D
I don’t like getting up too early unless I have to. When you’re filming, you’ve got make-up on, which doesn’t happen often. As I’m not filming at present I’ll get up at 8.30.
Work normally means Matt coming over to my house about 10 am. We’re writing at the moment. We’ll chat for a bit before going to my study. One of us will have an idea for a sketch (梗概), we’ll talk about the characters and when we feel we have enough we’ll start writing.
Matt and I met at the National Youth Theatre in 1990 and started doing shows together in ’95, at the Edinburgh Fringe festival. We know we’re onto something if we’ve made each other laugh, and that’s a really special moment. It’s not always like that, but we’re comfortable enough with each other that we can be honest and go. Some days you’re not in the mood to be funny—like writing when my dad was dying of cancer, or when Matt was separating from his partner.
We stop for lunch and sometimes go to Wagamama in Camden, but the last time we were followed by paparazzi (狗仔队), which gets you down—who wants to be pictured eating noodles?
When I’m not writing with Matt I work on other projects. My second children’s book comes out later in the year. It’s called Mr. Stink. The first one I dedicated to my three-year-old nephew, Eddie. Both books have been illustrated by Quentin Blake; it’s been a thrill to work with him—like 20 years ago reading a Roald Dahl book and looking at those drawings, then one day that person illustrates your work… magical.
At 5 I go swimming in Soho. My trainer makes me do horrible exercises, but I always feel better after.
Being in all day, I like to go out in the evening and look smart, but not like I’ve come out of the City. I’m a tall, broad guy and well-dressed.
For dinner I’ll meet friends. When you’re a single guy it’s great to have some good female friends. Or I might take my mum to the theatre, as I know she really appreciates it. I like watching TV comedy shows to see what everyone’s doing. When you see something impressive it makes you work harder. I also love Larkin’s poems: they don’t try to transcend (超越) the commonplace; they’re much more straightforward.
Poetry is great to dip into before going to bed, rather than falling asleep reading a novel and being confused over what you’ve read or not. I haven’t had a good night’s sleep in seven years; unfortunately, I rely on pills. I’ve tried everything. If I could wish anything for myself, I’d wish I could sleep better.
67. It can be inferred from the passage that _______.
A. the author spends much time with his friends
B. the author and Matt are both famous in the district
C. the author doesn’t care much about what to wear
D. the author works at home and seldom goes out every day
68. Where does the passage most likely appear?
A. In a travel diary.                         B. In a news column.
C. In an online diary.                    D. In a research paper.
69. Why does the author read some poetry before going to bed?
A. Because poetry can often bring him some funny ideas.
B. Because poetry is much easier to understand than novels.
C. Because poetry is very abstract and reflects unusual things.
D. Because poetry can be of some help for him to kill time.
70. What might be the best title for the passage?
A. A day’s work with Matt                 B. A new life-style 
C. A life in the day                       D. A good way to write

As I grew older, Dad was to build all sorts of things for me as I explored a variety of interests: magic tricks, a toy circus, neighborhood shows and science projects.

　 From as early as I can remember to the time I left home for college, I continued to come to him with a design or an idea, and he would figure out how to build it.

　 In fifth grade, a schoolmate and I wrote a puppet(木偶) show that we wanted to perform for our class. I made the puppet heads myself, and I made the costumes and curtains with Mon---who was as expert designing and sewing with cloth as my father was designing and working with wood and metal. With Dad I made the puppet stage, in our own invented style between kid and adult with me saying something like, “ It has to be this high, and it needs to come apart and fold up so it can fit in the backseat of the car, and it needs to set up fast, and it needs to have different colored lights on top with switches you can reach to control them and a curtain you can pull from under it, even if you still have a puppet on your hand.” Dad figured out how to make it all work, making plans as we went along. Then with the tools in his shop he built it, and I helped.

　 Dad also spent a lot of time out in the garage or in the driveway working on the family car. I don’t remember that he ever took it to a professional auto-repair shop. Maybe to save money, but also because he could usually figure out what needed fixing, just by taking it apart and looking. Though not trained as an auto mechanic, he could look under the engine cover and take parts and pieces out, spread them on a tarp (油布) to catch the oil and figure out what was supposed to happen to the machine and then figure out what wasn’t happening and then replace the worn-out part or whatever and then put everything back together again.

36. If you are the writer, you are supposed to write about ________ahead of the first paragraph.

　 A. father’s achievement in mechanics　　

　　 B. father’s love and skills in mechanics

　 C. father’s experience at repairing cars　

　　 D. father’s inventions in mechanics

37. Who helped the writer to make the puppet?

　 A．The writer himself.　　 B．His classmate. 　　 C．His teacher.　 D．His parents.

38. Before the writer went to college, he always turned to his father for _____________.

　 A．designing a machine　　　　　　　 　　　　 　　B．building his design or idea

　 C．making a puppet show　　　　　　 　　　 　　D．building a show stage

39. According to the passage, which of the following is TRUE?

　 A．The writer’s car is always breaking down.

　　 B．Father works in a car repairing shop.

　 C．Repairing in a shop can save much money.

　　 D．Father was good at mending his car.

