阅读下面短文，掌握其大意，然后从各题所给的四个选项中，选出一个最佳答案。

A shopkeeper in England was sent a telegram 1 him of the news 2 his 3 won 100,000 pounds in the Irish Sweepstakes(爱尔兰大马赛). He 4 to be home nursing a heart condition, and his wife opened the message. 5 that the 6 news might 7 a heart failure to her husband, she invited the family 8 to dinner and asked him 9 on the good news with professional tact(策略).After dinner, the doctor 10 his patient to one side.

“How are you 11 on with your business?” the doctor began.

“It could be better. I could use a few hundred pounds,” said the shopkeeper.

“Well,”the doctor said 12 ,“you have a sweepstakes ticket. What would you do if you 13 1,000 pounds?”

“Nobody 14  wins,”the an answered with a sigh(叹息).“But if I win, I will send my family to the seashore, and 15 off our debts.”

“ 16 you win 50,000 pounds…”

“I would buy this house and a villa(别墅) 17 the country.”

“What would you do if you won 100,000 pounds?”

The man looked up.“ Listen, my friend,” he said 18 .“I swear(发誓)I would give you half of it.”

19 this, the doctor gasped(喘粗气), opened his mouth, and dropped 20 .

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阅读理解

　　On June 17, 1744, the officials from Maryland and Virginia held a talk with the Indians of the Six Nations. The Indians were invited to send boys to William and Mary College. In a letter the next day they refused the offer as follows:

　　We know that you have a high opinion of the kind of learning taught in your colleges, and that the costs of living of our young men, while with you, would be very expensive to you. We are certain that you mean to do us good by your suggestion; and we thank you heartily. But you must know that different nations have different ways of looking at things, and you will therefore not be displeased if our ideas of this kind of education happen not to be the same as yours. We have had some experience of it. Several of our young people were formerly brought up at the colleges of the northern provinces; they were taught all your sciences; but, when they came back to us, they were bad runners, and they knew little little of every means of living in the woods...they were totally good for noting.

　　We are, however, not the less obliged by your kind offer, though we refuse to accept it; and to show our grateful sense of it, if the gentlemen of Virginia will send us a dozen of their sons, we will take care of their education, teach them in all we know, and make men of them.

（1）The passage is about ______ .

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A. the talk between the Indians and the officials

B. the colleges of the northern provinces

C. the educational values of the Indians

D. the problems of the Americans in the mid-eighteenth century

（2）The Indians' chief purpose in writing the letter seems to be to _____ .

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A. Politely refuse a friendly offer

B. express their opinions on equal treatment

C. show their pride

D. describe Indian customs

（3）According to the letter, the Indians believed that ______ .

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A. it would be better for their boy to receive some schooling

B. they were being hurt by the offer

C. they knew more about science that the officials

D. they had a better way of education young men

（4）Different from the officials' view of education, the Indians thought _____ .

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A. young women should also be educated

B. they had different objects of education

C. they taught different branches of science

D. they should teach the sons of the officials first

（5）The mood of the letter as a whole is best described as ______ .

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A strange woman comes to my door one day in early March.It’s a rich area so we often have people selling things door to door，dusters，make?up，frozen foods—but she doesn’t look like a professional saleswoman.She hasn’t got the patter(喋喋不休) either.She just smiles shyly and puts a card in my hand：“Amy Turner.Pet Portraits Undertaken.”

I run my fingernail along the cheap gold edge of the card and look at her，waiting for an explanation.

“I’ll paint any animal in the comfort of your own home.”Amy Turner says.“Wouldn’t you like a nice picture of your loved one？I’ve had experience of dogs，cats，parrots，prize bulls...”

“Prize bulls！”I can’t help looking up and down our street.The thought of any of my neighbours keeping bulls in their back gardens makes me smile.

“I don’t have any animals，”I say as we look past each other.She must be wishing some little cat or dog would come running down the hall to give the game away and it is the first chance I’ve had to smell the air outside.It is one of those spring mornings when you wake up and find winter’s gone.Even the camellia in the garden opposite has flowered overnight，pink blossoms which look shocking against the quiet greens and greys.

“Why are you still in your dressing gown？”Amy says，turning her attention back to me.“It’s nearly lunchtime.Are you ill？”

“I’m fine，”I lie.I’m not going to tell a stranger I’ve just been sick in the toilet upstairs and would still be sticking my fingers down my throat if the doorbell hadn’t rung.But now I’m not sure what to do next.Amy is still standing there.She_doesn’t_seem_to_think_that_not_having_a_pet_is

_a_good_enough_excuse.

“I’m starving.”she says and I smile politely，nodding the way you do before you say goodbye.

“No，”she puts her foot in the door.“I’m really starving.I’ve had nothing to eat for two days and no one has any pets for me to paint.I need some food or I’ll faint，right here on your doorstep.”

I stand to one side and let her in.

1．According to the text，what does a professional saleswoman usually do?

A．Sells things door to door with her cards.

B．Never puts a card into people’s hands.

C．Tries to talk people into buying her things.

