Two men, Alan and Henry, both seriously ill, shared a hospital room. Alan was allowed to sit up in his bed and his bed was next to the room’s only window. Henry had to spend all his time flat on his back.
The men talked for hours, of their wives, families, their homes and their jobs. And every afternoon when Alan, in the bed next to the window, could sit up, he would pass the time by describing to his roommate all the things he could see. Ducks and swans played on the water while children sailed their model boats. Lovers walked arm in arm among flowers. Trees and skyline could be seen in the distance. As he described all this, Henry, on the other side of the room, would close his eyes and imagine the scene.
One warm afternoon Alan described a parade (游行) passing by. Although Henry could not hear the band, he could see it in his mind. Unexpectedly, an alien thought entered his head: why should he have all the pleasure of seeing everything while I never got to see anything? It doesn’t seem fair. Henry felt ashamed at first. But as the days passed and he missed seeing more sight, his envy grew and soon let him down. He began to find himself unable to sleep. He should be by that window—and that thought now controlled his life.
Late one night,　as he lay staring at the ceiling. Alan began to cough. He was choking. Henry watched in the dim room as the struggling man tried hard to reach for the button to call for help. Listening from across the room, he never moved, never pushed his own button which would have brought the nurse running. In less than five minutes, the coughing and choking stopped, along with the sound of breathing. Now, there was only silence—deathly silence.
As soon as it seemed appropriate, Henry asked if he could be moved next to the window. The nurse was happy to make the switch and after making sure he was comfortable, she left him alone.
Slowly, painfully, he struggled to take his first look. Finally, he would have the joy of seeing it all himself. He looked out, but faced a black wall.
【小题1】Judging from the passage, the meaning of the underlined word “alien” is ______.

A．disappointing

B．sudden

C．new

D．strange

【小题2】What finally happened to Alan?

A．He was moved to another room.	B．He died.
C．He switched his bed with Henry.	D．He was very sick.

【小题3】Henry, who had his bed switched, had expected _____.

A．to see the black wall	B．to feel the joy of seeing the outside world
C．to feel the joy of breathing fresh air	D．to see more than Alan

【小题4】Which of the following words could be used to describe Alan?

A．Kind-hearted and imaginative	B．Well-informed and humorous
C．Talkative and funny	D．Cold-hearted and indifferent

One day，four lawyers were riding their horses along a country road. There had been a rain. Water was dripping (滴) from the trees，and the grass was wet. They rode slowly，talking and laughing. Suddenly they heard some noises from the tree above them. “What is the matter?” asked the first lawyer. “Oh, it's only some old birds!” said the second lawyer. “The storm made one of the babies fall out of the nest. It is too young to fly, and the mother bird is very worried.” “What a pity! It’ll die down there in the grass,” said the third lawyer. “It doesn't matter. It's only a bird,” said the second lawyer. Then they rode on, talking and laughing as before. But the fourth lawyer, whose name was Abraham Lincoln, stopped. He got down from his horse and took the little one in his big warm hands.
“Never mind, my little fellow ,” said Mr. Lincoln. “I will put you back in your little nest.” He climbed up the tree and put the bird softly into their warm little home. A few minutes later, Mr. Lincoln joined them again. His shoes were covered with mud and he was wet. Then the other three laughed at him. They thought it was foolish for a strong man to do so much just for a young bird. “Gentlemen,” said Mr. Lincoln, “I could not sleep tonight if I had left the helpless bird in the grass.” Later Abraham Lincoln became very famous as a lawyer. He also became the president of America. He was one of the greatest American presidents.
【小题1】The reason why the mother bird was worried was that __________.

A．there was a rain

B．the lawyers were under its tree

C．one of its babies fell out of the nest

D．it could not fly

【小题2】The underlined phrase “little fellow” in paragraph 2 means __________.

A．the mother bird

B．Lincoln's little friends

C．the other three lawyers

D．the baby bird

【小题3】The other three lawyers laughed at Lincoln because __________.

