阅读理解
A
At three a.m., Jack Mills was sitting at the controls of the mail train. The train was made up of 13 cars. At the end of the train, 71 mailmen sat sorting the mail. Inside the second car, there were only five mailmen and 128 bags full of five-pound notes. This train had run more than 100 years without being robbed(抢劫). At three minutes past three, Mills and his helper, David Whitby, saw a yellow warning light. They slowed the train, and then stopped. Whitby went to the telephone beside the track. It was out of order. Then he saw a man moving between the second and the third cars. Before Whitby cjould give a warning, he was knocked down by two men. Mills’ cars with all the mailmen had been disconnected by the robbers. At the bridge, the bags of money were unloaded from the train and thrown into waiting trucks. One of the robbers who obviously knew the schedules(时刻表) of all the trains kept looking at his watch. At 3:45 he said, “That will have to be enough.” The robbers drove away with more than 2,500,000 pounds.
1. The robbery took place______.
A. before 3:03                                                 B. in the early morning 
C. after three o’clock in the afternoon         D. after 3:45
2. The robbers_____ before the train stopped.
A. were all in the train                              B. forced Mills to stop the train
C. were waiting for the train to stop            D. ordered Mills to go on driving
3. Why didn’t the other mailmen help the mailmen in the second car when the robbery happened?
A. Because they were busy sorting the mail.
B. Because they didn’t want to help the mailmen in the second car.
C. Because the last eleven cars were separated from the front cars.
D. Because they knew nothing about the robbery.
4. One of the robbers kept looking at his watch because________.
A. he wanted to know the exact time           B. he enjoyed looking at his watch
C. he didn’t know when another train would come
D. they had to leave before another train came
5. Which of the following is NOT true?
A. The train was out of order.             
B. The telephone was put out of order by the robbers
C. Whitby had an assistant driver.       
D. The robbers carried the money away by truck.

—Why didn’t you tell him about the meeting?

—He rushed out of the room _____ I could say a word.

A. before            B. until                C. when           D. after

I was walking along the main street of a small seaside town in the north of England looking for somewhere to make a phone call．My car had broken down outside the town and I wanted to contact the AA Company．Low grey clouds were gathering across the sky and there was a cold damp wind blowing off the sea which nearly threw me off my feet every time I crossed one of the side streets．It had rained in the night and water was dropping from the bare trees that lined the street．I was glad that I was wearing a thick coat．
There was no sign of a call box, nor was there anyone at that early hour whom I could ask．I had thought I might find a shop open selling the Sunday papers or a milkman doing his rounds, but the town was completely dead．The only living thing I saw was a thin frightened cat outside a small restaurant．
Then suddenly I found what I was looking for．There was a small post office, and almost hidden from sight in a dark narrow street．Next to it was the town’s only public call box, which badly needed a coat of paint．I hurried forward, but stopped in astonishment when I saw through the dirty glass that there was a man inside．He was fat, and was wearing a cheap blue plastic raincoat．I could not see his face and he didn’t raise his head at the sound of my footsteps．
Carefully, I remained standing a few feet away and lit a cigarette to wait for my turn．It was when I threw the dead match on the ground that I noticed something bright red trickling from under the box call door．
【小题1】At what time was the story set?

On a Friday night, a poor young artist stood at the gate of the New York railway station, playing his violin. The music was so great that many people stopped to put some money into the hat of the young man.
The next day, the young artist came to the same place, and put his hat on the ground gracefully. Different from the day before, he took out a large piece of paper and laid it under his hat. Then he began to play the violin. It sounded more pleasant than ever.
Soon he was surrounded with people who were attracted by the words on that paper. It said, “Last night, a gentleman named George Sang put an important thing into my hat by mistake. Please come to claim (认领) it soon.”
After about half an hour, a middle-aged man rushed through the crowd to the violinist and said, “Yes, it’s you. I knew that you were an honest man and would certainly come here.” The young violinist asked calmly, “Are you Mr George Sang?” The man nodded. The violinist asked, “Did you lose something?” “It’s a lottery ticket,” said the man. The violinist took out a lottery ticket on which George Sang’s name was seen. “Is it?” he asked. George nodded and took the lottery ticket and kissed it, then danced with the violinist.
The violinist was a student at an arts college and had planned to attend advanced studies in Vienna. Later his classmate asked the violinist, “At that time you needed money to pay the tuition （学费）and you had to play the violin in the railway station every day to make money. Why didn’t you keep the lottery ticket for yourself?”
The violinist said, “Although I don’t have much money, I live happily. But if I lose honesty I won’t be happy forever.” Through our lives, we can gain a lot and lose so much. But being honest should always be with us.
【小题1】What did the young artist do at the railway station on Friday?

--- Why didn’t Mr. Smith arrive on time for the meeting?
--- He must have been ________ on his way here in the traffic jam.