says. I can tell he doesn't believe me. "My stomach is feeling sort of upset." I hedge. "Okay," he says and he pats my leg and gets up.

Just as he shuts the door to my room I call out to him in a voice I don't even recognize as my own. "How come?" he calls back not surprised or anything. So I tell him I cheated on this math test. To tell the truth, I'm pretty much surprised at myself. I didn't plan to tell him anything.

He doesn't say anything at first and that just about kills me. I'd be fine if he'd spank me or something. And then he says I'll have to call Mr. Burke. It's not what I had in mind. "Now?" I ask surprised. "Now," he says. He turns on the light and pulls off my covers. "I'm not going to," I say.

But I do it. I call Mr. Burke, and I tell him exactly what happened, even that I decided to cheat the night before the test. He says I'll come on Saturday to take another test, which is okay with me, and I thank him a whole lot for being understanding and all.

"Today I thought I was turning into a criminal," I tell my father when he turns out my light. Sometimes my father kisses me good night and sometimes he doesn't. I never know. But tonight he does.

1.After the author cheated on the math test, he felt ____________.

A．frightened because he might be caught

B．excited that he had succeeded

C．pleased that nobody knew it

D．unhappy because he had done something wrong

2.By “It wasn't even an accident that I cheated”, the author means that ________.

A．he had planned not to study before the test

B．he decided to cheat when he knew there was going to be a test

C．he decided to cheat after he had wasted the whole evening

D．he had planned to cheat with Plummer before the test

3.The author’ mother often drives him crazy because _____-.

A．She really knows what he is thinking

B．she was very strict with him

C．she doesn’t believe him

D．she asks him to come down for dinner

4.After he was informed of what he had done, the father _______.

A．scolded the author severely

B．didn’t say anything and left

C．called Mr. Burke immediately

D．let the author make a call to Mr. Burke

5.The author’s father kissed the author good night because ________-.

A．he had done something unusual

B．he promised to study math harder

C．he was willing to take a make-up test

D．he realized his mistake and had the courage to admit it

My father never wanted his children to know what he did for a living. Dad worked in Plant C. Lying beside Lake Erie, it saw him in at sunrise and out at nightfall. Sometimes my mother would take my siblings (兄弟姐妹) and me to the public beach in our hometown of Ashtabula. She’d gather us round and point to the smokestacks, coughing clouds into the sky.

“Wave to daddy!” she’d shout. Four little hands would shoot into the air. I never knew what Dad did in Plant C, but during 34 years of hard work, he had surgery (手术) on his shoulder and hand. At 48, he had his first heart attack. He retired in 1993, right after the last kid graduated from college. But the damage was done. A few years later, the next heart attack killed him.

I saw my dad in plant C only once, when I took dinner to him. That night, I looked at my father, covered in sweat and coal, and for the first time I knew why he was so often angry for no reason.

Recently my father’s friend, Toby Workman, walked me there. I knew my father never wanted me to see it. At every station, he described the job and the danger. It was like listening to a foreign language. I walked past many DANGER signs. Toby put his hand on my shoulder. “Look”, he said, “you need to understand something. Your dad was a maintenance mechanic. He worked the most dangerous job. If something broke, he fixed it. ”

A few days later, my daughter graduated from college. I gave her the hard hat Toby handed to me as I left, and this note: “Whenever you feel something difficult, put this on, look in the mirror, and remember your roots.”

1.What is the purpose of the passage?

A．In memory of the author’s mother         B．to know about what the father did.

C．In memory of the author’s father.          D．to remind the family to live well.

2.Which of the following is TRUE of the facts about the author’s father?

A．He didn’t suffer a heart attack until he retired.

B．He always faced danger while working.

C．He was satisfied with his job.

D．He worked in Plant C for 48 years in all.

3.When the author saw her father in Plant C,       ___.

A．her father was fixing a broken machine.

B．she didn’t recognize her father.

C．she understood him about his bad temper.

D．her father was angry about her coming.

4.When Toby Workman described the author’s father’s job, the author   ____  .

A．felt familiar with the job                  B．decided to do the same work.

C．wanted to learn a foreign language          D．felt much puzzled

5.The author gave her daughter the hat to hope that her daughter could    _______ .

A．get encouraged by her grandfather         B．overcome all difficulties by wearing it

C．remember her grandfather                D．follow her grandfather’s work