136. ---I’ll thank you ______ my affairs _______.

--- I will. It’s none of my business.

A．for leaving; out	B．to leave; alone
C．for leaving; alone	D．to leave; out

 

Embroidering (刺绣)

When I was a little boy living in New York, my mother used to embroider a great deal. I would sit at her knee and look up from the    36    and ask what she was doing. She    37   me that she was embroidering. I told her that it looked like a mess from where I was. As from the underside I watched her work within the    38   of the little round hoop（铁环）that she held in her hand, I complained to her that it sure looked    39    from where I sat.

    She would smile at me, look down and   40    say, "My son, you go about your    41    for a while, and when I am finished with my embroidering, I will put you on my    42    and let you see it from my side."

I would wonder why she was using some dark threads along with the    43    ones and why they seemed so jumbled（混乱的）from my   44   . A few minutes would pass and then I would hear Mother's voice say, " Son, come and sit on my knee." This I did only to be  surprised and    45  to see a beautiful flower or a sunset. I could not    46   it, because from underneath it looked so messy.

   Then mother would    47   to me, "My son, from underneath it did look messy and jumbled, but you did not realize that there was a   48   plan on the top. It was a    49   . I was only following it. Now look at it from my side    50    you will see what I was doing."

   Many    51    through the years, I have    52    up to my Heavenly Father and said, “ Father, what are You doing? ” He    53   , “ I am embroidering your    54   . ” I say, " But it looks like a mess to me. It seems so jumbled. The threads seem so dark. Why can't they all be bright ? " The Father seems to tell me, " My child, you go about your business of doing My business, and one day I will bring you to    55    and put you on my knee and you will see the plan from My side. "

1.A. floor                   B. corner          C. ceiling                       D. step

2.A. demanded       B. blamed                 C. persuaded        D. informed

3.A. decorate              B. boundaries        C. picture           D. surface

4.A. messy                  B. dirty              C. shabby            D. tight

5.A. smartly                 B. cautiously       C. gently             D. precisely

6.A. complaining            B. playing                        C. embroidering              D. imagining

7.A. back           B. chair             C. knee             D. table

8.A. white          B. black                       C. bright            D. shining

9.A. eyes                   B. opinion           C. heart           D .view

10.A. hopeful      B. thrilled                       C. expecting           D. enthusiastic

11.A. believe         B. consider              C. see                   D. touch

12.A. talk            B. mention              C. say                           D. whisper

13.A. pre-drawn      B. previewed         C. preserved                   D. produced

14.A. direction        B. line                 C. diagram                      D. design

15.A. or             B. and                    C. until                         D. unless

16.A. times                  B. days              C. seasons                   D. chances

17.A. climbed               B. jumped                   C. shouted                      D. looked

18.A. required             B. answered          C. instructed               D. concluded

19.A. decision       B. fortune          C. life                      D. business

20.A. home                 B. mother                   C. America                     D. Heaven

 

They wear the latest fashions with the most up-to-date accessories(配饰)．Yet these are not girls in their teens or twenties but women in their sixties and seventies．A generation which would once only wear old-fashioned clothes is now favouring the same high street looks worn by those half their age．

Professor Julia Twigg, a social policy expert, said, “Women over 75 are now shopping for clothes more frequently than they did when they were young in the 1960s．In the 1960s buying a coat for a woman was a serious matter．It was an expensive item that they would purchase only every three or four years — now you can pick one up at the supermarket whenever you wish to．Fashion is a lot cheaper and people get tired of things more quickly．”

Professor Twigg analysed family expenditure(支出) data and found that while the percentage of spending on clothes and shoes by women had stayed around the same — at 5 or 6 percent of spending — the amount of clothes bought had risen sharply．

The professor said, “Clothes are now 70 percent cheaper than they were in the 1960s because of the huge expansion of production in the Far East．In the 1960s Leeds was the heart of the British fashion industry and that was where most of the clothes came from, but now almost all of our clothes are sourced elsewhere．Everyone is buying more clothes but in general we are not spending more money on them．”

Fashion designer Angela Barnard, who runs her own fashion business in London, said older women were much more affected celebrity(名流) style than in previous years．

