I was walking along the deserted main street of a small seaside town in the north of England looking somewhere to make a phone call. My car had broken down outside the town and I wanted to get in touch with the Automobile Association .Low gray clouds were drifting across the sky and there was a cold damp wind blowing off the sea. It had rained in the night and water was dripping 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 I could ask. I had thought I might find a shop selling the Sunday papers or a milkman doing his job, but the town was completely dead.
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 very fat, and was wearing a cheap blue plastic raincoat and rubber boots. I could not see his face - he was bending forward over the phone with his back pressed against the glass and didn’t even raise his head at the sound of my coming nearer and nearer. Carefully and surprisedly, I remained standing a few feet away and lit a cigarette to wait my turn. It was when I threw the dead match on the ground that I noticed something bright red trickling from under the call box door.
【小题1】The author was walking through the small seaside town__________.

I was walking along the deserted main street of a small seaside town in the north of England looking somewhere to make a phone call. My car had broken down outside the town and I wanted to get in touch with the Automobile Association .Low gray clouds were drifting across the sky and there was a cold damp wind blowing off the sea. It had rained in the night and water was dripping 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 I could ask. I had thought I might find a shop selling the Sunday papers or a milkman doing his job, but the town was completely dead.

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 very fat, and was wearing a cheap blue plastic raincoat and rubber boots. I could not see his face - he was bending forward over the phone with his back pressed against the glass and didn't even raise his head at the sound of my coming nearer and nearer. Carefully and surprisedly, I remained standing a few feet away and lit a cigarette to wait my turn. It was when I threw the dead match on the ground that I noticed something bright red trickling from under the call box door.

1.The author was walking through the small seaside town__________.

2.The weather of the day was ____, when the story happened.

3. Why was the author astonished when he saw that there was a man in the call box? Because____.

4.The author waited, standing a few feet away from the box because____.

5. What do you suppose happened to the man in the call box?

　　On a snowy and windy afternoon, An-drea, a ten-year-old girl, went out for play. She was walking along the sands when she was blown into a ditch (沟) by the seashore. She was frightened and tried her best to climb out. But the ditch was too deep and she was too weak to get out of it. So Andrea cried at the top of her voice for help. But what she could hear over the snow ditch was nothing but the terrible noise of the wind. Nobody came to her and nobody knew where she was. She struggled (挣扎) again and again. Her face was whipped by the strong wind, snow and sand, and she was almost fro-zen. Her hands began to feel stiff (僵硬). She also felt her strength running out of her. She started to cry hopelessly. Just at the moment Andrea saw a black dog appearing, through the heavy snow. It was Villa, her true friend. She was glad to see the sign of life. And the dog set out to work as soon as she got to An-drea. She cleaned away the snow around her with her paws and hind leg's, then reached out her big strong fur head to Andrea. The little girl closed her arms round Villa's neck. The dog backed away slowly, pulling her out of the ditch inch by inch.

　　Successfully, Andrea got out of the ditch at last. Then she struggled to her feet. With great difficulty, led by her true friend Villa,she was saved.

　　Villa, the black dog, was given a gold medal and honoured as Brave Hero Dog of America.

(1) The purpose (目的) of this passage is to tell us________.

[　　]

A．the excellent relation between a girl and her dog

B．how a brave girl survived a serious ac-cident

C．what people did to a dog that saved a girl

D．how a brave dog managed to save her little master

(2) Andrea ________when stuck in the snow ditch.

[　　]

A．tried every possible means to save her-self

B．did nothing but wait for help to come

C．believed that her dog would come to help her

D．was sure that people were to give her a hand

(3) Describe how the dog pulled the girl out of the ditch.

[　　]

A．She pushed the girl out with her head.

B．She caught the girl by the arm and pulled hard.

C．She let the girl hold her head and stepped back.

D．She held the girl's clothes in her mouth and ran back.

(4) The underlined phrase “struggled to her feet” means “________”.

[　　]

A．tried to go away on foot

B．stood there with difficulty

C．managed to stand up

D．fought hard to protect her feet

When I wandered along a path through woods in the countryside, a small water pool came into my sight ahead. I changed my direction and took the part of the path that wasn’t covered by water or mud to go around it. When I reached the pool, I was suddenly attacked by something several times! It was from somewhere totally unexpected. I was surprised as well as unhurt. The attacker stopped attacking me when I backed up a foot. I couldn’t help laughing when I looked down and found I was being attacked by a butterfly!  
Curiously, I took a step forward to see clearly. My attacker dashed towards me again. He rushed towards me at full speed, attempting to hurt me but failed. For a second time, I took a stop backwards when the attacker paused. I didn’t know what to do. After all, it’s just uncommon that one is attacked by a butterfly. I stepped back to look the situation over. My attacker moved back to land on the ground. That’s when I discovered why the attacker was kept charging me. He had a mate and she was dying.
Sitting tenderly close beside her, he opened and closed his wings as if to fan her. I could do nothing but admire the love and courage of that butterfly in his concern for his mate. He had attacked me for his mate’s sake, even though she was clearly dying and I was much larger than he. He did so just to give her those extra few precious moments of life. I shouldn’t have been careless enough to step on her. His courage in attacking something thousands of times larger and heavier than himself just for his mates’ safety seemed admirable. I was moved and rewarded him by walking on the more difficult side of the pool, leaving them undisturbed. He had truly earned those moments to be with his dear mate.
Since then, I’ve always tried to remember the courage of that butterfly whenever I see huge barriers facing me.

