Alice’s mother died when she was five. Although her brothers and sisters were loving and caring, their love couldn’t take the place of a mother’s. In 1925 Alice became my mother and told me that her family couldn’t even afford her a doll.

One afternoon in December 1982, when I was getting ready for Christmas, I suddenly decided to buy two dolls, one for my five-year-old daughter, Katie, and one for my old mother.

Things went smoothly when a friend told me that his dad, who played Santa Claus in my area, would be willing to make a visit on Christmas morning to our home with the gifts! Knowing that my parents would also come to my house, I began to get ready for the most memorable day of my mother’s life.

Christmas Day arrived and so did Santa Claus at the planned time. Katie was very excited and happy all the time to welcome the Santa. My mother was enjoying watching Katie welcoming this special guest. As Santa turned to leave he looked again into his bag and took out one more gift. As he asked who Alice was, my mother, without thinking of her name being called, said that she in fact was Alice. Santa handed her the gift with a message card that read:

For Alice:

I was cleaning out my sleigh (雪橇) before my trip this year and came across this package that should be sent on December 25, 1925. The gift inside has aged, but I felt that you might still wish to have it. Many apologies for the lateness of the gift.

Love,

Santa Claus

My mother was very excited and deeply moved to tears. She couldn’t speak but only held tightly in her arms the doll she had waited fifty-seven years to receive as tears of joy flew down her face. That doll made my mother the happiest “child”.

1.Why couldn’t Alice get a doll as a child?

A. Because her mother died quite early.

B. Because her family disliked her.

C. Because her family was very poor.

D. Because Alice didn’t love dolls.

2.What did the friend’s father do that Christmas morning?

A. He acted as Santa Claus to send Christmas gifts.

B. He went to her home to see Alice.

C. He bought some Christmas gifts for Katie.

D. He helped her to get Christmas gifts ready.

3.Why didn’t Alice expect there was also a gift for her?

A. The gifts from Santa Claus were usually for children.

B. The gift was forgotten many years ago.

C. The gift for her was bought by accident on the way.

D. The gifts for Katie were enough to share with her.

4.The author wrote the message card in order to _________.

A. show her deep apology to her mother

B. make it clear that Santa Claus didn’t forget her

C. show that Santa Claus was hard-working

D. make Alice believe the gift was exactly for her

5.From the last paragraph we can infer that _________.

A. old people still keeps something of childishness

B. we should always give our parents a surprise

C. old people usually feel lonely on festivals

D. we should spend more time with our parents

When Alice started to cycle home from Jenny’s house, she wasn’t nervous. She was certainly not afraid of the dark.  31 , it was only a 15-minute ride home. But halfway there, she began to wish that she hadn’t been so   32 .

As she rounded a sharp bend, it suddenly   33  cold－very cold. Alice’s breath became puffs of white cloud and her legs were so cold that it became hard to ride.

With her heart beating fast, she struggled so hard to move   34  that she didn’t hear the car which suddenly appeared beside her. She stopped by the road. The big black car also   35 . Slowly, the passenger-window began to slide down. Alice held her breath. In the soft light inside the car, something   36 . Then, the light brightened and Alice was staring at a sweet, grey-haired old lady. “Hello, dear,” said the old lady. “I need   37 . I’m afraid I’m lost. I need to find the nearest airport. I must be there in the next five minutes. ”

“Airport? You   38  are lost,” Alice said. “You need to go back five kilometers   39  you reach the T-junction. Turn left and  40 for about another 10 kilometers to the main highway. From there, just follow the 41 to the airport. But I’m afraid there’s no  42 you’ll get there in five minutes!”