A．he climbed the tree

B．he was wet

C．his shoes were covered with mud

D．they thought it foolish for him to do so

【小题4】From the passage we know Lincoln __________.

A．liked riding horses

B．was very kind and loved birds and animals

C．liked being laughed at

D．wanted to be the president of America then

It was Christmas 1961. I was teaching in a small town in Ohio where my twenty seven third graders eagerly anticipated the great day of gift giving.
Each day the children made some new wonder – strings of popcorn, hand-made decorations, and German bells made from wallpaper samples, which we hung from the ceiling. Through it all she stayed indifferent(漠不关心的), watching from afar, seemingly miles away. I wondered what would happen to this quiet child, once so happy, now so suddenly unsociable. I hoped the festivities would light her up. But nothing did.
The day of gift giving finally came. We oohed and aahed over our handwork as the presents were exchanged. Through it all, she sat quietly watching. I had made a special package for her, red and green with white lace. I wanted very much to see her smile. She opened it so slowly and carefully. I waited but she turned away.
After school the children left in little groups, but she hesitated, watching them go out of the door. I sat down to catch my breath, hardly know what was happening when she came to me reaching out her hands, holding a small white box, unwrapped and slightly soiled, as though it had been held many times by unwashed, childish hands. “For me?” I asked with a weak smile. She said not a word, but nodded her head. I took the box and carefully opened it. There inside, lay a golden chain. In a flash I knew – she had made it for her mother, a mother she would never see again, a mother who would never hold her or brush her hair or share a funny story, a mother who would never again hear her childish joys or sorrows, a mother who had taken her own life just three weeks before.
I held out the chain. She took it in both her hands, reached forward, and put it on at the back of my neck. She stepped back then as if to see that all was well. I looked down at the golden chain, then back at the giver, “Maria, it is so beautiful. She would have loved it.” Neither of us could stop the tears. She threw herself into my arms and we were in tears together. And for that moment I became her mother, for she had given me the greatest gift of all: herself.
【小题1】The underlined “anticipated” (Paragraph 1) is closest in meaning to _________.

A．prepared

B．expected

C．talked

D．kept

【小题2】We can learn from the story that_________.

A．the beautiful chain was put inside a beautiful box

B．Maria made a golden chain of popcorn for her mother

C．the teacher made a special package for Maria so as to see her smile

D．Maria oohed and aahed over the handwork as the presents were exchanged

【小题3】Maria became quiet and unsociable because_________.

A．she was a shy girl

B．her teacher didn’t give her any gift

C．her mother passed away three weeks ago

D．she didn’t have any friends in the class

【小题4】The underlined sentence (Paragraph 5) mostly means_________.

A．Maria found her biological mother

B．Maria asked her teacher to be her mother

C．the teacher promised to be Maria’s mother after receiving her greatest gift

D．Maria believed in her considerate teacher and opened her heart to the teacher

【小题5】The BEST title for the passage is _________.

A．The kid’s gift	B．A quiet girl
C．The greatest teacher	D．The great day of gift giving

When I was a boy growing up in New Jersey in the 1960s, we had a milkman delivering milk to our doorstep. His name was Mr. Basille. He wore a white cap and drove a white truck. As a 5-year-old boy, I couldn’t take my eyes off the coin changer fixed to his belt. He noticed this one day during a delivery and gave me a quarter out of his coin changer.
Of course, he delivered more than milk. There was cheese, eggs and so on. If we needed to change our order, my mother would pen a note—“Please add a bottle of buttermilk next delivery”—and place it in the box along with the empty bottles. And then, the buttermilk would magically（魔术般）appear.
All of this was about more than convenience. There existed a close relationship between families and their milkmen. Mr. Basille even had a key to our house, for those times when it was so cold outside that we put the box indoors, so that the milk wouldn't freeze. And I remember Mr. Basille from time to time taking a break at our kitchen table, having a cup of tea and telling stories about his delivery.
There is sadly no home milk delivery today. Big companies allowed the production of cheaper milk thus making it difficult for milkmen to compete (竞争). Besides, milk is for sale everywhere, and it may just not have been practiced to have a delivery service.
Recently, an old milk box in the countryside I saw brought back my childhood memories. I took it home and planted it on the back porch (门廊). Every so often my son's friends will ask what it is. So I start telling stories of my boyhood, and of the milkman who brought us friendship along with his milk.
【小题1】Mr. Basille gave the boy a quarter out of his coin changer     .

