Hercule Poirot looked over the small gate which gave admission to Pine Crest. It was a modern nicely-built house. It was on a hill top, and the hill top was planted with a few sparse pines. It had a small neat garden and a large elderly man was watering with a big tin.

Spence’s hair was now grey all over. He had not shrunk much in girth（围长）, though. He stopped watering and looked at the visitor at the gate. Hercule Poirot stood there without moving.

“God bless my soul,” said Spence. “It must be. It can’t be but it is. Yes, it must be Hercule Poirot!”

“Aha,” said Poirot, “you remember me. I’m grateful.”

Spence abandoned the watering can and came down to the gate.

“What brings you down here?”

“What has brought me to many places in my time,” said Poirot, “and what once a good many years ago brought you to see me. Murder, Spence.”

“I’m done with murder since I retired,” said Spence, “except in the case of weeds. Killing weeds is never easy as you think, something’s always wrong. How did you know where to find me?” he asked as he opened the gate and Poirot passed through.

“You sent me a Christmas card. It had your new address on it.”

“Ah yes, so I did. I’m old-fashioned, you know, I like to send round cards at Christmas time to a few old friends. I’m an old man now.”

“We both are.”

“Not much grey in your hair,” said Spence.

“I take care of my hair with a bottle,” said Poirot. “There is no need to appear in public with grey hair unless you wish to do so. By the way, why have you come to live in Woodleigh Common?”

“As a matter of fact, I came here to join forces with a sister of mine. She lost her husband, her children are married and living abroad. So I moved in here. Pensions（退休金）don’t go far nowadays, but we do comfortably living together.”

1.From their dialogue, we can learn about _______.

A. their common friends?? ????????????? ????????????? ????????????? B. Spence’s sister’s characters

C. their relationship?? ????????????? ????????????? ????????????? ????????????? D. Poirot’s recent life

2.Which statement is TRUE according to the passage?

A. Spence used to deal with murder.??

B. Poirot didn’t care about his appearance.

C. Spence moved to join his sister for lack of money.

D. Poirot came specially to reunite with his old friend.

3.From the passage we can infer that they might _______ next.

A. meet Spence’s family??? ????????????? ????????????? ????????????? B. discuss about a murder

C. visit Spence’s new home????????????? ????????????? ????????????? D. water the garden together?

As we drove along, my spirits went up again, and I turned, with pleasure, to the thought of the new life which I was entering. But though it was not far past the middle of September, the heavy clouds and strong north-easterly wind combined to make the day extremely cold; and the journey seemed a very long one, so that it was nearly one o’clock before we reached the place of our destination. Yet when we entered the gateway, my heart failed me, and I wished it were a mile or two farther off. For the first time in my life I must stand alone: there was no retreating now. I must enter that house, and introduce myself among its strange people. But how was it to be done? True, I was near nineteen; but, thanks to the protecting care of my mother and sister, I well knew that many a girl of fifteen, or under, was gifted with a more womanly address, and greater ease and self-possession, than I was. Yet, anyway. I would do very well, after all; and the children, of course, I should soon be at ease with them.
"Be calm, be calm, whatever happens," I said within myself; and truly I was so fully occupied in steadying my nerves and keeping down the rebellious beat of my heart that when I was admitted into the hall and into the presence of Mrs. Bloomfield, I almost forgot to answer her polite greeting; and it afterwards struck me that the little I did say was spoken in the tone of one half-dead or half-asleep.
With due politeness, however, she showed me my bedroom, and left me there to take a little refreshment for a little while and led me into the dining-room. Some beefsteaks and potatoes were set before me; and while I dined upon these, she sat opposite, watching me (as I thought) and trying to keep something like a conversation— consisting chiefly of commonplace remarks. In fact, my attention was almost wholly absorbed in my dinner: not from appetite, but from the toughness of the beefsteaks, and the numbness of my hands.
“I have had so little time to attend to their education myself, but I think they are clever children, and very willing to learn, especially the little boy; he is, I think, the flower of the flock— a generous, noble-spirited boy, one to be led, but not driven, and remarkable for always speaking the truth.” “His sister Mary Ann will require watching,” continued she, “but she is a very good girl on the whole, though I wish her to be kept out of the nursery as much as possible, as she is now almost six years old, and might acquire bad habits from the nurses. I have ordered her bed to be placed in your room, and if you will be so kind as to look after her washing and dressing, and take charge of her clothes, she needs to have nothing further to do with the nursery maid.”
I replied I was quite willing to do so; and at that moment the children entered the room. Tom Bloomfield was a well-grown boy of seven. Mary was a tall girl, for her age of six, somewhat dark like her mother. The second sister was Fanny, a very pretty little girl, looking little younger than Mary. The remaining one was Harriet, a little broad, fat, merry, playful thing of scarcely two, whom I had more desire for than all the rest — but with her I had nothing to do.
【小题1】Which of the following statements best describes how the writer felt when she entered Mrs. Bloomfield's home?

Twelve years age I flew from my home in Minnesota to spend Father’s Day with my father in California. This wasn’t a typical Father’s Day visit, but to say goodbye to my father as his cancer rapidly advanced. We hadn’t had much of a relationship up to that day and never did much talking. He wasn’t verbal (善用言词辞的) or demonstrative (易流露感情的) nor was I. I knew he loved me simply because fathers love their children. He never told me he loved me and I never told him. That’s the way we did things in our house.