She said, “When people see stars such as Judi Dench and Helen Mirren looking attractive and fashionable in their sixties, they want to follow them．Older women are much more aware of celebrities ．There’s also the boom in TV programmes showing people how they can change their look, and many of my older customers do yoga to stay in shape well in their fifties．When I started my business a few years ago, my older customers tended to be very rich, but now they are what I would call ordinary women．My own mother is 61 and she wears the latest fashions in a way she would never have done ten years ago．”

Professor Twigg found that, compared with the 1960s, _________．

A．the price of clothes has generally fallen by 70%

B．the spending on clothes has increased by 5% or 6%

C．people spend 30% less than they did on clothes

D．the amount of clothes bought has risen by 5% or 6%

What can we learn about old women in terms of fashion？

A．They are often ignored by fashion designers．

B．They are now more easily influenced by stars．

C．They are regarded as pioneers in the latest fashion．

D．They are more interested in clothes because of their old age．

It can be concluded that old women tend to wear the latest fashions today mainly because _________．

A．they get tired of things more quickly     B．TV shows teach them how to change their look

C．they are in much better shape now       D．clothes are much cheaper than before

Which is the best possible title of the passage?

A．Age Is No Barrier for Fashion Fans      B．The More Fashionable, the Less Expensive

C．Unexpected Changes in Fashion         D．Boom of the British Fashion Industry

完形(15%)

 Albert Einstein said, “In the middle of every difficulty lies opportunity.” Once __41 __, such opportunities are like valuable diamonds hidden in the sand.

Several years ago, I spoke at a school about how we were surrounded by “___42___  ” if we could only recognize them. A man stopped by to see me, and I remembered him as somebody who had suffered through a(n) ___43___ divorce (离婚) and was examining what was most important to him. He took a small ___44___ out of his pocket. Here is what he said to me that day.

“I ___45___ on this stone when I was leaving church last Sunday. You had spoken about  ___46___ opportunities—diamonds. I put the stone in my ___47___ to remind me to look for those “diamonds” that I need. I have been trying to sell my business . On Monday morning, a man who seemed interested in ___48___ some of my stock (股票) stopped by. I thought, ‘Here’s my diamond—don’t let it ___49___!’ I sold the entire stock to him by noon. Now my next diamond is to find a new ___50___  !”

Not long afterward, he did find a new and better job. From then on, he decided to keep his stone with him all the time as a ___51___ to look for “diamonds” as he dug through the ___52___ of life.

Richard DeVos is right when he points out. “This is an exciting world. It is filled with opportunities. Great moments wait around every corner.” Those moments are diamonds that,   ___53___ left unrecognized, will be forever lost.

Are you looking for “diamonds” every day? If not, you may ___54___ pass them by! Perhaps there is a diamond of opportunity hidden in the difficulty you’re ___55___ now.

1.A.given           B.discovered            C.sent          D.made

2.A.opportunities       B.dangers           C.diamonds      D.chances

3.A.painful         B.stupid                C.normal            D.original

4.A.ball                B.stone             C.paper         D.flower

5.A.stepped         B.depended          C.fought            D.based

6.A.stealing            B.accepting         C.recognizing       D.realizing

7.A.purse           B.pocket                C.bag           D.house

8.A.selling         B.buying                C.hunting           D.casting

9.A.go off          B.give in               C.stay up       D.watch out

10.A.buyer          B.job              C.stock             D.rock

11.A.scene          B.prize             C.reminder      D.power

12.A.difficulties       B.hopes             C.characters        D.cases

13.A.unless         B.though                C.for           D.if

14.A.happily            B.easily                C.luckily           D.dangerously

15.A.expressing     B.satisfying            C.breaking      D.experiencing

 

Though I have traveled in hundreds of trains, few unusual things have ever happened to me. But one day in a train something did happen. I do not mean that I was hurt: no one was hurt.

I do my work in a hot country far away from England. Every September I go there to do my business, and every July I come back to England to have a rest. So every September I go to Paris and take a train from the great French city to Mendova, and at Mendova I catch my ship.

