For years Tom Anderson’s life was withered up(枯萎) by the memory of his part in a fraternity(友爱，互助会) adventure that resulted in the death of one of his classmates. He and his wife separated after six years of marriage. Then the news about Tom changed. His wife Betty came back; he earned a fine position. One day he told me what had changed his life. “I used to think, ‘Nothing can undo what I have done.’ The thought of my guilt would stop me in the middle of a smile or a handshake. It put a wall between my wife and me.”
“Then I had an unexpected visit from the person I was most afraid to see — the mother of the college classmate who died. ‘Years ago’, she said, ‘I found it in my heart, through prayer, to forgive you. Betty forgave you. So did your friends and employers.’ She paused, and then said seriously, ‘You are the one person who hasn’t forgiven Tom Anderson. Who do you think you are to stand out against the people of this town and the Lord Almighty?’ I looked into her eyes and found there a kind of permission to be the person I might have been if her boy had lived. For the first time in my adult life I felt worthy to love and be loved.”
It is only through forgiveness of our mistakes that we gain the freedom to learn from experience. But forgiving our shortcomings doesn’t mean denying that they exist. On the contrary, it means facing them honestly, realistically.
Can a person be all-forgiving and still be human? A scientist I know spent four years as a slave laborer in Germany. His parents were killed by Nazi street bullies; his younger sister and older brother were sent to the gas chambers. This is a man who has every reason to hate. Yet he is filled with a love of life that he conveys to everyone who knows him. He explained it to me the other day: “In the beginning I was filled with hatred. Then I realized that in hating I had become my own enemy. Unless you forgive, you cannot love. And without love, life has no meaning.” Forgiveness is truly the saving grace.
67. Tom Anderson and his wife separated after six years of marriage probably because ______.
A. he had killed one of his classmates
B. he had cared more for his adventure than for his wife
C. his wife looked down upon his poor position
D. his life had been made in a great mess by his deep guilt
68. The key reason for which Tom’s life changed back to normal may be that ______.
A. his wife Betty came back to him
B. the mother of his college classmate asked Betty to forgive him for his guilt
C. he eventually learned to face his guilt honestly, realistically and forgave himself
D. he earned a fine position and finally made a lot of money
69. The underlined part in the second paragraph means that ______.
A. the mother of my college classmate permitted me to be a real person
B. even my college classmate would permit me to be what I used to be
C. I wouldn’t be a person unless my college classmate permitted me to
D. I might have been a successful person if my college classmate had lived
70. The best title for this passage could be ______.
A. Forgiveness: the saving grace                                          B. Hatred: unrealistic way of living
C. Love: a meaningful worthy life                                         D. Guilt: unforgivable mistake

Many of the stories written by Mark Twain take place in Hannibal, Missouri. The small wooden house where he lived as a boy still stands there. Next to the house is a wooden fence. It is the kind described in Twain's book, "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer," published in1876.

In that story, Tom has been told to paint the fence. He does not want to do it. But he acts as if the job is great fun. He tricks other boys into believing this. His trick is so successful that they agree to pay him money to let them finish his work. "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" is considered one of the best books about an American boy's life in THE the1800s.

Tom Sawyer's good friend is Huckleberry, or "Huck," Finn. Mark Twain tells this boy's story in "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn." Huck is a poor child, without a mother or home. His father drinks too much alcohol and beats him.

Huck's situation has freed him from the restrictions of society. He explores in the woods and goes fishing. He stays out all night and does not go to school. He smokes tobacco.

Huck runs away from home. He meets Jim, a black man who has escaped from slavery. They travel together on a raft made of wood down the Mississippi River. Huck describes the trip:  "It was lovely to live on the raft. Other places seem so cramped up and smothery, but a raft don't. You feel mighty free and easy and comfortable on a raft... Sometimes we'd have that whole river to ourselves for the longest time... We had the sky up there, all speckled with stars, and we used to lay on our backs and look up at them---. “

From the second paragraph we learn Tom Sawyer is a ______ boy.

A. kind       B. smart     C. clumsy     D. honest 

The reason why Huck runs away from home is that ______.

A. his family is poor              B. he wants to find a friend live with

C. there’s no warn in his home    D. he loves nature and likes to adventure

The underlined word “restrictions” can be replaced by _____.

A. limits    B. prohibition    C. forces    D. rules

Why did Huck feel comfortable living in a raft? Because _____.

A. Huck made the raft by himself     B. Huck could eat fresh food here

C. Huck could have the river there    D. Huck likes to be free

The stories of “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" and “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” are probably _____.

A. completely imaginary               B. according Mark Twain’s experiences

C. Mark Twain’s autobiography(自传)   D. records from his last generation

When Charles Strattion was five, he stopped growing. His mother took him to see the famous showman, P.T.Barnum, and thought a small person would be the perfect addition to his show. He hired Charles’ parents along with him, and they traveled around the world together.
He gave the two-foot-tall Charles a new name, general Tom Thumb. He taught Tom how to sing, dance, act, and tell jokes. When he felt Tom was ready to perform on stage, he made up ads. To stir up great interest, he said that Tom was eleven years old and had come from England.
During the show, Tom fought battles pretendedly with tall people. He also danced upon a wooden plate held by a person who was eight feet tall.
Tom’s act was very popular and brought in a lot of money. By the time Tom was an adult, he had grown very rich. He had become a billionaire at the age of twenty-five.
Fortunately for Tom, Mr. Barnum added more little people to his show, and Tom became lucky in love as well. One of the little people was Lavinia Warren, a school teacher. Tom was able to win her love, and they married.
The ceremony and reception were the talk of the town. They were attended by many rich and famous people and by about two thousand guests. Crowds filled the streets of New York to have a look at their tiny wedding carriage. The couple even met with President Abraham Lincoln on their honeymoon, just before going to live in Tom’s house in Connecticut.
Their wedding, which took place during the Civil War, provided a welcome escape from the sad problems of war. Not willing to let this bit of sunshine fade, communities throughout the country sponsored “Tom Thumb” weddings. In these weddings, small boys and girls, all dressed up, went through marriage ceremony for fun.
【小题1】“the talk of the town” means _________ .

在某访谈节目中，五位嘉宾分别回答了来自主持人的五个问题，对少年儿童提出建议。请从下列提问（A, B, C, D, E和F）中选出与嘉宾的回答相匹配的问题。
Questions:

单词拼写（根据所给首字母或中文写出合适的单词，每题1分，满分10分）
【小题1】 Keeping calm is the most important thing you should remember in time of e_______.
【小题2】 Tom d________ the gold medal in the speech competition as he had made so many efforts that hardly could anybody imagine.
【小题3】Medical teams were ________（准备）to leave Sichuan Province to treat the survivors(幸存者)from the earthquake.
【小题4】 He said that he p________ to stay at home rather than go with us.
【小题5】It’s going to be some time before I ______(恢复)my strength.
【小题6】Most parts of African countries have s________ from drought(干旱) in recent years.
【小题7】When I began to sing, he laughed and made me e____________.
【小题8】City people want to be outdoors on the weekend and do something ______(挑战性的)
【小题9】 He ______(赞成) the idea, and two years later I am in charge of the radio club as the oldest student member.
【小题10】Since teenagers have difficulty ________(平衡)these needs, they often question who they are and how they fit in society.