Soon it would be the holidays, but before that, there were year exams. All the     in the school had been working hard for some time, reviewing their lessons for the exams. If they didn’t    , they would have to retake(重考) them in September. There were usually a few who    , but Jane didn’t want to be one of them. She had worked hard all year,     just before the exams she was working so hard that her sister Barbara was     about her. She went to bed too    . The night before the first exam, Barbara     that she have an early night and take a     pill. She promised to wake     up in the morning.
As she was falling asleep, Jane was afraid that she might oversleep. Her     kept jumping from subject to subject. At last, with the help of    , she went to sleep. In no time at all, she was sitting in the examination hall, looking at the examination    , but she couldn’t answer any of the questions.     around her was writing pages and pages.     she thought hard, she couldn’t find anything to write    . She kept looking at her    . Time was running out. There was only an hour to go. She started one question, wrote two sentences,     and tried another one. With only half an hour left, she wrote another two sentences. By this time she was so worried that she started    . Her whole body shook. It shook so much that she     up. She was still in bed and it had all been a     dream. A minute later, Barbara called her name.

    Our 16-year-old daughter started to smoke last Christmas. It killed me to see that lovely girl with a cigarette(香烟) in her mouth. I told her how I felt. Martha continued to smoke, saying, “It's my life,” and so on. I told her if she didn't stop smoking, I wouldn't send her to college. She agreed to give it up.

Last night there was cigarette smell on Martha's breath. She had to say she had broken her word. Now I must do what I've said to punish(惩罚) her.

Martha is unusually bright and wants to teach children. I'm working full-time to put her older sister through school and would do the same for Martha. My husband's pay is good, but with prices going up all the time we could never educate the girls unless I kept on working.

My theory(理论) is that if smoking is more important to Martha than college, I'm a fool to work to put her through college.

Why did the mother feel sad?

A. Because her daughter failed to go to college.

B. Because her daughter tried to kill her.

C. Because her daughter promised to smoke no more.

D. Because her daughter got used to smoking.

The mother warned that if Martha didn't give up smoking, she would ______.

A. refuse to give Martha any money

B. not be Martha's mother

C. refuse to pay for Martha's college education

D. not let Martha teach children

What did Martha really do after mother warned her?

A. She failed to keep her promise.

B. She kept her promise.

C. She managed to give up smoking.

D. She broke something her mother gave her.

The mother said that ______.

A. Martha was usually a stupid girl

B. though Martha's father received high pay, it was not enough for their two girls' college education

C. as everything was becoming more and more expensive, the two girls had to work hard to pay for their education

D. she liked Martha's sister but hated Martha

Maggie was very glad that James was not a frequent visitor to the house. So far as the children were concerned, they had a mystery about him that stirred their imagination. He stirred Maggie’s anger, however, so that she often said to her husband, “It’s mercy that brother of yours doesn’t come oftener.”

In fact James came once a year, unexpectedly, around eight o’clock in the evening, and he stayed for six hours of close discussion with his brother. His arrival was a signal to the children that their bedtime would be delayed. Not that he ever spoke to them or played with them. He took no notice of them, as if he was unable to see children, at least until the time came for him to go. Instead, after his first greeting and a careless kiss, James took no notice of Maggie either, except to add, “You’ll be getting on with the supper, Maggie.” Such was his regard for her.

Maggie paid him back in her own way. She kept the children up, the four of them, to keep her company, she said, but of course they sang and made a noise and broke the endless sound of James’s voice. Very late, they dropped off to sleep in their chairs. Then, when James was about to go, Maggie woke them up and so more or less forced him to part with four shillings before he left. That gave her some satisfaction, for James, though rich, was mean. He always went home by the last train, just after two o’clock.

Maggie’s children secretly stared at their uncle. They could not forget that he had, in their mother’s words, “lost two wives and taken a third, ” They wondered about those two unfortunate lost ladies. They asked each other what their fate had been, and if neither could ever be found again. James never brought his third wife with him nor ever mentioned her. The children decided that he must be so frightened of losing her that he never allowed her outside the door.

The underlined word “mercy” in the text most probably means _______.

A. loss      B. wonder

C. lucky thing D. terrible thing

Maggie never prepared anything special for James because _______.

A. he was a man difficult to please

B. she never knew when he was coming

C. she was too busy looking after her children

D. he never stayed long enough for a meal

What do we know about James’ behavior?

A. He was a kind man, with love for the family.

B. He was generous, especially towards his brother.

C. He was anxious to please the family, especially the kids.

D. He was rude to his sister-in-law.

Maggie felt pleased when _______.

A. she paid James the money that she owed him

B. James gave some money to the children

C. she had to wake James up to catch his train

D. James thanked her for the nice supper

The children did not realize that two of James’ wives _______.

