阅读下面短文，掌握其大意，然后从1~15各题所给的A、B、C和D项中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。

       A man who knows how to write a personal letter has a very powerful tool．A letter can be enjoyed, read and   1  ．It can set up a warm conversation between two people far apart; it can keep a   2   with very little effort．

       I will give   3   ． A few years ago my older brother and I were not getting along well．We had been close as    4    but had grown apart．Our meetings were not   5  ; our conversation was filled with arguments and quarrels: and every effort to clear the air seemed to only   6   our misunderstanding．Then he   7   a small island in the Caribbean and we   8   touch．One day he wrote me a letter．He described his island and its people, told me what he was doing, said how he felt．Rereading the letter, I was   9   by its humor and clever expressions．These were all qualities for which I had  10   respected my older brother but   11   he no longer had them．I had never known he could write so well．And with that one letter we became friends   12 ．

       It might never have occurred to him to write me if he had not been in a place where there were no   13  ．For him, writing was a necessity．It also turned out to be the best way for us to get back in touch．Because we live in an age of   14   communication, people often forget   that they don’t always have to phone or email．They have a   15 ．And that is to write．

1.A．received                  B．rewritten             C．returned            D．reread

2.A．record                     B．promise              C．friendship          D．secret

3.A．an exampleB．a lesson                           C．an experience      D．a talk

4.A．brothers                  B．children             C．fellows          D．classmates

5.A．normal                    B．necessary           C．pleasant         D．possible

6.A．deepen                    B．start                  C．express          D．settle

7.A．toured                    B．stopped over       C．reached        D．moved to

8.A．lost                       B．kept in              C．needed          D．got in

9.A．driven                    B．beaten               C．surprised         D．honored

10.A．never   B．seldom                             C．sometimes       D．once

11.A．realized  B．judged                             C．thought        D．expected．

12.A．later                     B．anyhow             C．too             D．again．

13.A．mail services B．transport servicC．phones                       D．relative

14.A．poor                     B．easy                  C．popular          D．busy

15.A． habit                   B．choice                C．method          D．plan

Microsoft founder Bill Gates has recovered his spot at the top of the US money heap, taking the place of investor Warren Buffett as America's richest person, Forbes magazine's latest list reveals.

With 57 billion dollars net worth Gates again leads the list of 400 richest individuals in the world's wealthiest country. He displaced Buffett who briefly held the position this year but who has seen his Berkshire Hathaway investment group's shares slip 15 percent since February and is now worth 50 billion.

According to Forbes, whose list was published late Wednesday, the golden 400 have 1.3 billion dollars net worth or more. However, their combined net worth rose only 30 billion dollars, or two percent, to 1.57 trillion dollars.

Forbes said that rising oil and dizzy art prices fuelled the entry of 31 new members into the ultra-rich club and the return of eight previous members.

A notable arrival was Mark Zuckerberg, 24, founder of the social networking site Facebook（脸谱网）. Forbes estimates his worth at 1.5 billion dollars.

Meanwhile, turmoil（动荡）on the stock and housing markets saw 33 others drop off the list, including the former head of the troubled insurance giant AIG, Maurice Greenberg, and a former head of the online auction site eBay, Margaret Whitman.

Biggest gainers were led by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg who took eighth place with 20 billion dollars worth after a transaction（交易）put a new value on his Bloomberg media and financial data network.

The biggest loser was casino（赌场，娱乐场）tycoon Sheldon Adelson, whose fortune fell 13 billion dollars over 12 months -- the equivalent to 1.5 million dollars an hour -- although he still has 15 billion dollars and occupies 15th place.

About two thirds of the list are self-made billionaires and just over 10 percent are women, led by television star Oprah Winfrey whose fortune rose 200 million dollars to 2.7 billion dollars.

According to Forbes, Warren Buffet is worth _____.

  A. 57 billion dollars  B. 50 billion dollars  C. 1.5 billion dollars  D. 20 billion dollars

31 new members entered the ultra-rich club as a result of _____.

