A long time ago, there lived a poor man whose real name has been forgotten. He was little and old and his face was wrinkled, and that was why his friends called him Mr. Vinegar. His wife was also little and old, and they lived in a little old cottage at the back of a little old field.

"John," said Mrs. Vinegar, "you must go to town and buy a cow. I will milk her and churn（搅拌） butter and we shall never want for anything."

"That is a good plan," said Mr. Vinegar, so he started off to town while his wife waited by the roadside.

Mr. Vinegar walked up and down the street of the town looking for a cow. After a time, a farmer came that way, leading one that was very pretty and fat.

"Oh, if I only had that cow," said Mr. Vinegar, "I would be the happiest man in the world!"

"She's a very good cow," said the farmer.

"Well," said Mr. Vinegar, "I'll give you these 50 gold pieces for her."

The farmer smiled and held out his hand for the money, "You may have her," he said, "I always like to oblige（施恩惠） , my friends!"

Mr. Vinegar took hold of the cow's halter and led her up and down the street. "I am the luckiest man in the world," he said, "for only see how all the people are looking at me and my cow!"

But at one end of the street, he met a man playing bagpipes（风笛） . He stopped and listened -- Tweedle Dee Tweedle Dee.

"Oh, that is the sweetest music I ever heard," he said, "and just see how all the children crowd around the man and give him pennies! If I only had those bagpipes, I would be the happiest man in the world!!"

"I'll sell them to you," said the piper.

"Will you? Well then, since I have no money, I will give you this cow for them."

"You may have them," answered the piper, "I always like to oblige a friend."

Mr. Vinegar took the bagpipes and the piper led the cow away.

"Now we will have some music," said Mr. Vinegar, but try as hard as he might, he could not play a tune. He could get nothing out of the bagpipes but "squeak, squeak". The children instead of giving him pennies laughed at him.

The day was chilly and in trying to play the pipes, his fingers grew very cold. He wished he had kept the cow.

He just started for home when he met a man who had warm gloves on his hands. "Oh, if I only had those pretty gloves," he said, "I would be the happiest man in the world."

"How much will you give for them?" asked the man.

"Oh, I have no money, but I will give you these bagpipes," answered Mr. Vinegar.

"Well," said the man, "you may have them for I always like to oblige a friend."

Mr. Vinegar gave him the bagpipes and drew the gloves on over his half frozen fingers. "How lucky I am," he said as he trudged（跋涉） homeward. His hands were soon quite warm, but the road was rough and the walking hard. He was very tired when he came to the foot of the steep hill. "How shall I ever get to the top?" he said. Just then he met a man who was walking the other way. He had a stick in his hand which he used as a cane to help him along.

"My friend," said Mr. Vinegar, "if only I had that stick of yours to help me up this hill, I would be the happiest man in the world!"

"How much will you give me for it?" asked the man.

"Well, I have no money, but I will give you this pair of warm gloves," said Mr. Vinegar.

"Well," said the man, "you may have it for I always like to oblige a friend."

Mr. Vinegar's hands were now quite warm, so he gave the gloves to the man and took the stout（结实的） stick to help him along. "How lucky I am!'' he said as he toiled upward.

At the top of the hill he stopped to rest. But as he was thinking of all his good luck that day, he heard someone calling his name. He looked up and saw only a green parrot sitting in a tree.

"Mr. Vinegar, Mr. Vinegar," it cried.

"What now?" said Mr. Vinegar.

"You're a dunce（傻瓜） , you're a dunce!'' answered the bird, "you went to seek your fortune and you found it, then you gave it for a cow, and the cow for some bagpipes, and the bagpipes for some gloves, and the gloves for a stick which you might of cut by the roadside. He He He, you're a dunce! You're a dunce!''

This made Mr. Vinegar very angry. He threw the stick at the bird with all his might. But the bird only answered, "You're a dunce! You're a dunce!" And the stick lodged in the tree where he could not get it again.

Mr. Vinegar went on slowly for he had many things to think about. His wife was standing by the roadside and as soon as she saw him, she cried out, "Where's the cow? Where's the cow?" "Well, I just don't know where the cow is," said Mr. Vinegar. And then he told her the whole story.

1.What’s the meaning of the underlined word in the passage?

2.How many exchanges happen in the passage?

3.Why does the parrot think Mr.Vinegar foolish?

4.What’s Mrs.Vinegar’s feeling after she knew the fact?

As I write this, I have half an eye on an old James Bond film that is showing on my computer. But this is a story about how I stopped watching TV and began reading again for pleasure, after ten years in which I hardly turned a page.

I suppose I was an enthusiastic reader of "literature" between the ages of nine and fourteen. I had enough time to be White Fang, Robinson Crusoe, and Bilbo Baggins and Jeeves. Of course there was room in the schoolboy's imagination for some real historical figures: Scott of the Antarctic, all of the Vikings, and Benjamin Franklin were good friends of mine.

