Someone is knocking at the door. Go and see . A．who is he B．who he is ——青夏教育精英家教网—

　　I was puzzled! Why was this old woman making such a fuss about an old copse which was of no use to anybody? She had written letters to the local paper, even to a national, protesting about a projected by-pass to her village, and, looking at a map, the route was nowhere near where she lived and it wasn’t as if the area was attractive．I was more than puzzled, I was curious．

　　The enquiry into the route of the new by-pass to the village was due to take place shortly, and I wanted to know what it was that motivated her．So it was that I found myself knocking on a cottage door, being received by Mary Smith and then being taken for a walk to the woods．

　　“I’ve always loved this place,” she said, “it has a lot of memories for me, and for others．We all used it．They called it ‘Lovers lane’．It’s not much of a lane, and it doesn’t go anywhere important, but that’s why we all came here．To be away from people, to be by ourselves．” she added．

　　It was indeed pleasant that day and the songs of many birds could be heard．Squirrels watched from the branches, quite bold in their movements, obviously few people passed this way and they had nothing to fear．I could imagine the noise of vehicles passing through these peaceful woods when the by-pass was built, so I felt that she probably had something there but as I hold strong opinions about the needs of the community over-riding the opinions of private individuals, I said nothing．The village was quite a dangerous place because of the traffic especially for old people and children, their safety was more important to me than an old woman’s strange ideas．

　　“Take this tree,” she said pausing after a short while．“To you it is just that, a tree．Not unlike many others here．” She gently touched the bark, “Look here, under this branch, what can you see?”

　　“It looks as if someone has done a bit of carving with a knife．” I said after a cursory inspection．

　　“Yes, that’s what it is!” she said softly．

　　She went on, “He had a penknife with a spike for getting stones from a horse's hoof, and I helped him to carve them．We were very much in love, but he was going away, and could not tell me what he was involved in the army．I had guessed of course．It was the last evening we ever spent together, because he went away the next day, back to his Unit．”

　　Mary Smith was quiet for a while, then she sobbed．“His mother showed me the telegram．‘Sergeant R Holmes…Killed in action in the invasion of France．’…”

　　“I had hoped that you and Robin would one day get married．” she said, “He was my only child, and I would have loved to be a Granny, they would have been such lovely babies’- she was like that!”

　　“Two years later she too was dead．‘Pneumonia(肺炎), following a chill on the chest’ was what the doctor said, but I think it was an old fashioned broken heart．A child would have helped both of us．”

　　There was a further pause．Mary Smith gently caressed the wounded tree, just as she would have caressed him．“And now they want to take our tree away from me．” Another quiet sob, then she turned to me．“I was young and pretty then, I could have had anybody, I wasn’t always the old woman you see here now．I had everything I wanted in life, a lovely man, health and a future to look forward to．”

　　She paused again and looked around．The breeze gently moved through the leaves with a sighing sound．“There were others, of course, but no one can match my Robin!” she said strongly．“And now I have nothing - except the memories this tree holds．If only I could get my hands on that awful man who writes in the paper about the value of the road they are going to build where we are standing now, I would tell him．Has he never loved, has he never lived, does he not know anything about memories? We were not the only ones, you know, I still meet some who came here as Robin and I did．Yes, I would tell him!”

　　I turned away, sick at heart．

(1)

The main purpose of this passage is to ________．
[　　]
A．	draw attention to the damage that wars cause
B．	persuade people to give up private interest
C．	arouse the awareness of being environmentally friendly
D．	introduce a touching but sad love story

(2)

Which of the following words can best describe Mary Smith?
[　　]
A．	Selfish．
B．	Faithful．
C．	Changeable．
D．	Stubborn．

(3)

The underlined sentence “I felt that she probably had something there” means ________．
[　　]
A．	I thought there might be something hidden in the woods by Mary Smith
B．	I guessed there might be a story related with Mary Smith
C．	I thought there might be some reason for Mary Smith’s protest
D．	I guessed there might be a secret purpose of Mary Smith．

(4)

