I'd been travelling for long hours on a lonely country road when I had a flat tire. So I had to stop and get the tools to  36 the problem. It certainly wasn’t  37 doing this with a white shirt and suit on.

Nightfall was approaching. Suddenly a car pulled  38 from behind me. A man got out and offered to  39 me. Seeing his unpleasant appearance and tattoos（纹身）on his arm, I became  40 as thoughts of robberies flashed through my mind. But  41 I could say anything he had already begun to take the tools to change the  42 . While watching him I happened to look back at his car and noticed someone sitting in the passenger seat. This had  43 me.

Then, without  44 , it began to rain. He suggested that I wait in his car because my car was unsafe. As the rain increased, getting us wet within seconds, I  45 agreed. When I settle into the back seat, a woman’s voice came from the front seat. “Are you all right?” She turned around to me. “Yes, I am.’’ I replied with much  46  when seeing an old woman there. It must be his Mom, I thought. To my  47 , the old woman was a neighbor of the man who was helping me. “Jeff insisted on stopping when he saw you  48 with the tire. ”“I am grateful for his help, ” I said. “Me, too!” she said with a smile. He helped drive her to see her husband twice a week in a nursing home. She also said that he  49 at the church and tutored disadvantaged students.

The rain stopped and Jeff and I changed me tire. I tried to offer him money and of course he  50 it. It was shameful that I judged people by the way they  51 . As we shook hands I began to apologize for my  52 . He said, ‘‘I experience that same  53 often. People who look like me don’t do nice things. I  54 thought about changing the way. But then I saw this as a chance to make a  55 . So I’ll leave you with the same question I ask everyone who takes time to know me. If Jesus returned tomorrow and walked among us again, would you recognize Him by what He wore or by what He did?’’

1.                A．find           B．make           C．fix   D．avoid

2.                A．useful          B．easy           C．wise D．lucky

3.                A．up            B．out            C．on   D．round

4.                A．carry          B．lift             C．drive D．help

5.                A．discouraged     B．frightened       C．disappointed   D．astonished

6.                A．when          B．until           C．as   D．before

7.                A．tire            B．suit            C．expression    D．shirt

8.                A．embarrassed     B．concerned      C．discouraged   D．puzzled

9.                A．warning        B．realizing        C．knowing  D．waiting

10.               A．directly        B．happily         C．hurriedly  D．unwillingly

11.               A．fear           B．satisfaction      C．relief D．excitement

12.               A．regret         B．amusement     C．surprise   D．delight

13.               A．working        B．repairing       C．fighting    D．struggling

14.               A．studied         B．performed      C．grew D．volunteered

15.               A．refused        B．kept           C．ignored   D．left

16.               A．behaved        B．spoke          C．looked    D．thought

17.               A．selfishness      B．stupidity        C．weakness  D．disability

18.               A．life            B．incident        C．reaction   D．change

19.               A．hardly         B．actually         C．finally D．probably

20.               A．point          B．start           C．remark    D．comparison

One afternoon in January in 1998, Susan Sharp, 43, and her 8-year-old son David, were walking across an icy square, when Susan’s cane(手杖) slipped on the ice. Her face   36  first into the mud. David   37  her mother’s side, “Are you all right, Mom”  38 , Susan pulled herself up, “I’m okay, Honey,” she said.
Susan was falling more   39  since she had trouble walking. Every inch of ice was a   40  danger for her. “I wish I could do something,” the boy thought. David, too, was having   41  of his own. The boy had a speech problem, so at school he talked   42 .
　　One day, David’s teacher announced a   43  homework. "Each of you is going to come up with an   44 ," she said. This was for "INVENT AMERICA", a national competition to encourage creativity in children.
　　An idea   45  David one evening. If only his mother’s cane didn’t slip on the ice. “What if I   46  your cane to a nail coming out of the bottom” he asked his mother.
　　“  47  the sharp end would scratch(划破) floors,” Susan said.
　　“No, Mom, I   48  make it like a ball-point pen. You take your hand off the button and the   49  returns back up.” Hours later the cane was finished. David and his father   50  as Susan used it to walk 50 feet about the   51 . Happily Susan cried out, “It   52  !”
　　In July 1999, David was  53  national winner for the "INVENT AMERICA". David began to make public appearance. Thus he was forced to communicate  54 .Today, David is nearly free of his speech problem, and his   55  is becoming well accepted.

