It was Saturday when the entire summer world was bright and fresh. Tom looked at the fence, which was long and high, feeling all enthusiasm leaving him. He dipped his brush into the whitewash before moving it along the top board of the fence. He knew other boys would arrive soon with all minds of interesting plans for this day. As walking past him, they would tease him for having to work on a beautiful Saturday—which burnt him like fire.

He, putting his hands into his pockets and taking out all he owned with the expectation of letting someone paint, found nothing that could buy half an hour of freedom. At this dark and hopeless moment, a wonderful idea occurred to him, pouring a great bright light into his mind. He took up his brush and continued to work pleasantly with calm and quietness.

Presently, Ben Rogers came in sight—munching an apple and making joyful noises like the sound of a riverboat as he walked along. Tom went on whitewashing, paying no attention to the steamboat. 

“Hello!” Ben said, “I’m going swimming, but you can’t go, can you?”

No answer. Tom moved his brush gently along the fence and surveyed the result. Ben came nearer. Tom’s mouth watered for Ben’s apple while he kept painting the fence.

Ben said, “That’s a lot of work, isn’t it?”

Tom turned suddenly saying “Here you are! Ben! I didn’t notice you.”

“I’m going swimming,” Ben said. “Don’t you wish you could go? Or would you rather work?”

Tom said, “Work? What do you mean ‘work’?”

“Isn’t that work?”

Tom continued painting and answered carelessly, “Maybe it is, and maybe it isn’t. All I know is it suits Tom Sawyer.”

“Do you mean that you enjoy it?”

“I don’t see why I oughtn’t to enjoy it.”

“Does a boy have a chance to paint a fence frequently” said Tom.

Ben stopped munching his apple.

Tom moved his brush back and forth—stepped back to note the effect—added a little paint here and there. Ben watched every move, getting more and more interested, more and more absorbed1. After a short time, he said, “Tom, let me whitewash a little.”

Tom seemed to be thinking for a moment before he said, “No, Aunt Polly wants this fence to be perfect. If it was the back fence, maybe you could do it. But this fence beside the street is where everybody can see it. It has to be done right.”

“Oh, come on, let me try. I’ll be careful. Listen, Tom. I’ll give you part of my apple if you let me paint.”

“No, Ben, I’m afraid—”

“I’ll give you all the apple!”

Tom handed the brush to Ben with unwillingness on his face but alacrity in his heart. While the riverboat worked and sweated in the hot sun, Tom, an artist sat in the shade close by, munching his apple, and planning how he could trick more of the boys.

Before long there were enough boys each of whom came along the street; stopped to laugh but soon begged to be allowed to paint. By the middle of the afternoon, Tom had got many treasures while the fence had had three layers of whitewash on it. If he hadn’t run out of whitewash, he would have owned everything belonging to the boys in the village.

Tom said to himself that the world was not so depressing after all. He had discovered a great law of human action: in order to make a man cover a thing, it is only necessary to make the thing difficult to attain.

1.By using “Tom continued painting and answered carelessly”, the author shows Tom ______ when he was talking to Ben.

2.The underlined word “alacrity” in the last but two paragraph most probable means “______”.

3.Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage? ________

4.We can draw a conclusion from the last paragraph that _______.

根据汉语意思用短语的适当形式填空（每空一分，共5分）

1.The first thing I _______________________（意识到，知道）is all the vivid colour surrounding me.

2.She shouted, “___________ me __________（别管，别惹）” and ran to her bed.

3.As she _______________________（转向，回转）, there stand her two daughters.

4. My father always ________________________（反对）my view and thinks I will fail.

5.A little Tom _________________________（匆匆看一遍）the story and then begins to do his homework.