A. had been dead    B. suffered from loss of memory

C. had run away from him    D. might appear again one day

One year ago, when Fiona turned four, Sam and I decided to home-school her instead of sending her to pre-school．I have always felt that the 0-5 years are an irreplaceable dreamtime．As Fiona is an inventive, observant child, sensitive and funny and great company, it would be a tragedy to find school rubbing away her uniqueness and restricting the building of her personality．
I tried not to reproduce school at home．I never had the urge to get a chalk, or a blackboard．I didn’t go and search out a curriculum(课程表)．I felt that my children would learn best if I stayed accessible (易接近的)and stayed out of their way．
Every day we worked some, relaxed some, read some and played some, but Fiona did not seem particularly happy here．She lost her temper once in a while．
How strange it was that my child who was free from school didn’t want to be free at all．Her friends all went to pre-school．She felt left out of a major part of her friends’ shared lives and experiences．I thought she was not in school for very strong, clear reasons, one of which was that the quality of learning my child did at home would be good, even better than expected．
Well, here was a situation I hadn’t expected．When we first decided to do this, Sam and I agreed that we would reassess(再评价)the situation for each child as she turned seven．Meanwhile we would offer her non-school-based opportunities to give her plenty of time with other kids-ballet lessons and swimming classes．She seemed to be enjoying all．But at times she kept asking when she was going to school．Whenever she asked this question, we told her that there would be a family meeting about it when she turned seven．She nearly always responded, “That’s when I’m going to go, then．” A fair amount of her curiosity was about school and I was afraid she was dreaming of going to school before she turned seven．
Although the advantages of home-schooling, I think, far outweigh its disadvantages, it is important for me to respect my daughter’s feelings and allow her to direct her own education．If her curiosity leads her to school, isn’t that where she should go?
Next week I’ll drive Fiona to her school．I hope that Fiona will learn to read and discover something wonderful to pursue in the world that opens up for her．I hope she will find the school activities provide her with satisfactory kid-time．
1．The writer decided to home-school her daughter, Fiona, because she thought________．
A．children aged 0-5 were too young to go to pre-school
B．Fiona may not be accepted by schools for her bad temper
C．home-schooling was much better than school education
D．children at Fiona’s age were too young to have their characters formed by school
2．In home schooling her daughter the writer tried to_______．
A．make her home just like a school
B．teach with a pointer, a piece of chalk, and a blackboard
C．be there when her child wanted her but tried not to stand in her way
D．teach according to a curriculum, which was suitable for Fiona
3．What was the writer’s biggest problem in home schooling her daughter?
A．She couldn’t decide what to teach and how to teach her daughter
B．She was not sure whether her teaching was suitable for Fiona．
C．She could not make Fiona give up the thought of going to school．
D．She didn’t know how to control Fiona’s temper
4．We can learn from the text that_______．
A．Fiona always acted against her mother’s instructions
B．it was against Fiona’s wish that she was educated at home
C．home-schooling was popular some years ago
D．Fiona’s parents would ask her opinions about school education

       “Dad! He took a book without paying!” I yelled .

       My father looked surprised. Before the boy could say anything, his mother grabbed his arm and shook it. “Is it true? You stole? Tell me!”

       Everyone was quiet. The boy began to cry, and he nodded his head. He pulled out the comic book (漫画书) from under his shirt. 

       “Oh, Mr. Kim. I am sorry! My Ted made a big mistake!” Mrs. Diaz told my father. She tried to take the comic book, but Ted wouldn’t let go.

       “It’s OK. He can keep it,” my father said with a smile.

       “Oh no,” Mrs. Diaz said. “Let me pay right now ...” She dug in her purse. “How much?”

       “Three seventy-five.”

       Mrs. Diaz’s eyes widened, and she dug deeper. I saw her mouth make a small line. “Three seventy-five?” she asked.

       “It’s OK. You can pay later,” my father said.

       “No,” Mrs. Diaz said. She kept looking in her purse. “I have money here.”

       I felt bad for yelling, for I realized that Ted had tried to steal the comic book because he didn’t have the money. Maybe the boy could have a job, I thought.

       I had an idea.

       “What if he worked with me?” I asked. They turned to me.

       I said, “He can work with me to pay for the comic book.”

       “Good,” my father said smiling at me. Mrs. Diaz nodded. She turned to her son, “You hear? You will work and buy the comic book!”  

       “Yes, Mama,” Ted said, hanging his head.

       As they left, Ted looked back, and though he still seemed sad, he stuck out (伸出) his tongue at me.

       Ted has been working here for two weeks. He has paid for the comic book, but my father says he is such a good worker that he can work with me as long as he wants. We are friends now. 

Where did the story most probably take place? 

A. In a classroom.  B. In a supermarket. C. At a bookstore.  D. At a library. 

By saying “but Ted wouldn’t let go” in Paragraph 4, the author means Ted ______.

A. took the book by mistake       B. wanted to keep the book

C. didn’t want to go home        D. didn’t think he was wrong

From the underlined sentences in the eighth paragraph, we may infer that Mrs. Diaz ______. 

A. didn’t think her son stole the book

B. had been out of work for a long time

C. forgot to take money with her that day

D. couldn’t afford to pay for the book

In the last paragraph, what does the author mainly tell?

A. His idea was successful.        B. Ted didn’t like the job.

C. He liked Ted very much.         D. Ted was a naughty boy.