Bill Javis took over our village news-agency at a time of life when most of us only want to relax. He just thought he would like something but not too much to do, and the news-agency was ready-made. The business produced little enough for him, but Bill was a man who only wanted the simplicity and order and regularity of the job. He had been a long-serving sailor, and all his life had done everything by the clock.

Every day he opened his shop at six a.m. to catch the early trade; the papers arrived on his door-step before that. Many of Bill’s customers were city workers, and the shop was convenient for the station. Business was tailing off by 10 o’clock, so at eleven sharp Bill closed for lunch. It was hard luck on anybody who wanted a paper or magazine in the afternoon, for most likely Bill would be down on the river bank, fishing, and his nearest competitor was five kilometers away. Sometime in the afternoon, the evening paper landed on the doormat, and at 4 o’clock Bill reopened. The evening rush lasted till seven, and it was worthwhile.

He lived in a flat above the shop, alone. Except in the very bad weather, you always knew where to find him in the afternoon, as I have said. Once, on a sunny afternoon, I walked home along the river bank from a shopping trip to the village. By my watch it was three minutes past four, so I was astonished to see Bill sitting there on his little chair with a line in the water. He had had no luck, I could see, but he was making no effort to move.

“What’s wrong, Bill?” I called out from the path.

For answer, he put a hand in his jacket and took out a big, golden object. For a moment I had no idea what it could be, and then it suddenly went off with a noise like a fire engine. Stopping the bell, Bill held the thing up and called back, “Ten to four, you see, and this is dead right.”

I had never known anyone carrying a brass alarm clock round with him before.

1．Bill opened the shop so early in the day because ___________.

A．he liked to do as much as possible before he went to work

B．the shop had to be open when the morning papers came

C．he was never sure of the time

D．it was then that he did a lot of business

2．You might say “hard luck” to someone who __________.

A．has just heard some very good news

B．is less fortunate than he or she ought to be

C．puts great effort into whatever he or she tries

D．fails through his or her own fault entirely

3．On that sunny afternoon, the writer was surprised when he saw Bill because ________.

A．he thought it was late for Bill to be still fishing

B．he thought Bill was ill, since he was not moving at all

C．Bill had not caught anything, and that seemed strange

D．Bill stayed in his flat

4．From the information given in the passage, who or what do you think was wrong?

A．The bell was; it must have gone off at the wrong time.

B．Bill was; he had dropped off to sleep.

C．The writer’s watch was fast.

D．Bill’s clock was wrong; it was very old.

Bill Javis took over our village’s news-agency at a time of life when most of us only wanted to relax. He just thought he would like something but not too much to do, and the news-a??gency was ready-made. The business produced little enough for him, but Bill was a man who only wanted the simplicity and order and regularity of the job. He had been a long-serving sailor, and all his life had done everything by the clock.

Every day he opened his shop at 6:00 a. m. to catch the early trade; the papers arrived on his doorstep before that. Many of Bill’s customers were city workers, and the shop was convenient for the station. Business was tailing off by 10 o’clock, so at eleven sharp Bill closed for lunch. It was hard luck on anybody who wanted a paper or magazine in the after??noon, for most likely Bill would be down on the river bank, fishing, and his neatest competitor was five kilometers away. Sometimes in the afternoon-, the evening paper landed on the doorway, and at 4 o’ clock Bill reopened his shop. The evening rush lasted till seven, and it was worthwhile.

He lived in a flat above the ship, alone. Except in the very bad weather, you always knew where to find him in the af??ternoon, as I have said. Once, on a sunny afternoon, I walked home along the river bank from a shopping trip to the village. By my watch it was three minutes past four, so I was aston??ished to see Bill sitting there on his little chair with a line in the, water. He had no luck, I could, see, but he was making no effort to move. “What’s wrong, Bill?” I called out from the path.

For answer, he put a hand in his jacket and took out a big, golden object. For a moment I had no idea what it could be, and then it suddenly went off with a noise like a fire en??gine. Stopping the bell, Bill held the thing up and called back, "Ten to four, you see, and this is dead right. "

I had never known anyone carrying a brass alarm clock round with him before.