“Thank you very much, dear.” replied the old lady. “Don’t worry—I’ll  43 in  time. ”

The  44 moved up and the car started off. A little way ahead, it  45 and with headlights flashing, it drove past Alice. But then, something  46 happened. The car began changing. First, its color  47 from black to silvery- grey.  And then the wheels began disappearing, but the car continued to move forward,  48 just above the ground. As the car  49 into the dark sky, the big red tail-lights grew larger and larger and glowed more and more brightly. With a faint whistling  50 , the car was gone in seconds, leaving Alice shaking her head in disbelief…

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland is one of the most loved children’s books of all time, and many adults enjoy it as well. It tells the story of a young girl named Alice, who follows a rabbit entering a magical world called Wonderland. She has many experiences which seem to change the rules of reasoning or common sense. The popularity of the book comes from its imagination, interesting story, and art work.
The writer of the book is Lewis Carroll. In fact, Lewis Carroll was not the writer’s real name. His real name was Charles Dodgson. One day, he took a boat ride down the Thames River to have a picnic with three little girls who were friends of the family. To keep them entertained on the ride, he told them a story in which Alice, the middle child, was the main character. They enjoyed the story very much.
Charles later wrote the story down under the name Alice’s Adventures Under Ground and gave it to Alice as a Christmas present. Later, he gave a copy to his friend George MacDonald. George read it to his children and they loved it. George suggested to Charles that he make a book from his story. Charles then wrote more parts to the story until it was around 35,000 words. It was first printed in 1866, with art work by John Tenniel, under the name Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. The book was an immediate success. One of its first fans was Queen Victoria. She immediately requested a collection of all of Lewis Carroll’s works. She was surprised to find that they included many works on math. In fact, Charles Dodgson was a highly respected mathematician. This can be seen in many puzzles and plays on reasoning that appear in his books and poems.
Since the story was first printed, it has kept selling up to the present day. It has been translated into over fifty languages and has had several movies based on it.
【小题1】The passage is mainly about _________.

阅读填空

Alice always wanted to be a singer. Music was the 1.         important thing in her life but, to tell you the  2.           (true), she took lesson for years, practised every day,  3.          in spite of all this, her voice didn't improve. Honestly, it didn’t get better, it just got  4.(loud).

    Her teacher finally gave 5.         and stopped the lessons, but Alice refused to quit, and one day she decided to give a concert and invited her former teacher to attend.

The teacher was very worried about 6.              to say after the performance. She knew it 7.           be terrible and it was. She didn't want to tell a lie, but she didn’t want to hurt Alice’s feelings8.               . Finally, she got an idea and went backstage to greet her former pupil.

    “Well”, said Alice, “what did you think of 9.             performance?”

    “My dear,” said the teacher, “you’ll 10.        be better than you were tonight.”

Brian Walker chews pens.He bites them so hard that his boss has warned him to stop or buy his own.Katie’s weakness is more acceptable—she is unable to walk past a cake shop without overeating.Sophia Cartier finds her cigarette habit a headache,while Alice’s thumb-sucking drives her boy friend crazy.Four people with very different habits,but they all share a common problem anxiety disorder or,in serious cases.Obsessive Compulsive Disorder(OCD).
From nail-biting to too much hand-washing,overeating and internet addiction(上瘾)，OCD is widespread in almost every workplace and countless homes.“It is a relatively common form of anxiety,”says Dr.Mootee.“The main feature of OCD is the repetition of unwanted obsersive(过度的) thoughts such as worries that doors are left unlocked,gas or electrical appliances are left on.”In order to fight against the anxiety and distress caused by these obsessions,an OCD sufferer performs some form of repetitive act such as hand-washing,checking door locks and gas or electrical appliances.
Dr.Mootee says that repetitive washing,particularly of the hands,is the most common type of OCD.She has treated many patients who wash their hands up to 30 times a day.The technique Mootee uses to treat people with OCD is called cognitive-behavioral therapy(认知行为疗法).“It is based on the general idea that people have the ability to change the way they think and behave,”says Mootee.
But when does a habit become a problem?“It’s personal,”says Mootee.“Everyone has something unusual,but if you can’t put up with it,then it’s a problem and you need to do something to change it.”Mootee says many people resist going for treatment because they fear they are “crazy”.But as people become more knowledgeable about these problems they will go and get help.The only way to cure is to conquer.
【小题1】If a person suffers from OCD,he is likely to keep doing any of the following EXCEPT______.