D．Smiles，hands her cards and walks away.

2．What does the underlined word “one” in the third paragraph stand for?

A．Dog. 　　　　B．Child.　　　　　 C．Pet. 　　　　　D．Cat.

3．From the text we know that Amy is a ________.

A．young baby?sitter 　 B．poor beggar　 C．professional salesgirl D．poor painter

4．What does the writer mean by saying “She doesn’t seem to think that not having a pet is a good enough excuse.”？

A．It seems that she doesn’t want to leave.

B．She wants the writer to give another excuse.

C．She is sure there is a pet in the house.

D．She thinks that not having a pet is a bad thing.

 

When a group of children politely stop a conversation with you, saying: “We have to go to work now,” you’re left feeling surprised and certainly uneasy. After all, this is the 1990s and the idea of children working is just unthinkable. That is, until you are told that they are all pupils of stage schools, and that the “work” they go off to is to go on the stage in a theatre.

　　Stage schools often act as agencies（代理机构）to supply children for stage and television work. More worthy of the name “stage school” are those few places where children attend full time, with a training for the theatre and a general education.

　　A visit to such schools will leave you in no doubt that the children enjoy themselves. After all, what lively children wouldn’t settle for spending only half the day doing ordinary school work, and acting, singing or dancing their way through the other half of the day?

　Then of course there are times for the children to make a name and make a little money in some big shows. Some stage schools give their children too much professional work at such a young age. But the law is very tight on the amount they can do. Those under 13 are limited to 40 days in the year; those over 13 to 80 days.

　The schools themselves admit that not all children will be successful in the profession for which they are being trained. So what happens to those who don’t make it? While all the leading schools say they place great importance on children getting good study results, the facts seem to suggest this is not always the case.

　People would stop feeling uneasy when realizing that the children they’re talking to________.

　　  A. attend a stage school　　　　  B. are going to the theatre

　　  C. have got some work to do 　　  D. love singing and dancing

　　 In the writer’s opinion, a good stage school should ________.

　　  A. produce star performers

　　  B. help pupils improve their study skills

　　  C. train pupils in language and performing arts

　　  D. provide a general education and stage training.

　“Professional work” as used in the text means ________.

　　  A. ordinary school work　　　　　  B. money-making performances

　　  C. stage training at school 　 　  D. acting, singing or dancing after class

　 Which of the following best describes how the writer feels about stage schools?

　　  A. He thinks highly of what they have to offer.　　　　

　　  B. He favours an early start in the training of performing arts.

　　  C. He feels uncomfortable about children putting on night shows.

　　  D. He doubts the standard of ordinary education they have reached.

　　It was Monday. Mrs Smith's dog was hungry, but there was not any meat in the house.

　　Considering that there was no better way, Mrs Smith took a piece of paper, and wrote the following words on it:“Give my dog half a pound of meat.”Then she gave the paper to her dog and said gently:“Take this to the butcher(*person whose job is selling meat). and he's going to give you your lunch today.”

　　Holding the piece of paper in its mouth, the dog ran to the butcher's. It gave the paper to the butcher. The butcher read it carefully, recognized that it was really the lady's handwriting and soon did it as he was asked to. The dog was very happy, and ate the meat up at once.

　　At noon, the dog came to the shop again. It gave the butcher a piece of paper again. After reading it， he gave it half a pound of meat once more.

　　The next day, the dog came again exactly at noon. And as usual, it brought a piece of paper in the mouth. This time, the butcher did not take a look at paper, and gave the dog its meat, for he had regarded the dog as one of his customers (*people who buy sth. from a shop).

　　But, the dog came again at four o'clock. And the same thing happened once again. To the butcher's more surprise, it came for the third time at six o'clock, and brought with it a third piece of paper. The butcher felt a bit puzzled. He said to himself, “This is a small dog. Why does Mrs Smith give it so much meat to eat today?”

　　Looking at the piece of paper, he found that there were not any words on it!

Mrs Smith treated her little dog quite_________.

　　A. cruelly 　　B. fairly 　　C. kindly 　　D. politely

It seemed that the dog knew well that the paper Mrs Smith gave it_______.

　　A. might do it much harm

　　B. could do it much good

　　C. would help the butcher

　　D. was worth many pounds

The butcher did not give any meat to the dog __________.

　　A. before he felt sure that the words were really written by Mrs Smith

　　B. when he found that the words on the paper were not clear

　　C. because he had sold out all the meat in his shop

　　D. until he was paid enough by Mrs Smith

From its experience, the dog found that ________.

　　A. only the paper with Mrs Smith's words in it could bring it meat

　　B. the butcher would give the meat to it whenever he saw it

　　C. Mrs Smith would pay for the meat it got from the butcher

　　D. a piece of paper could bring it half a pound of meat

At the end of the story, you'll find that _______.

　　A. the dog was clever enough to write on the paper

　　B. the dog dared not go to the butcher's any more

　　C. the butcher was told not to give any meat to the dog

　　D. the butcher found himself cheated(*act in a way that is not honest)by the                  clever animal