Fannie Cratty wasn’t really my aunt. I only referred to her as “My Aunt Fannie” because the name always made my father laugh and gave my mother cause to look angrily at both of us---at me for being disrespectful of my elder and at my father for encouraging my bad behavior.

        As a young woman, my mother had worked in the kitchen of a large Victorian farmhouse owned by Fannie Cratty. During those years my mother helped Aunt Fannie make the best blueberry jam ever tasted by anyone in Glenfield. Aunt Fannie was well known for her jam and for never sharing the recipe with another living soul. Even though my mother knew the recipe by heart, as long as Aunt Fannie was alive (and she lived to be ninety-six!), she never made the jam without Ms. Cratty in our kitchen to direct the process and preserve the secret. 

        Each August, when blueberry season would roll around, my mother would prepare me for Aunt Fannie’s visit. It was vital that I should be on my best behavior. After all, the woman was old, wealthy, very strict with children. Whenever she was at the house, I didn’t need to be reminded to guard my thoughts and watch my tongue. 

         One year, after I had been particularly helpful with the jam process, Aunt Fannie gave me a quarter(25分硬币) and then made me promise that I would never spend it. “Hold onto this quarter,” she said, “and someday you will be rich. I still have my very first quarter, given to me by my grandfather.” It had obviously worked for her. So, I kept the 1938-quarter into a small box, put it in my dresser drawer, and waited to become rich. 

         I now have the blueberry jam recipe and the quarter from Aunt Fannie. In people’s eye Aunt Fannie’s success was due to that secret recipe. But to me, it was just a common recipe. Neither has significantly contributed to my wealth, but I keep them as reminders to hold onto the valuable things in life. Money can make you feel rich for a while, but it is the relationships and the memories of time spent with friends and family that truly leave you wealthy. And that is a fortune that anyone can build.

1.Paragraph 2 implies that my mother     .

A. used to forget the secret blueberry jam recipe

B. wanted to show off her excellent cooking skills

C. was unable to make the jam without Aunt Fannie’s direction

D. tried to convince Aunt Fannie that she would keep the secret

2.According to Paragraph 4, the author believed that Aunt Fanni was rich because     .

A. she had kept her first quarter

B. she had never wasted money

C. she had worked very hard

D. she had kept her promise

3.The author thinks that we can feel wealthy if we     .

A. share our wealth with others

B. have good fortune and money

C. know the secret of a jam recipe

D. own lasting love and friendship

4.Which would be the best title for this passage？

A. An old quarter                                            B. Valuable Things

C. Blueberry Jam Recipe                      　　D. Memories of old time

阅读理解

　　At first Kate thought the Romanian girl could not speak and understand English. Nadia would not reply to anything Kate said. Kate was in charge of showing Nadia around on her first day at Buckminster Grade School. Kate could not figure out why the school had put Nadia in a class where she could not understand what the people were saying.

　　“Why did they do this?”Kate wondered aloud. “I mean, you can't learn if you can't understand the teacher.”

　　Nadia's voice was a whisper, “I understand English. I will learn.” Nadia's English was perfect.

　　Kate was perplexed. She couldn't understand why Nadia did not like to speak. Then she realized that moving to a new country probably wasn't the easiest thing to do. There were hundreds of unfamiliar and unusual think to learn —-all at the same time.

　　Nadia nodded quickly. In a quiet voice she replied, “Many things people say, I do rat understand. I have been speaking English and Romanian all my life, but I do not know what some children are saying. For example, yesterday a boy asked if I could help him find the USB port on a thin black box he was carrying. Isn't a port a place for ships? It made no sense to me.”“Don't worry. ”said Kate. “You'll figure everything out in time. You see, that thin black box was a computer. A USB is a place where you can connect other machines to a computer. ”

　　Nadia and Kate were quiet after that. They took notes while the teacher gave a maths lesson . To Kate's surprise , Nadia put up her hand and offered to answer questions at the blackboard.

　　Nadia handled every question the teacher gave her. Sane of the questions were really difficult, and no one understood what was going on except Nadia and the teacher. When the teacher-said that Nadia answered everything correctly, the whole class clapped their hands.

　　Nadia was smiling when she sat back down next to Kate. “Some things,”she said in a normal voice, “are the same all over the world.”

1．At the beginning of Nadia's first day at school , she was ________.

[　　]

2．The underlined word “perplexed” probably means ________.

[　　]

3．We can infer from the passage that ________.

[　　]

A．Nadia did not like Kate

B．Nadia had lived by the sea before

C．Nadia had never seen a computer before

D．Nadia spoke in a soft voice out of politeness

4．Which of the following statements is true?

[　　]

A．Nadia was better at maths than other students.

B．Nadia found some of the maths questions difficult.

C．Nadia was encouraged to answer questions in class.

D．Nadia understood the maths teacher better than other teachers.

5．What is the message of the story?

[　　]

A．Talking about something familiar gives you confidence in communication.

B．Answering questions in class makes you better understood by classmates.