请阅读下列应用文及相关信息，并按照要求匹配信息。请在答题卡上将对应题号的相应选项字母涂黑。
首先请阅读下面6封信件或便条：
A．Dear Mom,
Every time it’s your birthday, I remember all the great birthday parties you gave me when I was growing up．I especially remember the one when I turned to 16, and the words you and Dad said to me．Now I hope you enjoy the birthday party I’m holding for you．
B．Dear Dan,
It’s over! High school is now part of the past．But consider what your graduation day really means, aside from the gifts．It’s the beginning of a life filled with goals that only you can attain．You’ve made it through 4 important years, and we’re confident you’ll make it through anything else you’ll have to face．
C．Dear Tom,
I’m 16, but my grandmother treats me as if I were 5．She uses a baby voice around me, which is really annoying, but I’m afraid to say anything because I don’t want to make her feel bad．How can I tell her my feelings, and let her know I’m growing up?
D．Dear Tina,
I was almost unwilling to open your gift because it was so wonderfully wrapped．The paper was just lovely! I want to thank you for thinking of me．I’m sure you spent hours making this lovely sweater, and it’s so soft that I feel as if you’ve sent me 100 hugs．Every time I wear it I’ll think of you．
E．Dear Aunt Pam,
Thank you so much for the cards and gifts you sent me for Christmas．I hope Uncle Mike and Little John are well．Next week I’m going to my father’s for the holiday．I wonder if you could come down and visit us．I haven’t seen you for nearly two years!
F．Dear Mom,
I think you’re the greatest．I know you have faults, but I can’t think of any at the moment．You deserve much more than this small gift in return for everything that you’ve done for me, but it’s all that I can afford．Hopefully, by the time I become a mom, I’ll be able to be as giving to my child as you’ve been to me．
请为下面回复的信件或者便条匹配合适的来信或便条：
【小题1】Dear Sucre,
I understand exactly what you’re telling me, and I think this problem is very common．Don’t forget that, from your grandmother’s perspective, even your father and mother are just babies．Talk with your parents and ask them to talk with your grandmother．I’m sure they’ll be able to explain to her that it’s time to stop．
【小题2】Dear Amanda,
Glad to hear from you! We haven’t seen each other since waiting at the Cincinnati Airport for that connection to London．And I’m really missing you! I’d love to see you, but Mike and I plan to visit the Lake District then．Please say hello to your dad．
【小题3】Dear Michael,
My dear son, you’re growing up so fast, and turning into an impressive person．I was so excited that I couldn’t fall asleep after the party．You know, you really gave me a big surprise when I entered the room, and made me realize how considerate and kind you’ve turned out to be．
【小题4】Dear Amy,
Thank you so much for your gift．Best of all for me, though, was to see that you’ve become an independent woman．I’m sure you’ll succeed in whatever you do, sooner or later．And some thing you can be sure of: I’ll always be proud of you!
【小题5】Dear Linda,
You are the most caring and self-accepting person I know．I think of you as my soul sister．At this special moment, this sweater I made with my own hands seems like the best way to express my feelings．I wish you a great birthday, and a great year ahead．

Tom, Eric, Tess and Ann are talking about in what way they would like their schools improved. Read the following descriptions (A, B, C and D) and match them with the four opinions.

1.Tom: I’d like somewhere to sit and read and enjoy myself.

2.Eric: I hope our school can be more comfortable and convenient.

3.Tess: I really prefer to have a place to do some exercise after class.

4.Ann: I think our school should buy more equipment like computers.

               A

What I’d most like to have is a little café, where we students can rest and do some reading. At the moment people have to stand in the passage, or even outside and there’s nowhere to buy a drink or something, or read the paper, so people don’t stay in school for long after the lessons finish. I think it would be completely different if they had somewhere to enjoy themselves.                  B

Our school is big with nice modern buildings and everything, but there is one thing I would really love ---- a gym. We’re right in the middle of a big city and the traffic is very busy, so I find it very difficult to get out to the gym at lunchtime. A gym would be good for the school. If more people went to the gym and did some exercise, they’d probably work better.

              C

Our school is just uncomfortable in every way. For example, the chairs are really uncomfortable, so the next thing I’d like to do is get some comfortable chairs of good quality. Oh, and the worst thing is that we’re on the fifth and sixth floors of our building, so I’d love to have some lifts put in. Just one little lift would make our lives so much easier.                  D

Our school has a nice building, and is in a nice part of the city. Unfortunately we haven’t got much equipment, so I’d really like to have a computer room with the Internet available. I think students can learn a lot this way. And I’d like to have VCD sub every classroom instead of tapes. VCDs are so much more interesting for learning a language, I think.

根据下列各句句意及所给单词的首字母或汉语提示，用正确形式的单词填空。
【小题1】I can see many beautiful Christmas __________ (装饰) on the streets.
【小题2】She was always __________ (乐观的), even when things were at their worse.
【小题3】A cinema is a public place of __________ (消遣).
【小题4】He prefers going on with his work to __________ (退休).
【小题5】He is to be __________ (祝贺) for his success.
【小题6】It is reported that an aircraft c__________ near the city but luckily no one was killed.
【小题7】Little Tom wrote “Granny, Heaven” on the e__________, and then gave it to his father to post.
【小题8】A few of the students failed in the examination, you i__________.
【小题9】I don’t know if we can help – that d__________.
【小题10】The doctor had to cut off his left leg and fix an a__________ leg for him.