Our neighbour's son was getting married at an out-of-town church, and my husband and I were invited. We immediately rushed out to a store, and I bought a nice pink dress with a jacket. The dress was a little tight, but I had a month to go before the June 30 wedding and I would lose a few pounds.

    June 29 came and, of course, I hadn't lost a single pound; in fact I had gained two. But I figured a nice new girdle (紧身内衣) would cure everything. So on our way out of the city we stopped once again at the store. I ran in and told the clerk I needed a large-size girdle. The shop assistant found the box with the described girdle marked "LG", and asked if I would like to try it on. “Oh, no, a large will fit just right. I needn't try it on.”

The next morning was rather hot, so I waited to get dressed until about 45 minutes before time to go. I opened the box only to find a new girdle in a small size. Since it was too late to find another one and the dress wouldn't fit right without a girdle, a fight broke out in the hotel room between me and the girdle. Have you ever tried to shake 20 pounds of potatoes into a five-pound bag? That's it. Finally my husband, laughing like crazy, got hold of each side and shook me down into it. At once I put on the pink dress, which didn't match my red face well, and was ready to go.

Finally we got to the church. I heard one of the people say that they were having a High Mass. I turned to my husband and asked, "What is a High Mass?" He shrugged his shoulders.

Unfortunately, I learned that this particular mass would last one hour, twenty-two minutes and eight and one half seconds—the priest (神父) was going to bless everything except my girdle.

The author most probably bought a nice pink dress with a jacket ______.

  A. 4 weeks later    B. 4 weeks ago    C. a fortnight ago     D. a fortnight later

What had the author wanted to do with the tight dress?

  A. To make herself thinner.           B. To buy a large-size girdle.         

  C. To put on some weight.            D. To shake herself into it.

Which of the following statements about the author is TRUE according to the story?

A. She was very lucky to buy a girdle to go with her dress.

B. She had no choice but to put on the dress without a girdle.

C. She complained to the shop assistant about her carelessness.

D. She managed to put on the girdle with her husband’s help.

The purpose of this passage is ______.

  A. to show a husband’s selfless love         B. to share an interesting experience

  C. to describe a changeable girdle           D. to tell us how to keep calm in trouble

What would be the best title for the passage?

A. A Funny Wedding      B. A Wise Decision    C. A Tight Situation     D. A Fierce Fight

On a cold November afternoon，my mother and 1 were walking home from a   21  ．We were dressed   22  ．1 was feeling a little   23 as 1 was carrying our shopping，and decided to throw away something．So I started to walk towards a   24 when I noticed a poor man walking out of the restaurant in front of us．He   25  over to another nearby dustbin and started looking through it．
I suddenly felt very guilty because 1 was about to throw away a new drink just because it was
  26 ．1 walked up to him and handed the   27  and some snacks over to him．The man looked up   28  and took what I gave him．
A huge smile   29  across his face and this   30   me to feel indescribable satisfaction．I felt I couldn’t be happier   31  myself．But then he said：“Wow，this is my son’s lucky day!”
With that，he thanked me happily and started off on his bike，I    32  heard him whistling a song as he rode away．
I got a warm  33 inside．I now understand  34 is meant by the saying “giving is getting”．
Although it only   35  a little action and a few words，I gained and learned more in those two minutes than I did in the rest of the month．Everyone in the world needs   36  ，everyone can   37  help and everyone will be helped by   38  kindness．
The image of that man’s happiness caused by my small gift appears in my mind every   39 I have the chance to do something nice．
This is the   40   of charity．

