The clock struck eleven at night. The whole house was quiet. Everyone was in bed except me. Under the strong light, I looked sadly before me at a huge pile of that troublesome stuff they call “books”.

    I was going to have my examination the next day. “When can I go to bed?” I asked myself. I didn’t answer. In fact I dared not.

    The clock struck twelve.” Oh, !” I cried. “Ten more books to read before I can go to bed!” We pupils are the most wretched creatures in the world. Dad does not agree with me on this. He did not have to work so hard when he was a boy.

    The clock struck one. I was quite desperate(绝望的) now. I forgot all I had learned. I was too tired to go on. I did the only thing I could. I prayed, “Oh, God, please help me pass the exam tomorrow. I do promise to work hard afterwards, Amen.” My eyes were so heavy that I could hardly open them. A few minutes later, with my head on the desk, I fell asleep.

1.When the author was going over his lessons, all the others in the house were____.    

   A. asleep          B. outside         C. working in bed      D. quietly laughing at him

2.The underlined word “wretched” in Paragraph 3 probably means____.

   A. very happy      B. disappointed     C. very unhappy       D. hopeful

3.Reviewing his lessons didn’t help him because______.

   A. it was too late at night

   B. he was very tired

   C. his eyes lids were so heavy that he couldn’t keep them open

   D. he hadn’t studied hard before the examination

4. What do you suppose happened to the author?

   A. He went to a church to pray again.       B. He passed the exam by luck.

   C. He failed in the exam.                 D. He was punished by his teacher.

5.The best title for the passage would be____.

   A. The Night Before the Examination           B. Working Far into the Night

   C. A Slow Student                          D. Going Over My Lessons

The clock struck eleven at night. The whole house was quiet. Everyone was in bed except me. Under the strong light，I looked sadly before me at a huge pile of that troublesome stuff（东西） they call “books”.

    I was going to have my examination the next day.  “When can I go to bed？” I asked myself. I didn’t answer，in fact, I dared not.

The clock struck twelve. “ Oh，dear！” I cried. “Ten more books to read before I can go to bed！” We pupils are the most wretched creatures in the world. Dad does not agree with me on this. He did not have to work so hard when he was a boy.

    The clock struck one. I was quite desperate（绝望的）now. I forgot all I had learned. I was too tired to go on. I did the only thing I could. I prayed，“Oh，God，please help me pass the exam tomorrow. I do promise to work hard afterwards，Amen.” My eyes were so heavy that I could hardly open them. A few minutes later，with my head on the desk，I fell asleep.

  When the author was going over his lessons，all the others in the house were  ________ .

    A. asleep                                        B. outside

    C. working in bed                           D. quietly laughing at him

The underlined word wretched in Paragraph 3 probably means _______ .

    A. very happy                                B. disappointed

    C. very unhappy                              D. hopeful

Reviewing his lessons didn’t help him because _______  .

A. he was excited                       

B. he was nervous

    C. he was worried

    D. he hadn’t studied hard before the examination

The best title for the passage would be __________ .

    A. The Night Before the Examination          B. Working Far into the Night

    C. A Slow Student                                D. Going Over My Lessons

When I lived in Spain, some Spanish friends of mine decided to visit England by car. Before they left, they asked me for advice about how to find accommodation (住所). I suggested that they should stay at “bed and breakfast” houses, because this kind of accommodation gives a foreign visitor a good chance to speak English with the family. My friends listened to my advice, but they came back with some funny stories.

     “We didn’t stay at bed and breakfast houses,” they said, “because we found that most families were away on holiday.”

      I thought this was strange. Finally I understood what had happened. My friends spoke little English, and they thought “VACANCIES” meant “holidays”, because the Spanish word for ‘holidays” is “vacaciones”. So they did not go to house where the sign(标牌) outside said ‘VACANCLES’, which in English means there are free rooms. Then my friends went to house where the sign said ‘NO VACANCLES’, because they thought this meant the people who owned the house were not away on holiday. But they found that these houses were all full. As a result, they stayed at hotels!

      We laughed about this and about mistakes my friends made in reading other signs. In Spanish, the word ‘DIVERSION’ means fun. In English, it means that workmen are repairing the road, and that you must take a different road. When my friends saw the word ‘DIVERSION’ on a road sign, they thought they were going to have fun. Instead, the road ended in a large hole（洞）.

      English people have problems too when they learn foreign languages. Once in Paris when someone offered me some more coffee, I said ‘Thank you’ in French. I meant that I would like some more.  However, to my surprise,  the coffee pot was taken away! Later I found out that ‘Thank you’ in French means ‘No, thank you.’

1.My Spanish friends wanted advice about ______.

A. learning English

B. finding places to stay in England

C. driving their car on English roads

D. going to England by car

2.I suggested that they stay at bed and breakfast houses because ______.

A. they would be able to practise their English

B. it would be much cheaper than staying in hotels

C. it would be convenient for them to have dinner

D. there would be no problem about finding accommodation there

3. “NO VACANCIES” in English means ______.

