Dear Florence,

We arrived in India last week, and the voyage was the worst experience of my entire life. I’m lucky to be alive!

The first part of the journey was terrible, because the ship hit bad weather almost as soon as we left Liverpool. But much, much worse was to come. Later, we were involved in a collision with another boat and we had to abandon ship!

We had been at sea for about two weeks and we were in the Mediterranean. There is now a canal between the Mediterranean and the Red Sea called the Suez Canal, which opened last year. Our boat stopped at Port Said, the Egyptian port at the entrance to the canal. I remember looking through the porthole of my cabin and wishing that I could go ashore and visit this fascinating place, but mummy had ordered that I was to stay in the cabin because I was feeling ill. “you must stay here for at least another two days.” I remember her saying. How wrong she would turn out to be! The ship left the port and headed towards the canal . I was alone in the cabin and I watched the port disappear into the distance. Suddenly there was a loud bang, followed by the most awful crunching（嘎吱的）sound, and the ship shook and turned slightly on its side.

There was an eerie silence for a moment, then people started shouting. Mummy came running into the cabin and told me that we had collided with another boat. She took my hand and we ran along the deck towards the lifeboats. There was a lot of shouting and people were running everywhere, but the crew were all acting calmly, helping people into the lifeboats and telling people not to panic.

Well, clearly we survived, as did all the passengers and crew of the ship. The other boat wasn’t so lucky. It sank and several lives were lost.

I will write about the rest of the journey soon. Please give my love to Aunt Claire and Uncle Eric.

Your loving cousin,

Jane

56．1.When was the letter written?

A．Before the author went to India.	B．In the mid – 19th century.
C．When the author arrived in Egypt.	D．Just after the author arrived in India.

57．2.Why was the journey to India such a bad experience for the author?

A．She was sick when it started and nearly died in Egypt.

B．Her ship left England in bad weather and crashed into another ship near the Suez Canal.

C．She was seasick when her ship sank.

D．She was alone when her ship hit another boat and she got sick.

58．3.The author’s mother didn’t allow her to go ashore and visit the port city, Said because      .

A．she was homesick at that time

B．she didn’t feel very well then

C．she could meet some danger ashore

D．she could see the city through the porthole on board

59．4.The underlined phrase “eerie silence” in the sixth paragraph means         .

A．pleasant calm silence	B．long peaceful silence
C．sudden long silence	D．strange uncomfortable silence

 

--- Did that book give the information you needed?

--- Yes, but ______, we had to read it almost entirely.

 A. for finding it    B. to find it   C. finding it     D. by finding it

通读下面短文，掌握其大意，然后在各题所给的A，B，C，D四个选项中，选出一个最佳答案。

As I had my first child, I promised myself never to be a pushy parent. I was going to be a very 36  and understanding mother.

         Five years later my little boy was about to 37  for his yellow belt in karate(空手道). As a five-year-old child, he wasn’t taking it  38  , because it was Mom trying to help him. I found myself yelling and telling him he would never get the belt acting like that. I was trying to   39  him his back-flip（背摔）. He continued to play and I continued to   40  . Finally I had made him feel like he couldn’t  41  anything, just as I promised myself I wouldn’t do.

         Still mad and stubborn I couldn’t  42  . I had to teach him his flip. He was doing fine with it by the time we had to leave to go to karate. While taking the test, he did  43  . His instructor would ask him to do something, and it became  44  for him. He never asked him to do the back-flip. He had passed his yellow belt test.

         We got in the car to  45  when he looked at me and said ”Mom, why did you make me do that back-flip so many times,  46  it wasn’t even on the test.” The words wouldn’t have  47  anything to anyone else, but it was a slap in my face. That night while  48  in bed, I told him I loved him.

         He was  49  and didn’t say anything, just giggled. I said “I really do love you baby.” I was still feeling  50  , and also wondering if he had  51  me. Finally he replied in the  52  voice, “I know you do, but I love you more.”

         He had forgiven me and I had decided that his feeling were more  53  than any test he would  54  take. I made a new  55  to be better mother and to accept that he was only a child.