40. The purpose of the writer’s writing the passage is ______________.

　 A．to tell how his father made a puppet for him

　 B．in memory of his parents

　 C．to describe to the readers his memories about his father

　 D．to argue that parents should help children to explore the world and make inventions

IV. 阅读理解（共20 小题，每小题2 分，满分40 分）

I don’t like getting up too early unless I have to. When you’re filming, you’ve got make-up on, which doesn’t happen often. As I’m not filming at present I’ll get up at 8:30.

Work normally means Matt coming over to my house about 10 am. We’re writing at the moment. We’ll chat for a bit before going to my study. One of us will have an idea for a sketch (梗概), we’ll talk about the characters and when we feel we have enough we’ll start writing.

Matt and I met at the National Youth Theatre in 1990 and started doing shows together in ’95, at the Edinburgh Fringe festival. We know we’re onto something if we’ve made each other laugh, and that’s a really special moment. It’s not always like that, but we’re comfortable enough with each other that we can be honest and go. Some days you’re not in the mood to be funny—like writing when my dad was dying of cancer, or when Matt was separating from his partner.

We stop for lunch and sometimes go to Wagamama in Camden, but last time we were followed by paparazzi (狗仔队), which gets you down—who wants to be pictured eating noodles?

When I’m not writing with Matt I work on other projects. My second children’s book comes out later in the year. It’s called Mr. Stink. The first one I dedicated to my three-year-old nephew, Eddie. Both books have been illustrated by Quentin Blake; it’s been a thrill to work with him—like 20 years ago reading a Roald Dahl book and looking at those drawings, then one day that person illustrates your work… magical.

At 5 I go swimming in Soho. My trainer makes me do horrible exercises, but I always feel better after.

Being in all day, I like to go out in the evening and look smart, but not like I’ve come out of the City. I’m a tall, broad guy and well-dressed.

For dinner I’ll meet friends. When you’re a single guy it’s great to have some good female friends. Or I might take my mum to the theatre, as I know she really appreciates it. I like watching TV comedy shows to see what everyone’s doing. When you see something impressive it makes you work harder. I also love Larkin’s poems: they don’t try to transcend (超越) the commonplace; they’re much more straightforward.

Poetry is great to dip into before going to bed, rather than falling asleep reading a novel and being confused over what you’ve read or not. I haven’t had a good night’s sleep in seven years; unfortunately, I rely on pills. I’ve tried everything. If I could wish anything for myself, I’d wish I could sleep better.

1. It can be inferred from the passage that _________.

A. the author spends much time with his friends

B. the author and Matt are both famous in the district

C. the author doesn’t care much about what to wear

D. the author works at home and seldom goes out every day

2. Where does the passage most likely appear?

A. In a travel diary.   B. In a news column.      C. In an online diary.    D. In a research paper.

3. Why does the author read some poetry before going to bed?

A. Because poetry can often bring him some funny ideas.

B. Because poetry is much easier to understand than novels.

C. Because poetry is very abstract and reflects unusual things.

D. Because poetry can be of some help for him to kill time.

4. What might be the best title for the passage?

A. A day’s work with Matt   B. A new life-style  C. A life in the day   D. A good way to write

In this age of cell phones, text messages and computer keyboards, one Scottish school has returned to basics. It’ s teaching I children the ignored art of writing with a fountain pen. There is no   clicking of keyboards in most classrooms at the Mary Erskine and Stewart ’s Melville Junior School，although there is a full range of facilities(设施）for computer lessons and technology isn ' t being ignored. The school' s headmaster believes the old -fashioned pens have helped strengthen the academic performance and self-respect of his 1，200 pupils.

"The pens improve the quality of work because they force the children to take care, and better work improves self-respect" , headmaster Bryan Lewis said. “ Proper handwriting is as relevant today as it ever has been. “ Students as young as 7 have been instructed to give up their ballpoint pens and begin to deal with its more artful predecessor. By the time they reach grade five, at age 9，they are expected to write mainly with fountain pens. Lewis said the school’s 7-and 8 -year-olds use fountain pens for 80-90 percent of their work, returning to pencils for such subjects as math. “I don’ t see fountain pens as old -fashioned or out of date. Modern fountain

pens are beautiful to use. It’ s not like in the old days of broken metal points and dirtying writing paper，” Lewis said. ‘We have a particular writing style and we have developed it very carefully and found a way that allows left-and right-handed people to write without dirtying paper. ”

Some people argue that handwriting is becoming less important because of the growing use of cell phone text messaging and typing on computers, but the school disagrees. ‘We talk of the paperless office and the paperless world, but this is not true, ” Lewis said. “You still need to have proper handwriting skills. ”

. The Scottish school in the passage   _____.

A.  does not think highly of modern technology

B.  values fountain pens more than anything else

C.  pays special attention to the use of fountain pens

D.  takes an action which is considered stupid by many people

The underlined word “predecessor” in Paragraph 2 refers to_____.

A. the pencil   B. the keyboard

C. the ballpoint pen    D. the fountain pen

The headmaster Bryan Lewis holds the view that_____.

A.  children should be required to use fountain pens when they are five

B.  handwriting skills are more important than typing skills nowadays

C.  using fountain pens may slow down students ’ speed of writing

D.  fountain pens have helped to build up students' self-respect

Which is the best title for this passage?

A.  Handwriting Not Useless Now

B.  Old-fashioned Pen Coming Back

C.  Stay Away from Tech and Teach Fountain Pen

D.  Fountain Pen Strengthens Academic Performance