A. no free rooms          B. free rooms      C. not away on holiday    D. Holidays

4.If you see a road sign that says ‘Diversion’, you will ______.

A. fall into a hole

B. have a lot of fun and enjoy yourself

C. find that the road is blocked by crowds of people

D. have to take a different road

5.When someone offered me more coffee and I said ‘Thank you’ in French, I ______.

A didn’t really want any more coffee

B. wanted them to take the coffee pot away

C. really wanted some more coffee

D. wanted to express my politeness

“Yes, I'll be ready at nine in the morning. Goodbye, dear, and thanks again. ”It had not been an easy telephone call for Mrs. Robson to make．Her daughter had been very kind，of course，and had immediately agreed to pick her up and drive her to the station，but Mrs. Robson hated to admit that she needed help．Since her husband had died ten years before，she had prided herself on her independence．She had continued to live in their little house, alone．

On the evening, however，she was standing at her living-room window，staring out at the SOLD notice in the small front garden . Her feelings were mixed．Of course，she was sad at the thought of leaving the house，as it was full of many memories．But at the same time she was looking forward to spending her last years near the sea，back in the little seaside town where she had been born. With the money from the sale of the house，she had bought a little flat there. She turned from the living room window，and looked mindedly at the walls. There was a small fish tank，with two goldfish in it. When asked why，her husband used to say，“It’s nice to have something alive in the room．’’Since he had passed away，she had always kept some goldfish，had always had “something alive in the room”．

The next morning，as her train was pulling out of the station，Mrs. Robson called to her daughter．“Kate，you won’t forget to collect the goldfish，will you? The children will love them. It’s…”，

“I know.” Kate interrupted gently. “It s nice to have something alive in the room.”

53. According to the passage，we know that Mrs. Robson____

A. was tired of living alone

B. was not liked by her daughter

C. did not like asking people for help

D. did not want to be visited by her daughter

54. Mrs. Robson was going to         ．

A. be in hospital                B. 1ive with her daughter

C. travel abroad alone           D. move to her hometown

55. The feelings of Mrs. Robson on her last night in the house were         

A. sad and hopeful             B. regretful and excited

C. sad and regretful            D. excited and hopeful

56. From the last two paragraphs，we can know that Mrs. Robson        ．

A．enjoyed keeping pets at home

B．missed her husband very much

C．had the same hobby with her husband

D．was worried about her daughter’s bad memory

When I lived in Spain, some Spanish friends of mine decided to visit England by car. Before they left, they asked me for advice about how to find accommodation (住所). I suggested that they should stay at ‘bed and breakfast’ houses, because this kind of accommodation gives a foreign visitor a good chance to speak English with the family. My friends listened to my advice, but they came back with some funny stories.

    “We didn’t stay at bed and breakfast houses,” they said, “because we found that most families were away on holiday.”

    I thought this was strange. Finally I understood what had happened. My friends spoke little English, and they thought ‘VACANCIES’ meant ‘holidays’, because the Spanish word for ‘holidays” is ‘vacaciones’. So they did not go to house where the sign outside said ‘VACANCLES’, which in English means there are free rooms. Then my friends went to house where the sign said ‘NO VACANCLES’, because they thought this meant the people who owned the house were not away on holiday. But they found that these houses were all full. As a result, they stayed at hotels!

    We laughed about this and about mistakes my friends made in reading other signs. In Spanish, the word ‘DIVERSION’ means fun. In English, it means that workmen are repairing the road, and that you must take a different road. When my friends saw the word ‘DIVERSION’ on a road sign, they thought they were going to have fun. Instead, the road ended in a large hold.

    English people have problems too when they learn foreign languages. Once in Paris. when someone offered me some more. coffee, I said ‘Thank you’ in French. I meant that I would like some more, However , to my surprise the coffee pot was taken away! Later I found out that ‘Thank you’ in French means ‘No, thank you.’

1.My Spanish friends wanted advice about ______.

   A. learning English                     B. finding places to stay in England

   C. driving their car on English roads  D. going to England by car

2.I suggested that they stay at bed and breakfast houses because ______.

   A. they would be able to practise their English

   B. it would be much cheaper than staying in hotels

   C. it would be convenient for them to have dinner

   D. there would be no problem about finding accommodation there

3.“NO VACANCIES” in English means ______.

A. no free rooms                  B. free rooms     

C. not away on holiday             D. holidays

4.If you see a road sign that says ‘Diversion’, you will ______.

   A. fall into a hole

   B. have a lot of fun and enjoy yourself

   C. find that the road is blocked by crowds of people

   D. have to take a different road

5.When someone offered me more coffee and I said ‘Thank you’ in French,

I ______.

   A didn’t really want any more coffee  B. wanted them to take the coffee pot away

   C. really wanted some more coffee    D. hadn’t finished drinking my coffee