A little girl lived with her grandmother after her parents died. They slept in an upstairs bedroom.

One night there was a big fire in their house. The grandmother died when she was trying to save the child. The whole house was burning.

The little girl appeared at the window, crying for help. All the neighbors wanted to help the child. But they had no way to do it.

Suddenly, a man appeared with a ladder. He put it up and climbed into the room. When he reappeared, he had the little girl in his arms. He dropped the child to the waiting arms below, then disappeared into the night.

Everyone knew the child had no living relatives. So the people in the town held a meeting to decide who would raise her.

A teacher said she would raise the child. She could give her the best education. A farmer wanted to take her to his farm. He said the living on the farm was interesting and healthy. Everyone in the town wanted to keep the child and they all tried to give her a happy life.

Finally, the town’s richest man stood up and said, “I can give this child whatever she needs. I can buy her everything.” The girl kept silent all the time.

“Does anyone else want to speak?” asked the chairman of the meeting.

A man came from the back of the hall. He walked slowly and looked painful. Then he stopped before the little girl, holding out his arms. Everyone watched quietly. His hands and arms were badly burnt..

The child cried out, “This is the man who saved me.” With a jump, she put her arms around the man’s neck. She put her face on his shoulder and cried for a few minutes. Then she looked up and smiled at him.

“This meeting is over.” said the chairman.

(　 ) 41. The people in the town held a meeting to ___________.

　 A. decide who would bring up the girl　　　 B. decide who would teach the girl

　 C. decide what the girl would do　　　　　　 D. see how the girl was

(　 ) 42. The word “raise” in the fifth paragraph means __________.

A. 举起　　　 B. 放下　　　 C. 得到　　　 D. 抚养　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　

(　 ) 43. From the passage, we know that _________ at the meeting wanted to raise the girl.

　 A. only the farmer　　 B. nobody　　 C. everyone　　 D. only the teacher

(　 ) 44. How did the girl’s parents die?

　 A. They died in the fire.　　　　 B. They died in a car accident.

　 C. They died of illness.　　　　 D. The story doesn’t tell us.

(　 ) 45. Which is TRUE according to the passage?

　 A. The richest man saved the girl from the fire

　 B. The girl’s grandmother lived with her after the fire

　 C. After the meeting, the girl lived with the man who saved her

　 D. The chairman couldn’t decide who would raise the girl at the meeting

Just a Little Smile
Mark was walking home from school one day when he saw the boy in front of turn fall over and drop all of the books he was carrying, along with two sweaters, a basketball and a walkman (随身听). Mark stopped and helped the boy pick up these things. Since they were going the same way, he helped to carry some of his things. As they walked, Mark knew that the boy’s name was Bill, that he loved computer games, basketball and history, and that he was having lots of troubles with his other subjects and that he had just broken up with his girlfriend.
They arrived at Bill’s home first and Mark was invited(邀请) in for a Coke and to watch some television. The afternoon passed happily with a few laughs and some small talk, then Mark went home. They often saw . each other at school, had lunch together once or twice, and then they both finished middle school. They ended up in the same high school where they sometimes saw and talked with each other over the years. At last just three weeks before they finished high school, Bill asked Mark if they could talk.
Bill asked Mark if he still remembered the day years ago when they had first met. "Did you ever think why I was carrying so many things home that day?" asked Bill. "You see, I cleaned out my locker(锁柜) because I didn’t want to leave anything for anyone else. I had put away some of my mother’s sleeping pills and I was going home to kill myself. But after we spent some time together talking and laughing, ! began to understand that if I killed myself, I would have missed that time and so many others that might follow. So you see, Mark, when you picked up those books that day, you did a lot more. You saved my life. "
【小题1】 When Mark met him the first time, Bill was going