1. 1.

   Why did the writer change his direction while walking down a path?

   1. A.
      To get close to a butterfly.
   2. B.
      To avoid getting his shoes dirty.
   3. C.
      To escape a sudden attack.
   4. D.
      To look over the bad situation.
2. 2.

   What made the man feel funny?

   1. A.
      Making the attacker pause.
   2. B.
      Being stepped on by his mate.
   3. C.
      Being attacked by a butterfly.
   4. D.
      Discovering the energetic butterfly.
3. 3.

   From this experience the man learned _____.

   1. A.
      people should protect butterflies
   2. B.
      how he should deal with attacks
   3. C.
      people should show sympathy to the weak
   4. D.
      what he should do when faced with trouble
4. 4.

   Which of the following word can best describe the butterfly?

   1. A.
      Brave
   2. B.
      Amusing.
   3. C.
      Careless.
   4. D.
      Strong.

　　　 A light drizzle was falling as my sister Jill and I ran out of the Methodist Church, eager to get home and play with the presents that Santa had left for us and our baby sister, Sharon. Across the street from the church was a Pan American gas station where the Greyhound bus stopped．It was closed for Christmas, but I noticed a family standing outside the locked door, huddled under the narrow overhang（屋檐） in an attempt to keep dry. I wondered briefly why they were there but then forgot about them as I raced to keep up with Jill.

　 Once we got home, there was barely time to enjoy our presents. We had to go off to our grandparents' house for our annual Christmas dinner. As we drove down the highway through town，I noticed that the family were still there, standing outside the closed gas station.

　 My father was driving very slowly down the highway. The closer we got to the turnoff for my grandparents' house, the slower the car went. Suddenly, my father U-turned in the middle of the road and said, ‘‘I can't stand it!” ‘‘What?” asked my mother. ‘‘They've got children. It's Christmas. I can’t stand it.” When my father pulled into the service station, I saw that there were five of them: the parents and three children—two girls and a small boy. My father rolled down his window. “Merry Christmas,” he said.

“Howdy ,’’the man replied.

‘‘You are waiting for the bus?’’ my father asked.

The man said that they were. They were going to Birmingham, where he had a brother and prospects of a job.

　 “Well, that bus isn't going to come along for several hours, and you're getting wet standing here. Winborn is just a couple miles up the road. They've got a shed with a cover there and some benches”. My father said. ‘‘Why don't you all get in the car and I'll run you up there.”

　 The man thought about it for a moment, and then he beckoned to his family. They climbed into the car. They had no luggage, only the clothes they were wearing.

　 Once they settled in, my father looked back over his shoulder and asked the children if Santa had found them yet. Three gloomy（郁闷的）faces gave him his answer.

　 “Well I didn't think so,” my father said, winking at my mother，“because when I saw Santa this morning, he told me that he was having trouble finding all, and he asked me if he could leave your toys at my house. We'll just go to get them before I take you to the bus stop.”

　 All at once, the three children's faces lit up, and they began to bounce around in the back seat, laughing and chattering.

　 When we got out of the car at our house, the three children ran through the front door and straight to the toys that were spread out under our Christmas tree. One of the girls spied Jill's doll and immediately hugged it to her breast. I remember that the little boy grabbed Sharon's ball. And the other girl picked up something of mine.

All this happened a long time ago, but the memory of it remains clear. That was the Christmas when my sisters and I learned the joy of making others happy.

56. According to the passage, what do we know about the family with three children?

A．They led a thrifty and simple life．

B．They were invited to another city．

C．Their living condition was quite poor．

D．They had missed a bus to Birmingham．

57．The underlined word "it" in Paragraph 3 refers to　　　　　 .

　 A．the light drizzle

　 B．the annual Christmas dinner

C．one of American gas stations

D．the family standing outside the closed gas station

58．The three children of the family were gloomy probably because 　　　　　　．

A．they didn't have new clothes to wear

　 B．they hadn't got any present for Christmas

　 C．they were unwilling to move to another city

　 D．they worried about the friends they had made

59．Which of the follow words can best describe the father?

　 A．Kindhearted．　 　 B．Enthusiastic．

　 C．Energetic．　 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 D．Determined．

60．How did the children of the author's family look at the incident?

　 A．They considered it the most valuable experience in their life．

　 B．They were a bit annoyed because their gifts were taken away．

　 C．They treasured the experience which brought them pleasure．

D．They admired their father for his generosity and kindness．