What was probably the carving on the wounded tree?
[　　]
A．	The date when Robin Holmes would leave for army．
B．	Their wish that this place and tree would last long．
C．	Their names and a heart with a sign of arrow through it．
D．	Their protest against the war which tore them apart．

(5)

In Mary’s opinion, which of the following might have caused Robin’s mother’s death?
[　　]
A．	Pneumonia
B．	A chill on the chest
C．	A heart attack
D．	Severe sorrow

(6)

The “tree” probably stands for ________．
[　　]
A．	her romance
B．	her determination
C．	her sadness
D．	her dream

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It was a cold night in September. The rain was drumming on the car roof as George and Marie Winston drove through the empty country roads towards the house of their friends, the Harrisons, where they were going to attend a party to celebrate the engagement of the Harrisons' daughter, Lisa. As they drove, they listened to the local radio station, which was playing classical music.

Suddenly the music on the radio was interrupted by a news announcement: "The Cheshire police have issued a serious warning after a man escaped from Colford Mental Hospital earlier this evening. The man, John Downey, is a murderer who killed six people before he was captured two years ago. He is described as large, very strong and extremely dangerous. People in the Cheshire' area are warned to keep their doors and windows locked, and to call the police immediately if they see anyone acting strangely.”

Marie shivered. "A crazy killer. And he's out there somewhere. That's scary.”

"Don't worry about it,” said her husband. "We're nearly there now. But this car is losing power for some reason.”

As he spoke, the car began to slow down. Finally they rolled to a halt, as the engine died completely. Just as they stopped, George pulled the car off the road, and it came to rest under a large tree,

"Blast!” said George angrily. "Now we'll have to walk in the rain.”

"But that'll take us an hour at least,” said Marie, "And I have my high-heeled shoes and my nice clothes on. They'll be ruined!”

"Well, you'll have to wait while I run to the nearest house and call the Harrisons. Someone can come out and pick us up," said George.

"But George! Have you forgotten what the radio said?"

"You'll have to hide in the back of the car. Lock all the doors and lie on the floor in the back, under this blanket. No one will see you. When I come back, I'll knock three times on the door. Then you can get up and open it. Don't open it unless you hear three knocks," George opened the door and, slipped out into the rain. He quickly disappeared into the blackness.

Marie quickly locked the door and settled down under the blanket in the back for a long wait.

Suddenly she heard three slow knocks, one after the other, also on the roof of the car. Was it her husband? Should she open the door? Then she heard another knock, and another. This was not her husband. It was somebody or something else. She was shaking with fear, but she forced herself to lie still. The knocking continued----bump, bump, bump, bump.

Many hours later, as the sun rose, she was still lying there. The knocking had never stopped all night long. She did not know what to do. Where was George? Why had he not come for her?

Suddenly, she heard the sound of three or four vehicles, racing quickly down the road. Someone had come! Marie sat up quickly and looked out of the window.

The three vehicles were all police cars. Several policemen leapt out. One of them rushed towards the car as Marie opened the door. He took her by the hand.

"Get out of the car and walk with me to the police vehicle. Miss! You're safe now. Look straight ahead. Keep looking at the police car. Don't look back. Just don't look back.”

Something in the way he spoke filled Marie with cold horror. She could not help herself. About ten yards from the police car, she stopped, turned and looked back at the empty vehicle.

George was hanging from the tree above the car, a rope tied around his neck. As the wind blew his body back and forth, his feet were bumping gently on the roof of the car-bump, bump, bump, bump.

1．What was the reason for the news announcement on the radio?

A．Some people had been seen acting strangely in the Cheshire area.

B．The police were warning of accidents on the roads in the bad weather.

C．Six people, including John Downey, had been murdered.

D．A dangerous prisoner had escaped.

2．Why did Marie stay in the car when George left?

A．She was afraid to go out in the dark.

B．So no-one would steal the car.

C．Her clothes weren't suitable for the rain.

D．She wanted to get some sleep.

3．Why did the policeman tell her not to look back when he brought her out of the car?

A．The killer was waiting behind her.

B．He wanted her to forget everything that had happened during the night.

C．He didn't want her to see the damage done to the car.

D．He didn't want her to see the body of her husband.

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