A disappointing performance

    Tom was sick with disappointment. The piano performance was almost a success, however, he f___(76)____ in his solo (独奏). He couldn’t understand how it could have happened.

He had practiced for weeks that seemed like m____(77)_____. He had given up sports until after the performance because he wanted to make his parents p____(78)____ of him. He spent all his time with the piano.

His teacher had said he was q____(79)_____ to learn. It was true that he accepted music as another l_____(80)____ , another way to talk to people.

His grandparents, aunt, and uncle all came to hear him play, and he was anxious to s____(81)____ them that he was the best in the whole class.

But, when he stood up to go to the piano, his knees felt w____(82)____. He looked into the audience and saw his f_____(83)_____ smiling back at him.

At this time, he felt n____(84)____. His fingers began to tremble(颤抖)，shaking as though he had caught a bad cold. He sat down at the piano.

He took a deep breath. He played the first part of his music, then realized with fear that he had forgotten the rest. He s____(85)____ over, thinking that would help. It didn’t. His bright musical life seemed to end.

   

 It snowed again. My seventh Christmas was round the corner. I dreamed of getting the present from Father Christmas until my elder sister dropped the bomb, “There is no Father Christmas.”

  I ran to my grandmother’s house, for she always told the truth. Grandma was at home. I told __11___ everything. “No Father Christmas?” she was a little ___12____. “Don’t believe it. Put on your coat, and let’s go.”

  “Go? Where, Grandma?” I asked.

  “Kerby’s Store.”

  As we walked through its doors, Grandma handed me ten dollars and said, “Take the __13___ and buy something for someone who needs it. I’ll wait for in the car.” Then she turned and walked out of the Kerby’s.

  For a few seconds I just stood there, holding the money, wondering ___14___ to buy, and who to buy it for.

  I thought of ___15___ I knew: my family, my friends, my neighbors … I suddenly thought of Bobbie Decker, a __16___ with bad and messy hair. He sat right behind me ___17____ Mrs. Pollack’s class.

  Bobbie ___18___ went to any party during the winter. His mother always wrote a note, telling the teacher that he had a cough, ___19____ we all knew that he didn’t have a cough, and he didn’t have a coat. I decided to buy Bobbie a red warm coat ___20____ he would like.

  That evening, Grandma helped me wrap the coat in Christmas paper and ribbons, and ___21___ “To Bobbie, From Father Christmas” on it. Grandma told me Father Christmas never let people know that he ___22___ them. Then she drove me over to Bobbie’s house, telling that I was helping Father Christmas ____23___ the presents.

Grandma parked the car along the street, and we hid behind the trees near Bobbie’s house. Then Grandma said to me, “All right, Father Christmas, get going.”

  I took a deep breath, rushed to his front door, put the present down. ____24___ the door, rang the doorbell and flew back to the safety of the ____25_____ and Grandma. We waited breathlessly in the dark for the front door to open. Finally it did, and there stood Bobbie.

  That night, I realized that Father Christmas was alive and well, and we were on his team.

1.A. him  B. her   C. them   D. you

2.A. angry   B. happy   C. tired   D. afraid 

3.A. book   B. coat   C. present   D. money

4.A. what   B. when   C. where   D. how

5.A. everybody   B. nobody   C. somebody   D. anybody

6.A. girl   B. boy   C. man   D. woman

7.A. for   B. on   C. in    D. with

8.A. always   B. often   C. sometime   D never

9.A. so   B. if   C. but   D. and

10.A. where   B. that   C. who   D. why

11.A. read   B. say   C. write   D. spell

12.A. helped   B. believe   C. taught   D. made

13.A. give up   B. give away   C. put up   D. put off

14.A. on   B. behind   C. outside   D. over

15.A. shop   B. cars   C. door   D. trees

 

　When I was at university，I studied very hard．But a lot of my friends did very little work．Some did just enough to pass exams．Others didn’t do quite enough．Fred Baines was one of them．He spent more time drinking in the Students’ Union than working in the library．

　　Once at the end of the term，we had to take an important test in chemistry．The test had a hundred questions. In my room the night before the test，Fred was watching TV．Fred usually worried a lot the night before a test．But on that night he looked perfectly calm．Then he told me of his plan．“It’s very simple．There are a hundred questions and I have to get fifty correct to pass the test．I’ll take a coin into the examination room．I haven’t studied a chemistry book for months，so I’ll just toss the coin．That way，I’m sure I’ll get half the questions right．”

　　The next day，Fred came happily into the exam room．As he sat tossing a coin for half an hour he marked down his answers．Then he left，half an hour before the rest of us．

　　The next day，he saw the chemistry professor in the corridor．“Oh，good，”he said，“Have you got the result of the test?”The professor looked at him and smiled，“Ah，it’s you，Baines．Just a minute．”Then he reached into his pocket and took out a coin．He threw it into the air，caught it in his hand and looked at it．

　　“I’m terribly sorry，Baines，”he said，“You failed!”