A powerful earthquake struck the northeastern coast of Japan at two forty-six p.m. local time on March eleventh.2011. Japan's Meteorological Agency released its first tsunami（海啸） warnings just three minutes later. The country has one of the best earthquake early warning systems in the world.
There are more than four thousand Seismic Intensity Meters in place throughout Japan to measure earthquake activity. These meters provide information within two minutes of an earthquake happening. Information about the strength and the center of the earthquake can be learned within three minutes.
There are also concrete(混凝土) sea walls around much of the Japanese coastline. But these measures proved no match for the powerful earthquake and tsunami.
Costas Synolakis ，a tsunami expert at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles said，"Japan is one of those most well-prepared countries on earth in terms of tsunami warning. They had a warning. I think what went wrong is that they had not expected the size of this event."
He says there are two reasons for this. Japan has not had any event anywhere near as big as this one in the last one hundred fifty years. And scientists had not expected such a large earthquake happening off the coast of Japan.
The nine point zero magnitude earthquake was the fourth most powerful earthquake ever recorded worldwide. It was also the worst earthquake ever to hit Japan. The tsunami waves that followed were reported to have reached as high as thirteen meters in some areas.
Costas Synolakis says Japan's concrete sea walls were not built to handle such high waves.
Experts say early warning systems will continue to be limited by these facts until earthquakes and tsunamis can be predicted
【小题1】Where can this passage probably be adapted from?

Although the New Year is already here, the great moments of the past year are still in the memory. Let’s look back at some of them.
United States
One of the world’s largest New Year’s Eve parties was held in Times Square, New York. The festival attracted hundreds of thousands of people to watch a brightly-lit ball drop on a landmark building at the stroke (击、打) of midnight.
A great amount of confetti (五彩纸屑) was released from the sky at zero o’clock.
Britain
Painted in shinning colors, blowing whistles, 50，000 party-goers arrived in London’s Millennium Dome to dance in the New Year. The Millennium Dome came to life at midnight as 50 DJs started up, competing on five separate dance floors to warm the crowd into the party mood.
Russia
New Year is the biggest holiday in Russia. It is traditional to put up a tree for celebrations with family and friends.
On the very last day of last year, Russians with a taste for a very cold swim braved freezing temperatures to plant traditional, festival trees on the bed of the Northern Ocean and at the bottom of Lake Baikal, the world’s deepest lake.
Malaysia
Brave skydivers threw themselves off the world’s tallest building near midnight and floated towards the New Year.
The jump from the 452-metre Petronas Twin Tower was called a real leap from one year to the next since the group took off in the last second of the old year and landed a minute later in the New Year. “That was really cool,” said Roland Simpson, “over crowds of onlookers to the landing spot.”
【小题1】In New York the brightly-lit ball dropped ____________.

One day in January, my uncle, my cousin and I decided to go hunting．We left by car in the afternoon．It was a Range Rover with four-wheel drive．It took us three hours to get there．After we arrived at 5:15 p．m．, we fixed the tent, then made coffee and had a short rest．After that, we went hunting, using a falcon（猎鹰）．We spent two hours without finding anything．On our way back to the camp, my cousin saw a rabbit．I removed the falcon’s bead cover and let go of the aggressive falcon．When the rabbit saw the falcon, it ran fast, but my falcon was a professional hunter．He flew up and came down to trick the rabbit．After two minutes, the rabbit was caught．We took it back to the camp to cook our dinner．We ate the delicious food, drank Arabic coffee, and sat around the fire talking until 10:30 p．m．
We left the camp the next day at 7 o’clock in the morning．We went north．However, around 10:00 a．m．our car got stuck in the sand! We spent about three hours trying to pull out the car without any progress．Finally, we decided to walk．As it was hard for an old man or a young boy to walk more than 40km in the desert, I decided to get help myself．I took a bottle of water with me and started to walk south alone．I knew the way well, but it was a long way in the sand．I walked more than four hours without stopping．When I felt so tired and thirsty, I stopped to rest．I drank all the water and slept for around two hours．
When I got up, it was dark．I continued to walk south．I was worried about my uncle and cousin．Suddenly, I met a Bedouin man who was riding his camel．He took me to his house．When I had had enough rest, I asked him to take me to the road where I found a car．It took me to the city to get help．I had one day to get back to my uncle and cousin．When I got back to them, they were so happy because I had gotten help and they were able to see me again．
【小题1】Which word can best describe the first evening of their hunting trip?