5. Bill Javis became a news-agent when ________.

A. he need the money.                         B. he decided to take things easy

C. he was quite an old man                 D. he gave up clock-repairing

6. Bill opened the shop so early in the day because ________.

A. he liked to do as much as possible before he went to work

B. the shop had to be open when the morning papers came

C. he was never sure of time

D. it was then that he did a lot of business

7. On that sunny afternoon, the writer was surprised when he saw Bill because ________.

A. he thought it was late for Bill to be still fishing

B. he thought Bill was ill, since he was not moving at all

C. Bill had not caught anything, and that seemed strange

D. Bill stayed in his flat

8. From the information given in the passage, who or what do you think was wrong?

A. The bell was; it must have gone off at the wrong time.

B. Bill was; he had dropped off to sleep.

C. The writer’s watch was fast.

D. Bill’s clock was wrong; it was old.

Bill Javis took over our village’s news-agency at a time of life when most of us only wanted to relax. He just thought he would like something but not too much to do, and the news-a??gency was ready-made. The business produced little enough for him, but Bill was a man who only wanted the simplicity and order and regularity of the job. He had been a long-serving sailor, and all his life had done everything by the clock.

Every day he opened his shop at 6:00 a. m. to catch the early trade; the papers arrived on his doorstep before that. Many of Bill’s customers were city workers, and the shop was convenient for the station. Business was tailing off by 10 o’clock, so at eleven sharp Bill closed for lunch. It was hard luck on anybody who wanted a paper or magazine in the after??noon, for most likely Bill would be down on the river bank, fishing, and his nearest competitor was five kilometers away. Sometimes in the afternoon, the evening paper landed on the doorway, and at 4 o’clock Bill reopened his shop. The evening rush lasted till seven, and it was worthwhile.

He lived in a flat above the shop, alone. Except in the very bad weather, you always knew where to find him in the af??ternoon, as I have said. Once, on a sunny afternoon, I walked home along the river bank from a shopping trip to the village. By my watch it was three minutes past four, so I was aston??ished to see Bill sitting there on his little chair with a line in the water. He had no luck, I could see, but he was making no effort to move.

“What’s wrong, Bill?” I called out from the path.

For answer, he put a hand in his jacket and took out a big, golden object. For a moment I had no idea what it could be, and then it suddenly went off with a noise like a fire en??gine. Stopping the bell, Bill held the thing up and called back, “Ten to four, you see, and this is dead right.”

I had never known anyone carrying a brass alarm clock round with him before.

Bill Javis became a news-agent when _______.

A. he needed the money      

B. he was quite an old man

C. he decided to take up fishing  

D. he gave up clock-repairing

Bill opened the shop so early in the day because _______.

A. he liked to do as much as possible before he went to work

B. the shop had to be open when the morning papers came

C. he was never sure of time

D. it was then that he did a lot of business

From the information given in the passage, who or what do you think was wrong?

A. The bell was－it must have gone off at the wrong time.

B. Bill was－he had dropped off to sleep.

C. The writer’s watch was－it was fast.

D. Bill’s clock was－it was old.

Bill Javis took over our village’s news-agency at a time of life when most of us only wanted to relax. He just thought he would like something but not too much to do, and the news-a­gency was ready-made. The business produced little enough for him, but Bill was a man who only wanted the simplicity and order and regularity of the job. He had been a long-serving sailor, and all his life had done everything by the clock.

Every day he opened his shop at 6:00 a. m. to catch the early trade; the papers arrived on his doorstep before that. Many of Bill’s customers were city workers, and the shop was convenient for the station. Business was tailing off by 10 o’clock, so at eleven sharp Bill closed for lunch. It was hard luck on anybody who wanted a paper or magazine in the after­noon, for most likely Bill would be down on the river bank, fishing, and his nearest competitor was five kilometers away. Sometimes in the afternoon, the evening paper landed on the doorway, and at 4 o’clock Bill reopened his shop. The evening rush lasted till seven, and it was worthwhile.