A．to show his magical power	B．to pay for the delivery
C．to satisfy his curiosity	D．to please his mother

【小题2】What can be inferred from the fact that the milkman had the key to the boy's house?

A．He wanted to have tea there.	B．He was a respectable person.
C．He was treated as a family member.	D．He was fully trusted by the family.

【小题3】Why does home milk delivery no longer exist?

A．Nobody wants to be a milkman now.	B．It has been driven out of the market.
C．Its service is getting poor.	D．It is forbidden by law.

【小题4】Why did the author bring back home an old milk box?

A．He missed the good old days.	B．He wanted to tell interesting stories.
C．He needed it for his milk bottles.	D．He planted flowers in it.

“Fire! Fire!” What terrible words to hear when one wakes up in a strange house in the middle of the night! It was a large, old, wooden house and my room was on the top floor. I jumped out of bed, opened the door and stepped outside the house. There was full of thick smoke.
I began to run, but as I was still only half-awake, instead of going towards the stairs I went in the opposite direction. The smoke grew thicker and I could see fire all around. The floor became hot under my bare feet. I found an open door and ran into a room to get to the window. But before I could reach it, one of my feet caught in something soft and I fell down. The thing I had fallen over felt like a bundle of clothes, and I picked it up to protect my face from the smoke and heat. Just then the floor gave way under me and I crashed to the floor below with pieces of burning wood all around me.
I saw a doorway in fire, then I put the bundle over my face and ran. My feet burned me terrible, but I got through. As I reached the cold air outside, my bundle of clothes gave a thin cry, I nearly dropped it in my surprise. Then I was in a crowd gathered in the street. A woman in a night-dress and a borrowed man’s coat screamed as she saw me and came running madly.
She was the Mayor’s wife, and I had saved her baby.
【小题1】When the fire arose in the middle of the night, the author was _______.

A．at home

B．sleeping

C．sitting in bed

D．both A and B

【小题2】The author saved the baby _____.

A．because he was very brave.

B．because he liked the baby very much.

C．but he just happened to save it.

D．because it was the Mayor’s baby.

【小题3】He ran in the wrong direction because he _______.

A．was a stranger there	B．could see nothing
C．was not completely awake	D．Both A and C

【小题4】He put the bundle over his face and ran in order to ______.

A．save the baby	B．call for help
C．protect his face	D．run quickly

【小题5】Form which group of words, we can learn the fire took place out of people’s surprise?

A．old and wooden house, a bundle

B．crashed to, fell down

C．terrible, half-awake

D．bare feet, a borrowed man’s coat

Picasso, the famous Spanish painter, was born in 1881. His father was an art teacher. Picasso began to paint very early. He was admitted to the Royal Academy of Art at the age of 15. After 1900, he spent much time in Paris, living there from 1904 to 1947, when he moved to the south of France.
Throughout his career, Picasso moved from style to style with ease. He practiced sculpture, illustrated books and also showed great interest in pottery design and other fields of art.
　　Picasso produced a great number of drawings during his lifetime. No later artist of the School of Paris has replaced him in international influence.
　　Picasso is generally considered to be the foremost figure in 20th century French art. His paintings are now exhibited in leading European and American galleries.
【小题1】The main idea of the passage is _____.

A．Picasso is considered to be the foremost figure in the 20th century French art

B．Picasso is a famous Spanish painter

C．Picasso spent much time in Pairs, living there from 1904 to 1970

D．Picasso’s life and art

【小题2】According to the writer, Picasso was _____.

