先通读下面的短文,掌握其大意，然后根据短文内容和所给首字母，在空格内填入一个适当的词，使短文意思完整。所填单词在横线上必须完整写出。

Jim is one of Mr Brown’s old f 1. . Mr Brown asked Jim for dinner and he agreed. They were both very

h 2. because they hadn’t s 3. each other for years. Mrs Brown bought some meat and vegetables from the shop. They were talking in the s 4. room while Mrs Brown was c 5. in the kitchen.

Suddenly she called Mr Brown into the kitchen and said something was wrong with the pot(锅) and asked him to buy one. He said sorry to Jim and l 6.. He wanted to borrow one from his neighbor, but they were all

o 7. . He had to go to the shop to buy a new one.

On his way to the shop, he saw a man selling pots by the road. He stopped to ask, ‘Are the pots of high quality(质量)?’ ‘Sure, sir,’ the man said, ‘I can show it to you.’ The man dropped a pot to the ground. Bad l 8.! It was broken into pieces. The man was very c 9. and said, ‘I have never s 10. such a pot of low quality like it! I’d rather break it into pieces than sell it to you.

Tom and I are good friends. Tom is an English boy, but I am a Chinese girl. My name is Li Hua. He is 12 and I am 13. He is in Class One. I’m in Class One, too.

   Tom has a nice football. He can play it. I have a computer. I can play computer games, but I can’t play football. It’s difficult. Tom teaches (教) me to play football, and I teach him to play computer games. Now I can play football and Tom can play computer games.

1.Li Hua is _______, but Tom is ____________.

      A. Chinese, Chinese                     B. Chinese, English 

C. English, Chinese                   D. English, English

2.Tom and Li Hua are _________.

A. girls             B. boys           C. 13          D. in Class One

3.--- How old is Li Hua?    ---She is ____________.

A. 11             B. 12              C. 13           D. 14

4.Tom can play ________ now with my help.

A. football                           B. basketball 

C. computer games                     D. volleyball　

5. Which of the following (下面的句子) is true (真实的，正确的)?

      A. Tom has a football and Li Hua has a computer.       

B. Li Hua can’t play football now.       

C. Tom can’t play football. It’s difficult (难的).

D. Tom and Li Hua are teachers.

C

“Everything happens for the best.” Whenever I faced disappointment, my mother would say this to me.

After I graduated form college in 1932, I decided to find a job in radio as a sports announcer(广播员). I went to Chicago and knocked at the door of every station. But unluckily, I was refused every time.

At one station, a kind lady told me that big stations wouldn’t hire(雇佣) a person without any experience and suggested that I try my luck at smaller stations. Following her advice, I went back to Dixon, where I had grown up. There were no such jobs in Dixon, and my father said a newly-opened store wanted a local athlete to work for it. I wanted this job, but I was refused again.

“Everything happens for the best,” Mom reminded me. Dad offered me the car to look for a job. I tried WOC Radio in Davenport, Iowa. The program director, Peter MacArthur, told me they had already hired an announcer.

As I left his office, I felt so frustrated. “How can I become a sports announcer if I can’t get a job in a radio station?” I asked aloud.

While I was waiting for the elevator, I heard someone calling. It was MacArthur. “What was that you said about sports? Do you know anything about football?” Then he asked me to have a try. He was pleased with my performance, and he offered me a chance to work there.

On my way home, I thought of my mother’s words: “If you carry on, one day something good will happen. Something wouldn’t have happened if without the failure before.”

1.Why couldn’t the writer find a job at big radio stations?

2.Which of the following is the correct order of events?

a. The writer got a job as a sports announcer at a radio station.

b. The writer was refused when he wanted jobs in Chicago.

c. The writer graduated from college.

d. The writer went back to his hometown to look for a job.

3. Which of the following is TRUE?

4. According to the last paragraph, what did the writer’s mom want to tell him?

0ur village carpenter(木匠)，John Hill, came one day and made a dining table for my wife.  He made it just the right size to fill the space between the two window.  When I got home that evening, John was drinking a cup of tea and writing out his bill( 账单) for his job.
My wife said to me quietly, “That’s his ninth cup of tea today. ”But she said in a loud voice, “It’s a beautiful table, dear, isn’t it?” “I’ll decide about that when I see the bill,” I said.  John laughed and gave me his bill for the work.  I read:
One dining table                 10^th November, 2011
Cost of wood                    $ 17:00
Paint                           $1. 50
Work, 8 hours($1 an hour)          $8. 00
Total                           $36. 50
When I was looking at the bill, John said,” It’s been a fine day, hasn’t it? Quite sunny. ”
“Yes,” I said.  “I’m glad it’s only the 10^th of November. ”
“Me, too,” said John, “you wait—it will be a lot colder by the end of the month. ”
“Yes, colder—and more expensive! Dining table will be $20 more expensive on November 30^th, won’t they, John?”
John looked hard at me for half a minute.  Was there a little smile in his two blue eyes? I gave his bill back to him.
“If it’s not too much trouble, John,” I said,“Please add(加) it up again, You can forget the date-------”
I paid him $26. 50 and he was happy to get it.
【小题1】Why did John talk about the weather when the writer was looking at the bill?