阅读理解

阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项（A，B，C和D）中，选出最佳选项．

　　Marianne, a schoolgirl, was learning to play the piano, and day after day her father stood behind as she practised. How patient and loving her father was, and how cleverly he showed Marianne how to play some particularly (特别地) difficult pieces! She was making progress (进步), very good progress, and that was very good. And there, almost lost in the big chair, sat Wolfgang, her four-year-old brother, who never had to be told to keep quiet when Merianne was practising. One evening at sundown the father patted(拍) Marianne's shoulder, saying she had done very well. All the moment Wolfgang climbed on his father's knee and begged to be allowed to play the pretty piece.

　　What a joke that was. Picking up his baby son, the father laughed, tapped his tiny nose and said, “Look at your small hands. why, you can't span(够得着)the note yet. You must wait, little man. You must wait.”

　　There was no end of fun during tea, and Marianne had to tell her mother about Wolfgang wanting to play one of the classics. After dinner Marianne helped wash the dishes when the father lit his pipe(烟斗).

　　But the pipe went out. He was on his feet. “Listen,” he said in a awed tone(感叹语气).“Listen, Marianne is playing that piece better than ever.”

　　But Marianne was washing pots in the kitchen.

　　His wife following, he went upstairs, the lamp in one hand, his pipe in the other. he pushed open the door, and found little Wolfgang playing in the darkness. “I love it so,” said the child.

　　It was the beginning of Mozart's life of music.

1．Mozart was ________.

[　　]

A．the little brother of Marianne

B．the pupil of Marianne

C．the son of Marianne

D．the daughter of Marianne

2．Mozart learned how to play the piano ________.

[　　]

A．at school

B．when his father taught his sister

C．after his father taught him

D．after his sister taught him music lessons

3．One evening when Wolfgang wanted to play one of the classics his father ________.

[　　]

A．allowed him to do so once

B．persuaded(说服) him not to do so

C．asked him to wait for a moment

D．asked him to wait for a few years

4．His father refused to let him play one of the classics because he thought ________.

[　　]

A．he was too young to play

B．he was too stupid to play

C．he was not good at playing

D．he didn't work hard at music

根据所给首字母或汉语提示，写出适当的单词形式，使得句子完整并正确。

1.The terrible flood d________ all the houses in the village, leaving thousands of people homeless.  

2.These people have made great c __________to the economic development of our country.

3.With the development of technology, new digital products are r__________ old machines rapidly.

4.Early to bed, early to rise will make you healthy, w__________ and wise.

5.It is reported that over a dozen people have c__________ suicide in FOXCOM company in Shenzhen so far this year.

6.The story told on TV was so touching that almost all the _____________ （观众）were moved to tears.

7.The committee__________(采用) the new suggestion on how to protect the limited resources.

8.The old woman died __________ (平静地) in the arms of her loving husband.

9.Although our sense of sight is overused ,our sense of touch and smell is ___________(忽视)

10.Don’t you see that our country is trying its best to improve people’s living ____ (条件)?

Some people bring out the best in you in a way that you might never have fully realized on your own. My mom was one of those people.

My father died when I was nine months old, making my mom a single mother at the age of eighteen. While I was growing up, we lived a very hard life. We had little money, but my mom gave me a lot of love. Each night, she sat me on her lap and spoke the words that would change my life, “Kemmons, you are certain to be a great man and you can do anything in life if you work  hard enough to get it.”

At fourteen, I was hit by a car and doctors said I would never walk again. Every day, my mother spoke to me in her gentle, loving voice, telling me that no matter what those doctors said, I could walk again if I wanted to badly enough. She drove that message so deep into my heart that I  finally believed her. A year later, I returned to school—walking on my own!

When the Great Depression(大萧条) hit, my mom lost her job. Then I left school to support the both of us. At that moment, I was determined never to be poor again.

Over the years, I experienced various levels of business success. But the real turning point occurred on a vacation I took with my wife and five kids in 1951. I was dissatisfied with the  second-class hotels available for families and was angry that they charged an extra $2 for each  child. That was too expensive for the average American family. I told my wife that I was going to  open a motel (汽车旅馆) for families that would never charge extra for children. There were plenty of doubters at that time.

Not surprisingly, mom was one of my strongest supporters. She worked behind the desk and even designed the room style. As in any business, we experienced a lot of challenges. But with my mother’s words deeply rooted in my soul, I never doubted we would succeed. Fifteen years later,  we had the largest hotel system in the world—Holiday Inn. In 1979 my company had 1,759 inns  in more than fifty countries with an income of $1 billion a year.

You may not have started out life in the best situations. But if you can find a task in life worth working for and believe in yourself, nothing can stop you.

1. What caused Kemmons to start a motel by himself?

A. His terrible experience in the hotel.    

B. His previous business success of various levels.

C. His mom’s support.                       

D. His wife’s suggestion.

2. Which of the following best describes Kemmons’ mother?

A. Modest, helpful and hard-working.           B. Loving, supportive and beautiful.

C. Careful, helpful and strong-willed.           D. Strict, sensitive and supportive.

3. Which of the following led to Kemmons’ success according to the passage?

A. Self-confidence, hard work, higher education and a poor family.

B. Mom’s encouragement, clear goals, self-confidence and hard work.

C. Clear goals, mom’s encouragement, a poor family and higher education.

D. Mom’s encouragement, a poor family, higher education and opportunities.

II.阅读理解( 满分34分)

     A couple from Minneapolis decided to go to Florida for a long weekend to warm themselves up during one particularly icy cold winter. They planned to stay at the very same hotel where they spent their honeymoon 20 years ago. They both had jobs, so it was decided that her husband would fly to Florida on a Thursday, and his wife would follow him the next day. Upon arriving as planned, the husband checked into the hotel. There he decided to open his laptop(笔记本电脑) and send his wife an e-mail back in Minneapolis. However, he accidentally left off one letter in her address and sent the e-mail without noticing his error.

In the mean time: In Houston, a woman had just returned from her husband’s burial. He was a minister of many years who had been “called home to glory” following a heart attack. The woman checked her e-mail, expecting message from family and friends. Upon reading the first message, she fainted(昏厥)and fell to the floor. Her son rushed into the room, found his mother on the floor and saw the computer screen which read:

To: My Loving Wife

From: Your Departed Husband

Subject: I’ve arrived!

I’ve just arrived and have been checked in. I see that everything has been prepared for your arrival tomorrow. Looking forward to seeing you then. Hope your journey is as uneventful(平静)as mine was.

P.S. Sure is hot down here.

1. Why did the couple decide to go to Florida for weekend?

       A. To visit their family and friends         B. To escape from the cold winter

       C. To escape from their busy work         D. To attend a friend’s funeral

2. What mistake did the husband make after checking into the hotel?

       A. He checked into a wrong hotel           B. He forget to bring the laptop

       C. He misspelled her wife’s address         D. He forgot to mail his letter

3. The expression “called home to glory” probably suggests that the man had______.

       A. gone back to his hometown            B. called his family to say hello

       C. been awarded an honor               D. died and gone to heaven

4. How did the woman probably feel after reading the e-mail?

       A. Pleased       B. Inspired        C. Frightened          D. Moved

5. Which of the following is true according to the text?

       A. The woman’s husband died of a heart attack

       B. The woman liked to chat with her friends by e-mail

       C. The couple held their wedding in Florida 20 years ago.

       D. His wife wouldn’t go to Florida for his error.