Then, in adolescence, I began a long search for strange and radical (激进的) ideas. I wanted to challenge my elders and betters, and shock my fellow students with amazing points of view. Of course, the only place to look was in books. I hunted out the longest titles and the authors with the funniest names; I searched the library for completely unread books. Then I found one which became my bible for the whole of 1982, it had a title composed of eleven long words and an author whose name I didn't know how to pronounce. It was really thick and looked dead serious. Even better, it put forward a whole world-view that would take days to explain. Perfect. I took it out of the library three times, proud to see the date-stamps lined up on the empty library insert.

Later, I went to university. Expecting to spend long evenings in learned discussion with clever people, I started reading philosophy. For some reason I never found the deep-thinking intellectuals I hoped to meet. Anyway, I was ready to impress with my profound (深奥的) knowledge of post-structuralism, existentialism and situationism. These things are usually explained in rather short books, but they take a long time to get through. They were the end of my youthful reading.

Working life was hard to get used to after so much theory. It was the end of books for me. There didn't seem to be much in books that would actually get things done. To do things you had to answer the telephone and work a computer. You had to travel about and speak to people who weren't at all interested in philosophy. I didn't stop reading, you can't avoid that. I read all day. But no books came my way, only manuals (操作手册) and contracts and documents. Maybe most people satisfy their need for stories and ideas with TV and, to tell the truth, it was all I needed for ten years. In those days I only had a book "on the go" for the duration of aeroplane flights. At first I would come home and watch TV over dinner. Then, I moved the TV so I could watch it from bed. I even got a switch so I could turn it off without getting out of bed. Then, one fateful day, my TV broke and my landlady took it away.

My new TV is an extra circuit board (电路板) inside my computer. It's on a desk in front of a working chair and I can't see it from the bed. I still use it for the weather forecasts and it's nice to have it on while I'm typing this… but what to do last thing at night? Well, have another go with books.

Now, I just like books. I have a pile of nice ones by my bed and I'm reading about six at the same time. I don't want to be any of the characters. I don't care if a thousand people have already read them. I don't have to search through libraries. There are books everywhere and all of them have something to read in them. I have the strange feeling that they've been there all along, waiting for me to pick them up.

1.The writer enjoyed reading “literature” between the ages of nine and fourteen because ________.

A．he thought it was important for a schoolboy to do so

B．he was still too young to understand other books

C．he believed all the real historical figures were his friends

D．he could imagine himself being the characters in the books

2.“Existentialism” (in paragraph 4) is probably ________.

A．a library intended for teenagers            B．a kind of books on traditions

C．a philosophy theory                     D．a kind of reading skill

3.The main reason the writer stopped reading books was that ________.

A．he found watching TV was more interesting

B．he became too busy to read any books

C．he found books were of little use to his work

D．he had to read a lot of manuals, contracts and documents

4.Now the writer starts to read books again ________.

A．to find back his youth in books             B．for the pure pleasure of reading

C．so as to help kill his spare time             D．for only business purposes

5.Which of the following is the best title of the passage?

A．The Years with Books                     B．Books and TV Programs

C．Don’t Judge a Book by Its Cover           D．Reading Makes One Excellent

A man was driving at 70 miles in a 40-mile-zone, when a police car came behind him with the flashers(警灯) on. As he pulled over and stopped, he could see a policeman getting out of his car. Right away the man started thinking of excuses to give, as this was not the first time, he had been in similar situations many times before.
As the policeman came to him, he said, “Hi, officer, I guess you caught me a little bit over the limit. I was in a rush to get home, to be with my wife and kids, you know my younger son wasn’t feeling too well, when I left home this morning.”
The policeman said, “Well, I guess so,” and started scribbling(速写) in his notebook. As minutes went by, he could see from the side view mirror, the policeman was still scribbling. The man was wondering why he hadn’t asked for his driver’s license so far.  A few moments later, the policeman came to his window and handed him a folded paper, and returned back to his car without saying a single word. The man started to wonder, how much this ticket is going to be as he began to unfold the paper. He was surprised it was not a ticket as he began to read:
“I had a daughter who was killed by a speeding car at the age of six, by a speeding driver like you. He got a fine (惩罚), a few months in prison, and was free, free to hug his two other daughters. I only had one, and now I have to wait until I get to heaven before I can hug her again. I have tried to forgive that man a thousand times, and I thought I had. Maybe I really did forgive him, but I have to do it again, even right now. So pray(为……祈祷) for me, and be careful when you drive again, my son is all I have left.”
The man was completely dumbfounded(目瞪口呆的) and could not move for the next few minutes. When finally he did, he drove slowly, even a few miles under the speed limit, praying for forgiveness.
52. Why did the policeman stop the man?
A. Because the man drove after drinking.
B. Because the man drove at a speed of 40 miles an hour.
C. Because the man drove over the speed limit
D. Because the man drove in a 40-mile-zone.
53. Which statement is TRUE according to the article?
A. It was the first time that the man had driven over the limit a little bit.
B. He was in a rush to get home because his son was not feeling well.
C. This story happened in the morning.
D. The policeman didn’t believe the excuse the man gave.
54. From what the policeman said in Paragraph 4 we know that ______.
A. he wanted to go to heaven to hug his daughter
B. he recognized the man who had driven the speeding car who killed his daughter
C. the man who had killed the policeman’s daughter was free to do anything in prison
D. the man who had killed the policeman’s daughter hugged his own daughters in prison
55. Why did the man at last drive slowly?
A. Because he was afraid to be fined again.
B. Because he heard his son was feeling well.
C. Because he was driving in a 40-mile-zone.
D. Because he got a good lesson from what the policeman had written.

