New York is one of the last large American cities to have some of its policemen on horseback. The New York police have 170 horses working in certain parts of the city. The horses are expensive to feed, but it is even more expensive to look after them. Because the horses must walk on the streets, they need special horseshoes. In fact , they need more than 8,000 of them each year. Every police horse in New York gets new shoes every month. Keeping these shoes in good repair is the job of six blacksmiths. There are only about thirty-five of these blacksmiths in the whole United States.
The cost of shoing a horse is between twenty dollars and thirty-five dollars, and it takes a good blacksmith two or three hours to do the job.
A blacksmith’s job is not an easy one. He must be able to shape a shoe from a piece of metal and then fit it to the horse’s foot. The blacksmith must bend over all the time when he is fitting the shoe and must hold the weight of the horse’s leg while he works. Clearly, a blacksmith must be very storng. But even more important, he must be able to deal with horses---for before the blacksmith can begin his work, he has to get the horse to lift its leg.
One of the blacksmiths in New York is James Corbin. He came to the country from Ireland in 1948. He not only makes horseshoes for the police but also works for a group of horse owners near the city. Corbin became interested in blacksmithing because his father did it, and,as the puts it, “It’s a good way to make a living.”
【小题1】According to the reading passage, a blacksmith must be likely a______ man.

New York is one of the last large American cities to have some of its policemen on horseback. The New York police have 170 horses working in certain parts of the city. The horses are expensive to feed, but it is even more expensive to look after them. Because the horses must walk on the streets, they need special horseshoes. In fact, they need more than 8,000 of them each year. Every police horse in New York gets new shoes every month. Keeping these shoes in good repair is the job of six blacksmiths(铁匠). There are only about thirty-five of these blacksmiths in the whole United States. The cost of shoeing a horse is between twenty dollars and thirty-five dollars, and it takes a good blacksmith two or three hours to do the job.

A blacksmith’s job is not an easy one. He must be able to shape a shoe from a piece of metal and then fit it to the horse’s foot. The blacksmith must bend over all the time when he is fitting the shoe and must hold the weight of the horse’s leg while he works. Clearly, a blacksmith must be very storng. But even more important, he must be able to deal with horses---for before the blacksmith can begin his work, he has to get the horse to lift its leg.

One of the blacksmiths in New York is James Corbin. He came to the country from Ireland in 1948. He not only makes horseshoes for the police but also works for a group of horse owners near the city. Corbin became interested in blacksmithing because his father did it, and, as he puts it, “It’s a good way to make a living.”

1.According to the reading passage, a blacksmith must be likely a ________________ man.

A. clever????????????? ????????????? ????????????? ????????????? B. rich????????????? ????????????? ????????????? ????????????? C. strong????????????? ????????????? ????????????? ????????????? D. lucky

2.James Corbin became a blacksmith because he ________________.

A. was interested in horses

B. was needed by the policemen

C. drew a picture of the horseshoe

D. had to make a living

3.In the reading passage “to shape a shoe” is to ________________.

A. fit it on the horse’s foot

B. use it for two or three hours

C. make the form of a horseshoe from a piece of metal

D. draw a picture of the shoe

4.The best title for the passage is “________________”.

A. Policemen on Horseback

B. Blacksmiths and Horseshoeing

C. James Corbin, a Blacksmith

D. Horseshoeing is a Good Way to Make a Living

5.Which of the following is true?

A. Only a few large American cities have some policemen on horseback.

B. New York is the only city in America to have some policemen on horseback.

C. Policemen on horseback enjoy travelling around the United States.

D. Policemen on horseback are less expensive than those in cars.

Mr. Hunt came from a poor family. He had three brothers and two sisters. His father worked hard but wasn’t paid much. And his mother did all the housework at home. They were both able but they couldn’t get enough money for their family.

Mr. Hunt was in school for only three years and he had to stop to help his parents though he was good at his lessons. When he was sixteen, he came to the city and began to work in a small factory. He learned from an old worker and became a skilled worker. The old worker liked him and married his daughter to him. The young man did not have his own house and had to live with his parents-in-law. His mother-in-law always thought he was poor and often chattered. So the young man tried to save everything and hoped to have his own house.