TOKYO—A child-like robot that combines the roles of nurse, companion and security guard is to go on the market to help the growing ranks of elderly Japanese with no one to look after them.

    The “Wakamaru” robot can walk around a house 24 hours a day, warning family, hospitals and security firms if it perceives (notices) a problem. It will, for example, call relatives if the owner fails to get out of the bath.

    Cameras implanted in the “eye-brows” of the robot enable it to “see” as it walks around an apartment. The images can be sent to the latest cellphones, which display the pictures.

    Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, which developed Wakamaru, plans to start selling the metre-high robots by April, 2005, for about ＄15,000 Cdn.

    Wakamaru, which speaks with either the voice of a boy or girl, is also designed to provide companionship, greeting its “papa” when he comes home.

    It is the first household robot able to hold simple conversations, based on a vocabulary of around 10,000 words. It cannot only speak but can understand answers and react accordingly.

    It will ask “Are you all right ?” if its owner does not move for some time. If the answer is no, or there is no answer, it will telephone preset numbers, transmitting images and functioning as a speakerphone.

    Wakamaru will inform a security firm if there is a loud bang or if an unknown person enters the house while the owner is out or asleep. It can recognize up to 10 faces.

    But like most robots it cannot climb stairs.

    It can be set to remind forgetful people when it is time to take medicine, eat and sleep.

    Mitsubishi adapted Wakamaru from robots it already makes to go around nuclear power facilities. The idea to use the technology in the home came from a company employee.

    The project chief said :“Looking at the ageing of society and the falling birth rate we decide that this could work as a business. We want to offer Wakamaru as a product that helps society.”

    The technology has gained nation-wide publicity in Japan among increasing concern over how to look after the ever-growing number of old people. The life expectancy of Japanese women has shot up to almost 85, the highest in the world.

    At the same time, extended families are being replaced by nuclear families. This has left many Japanese anxious about their elderly parents, whom they rarely see because of their long hours at the office.

1．Which of the following is true about the Robot?

A. It is used in some nuclear power facilities.         

B. It cannot speak but can understand answers.

    C. It can go up and down the stairs easily.    D. It can recognize as many as 10 faces.

2．The purpose of this passage is ________.

    A. to introduce a new product         B. to solve the aging problems

    C. to tell people how to use the robot   D. to show the rapid development of technology

3．What can we infer from the passage ?

    A. The robot can dial proper numbers for help.

    B. The robot is likely to have a promising market.

    C. The robot has given the Japanese a chance to live longer.

    D. The nuclear families have left many elderly Japanese anxious.

4．What is the best title of this passage ?

  A. The Latest Development of Robot Technology  B. Japanese Robot and the Aging Society

    C. Vast Market of the New Robot      D. Japanese-built Robot to Help the Old

5. Wakamaru _____________________.

   A. is a  child who is always taking good care of his grandparents 24 hours a day.

   B. has a vocabulary of around 1,000 words

C.  is the first household robot that has ever been produced.

   D. has ameras implanted in the “eye-brows” which enable it to “see” when walking.

—Are you all right?

— ______.

A. That’s OK           B. I think so          

C. Take it easy     D. It’s very kind of you

Charlie was spending his summer holidays by the sea. One day he climbed over some rocks. He was looking for some crabs (螃蟹) for supper. He took off  his shorts and put them on a rock.
The afternoon went quickly. Time was flying by. Look! The sea was coming in fast. It was over some of the rocks now.
Charlie looked up. "It's getting late. Oh dear! Look at the sea. Where are my shorts now?" he thought. He saw them on a rock.
Oh dear! The rock was an island! Now he must swim and got them.
Charlie jumped into the sea and started swimming. He reached the rock and put his shorts on his head. Then he started swimming back. Oh no! The sea was too strong for Charlie. It was pulling him away from the beach.
"Help!" he called. "I can't get back. "
Luckily, a boat was coming by. The people in the boat saw Charlie and heard his call for help.
"Are you all right?" asked the woman in the boat.
"No! I can't swim back. The sea is too strong. "
The woman stopped the boat and she and a girl pulled Charlie into the boat. He threw his shorts into the boat too. Then they turned the boat Bound and took Charlie back to the beach.
"That was lucky," said the woman.
"Thank you very much," said Charlie.
"Be careful next time," said the woman. "The sea is usually very strong near these rocks. "
"Next time, I'm going to keep my shorts in my bag," said Charlie. "Better safe than sorry!"
【小题1】Where did the story take place?