  A. turmoil on the stock and housing market  

B. media and financial data network

  C. rising oil and dizzy art prices            

D. investment

The purpose of the author using the television star Oprah Winfrey as an example is to _____.

  A. tell the readers that television stars make money easily

  B. prove that a millionaire can become a billionaire

  C. women can also be billionaires

  D. tell the readers that most of the billionaires are self-made

It can be inferred from the story that _____.

  A. one earns much and also loses much

  B. stability of markets has much effect upon people’s wealth

  C. the computer industry makes more billionaires

  D. young people can also be billionaires

What is the best title of the passage?

  A. Bill Gates Leading World’s Richest People Again

  B. What Made Billionaires

  C. Self-Made Billionaires

  D. Biggest Gainer and Biggest Loser

11.Every boy and every girl ___ a new book.

   A. are given         B. is given         C. has given          D. have given

12.Each of us ___ a dictionary of this kind.  

We each ___ a dictionary of this kind.

   A. has; have         B. have ; have        C. has; has          D. have ; has

13. “All ___ present and all ___ going on well,” our monitor said.

   A. is; are           B. are ; are           C. are; is            D. is; is

14. The young ___ happy to give their seats to the old.    

A. is              B. are                C. has             D. have

15. Over sixty percent of the city ____ destroyed in the war. 

Thirty-five percent of the doctors ____ women.   

A. was; was         B. was; were          C. were; were       D. were; was

16.The shoes ___ mine.     This pair of shoes ___ my brother’s.

   A. are; is             B. is; is             C. are; are             D. is; are

17.Large quantities of cotton ___ shipped all over the world already.

  A large quantity of bamboo ___ used for pipes to carry water.

   A. has been; are        B. has been; is       C. have been; is      D. have been; are

18.Setting fire to the public buildings ___ highly dangerous and forbidden by law.

   A. are                B. is             C. has                D. were

19. The only means to achieve success ___ to appeal to arms.   

A. is              B. are              C. were                D. have

20. Whisky and soda ___ always his favourite drink.

A. are             B. is               C. be                  D. were

I try to be a good father. But compared with Dick Hoyt, I suck.

Eighty-five times he’s pushed his disabled son, Rick, 26.2 miles in marathons. Eight times he’s not only pushed him 26.2 miles in a wheelchair but also towed (拉着) him 2.4 miles in a dinghy (小游艇) while swimming and pedaled (蹬车) him 112 miles — all in the same day. And what has Rick done for his father? Not much — except save his life.

This love story began in Winchester, Mass., 43 years ago, when Rick was strangled (使窒息) by the umbilical cord (脐带) during birth, leaving him brain-damaged and unable to control his limbs.

When Rick was 11 the Hoyts took him to hospital and asked if there was anything to help the boy communicate. “No way,’’ Dick was told. “There’s nothing going on in his brain.’’

“Tell him a joke,’’ Dick countered (反驳). They did. Rick laughed. It turns out that a lot was going on in his brain. Equipped with a computer that allowed him to control the cursor (光标) by touching a switch with the side of his head, Rick was finally able to communicate.

And after a high school classmate was paralyzed (瘫痪) in an accident and the school organized a charity run for him, Rick pecked out (啄出), “Dad, I want to do that.’’

How was Dick, who had never run more than a mile at a time, going to push his son five miles? Still, he tried.

That day changed Rick’s life. “Dad,’’ he typed, “when we were running, it felt like I wasn’t disabled any more!’’

And that sentence changed Dick’s life. He became obsessed(迷恋) with giving Rick that feeling as often as he could. He got into such hard-belly shape that he and Rick were ready to try the 1979 Boston Marathon. In 1983 they ran another marathon so fast they made the qualifying time for Boston the following year.

Then somebody said, “Hey, Dick, why not a triathlon (三项全能运动)?’’

Now they’ve done 212 triathlons, including four 15-hour Ironmans in Hawaii.