1.A．patient                           B．good                         C．polite                        D．affectionate

2.A．look                                 B．test                           C．play                           D．practise

3.A．easy                                B．happily                     C．seriously                  D．fairly

4.A．help                                B．tell                             C．make                        D．teach

5.A．yell                                  B．speak                        C．smile                         D．teach

6.A．acplish                           B．feel                            C．try                             D．pass

7.A．give up                           B．give out                    C．give away                D．give in

8.A．bad                                 B．worse                       C．great                        D．better

9.A．quick                               B．natural                     C．mon                          D．normal

10.A．go shoppingB．go home                                  C．rest ourselves        D．enjoy ourselves

11.A．while                            B．once                          C．when                        D．if

12.A．expected                     B．meant                      C．demanded               D．reached

13.A．reading                        B．studying                   C．lying                          D．talking

14.A．playing                         B．moving                     C．working                    D．crying

15.A．stubborn                     B．happy                       C．upset                        D．guilty

16.A．forgiven                       B．hated                        C．forgotten                 D．loved

17.A．saddest                       B．biggest                     C．happiest                  D．sweetest

18.A．true                              B．important                C．sincere                     D．faithful

19.A．still                               B．even                          C．ever                          D．never

20.A．gift                                B．plan                           C．experiment             D．promise

 

Whatever we may need to buy，we can use our credit cards．This is a change from the older days when we had to first check whether cards were accepted．Today，everybody, from retailers（零售商) to lenders，accepts credit cards．Attitudes towards credit cards have also changed a lot．People used to be

very careful of using their cards；but this is no longer the case. People today prefer to take out their cards as soon as they get to the cash counter．A swipe (刷卡) and a sign are all it takes，and you can walk home with the bill and all the things you buy．

   The credit card is much easier to carry than cash and it is not at all surprising that the former becomes the most preferred way of payment．A credit card takes up very little space in our wallets，and yet，it holds the power of a large sum of cash．Paying by credit cards is also a good way of keeping bills on where all of our money goes．  

   Moreover，it has become much easier to get credit cards these days．I constantly have cold callers calling up to offer me “great new credit card deals”．Salesmen occasionally walk into our office offering discounts if a group of people decide to sign up a certain kind of credit card plan at the same time．However，this can also cause a problem．Nowadays，we always run the

risk of getting some kinds of wastes．When the terms seem too good to be true，we should make sure that we always read the printed items carefully．Before signing for a credit card，it is necessary to know its advantages and disadvantages．The only way to deal with this is to do our homework, before we go credit card hunting．   

1.We learn from Paragraph 1 that      ．   

A．people can use credit cards anytime，anywhere   

B．people used to have to check up on credit cards   

C．people are more careful using credit cards nowadays  

D．people can take their goods home just by swiping their cards 

2.One of the main advantages of credit cards is that    ．

 A．they occupy less space compared with other modes of payment 

 B．they are more powerful than cash   

 C．they are easy to get，and save money   

 D．they help users keep track of what they spend on  

3.When signing for a credit card，people should     .

 A．ask for a discount  

 B．understand the dangers   

 C．read every word of the contract carefully  

 D．understand that the salesman is most likely to offer false information   

4.In the last sentence the writer tells us that      ．  

A．we should know the advantages and disadvantages of credit cards before using them  

B．we should finish work before going shopping with a credit card   

C．we should check which credit cards are accepted before using them 

D．we should make sure that our credit cards are real before using them

 

I had the meanest mother in the world. While other kids ate candy for breakfast, I had to have eggs and toast. Others had cokes and candy for lunch while I had to eat a sandwich. As you can guess, my supper was different from the other kids’. But at least I was not alone in my suffering. My sister and two brothers had the same mean mother as I did.

My mother insisted on knowing where we were at all times. She had to know who our friends were and what we were doing. We had to wear clean clothes every day. Other kids always wore their clothes for days. We reached the height of disgrace(丢脸) because she made our clothes herself, just to save money.

The worst is yet to come. We had to be in bed by 9:00 each night and up at 7:45 the next morning. So while my friends slept, my mother actually had the courage to break Child Labor Law. She made us work. I believed she lay awake all night thinking up mean things to do to us. Through the years, our friends’ report cards had beautiful colors on them, black for passing, red for failing. My mother, however, would merely be content with black marks. None of us was allowed the pleasure of being a dropout.

She forced us to grow up into educated and honest adults. Using this as a background, I’m now trying to bring up my three children. I’m filled with pride when my children think I am mean because now I thank God every day for giving me the meanest mother in the world.

1.From the passage we can learn that the writer’s mother was          .

A．not generous at all

B．very strict with her children

C．very mean with money matters

D．very cruel to her children

2.Which of the following things did the writer hate to do most?

A．Eating differently from other kids.

B．Wearing clean clothes made by mother

C．Going to bed early and getting up early

D．Letting mother know where they were

3.It can be inferred from the passage that        .

A．the writer worked hard and usually got good grades in studies

B．mother was punished for breaking Child Labor Law

C．all the other kids studied better than the writer

D．the writer’s family lived a miserable life

4.The passage was written in a        tone.

A．humorous

B．hateful

C．unfriendly

D．angry

5.Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the passage?

A．Mother tried to save every penny to run her home

B．The writer is very grateful to her mother

C．The writer is severe with her children when bringing them up

D．The wrier hates her mother very much