选择恰当的主题句

Read the following text and choose the most suitable topic sentence from A—E for each paragraph. There is an extra one which you do not need.

Family Matters

Oliver Darrow, actor, talks about his daughter, Carmen．

72   It might have been nice to have more. I would have liked a son，but we just had Carmen.

I see her as my best friend. I think she always comes to me first if she has a problem. We have the same sense of humour and share many interests，except that she’s crazy about animals，obsessed with them-she has always had dogs，cats，and horses in her life.

73    That’s when they need their parents most．But as soon as Carmen went to school，she seemed to grow up and grow apart from her family, and any father finds it difficult with a teenage daughter. She was very moody and had an odd group of friends. There was an endless stream of strange young men coming to our house. I remember I once got annoyed with her in front of her friends and she didn’t talk to me for days. 

74  We sent her to a good school, but she wasn’t happy there. She left because she  wanted to become an actress. So with my connections I got her into drama school. but she didn’t like that either. She worked for a while，doing small roles in films, but she must have found it boring because she gave it up，though she never really said why. She got married a few years ago; her husband’s a vet.  They must be happy because they work together. and she loves animals.

We have the same tastes in books and music，When she was younger I used to take her to the opera-that’s nay passion-but she can’t have liked it very much because she hasn’t come with me for years. I don’t think she goes to the cinema or watches TV much. She might watch my films. but I don’t know. It’s not the kind of thing she talks to me about.

75  ．She’s a good daughter, but I don’t think she likes my new wife very much because she doesn’t visit us very often. I’m looking forward to being a grandfather one day. I hope she’ll have a son.

A man was driving at 70 miles in a 40-mile zone（区域）, when a   36   came behind him. Right away the man started thinking of   37   to give.

         As the policeman came to him, he said, “Hi, officer, I guess you   38   me a little bit over the speed limit（限制）. I was in a rush to get   39  , to be with my wife and kids. You know my younger son wasn’t feeling too   40   when I left home this morning. I’m afraid he’s ill.”

         The policeman said, “Well, I guess so,” and started   41   something in his notebook. As minutes went by, he could see from the side view mirror, the policeman was   42   writing. When the man was wondering why he hadn’t asked for his driving   43   so far, the policeman came to his window,   44   him a piece of paper, and returned to his car without saying a single word. The man wondered: how much was this   45   going to be? However, the man was   46   it was not a ticket at all and he began to   47  :

         “I had a daughter who was   48   by a speeding car at the age of six by a speeding driver. He got a fine, a few months in   49  , and then was free, free to hug（拥抱） his two daughters. I only had one, and now I have to   50   until I get to heaven before I can hug her again. I have tried to   51   that man a thousand times, and I thought I had. Maybe I really did forgive (原谅) him. So pray (祈祷) for me, and be   52   when you drive again. My son is all I have been left with.”

         The man was completely   53   and could not move for the next few minutes. When finally he did, he drove   54  , even a few miles   55   the speed limit, praying for forgiveness.

1.A. truck                   B. mail car                C. police car                        D. taxi

2.A. excuses      B. information        C. advice                    D. views

3.A. remembered           B. recognized         C. mistook                 D. caught

4.A. to school            B. home             C. out                   D. to hospital

5.A. well                B. happy             C. free               D. healthy

6.A. writing               B. looking for           C. listing                    D. looking up

7.A. even                  B. really               C. still                   D. never

8.A. insurance      B. license            C. journal                    D. route

9.A. sent                  B. handed                 C. rewarded             D. pushed

10.A. paper               B. note                C. ticket             D. notice

11.A. excited             B. upset               C. angry                           D. surprised

12.A. laugh                B. smile                C. read                             D. think

13.A. hit                   B. knocked                C. trapped               D. killed

14.A. fear                 B. trouble                     C. prison                  D. danger

15.A. wait                 B. stay                      C. remain                      D. escape

16.A. attack              B. forgive         C. educate                D. support

17.A. honest             B. thankful              C. patient                    D. careful

18.A. disappointed B. nervous            C. shocked           D. frightened

19.A. quickly     B. slowly             C. fortunately     D. rapidly

20.A. under         B. over               C. to                 D. with