1.This story mainly wants to tell us ________．

A．chemistry is really hard to learn

B．there were too many questions for students to prepare for

C．good exam results needs hard study

D．tossing a coin can not always decide the result

2.Fred Baines was one of those who ________．

A．did just enough to pass the exam

B．didn’t work hard enough for their studies

C．had too much other work for the Students’ Union

D．were quite good at passing exams

3.Fred came happily into the exam room because ________．

A．he had got ready for the exam

B．he knew the answers already

C．the other students would be behind him

D．he had his way to finish the exam

4.The chemistry exam in fact ________．

A．was not very hard

B．took the other students an hour to finish

C．had more than one hundred questions

D．needed to be done by tossing a coin

5.The professor tossed the coin to tell Baines that ________．

A．he was satisfied with his way for the exam

B．he wanted to make friends with him

C．his way for the exam would never work

D．the exam result depended on the coin

 

 

A friend of mine named Paul received an expensive car from his brother as a Christmas present. On Christmas Eve when Paul came out of his office, a street urchin was walking around the shining car. “Is this your car, Paul?” he asked.

Paul answered, “Yes, my brother gave it to me for Christmas.” The boy was surprised. “You mean your brother gave it to you and it didn’t cost you nothing? Boy, I wish…”He hesitated.

Of course Paul knew what he was going to wish for. He was going to wish he had a brother like that. But what the boy said surprised Paul greatly.

“I wish,” the boy went on, “that I could be a brother like that.” Paul looked at the boy in surprise, then he said again, “Would you like to take a ride in my car?”

“Oh yes, I’d love that.”

After a short ride, the boy turned and with his eyes shining, said, “Paul, would you mind driving in front of my house?”

Paul smiled a little. He thought he knew what the boy wanted. He wanted to show his neighbors that he could ride home in a big car. But Paul was wrong again. “Will you stop where those two steps are?” the boy asked.

He ran up to the steps. Then in a short while Paul heard him coming back, but he was not coming fast. He was carrying his little crippled brother. He sat him down on the step and pointed to the car.

“There she is, Buddy, just like I told you upstairs. His brother gave it to him for Christmas and it didn’t cost him a cent. And some day I’m going to give you one just like it …then you can see for yourself all the nice things in the Christmas window that I’ve been trying to tell you about.”

Paul got out and lifted the boy to the front seat of his car. The shining-eyed older brother climbed in beside him and the three of them began an unforgettable holiday ride.

注：urchin顽童    hesitate犹豫    neighbour邻居

crippled残疾　　     cent 美分

1.The street urchin was very surprised when _______________

A．Paul received an expensive car

B．Paul told him about the car

C．he saw the shining car

D．he was walking around the car

2.From the story we can see the urchin _______________

A．wished to give his brother a car

B．wanted Paul’s brother to give him a car

C．wished he could have a brother like Paul’s

D．wished Paul could be a brother like that

3.The urchin asked Paul to stop his car in front of his house ___________

A．to show his neighbours the big car

B．to show he had a rich friend

C．to let his brother ride in the car

D．to tell his brother about his wish

4.We can infer（推断） from the story that___________

A．Paul couldn’t understand the urchin

B．the urchin had a deep love for his brother

C．the urchin wished to have a rich brother

D．the urchin’s wish came true in the end

5.The best name of the story is____________

A．A Christmas Present	B．A Street Urchin
C．A Brother Like That	D．An Unforgettable Holiday Ride

 

任务型阅读：（10分）

Almost everyone likes dogs, and almost everyone likes reading stories about dogs.

I have a friend. (1)The friend has a large police dog. Its name is Jack. Police dogs are very clever. Every Sunday afternoon my friend takes Jack for a long walk in the park, Jack likes these long walks very much.

One Sunday afternoon a young man came to visit my friend. He stayed for a long time. He talked and talked. Soon it was time for my friend to take Jack for his walk. But the visitor still stayed. Jack became very worried. He walked around the room several times and then sat down in front of the visitor and looked at him. (2)but, paid, the, visitor, attention, the, to, dog, no. He continued talking.

(3) Finally Jack couldn’t stand（忍受） it any more. He went out of the room and came back a few minutes later. He sat down again in front of the visitor but this time he held the visitor’s hat in his mouth and ran out of the room.

1.将（1）处合并成一个简单句：

_________________________________________________

2将（2）句按正确的顺序写出来：

                                                       

 

3. 将（3）句翻译成中文：_____________________________________

 

4. Why did the dog hold the visitor’s hat in the mouth?

   Because it’s time for it _________ _________ with its master.

5. The best title of the story is _______.

      A. My friend and his dog.        B. A clever dog.

      C. A guest who likes talking.      D. How to keep a police dog.