He lived in a flat above the shop, alone. Except in the very bad weather, you always knew where to find him in the af­ternoon, as I have said. Once, on a sunny afternoon, I walked home along the river bank from a shopping trip to the village. By my watch it was three minutes past four, so I was aston­ished to see Bill sitting there on his little chair with a line in the water. He had no luck, I could see, but he was making no effort to move.

“What’s wrong, Bill?” I called out from the path.

For answer, he put a hand in his jacket and took out a big, golden object. For a moment I had no idea what it could be, and then it suddenly went off with a noise like a fire en­gine. Stopping the bell, Bill held the thing up and called back, “Ten to four, you see, and this is dead right.”

I had never known anyone carrying a brass alarm clock round with him before.

1.Bill Javis became a news-agent when _______.

A. he needed the money                            

B. he was quite an old man

C. he decided to take up fishing                 

D. he gave up clock-repairing

2.Bill opened the shop so early in the day because _______.

A. he liked to do as much as possible before he went to work

B. the shop had to be open when the morning papers came

C. he was never sure of time

D. it was then that he did a lot of business

3.From the information given in the passage, who or what do you think was wrong?

The train shook back and forth, its wheels making a loud noise on the tracks. Outside the window, the freezing cold of winter ruled. The carriage was filled with cold and  31  passengers.

Suddenly, a little boy  32  his way through the grown-ups’ legs and sat down by the window. Without being paid any attention, he looked all alone among the  33  grown-ups. What a brave child, I thought. His father  34  to stay by the door behind us. The train began to crawl into a tunnel. Then, unexpectedly, something very strange happened. The little boy slid down from his seat and leaned his hand  35  my knee.

 36 , I thought that he wanted to  37  me and return to his father, so I carefully helped him to stand up. But instead, he leaned forward and held his  38  up towards me. Oh, he wanted to say something to me,; I lowered my head to receive his  39 . Wrong again! What I did receive was a  40  kiss on the cheek.

The boy calmly returned to his seat and continued looking out of the window. I felt  41 . What had just happened? A child kissed a(n)  42  grown-up on the train! How could anybody want to kiss such a man that had so much beard? But that was not the end of the story. Soon the boy, encouraged by something inside, got around, and all my neighbors were certainly  43 . Nervous and a little surprised, we  44  a look in the direction of the father. Seeing our questioning  45 , he offered a clue as he got ready for his stop.

“My boy is so happy to be alive,” the father said. “He has been very sick.”

Father and son  46  into the crowd moving toward the exit. The doors closed and the train went on. On my cheek I could still  47  the child’s kiss — a kiss that triggered (触发) some soul searching inside me. “How many  48  kissing each other for the joy of being alive? How many even give much thought to the privilege (特权) of  49 ?”

The little kisser taught us a sweet but serious lesson — Be careful; don’t let yourself  50  before your heart stops!

31. A. excited                B. tired                    C. pleased                 D. surprised

32. A. pulled                 B. fought                 C. pushed                 D. picked

33. A. unfriendly           B. friendly               C. angry                   D. kind

34. A. liked                   B. promised             C. chose                   D. agreed

35. A. under                  B. against                       C. above                   D. besides

36. A. In a moment        B. For a moment      C. More than once     D. Once in a while

37. A. kick                    B. strike                  C. kiss                      D. pass

38. A. eye                     B. ear　　　　　    C. head                     D. lip

39. A. news                  B. words 　　         C. expression            D. opinion

40. A. loud　　　         B. foolish                 C. strange                 D. fortunate

41. A. pleased　　        B. shocked　　　    C. satisfied                D. puzzled

42. A. well-known　     B. smart　　           C. unknown                     D. familiar

43. A. praised　　         B. kissed　　　       C. scolded                 D. persuaded

44. A. stared　　　　   B. cast　　             C. showed              D. scanned

45. A. glances　　        B. anger　　           C. mouths                 D. feeling

46. A. appeared　　　   B. rushed　　         C. disappear       ed           D. followed学科

47. A. touch　　　　    B. trust　　             C. smell                    D. feel

48. A. go around　        B. come at　　　    C. go back                D. come on

49. A. a child　　　      B. a kiss　　           C. living                    D. death

50. A. live　　　          B. stop　　　          C. die                       D. sleep