A．more important than any other French artist in international influence

B．more important than any other Spanish artist in international influence

C．the most important figure in Spain

D．the most important figure in France

　【小题3】Picasso moved from style to style with ease. It means _____.

A．he did not like only one style

B．he changed his style without difficulty

C．he not only liked sculpture, but also pottery design

D．he showed great interest in other fields of art

We were on tour a few summers ago, driving through Chicago, when right outside of the city, we got pulled over(被迫停车). A middle-aged policeman came up to the ear and was really being troublesome at first. He said, "You were speeding. Where are you going in such a hurry?" Our guitarist, Tim, told him that we were on our way to Wisconsin to play a show. Then his way towards us totally changed. He asked, "Oh, so you boys are in a band?" We told him that we were. He then asked all the usual band questions about the type of music we played, and how long we had been at it.
Suddenly, he stopped and said, "Tim, you want to get out of this ticket, don't you?" Tim said, "Yes. " So the officer asked him to step out of the car. The rest of us, inside the car, didn' t know what to think as we watched the policeman talk to Tim. Then the policeman put Tim in the back of the police car and threw the car into reverse(倒车), stopping a few feet in back of our car.
Now we suddenly felt frightened. We didn't know if we were all going to prison. Suddenly, the policeman's voice came over in a loudspeaker. He said, "Ladies and gentlemen, for the first time ever, we have Tim here singing on Route 90." Later we knew, the policeman had told Tim that if he sang one of our songs over the loudspeaker in the police car, we would get out of the ticket. Seconds later, Tim started screaming into the receiver. The policeman enjoyed the performance, and sent us on our way without a ticket.
【小题1】Why did the policeman stop the boys?

A．Because they drove too fast.

B．Because they were late for their show.

C．Because they didn't see the policeman.

D．Because they had to answer the band questions.

【小题2】The policeman became friendly to the boys when he knew they ______.

A．had long been at the band

B．played the music he loved

C．were driving for a show

D．promised him a performance

【小题3】The underlined word "ticket" in paragraph 2 means "a piece of paper that ______".

A．allows you to enter a cinema

B．shows the price or size in a shop

C．shows that you have paid to travel on a bus

D．orders you to pay money because you have done something wrong

【小题4】How did the boys probably feel when they went on their way again?

A．Happy.

B．Calm.

C．Angry.

D．Frightened.

Welcome to Adventure land!
Everyone loves Adventure land! The Parks and Exhibitions were built for you to explore, enjoy, and admire their wonders. Every visit will be an unforgettable experience.
The Travel Pavilion
Explore places you have never been to before, and experience different ways of life.
Visit the Amazon jungle (丛林) village, the Turkish market, the Tai floating market, the Berber mountain house and others. Talk to the people there, who will tell you about their lives and things they make. You can try making a carpet, making nets, fishing…
The Future Tower
This exhibition shows how progress will touch our lives. It allows us to look into the future and explore the cities of the next century and the way we'll be living then. Spend some time in our space station and you can even take a "journey" to Mars!
The Nature Park
This is not really one park but several parks.
In the Safari Park you can drive among African animals and see lions, giraffes, elephants in the wild. Move on to the Ocean Park to watch the dolphins and whales.
The Pyramid
This is the center of Adventure land. Need some postcards, stamps or even toys? For all these things and many more, visit our underground shopping center.
【小题1】The Travel Pavilion is built to help visitors _____.

A．realize the importance of travelling

B．become familiar with mountain countries

C．learn how to make things such as fishing nets

D．learn something about different places in the world

【小题2】If you are interested in knowing about what people' s life will be, you may visit _____.

A．the Travel Pavilion

B．the Future Tower

C．the Safari Park

D．the Pyramid

【小题3】 If you want to get a toy lion to take home, where will you most likely go?

A．The Pyramid.

B．The Nature Park.