It was one fine Sunday. The old woman wanted to have a picnic on the top of the hill. She told Mr. Hunt to drive her car. But sometimes she told him to turn left and sometimes to turn right. The young man had to listen to her. At a crossing the lights were red but she made him turn left. The policeman stopped them and told the young man to give his license to him.

“If I did wrong, sir,” said Mr. Hunt, “It was my mother-in-law’s fault(过错). She was driving the car though she sat behind me!”

1.The Hunts were poor because ____.

       A. they were lazy B. they were too weak to work

       C. they couldn’t make enough moneyD. they weren’t able enough

2.Mr. Hunt left the school because ____.

       A. he didn’t like studying           B. his family was poor

       C. he wasn’t clever                 D. he hoped to stay at home

3.____, so the old man married his daughter to him.

       A. Mr. Hunt became a skilled worker 

B. Mr. Hunt was friendly to him

       C. Mr. Hunt was paid much in the factory                

D. Mr. Hunt worked for six years there

4.The old woman was ____ to Mr. Hunt.

       A. good           B. bad             C. friendly         D. useless

5.Which of the following is wrong?

       A. The old woman herself drove the car that day.

       B. It was the old woman’s fault.

       C. Mr. Hunt hated his mother-in-law.

    D. The old woman told Mr. Hunt to run the red lights.

When my son, Mark, was in the third grade, he saved all his pocket money for over three months to buy Christmas presents. The third Saturday in December Mark said he had made his list and had twenty dollars in his pocket.
I drove him to a nearby supermarket. Mark picked up a basket and went in while I waited and watched in the car. It took Mark over 45 minutes to choose his presents. Finally he came to the checkout counter and reached into his pocket for his money. It was not there! There was a hole in his pocket, but no money. Mark stood there holding his basket, tears falling down his face.
Then a surprising thing happened. A woman came up to Mark and took him in her arms. "You would help me a lot if you let me pay for you," said the woman. "It would be the most wonderful gift you could give me. I only ask that one day you will pass it on. When you grow up, I would like you to find someone you can help. When you help others, 1 know you will feel as good about it as I do now."
Mark took the money, dried his tears and ran back to the checkout counter as fast as he could. That year we all enjoyed our gifts almost as much as Mark enjoyed giving them to us.
I would like to say “thank you” to that very kind woman, and tell her that four years later, Mark went house to house collecting blankets and clothes for the homeless people in the fire. And I want to promise her that Mark will never forget to keep passing it on.
【小题1】When did the story probably happen?

Jim, a successful businessman, told the experience of his childhood.

When he was 12, his parents . He was alone and didn’t get on well with others. People always laughed him. No one showed kindness (友善) to him. His only friend was a dog named Tige.

One day as he walked down the street, a young lady was walking in front of him. Suddenly one of her bags dropped from her arms. As she stopped , she dropped other bags. He came to help her.“Thank you, dear! You are a nice little boy!”She said kindly, smiling.

A special feeling came to him. These were kind words he had ever heard. He watched her she went far away, and he whistled（吹口哨）to his dog and went directly to the river nearby.

“Thank you, dear! You are a nice little boy!”he repeated the woman’s words. Then in a low

he said to his dog,“You are a nice little dog!”Tige raised ears as if（似乎）it understood.

“Uh! Even a dog likes it!”he said,“Well, Tige, I won’t say unkind words to you any more.”Tige waved its tail happily.

The boy thought and thought. Finally he looked at himself in the river. He saw but a dirty boy. He washed his face . Again he looked. He saw a clean nice boy. He was amazed (震惊). From then on, he had a new life.

After telling this, the businessman stopped for a while, and then he said,“Ladies and gentlemen, this is the very place where that kind woman planted in me the first seed (种子) of kindness. All of us should learn about kindness. a great power it has!” If you show kindness to others, you will be an able man.

1.A.dead B.dying C.died D.die

2.A.at B.to C./ D.of

3.A.picking it up B.picking up itC.to pick up it D.to pick it up

4.A.the first B.firstC.the last D.the first time

5.A.until B.beforeC.when D.while

6.A.sound B.noiseC.noisy D.voice

7.A.it B.it’s C.one’s D.its

8.A.something B.nothing C.anything D.somebody

9.A.carefully B.careful C.careless D.carelessly

10.A.What B.How C.It D.It seemed