   My father told me a bit about his career growth from a poor boy to a very successful businessman. He had got a lot through his hard work. He had reasons to be proud of what he had done and I had the benefit of his success. “Maybe I didn’t do things right. I never really knew you or your brothers. I did what I thought was right.” This visit didn’t change our ways. We shook hands and said goodbye as I left. Our relationship ended as we lived it.

   As a father for more than 14 years I look back and understand why I am staying at home full-time with my children. I tell my children I love them every day, I hug them and I talk with them and let them know how important they are to me. However, as much as we would like to believe that we are all ideal fathers but we are not. We all made mistakes and hopefully we learned from them, just as I learned from my father.

Why did the author visit his father?

  A. He wanted to wish his father a happy Father’s Day.                   

B. He planned to look after his sick father.   

C. He wanted to express his love to his father.               

D. He came to see his father for the last time.

57. What did the author think of his father?

  A. He didn’t talk much but was a good father.  B. He didn’t do anything right.

  C. He just did what a father should do.         D. He didn’t like his children at all.

58. Which of the following statements about the author’s father is TRUE?

  A. His father had been away from their home for a long time.     

  B. His father gained great success through hard work. 

C. His father quite understand his children.

D. His father was sorry for his mistake.

59. The author believes that fathers should________.

  A. set good example to their children through actions        

  B. stay at home with their children all the time

  C. tell their children what is right

  D. express their love to their children

I left university with a good degree in English Literature, but no sense of what I wanted to do. Over the next six years, I was treading water, just trying to earn an income. I tried journalism, but I didn’t think I was any good, then finance, which I hated. Finally, I got a job as a rights assistant at a famous publisher. I loved working with books, although the job that I did was dull.
I had enough savings to take a year off work, and I decided to try to satisfy a deep-down wish to write a novel. Attending a Novel Writing MA course gave me the structure I needed to write my first 55,000 words.
It takes confidence to make a new start — there’s a dark period in-between where you’re neither one thing nor the other. You’re out for dinner and people ask what you do, and you’re too ashamed to say, “Well, I’m writing a novel, but I’m not quite sure if I’m going to get there.” My confidence dived. Believing my novel could not be published, I put it aside.
Then I met an agent（代理商）who said I should send my novel out to agents. So, I did and, to my surprise, got some wonderful feedback. I felt a little hope that I might actually become a published writer and, after signing with an agent, I finished the second half of the novel.
The next problem was finding a publisher. After two-and-a-half years of no income, just waiting and wondering, a publisher offered me a book deal — that publisher turned out to be the one I once worked for.
It feels like an unbelievable stroke of luck — of fate, really. When you set out to do something different, there’s no end in sight, so to find myself in a position where I now have my own name on a contract（合同）of the publisher — to be a published writer — is unbelievably rewarding（有回报的）.
【小题1】What does the underlined part in Paragraph 1 mean?

完形填空（共20小题，每小题1分，满分20分）

When I entered the classroom, our teacher announced we were going to have a math test. I took a look at the   41  full of what looked like hieroglyphs(象形文字) to me and began to   42  . I did the best that I could, and then left my   43  to put my paper in a pile(摞) on the front desk with a(n)   44  .

I returned to my seat and then an idea came to my mind. I   45  where the teacher was before I made my   46 . She was walking in the   47  of the room with her back turned. I left my seat and went back to the pile of test papers already handed   48  and when I picked up my paper I also   49  the paper right below it before returning to my seat. When I looked at the   50  paper I had taken, I discovered it was the work of the   51  girl in our class,   I copied her answers to my paper.

The next day the teacher handed back our papers turning them facedown on everyone’s desks. When I   52  my paper over, I was   53  to see an “F” on it. After class I went to the girl whose answers I had   54  and said to her, “That math test was difficult. I   55  it. I guess we need to study more.” Her   56  was, “Not me, I got every question   57  and got an A.”

The teacher knew. She never blamed me in front of the class and   58  me to keep my dignity(尊严). I made a   59  to myself never ever to cheat again. I would remember to always be   60  in the things I do. I never forgot that teacher who failed me when, really, I had failed myself.

1.                A．blackboard      B．paper          C．book D．picture

2.                A．think           B．cry            C．worry    D．sleep

3.                A．seat           B．classroom       C．partner   D．teacher

4.                A．joy            B．sigh            C．idea D．problem

5.                A．believed        B．found          C．ignored   D．checked

6.                A．research        B．mind           C．move D．comment

7.                A．front           B．middle         C．back D．outside

8.                A．out            B．in             C．over D．on

9.                A．saw            B．left            C．remembered  D．included

10.               A．extra          B．new           C．clean D．difficult

11.               A．tallest          B．oldest          C．prettiest   D．smartest

12.               A．got            B．turned         C．put   D．took

13.               A．shocked        B．angry          C．happy D．excited

14.               A．copied         B．read           C．marked   D．examined

15.               A．knew          B．made          C．failed D．lost

16.               A．reply          B．attitude        C．opinion   D．purpose

17.               A．ready          B．right           C．done D．good

18.               A．told           B．reminded       C．allowed   D．advised

19.               A．speech         B．joke           C．wish  D．promise

20.               A．honest         B．friendly        C．careful    D．hopeful