5.(2011·重庆卷)A

There was a gardener who looked after his garden with great care. To water his flowers, he used two buckers. One was a shiny and new bucket. The other was a very old and dilapidated one, which had seen many years of service, but was now past its best.

Every morning, the gardener would fill up the two buckets. Then he would carry them along the path, one on each side, to the flowerbeds. The new bucket was very proud of itself. It could carry a full bucket of water without a single drop spilled (溢出). The old bucket felt very ashamed because of its holes: before it reached the flowerbeds, much water had leaked along the path.

Sometimes the new bucket would say, “See how capable I am! How good it is that the gardener has me to water the flowers every day! I don't know why he still bothers with you. What a waste of space you are!”

And all that the old bucket could say was, “I know I’m not very useful, but I can only do my best. I’m happy that the gardener still finds a little bit of use in me, at least.”

One day, the gardener heard that kind or conversation. After watering the flowers as usual, he said, “You both have done your work very well. Now I am going to carry you back. I want you to look carefully along the path.”

Then the two buckets did so. All along the path, they noticed, on the side where the new bucket was carried, there was just bare (光秃秃的) earth; on the onther side where the old bucket was carried, there was a joyous row of wild flowers, leading all the way to the garden.

67. The main idea of the text is that 　　　　　　.

A. two heads are better than one

B. friendship is precious in life

C. the disabled should never give up

D. a man can be destroyed but cannot be defeated

[解析]选B。主旨大意题。通读全文可知，Wellman和Corbett通过在攀岩活动中互相帮助，战胜困难，甚至挽救生命的事迹，歌颂了友谊之珍贵，文末的There are real close ties也能说明C项正确。A项意为“一人不敌二人计”。

66. What do we know about Wellman?

A. He climbed Half Dome by himself.

B. He was disabled in a traffic accident.

C. He stopped rock-climbing for some time.

D. He was saved by Corbett during the climb.

[解析]选C。推理判断题。根据第五段可知，Wellman过了一段时间才决定再次攀岩，于是他们二人共同训练，因此C项正确。A项课文中没有提及；B项错在in a traffic accident，应为in a rock-climbing accident；D项错误，应为Wellman挽救了Corbett的生命。

65. Why did the two men never talk about climbing when they first met?

A. Corbett was poorly trained.

B. Wellman had lost interest in climbing.

C. Corbett didn’t want to hurt Wellman.

D. Wellman hadn’t decided whether to climb again.

[解析]选C。推理判断题。根据句子when the two men first met, they never talked about climbing. “He knew that was how I got injured.” Wellman said和…Wellman, whose legs were permanently injured nine years ago in a rock-climbing accident可知，他们没有谈论攀岩是因为Corbett不想伤害Wellman这个残疾人的自尊。A、B、D项没有提及。

64. Which of the following was a challenge for Corbett in climbing Half Dome?

A. To climb up to remove the spikes.　　　　 B. To climb it twice

C. To do 5,000 pull-ups up the rope.　　　 　　D. To lock the rope in place.

[解析]选B。细节理解题。根据文章可知，C项和D项是Wellman所为，因此排除。根据第六段可知，Corbett在攀爬之中掉了下去，是Wellman及时固定住缆绳阻止住他下落，他得再次攀爬上去，对他来说这是个最大的挑战，因此选择B项。

4.(2011·安徽卷)C

They are the sort of friends who are so close they trust each other with their lives. If one falls, the other is there to catch him.

They are Wellman, whose legs were permanently injured nine years ago in a rock-climbing accident, and Corbett, an experienced rock climber. Together, they climbed up Half Dome, the famous 2,000-foot rock in the Yosemite National Park, through one of the most difficult routes(路线).

During the climb, Corbett took the lead, hit in the metal spikes(尖状物)that guided the ropes and climbed up. Then, after Wellman pulled himself up the rope, Corbett went down to remove the spikes and climbed up again. This process was repeated time and again, inch by inch, for 13 days.

　　 Wellman’s job was not easy either. He got himself up the rope through upper body strength alone. In all, Wellman figured that he had done 5,000 pull-ups up the rope on the climb.　

However, when the two men first met, they never talked about climbing. “He knew that was how I got injured.” Wellman said. Until one day Wellman decided that he wanted to climb again and they started training.

Their climb of Half Dome was not all smooth. At one point, pieces of rock gave way, and Corbett dropped down quickly. Wellman locked their rope in place, stopping the fall at 20 feet. His quick action probably saved his friend’s life.

“Your partner can save your life - you can save your partner’s life,” Wellman said as the pair received congratulations from friends. “There are real close ties.”

[文章大意]在现实生活中，不管作什么事情，人人互助就能克服任何困难，甚至挽救生命。Wellman和Corbett的经历恰好印证了这个道理。

56.According to the text,what was the author determined to do in that autumn?　 [C]

A.　　 To get a well-paid job for himself

B.　　　 To improve relations with his mother

C.　　　 To go to his dream university

D.　　 To carry on with his father’s business

55.Why did the mother renew her membership in the league?　　　 [A]

A.To help with her husband’s business　 B.To raise money for her son

C.To meet her long-forgotten friends　　 D.To better manage her life

54.The father srarted his small shop with the money from　　　　　 .[C]

A.a local league　　　　　　　　 B.his university

C.his relatives　　　　　　　　　 D.his college friends

53.The author was not allowed to go to Cornell University mainly because[D]

A.　　 his father grduated from the university

B.　　　 his mother did not thinks it a great university

C.　　　 his parents needed him to help support the family

D.　　 his parents did not have enough money for him