There is one very fast train from Paris to Mendova, and it suits me well. It goes as far as Endoran, but it stops at Mendova for a few minutes to let travelers get out or in. It is called The Flying Bluebird. It reaches Mendova at seven minutes past nine in the morning, and it is never late.

A ship leaves Mendova at half past eleven, and so you will understand that The Flying Bluebird suits me very well. I always travel by it, and I have nearly two and a half hours at Mendova to go from the station to the ship. That is more than enough time.

Well, one September night, I took my place in The Flying Bluebird as usual. The train leaves Paris at nine o’clock every night, and I was in my place soon after half past eight. There were three or four people there with me, but very soon a lot of others got into the train. When no more people could sit down, they began to stand up near us and also in the corridor（走廊）. In a short time the corridor was full too, and it was impossible for any more travelers to get into the train.

I could see a lot of other people outside the corridor windows, but they could not get in, and the train left Paris without them. The man sitting next to me started to ask all kinds of questions: “Where do you work? How long does it take you to get there? Are you married? How many children do you have? How much money do they pay you every year? How much do you have in the bank? How much do you spend every month?”

He asked questions for about twenty minutes but I did not give him any clear answers, and at last he stopped and began to read the paper.

I usually sleep quite well in the train, but this time I slept only a little. There were too many people, and there were too many things: small bags, large bags, coats, hats, boxes, newspapers and food. As usual, we got angry about the window. Most people wanted it shut, and two of us wanted it open. But that always happens. It was shut all night, as usual.

When I awoke in the early morning I felt hot and dirty, and glad that the journey was reaching its end. At seven minutes past nine The Flying Bluebird stopped. We were at Mendova, and I stood up thankfully. I took my two suitcases, held one in each hand, and tried to move towards the door into the corridor. In order to get out of the train, I had to pass down the corridor to the door at the far end. There was no other way out.

I could not even into the corridor. There was a suitcase on the floor by my feet, and three men were standing in my way. I felt a touch of fear. I had to get out, you see; I had to catch my ship, which left at half past eleven. And the train did not stop again until it reached Endoran, two hundred miles away.

“I must get out!” I cried. Everyone there understood me, but no one could move.

At last I was able to put one foot over the suitcase on the floor, and I nearly reached the door into the corridor. But then, very slowly, the train began to move. It was taking me away!

“Stop!” I cried. “I want to get out!” But no one outside the train could hear me, and the people inside did not care much. The train moved a little faster. What could I do? I was not even in the corridor.

Fear made me think quickly. In front of my eyes, just, above the door, was a notice that told everyone how to stop the train. I had to pull an iron thing near the notice. I did not waste time. I pulled it.

Well, a noise started above our heads. That was to show everyone that there was something wrong. It was not a small sound. Possibly the men in my ship two miles away could hear it. Then the train stopped.

No one likes to stop a train if there is no need. But I had to catch my ship. That was the only thought in my mind: to get out and catch my ship.

1.The purpose of the author writing the first paragraph is to __________.

A．answer some questions	B．express some unusual feelings
C．arouse the readers’ curiosity	D．give some advice in advance

2.What do we know about the author and the man sitting next to him?

A．They talked with each other all night

B．They got angry about the window

C．The author didn’t understand the man’s words

D．The author didn’t like the man’s foolish questions

3.On this journey on The Flying Bluebird, the author felt uncomfortable because ___________.

A．he couldn’t find a seat by the window

B．he was angry with the man sitting next to him

C．there were too many people on the train

D．the window was kept shut all night

4.It can be learned from Para. 10 that the author was afraid that ____________.

A．he would have to spend another sleepless night on the train

B．he would miss the ship that went where he worked

C．more people might crowd into the train

D．he would have to buy another ticket

5.The noise in the underlined sentence “a noise started above our heads”（Para.15）was made by __________.

A．the angry passengers shouting at the top of their voices

B．the ship that was lying two miles away

C．the falling of boxes and suitcases to the floor

D．the train itself telling people that something was wrong

6.What would be the best title for the text?

A．A Bad Experience on the Train	B．A Train that Is Never Late
C．A Quick and Wise Decision	D．A Journey to Mendova