C．The Future Tower.

D．The Travel Pavilion.

Arthur Miller (1915—2005) is universally recognized as one of the greatest dramatists of the 20th century. Miller's father had moved to the USA from Austria Hungary, drawn like so many others by the “Great American Dream”. However, he experienced severe financial hardship when his family business was ruined in the Great Depression of the early 1930s.
Miller's most famous play, Death of a Salesman, is a powerful attack on the American system, with its aggressive way of doing business and its insistence on money and social status as indicators of worth. In Willy Loman, the hero of the play, we see a man who has got into trouble with this system. Willy is “burnt out” and in the cruel world of business there is no room for sentiment: if he can't do the work, then he is no good to his employer, the Wagner Company, and he must go. Willy is painfully aware of this, and at a loss as to what to do with his lack of success. He refuses to face the fact that he has failed and kills himself in the end.
When it was first staged in 1949, the play was greeted with enthusiastic reviews, and it won the Tony Award for Best Play, the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award, and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. It was the first play to win all three of these major awards.
Miller died of heart failure at his home in Roxbury, Connecticut, on the evening of February 10, 2005, the 56th anniversary of the first performance of Death of a Salesman on Broadway.
【小题1】Why did Arthur Miller's father move to the USA?

A．He suffered from severe hunger in his home country.

B．He was attracted by the “Great American Dream.”

C．He hoped to make his son a dramatist.

D．His family business failed

【小题2】The play Death of a Salesman________.

A．exposes the cruelty of the American business world

B．discusses the ways to get promoted in a company

C．talks about the business career of Arthur Miller

D．focuses on the skills in doing business

【小题3】What can we learn about Willy Loman?

A．He treats his employer badly.

B．He runs the Wagner Company.

C．He is a victim of the American system.

D．He is regarded as a hero by his colleagues.

【小题4】After it was first staged, Death of a Salesman________.

A．achieved huge success

B．won the first Tony Award

C．was warmly welcomed by salesmen

D．was severely attacked by dramatists

【小题5】What is the text mainly about?

A．Arthur Miller and his family.

B．The awards Arthur Miller won.

C．The hardship Arthur Miller experienced.

D．Arthur Miller and his best known play.

When Frida Kahlo's paintings were on show in London, a poet described her paintings as “ a ribbon （丝带）around a bomb”. Such comments seem to suggest Kahlo had a big influence on the art world of her time. Sadly, she is actually a much bigger name today than she was during her time.
Born in 1907 in a village near Mexico City , Kahlo suffered from polio（小儿麻痹症）at the age of seven. Her spine （脊柱）become bent as she grew older. Then, in 1925, her back was broken in several places in a school-bus accident. Throughout the rest of her life, the artist had many operations, but nothing was able to cure the terrible pain in her back. However, the accident had an unexpected side effect. While lying in her bed recovering, Kahlo taught herself to paint.
In 1929, she got married to Diego Rivera, another famous Mexican artist. Rivera’s strong influences on Kahlo’s style can be seen in her early works, but her later works from the 1940s, known today as her best works, show less influence from her husband.
Unfortunately, her works did not attract much attention in the 1930s and 1940s, even in her home country. Her first one-woman show in Mexico was not held until 1953.For more than a decade after her death in 1954, Kahlo’s works remained largely unnoticed by the world, but in the 1970s her works began to gain international fame at last.
【小题1】What does the phrase “a much bigger name” in paragraph 1 most nearly mean?

A．a far better artist	B．a far more gifted artist
C．a much stronger person	D．a much more famous person

【小题2】The terrible pain Kahlo suffered was caused by         .

A．polio	B．back injuries
C．the operations she had	D．her bent spine

【小题3】Kahlo’s style had become increasingly independent since the           .

A．1950s

B． 1930s

C．1940s

D．1970s

【小题4】What is author’s attitude toward Kahlo?

A．Devotion

B．Sympathy

C．Worry

D．Encouragement