C．Language plays an important role in communication between cultures.

阅读下面的短文，掌握其大意，然后从36－55各题所给的四个选项（A，B，C，D）中选出最佳选项。

Born in America, I spoke English, not Chinese, the language of my ancestors. When I was three, my parents flashed cards with Chinese 36 at my face, but I pushed them 37 .My mom believed I would learn 38 I was ready .But the 39 never came.

　　On a Chinese New Year’s Eve, my uncle spoke to me in Chinese, but all I could do was 40 at him, confused, scratching my head. “Still can’t speak Chinese?” He 41 me, “You can’t even buy a fish in Chinatown.”

　　“Hey, this is America, not China. I’ll get some 42 with or without Chinese.” I replied and turned to my mom for 43.

　　“Remember to ask for fresh fish, Xin Xian Yu,” she said, handing over a $20 bill .I 44 the words, running downstairs into the streets of Chinatown.

　　I found the fish 45 surrounded in a sea of customers. “I’d like to buy some fresh fish,” I shouted to the fishman .But he 46 my English words and turned to serve the next customer .The laugh of the people behind increased 47 their impatience. With every 48, the breath of the dragons on my back grew stronger—my blood boiling— 49 me to cry out. “Xian Sheng Yu, please” “Very Xian Sheng,” I repeated .The crowd erupted into laughter. My face turned 50 and I ran back home 51  , except for the $20 bill I held tightly in my pocket .

　　Should I laugh or cry? They’re Chinese. I’m Chinese. I should feel right at 52 . Instead , I was the joke , a disgrace (丢脸)to the language.

　　Sometimes, I laugh at my fish 53  , but , in the end the joke is on 54 . Every laugh is a culture 55 ; every laugh is my heritage (传统)fading away.

We tried so hard to make things better for our kids but we made them worse. For my naughty boys, I’d know better. I’d really like for them to know about hand-me-down clothes and home-made ice cream and leftover meatloaf. I really would.

My cherished boys, I hope you learn humility (谦逊) by surviving failure and that you learn to be honest even when no one is looking. I hope you get a black eye fighting for something you believe in. I hope you have to share a bedroom with your younger brother. And it is all right to draw a line down the middle of the room, but when he wants to crawl (爬) under the covers (被子) with you because he’s scared, I hope you’ll let him. And when you want to see a Disney movie and your kid brother wants to tag along, I hope you take him.

　　I hope you have to walk uphill with your friends and that you live in a town where you can do it safely. I hope you learn to dig in the dirt and read books, and when you learn to use computers, you also learn how to add and subtract (减) in your head.

May you skin your knee climbing a mountain, burn your hand on the stove and stick your tongue on a frozen flagpole (旗杆). I hope you get sick when someone blows smoke in your face. I don’t care if you try beer once, but I hope you won’t like it.

I sure hope you make time to sit on a porch with your grandpa or go fishing with your uncle.

I hope your father punishes you when you throw a baseball through a neighbor’s window, and that your mother hugs you and kisses you when you give her a plaster of pared mold (一个石膏模型) of your hand.

　 These things I wish for you—tough times and disappointment, hard work and happiness.

1.Who wrote the letter?

2.What does the author hope for the boys?

3.It can be inferred from the text that the boys _________________.

4. Why does the author write the letter?

完形填空

　　All kinds of people came in to have their shoes shined. Most folks were friendly. But this man was different.

　　“How much do you make a week, boy?”he asked me. I felt he was __1__ at me.

　　He kept giving a sharp __2__ around every now and then. All the time I kept __3__ where I'd seen his face. Suddenly I knew. I'd seen his __4__ in the post office many times. He was the big robber: __5__ by the police in three states!

　　“You know, ”he was saying,“it's imagination people __6__. You'll never get anywhere as a shoeshine boy.”

　　I kept brushing on his shoes as __7__ as I could. The sooner I finished, the better. He said,“When I was sixteen, I had __8__ $ 2 500 of my own.”

　　That reminded me of something. Was it $ 2 500 or $ 5 000 or $ 25 000? I wasn't __9__. I knew a big reward was __10__ for him.

　　But what could I do about it? __11__ him with a can of shoe polish（擦亮剂）? A man his __12__ could grind（压碎）me into the floor. If only someone would come in! He kept talking away（喋喋不休）.“Along with __13__, it takes courage. The courage to take a chance. Start something on a shoestring（鞋带）.”

　　Suddenly I saw Officer Dailey __14__ across the street. Then, real fast, I began tightening the man's shoestrings.

　　The policeman was at the window when I cried out,“Officer Dailey, __15__! This man's a robber.”

　　“__16__,”the man shouted angrily. He started to jump off the stand. But he didn't go the __17__ he planned. He fell flat on his face and knocked himself out cold.

　　“That was __18__ clever of you,”the officer said. “You'll get a reward of $ 7 500 for him.”

　　“Well, it really wasn't my __19__,”I said.“It was his. He told me that __20__ you had courage and imagination, you could start something big on a shoestring.”