This year, at ages 65 and 43, Dick and Rick finished their 24th Boston Marathon, in 5,083rd place out of more than 20,000 starters. Their best time? Two hours, 40 minutes in 1992 — only 35 minutes off the world record.

“No question about it,’’ Rick types. “My dad is the Father of the Century.’’

And Dick got something else out of all this too. Two years ago he had a heart attack during a race. Doctors found that one of his arteries (动脉) was 95% blocked. “If you hadn’t been in such great shape,’’ one doctor told him, “you probably would have died 15 years ago.’’ So, in a way, Dick and Rick saved each other’s life.

1.What is the meaning of the underlined word ‘limbs’ in Paragraph 3?

A. fingers and toes    B. hands and feet    C. arms and legs        D. wrists and knees

2.At the 24^th Boston Marathon, Dick and Rick ________.

A. reached the finish line within 160 minutes    B. nearly broke the world record

C. did better than 5082 athletes         D. completed the journey 35 minutes ahead of time

3.What changed Rick’s life?

A. Rick’s love for his father.        B. Rick’s joining in the charity run with his father.

C. A computer enabling Rick to communicate.        D. Rick’s strong will and perseverance.

4. What do we learn from the last two paragraphs?

A. Dick was considered as the Father of the Century by the public.

B. Rick made his father so well-known that the doctors treated him well.

C. Dick got into great shape by assisting his son in marathons and triathlons.

D. Rick saved his father when he had a heart attack in a race two years ago.

I try to be a good father. But compared with Dick Hoyt, I suck.
Eighty-five times he’s pushed his disabled son, Rick, 26.2 miles in marathons. Eight times he’s not only pushed him 26.2 miles in a wheelchair but also towed (拉着) him 2.4 miles in a dinghy (小游艇) while swimming and pedaled (蹬车) him 112 miles — all in the same day. And what has Rick done for his father? Not much — except save his life.
This love story began in Winchester, Mass., 43 years ago, when Rick was strangled (使窒息) by the umbilical cord (脐带) during birth, leaving him brain-damaged and unable to control his limbs.
When Rick was 11 the Hoyts took him to hospital and asked if there was anything to help the boy communicate. “No way,’’ Dick was told. “There’s nothing going on in his brain.’’
“Tell him a joke,’’ Dick countered (反驳). They did. Rick laughed. It turns out that a lot was going on in his brain. Equipped with a computer that allowed him to control the cursor (光标) by touching a switch with the side of his head, Rick was finally able to communicate.
And after a high school classmate was paralyzed (瘫痪) in an accident and the school organized a charity run for him, Rick pecked out (啄出), “Dad, I want to do that.’’
How was Dick, who had never run more than a mile at a time, going to push his son five miles? Still, he tried.
That day changed Rick’s life. “Dad,’’ he typed, “when we were running, it felt like I wasn’t disabled any more!’’
And that sentence changed Dick’s life. He became obsessed(迷恋) with giving Rick that feeling as often as he could. He got into such hard-belly shape that he and Rick were ready to try the 1979 Boston Marathon. In 1983 they ran another marathon so fast they made the qualifying time for Boston the following year.
Then somebody said, “Hey, Dick, why not a triathlon (三项全能运动)?’’
Now they’ve done 212 triathlons, including four 15-hour Ironmans in Hawaii.
This year, at ages 65 and 43, Dick and Rick finished their 24th Boston Marathon, in 5,083rd place out of more than 20,000 starters. Their best time? Two hours, 40 minutes in 1992 — only 35 minutes off the world record.
“No question about it,’’ Rick types. “My dad is the Father of the Century.’’
And Dick got something else out of all this too. Two years ago he had a heart attack during a race. Doctors found that one of his arteries (动脉) was 95% blocked. “If you hadn’t been in such great shape,’’ one doctor told him, “you probably would have died 15 years ago.’’ So, in a way, Dick and Rick saved each other’s life.
【小题1】What is the meaning of the underlined word ‘limbs’ in Paragraph 3?