—You didn’t wait for Mr. Black last night, did you?

    —No, but we ____. He didn’t return home at all.

    A. couldn’t have      B. needn’t have

    C. didn’t need to     D. should wait have

Mr.Gray traveled a lot on business. He sold machines of various kinds to famers, which he thought not really a very _36_ job, but he had always been interested in _37_, and he was quite satisfied with his life. He had a big_38_, and usually enjoyed driving it long distances, but he was also quite_39_to go by train sometimes too especially when the weather was_40_. He was a little frightened of driving in the rain or snow, and it was _41_tiring to sit comfortably in a train and look out of the windows without being worried about how one was going to get to the next place. One of Mr. Gray’s  _42_was often where to stay when he reached some small _43_in the country. He did not expect _44_and wonderful food, but he found it annoying when he was given a cold room, and when there was no hot water _45_ good food after a long and tiring day.

Late one winter evening, Mr. Gray arrived at a small railway station. The journey by train that _46_had not been at all interesting, and Mr. Gray was cold and tired and _47_. He was looking forward to a _48_but satisfying meal by a brightly burning _49_, and then a hot bath and a comfortable bed. While he was walking to the taxi stand, he said to a local man who was also _50_there. “As this is my _51_visit to this part of the country and I was in too much of a hurry to find out about a hotel before I _52_home, I would very much like to know how many you have here.” The local man answered, “We have two.” “And which of the two would you _53_me to go to?” Mr. Gray asked then. The local man scratched his _54_ for a few moments and then answered, “Well, it’s like this: _55_one you go to, you’ll be sorry you didn’t go to the other.”

--- Oh ! I’ve just broken a window.

   --- ______. I know you didn't do it on purpose.

    A. Never mind       B. All right        C. That’s fine  D. Not at all

The host poured the tea into the cup and placed it on the small table in front of his guests, who were a father and daughter, and put the cover on the cup. Apparently thinking of something, he hurried into the inner room, leaving the thermos (热水瓶) on the table. His two guests heard a cupboard opening.

They remained sitting in the sitting room, the ten-year-old daughter looking at the flowers outside the window, the father just about to take his cup, when the crash came, right there in the sitting room. Something was hopelessly broken.

It was the thermos, which had fallen to the floor. The girl looked over her shoulder, shocked, staring. It was mysterious. Neither of them had touched it, not even a bit. True, it hadn't stood steadily when their host placed it on the table, but it hadn't fallen then.

The explosion caused the host to rush back. Gawking at the steaming floor, the host said "It doesn't matter! It doesn't matter!"

The father started to say something. Then he said softly, "Sorry, I touched it and it fell."

"It doesn't matter," the host said.

When they left the house, the daughter said, "Daddy, did you touch it?"

"No. But it stood so close to me. "

"But you didn't touch it. I saw your reflection in the window glass. "

The father laughed. "What then would you give as the cause of its fall?"

"The thermos fell by itself. The floor is not smooth. Daddy, why did you say that you …"

"That won't do, girl. It sounds more acceptable when I say I knocked it down. There are things which people accept less the more you defend them. The truer the story you tell, the less true it sounds. "

The daughter was lost in silence for a while. Then she said, "Can you explain it only in this way?"

"Only in this way," her father said.

56. Which statement is a possible theme of this story?

A. People rarely tell the truth.

B. You can't always make people believe the truth.

C. If you defend yourself, people will believe you.

D. People should take the blame for what they didn't do.

57. It can be inferred from the story that the father _______.

A. didn't know the host well                    B. felt satisfied that he didn't tell the truth

C. was sorry that he told the truth                        D. didn't think the host would believe the truth

58. From the story we know that the daughter ________.

A. thought her father should tell the truth         B. didn't know why the thermos fell

C. knocked over the thermos                  D. strongly objected to her father's explanation

59. The underlined "gawking at" probably means _______.

A. staring at with anger                  B. looking at curiously

C. glancing at hopelessly                 D. looking at in a dull way

—I do feel sorry about spoiling your plans.

—_____ I know you didn’t mean to.