When it is Tom’s turn for a cut, Mr. Smith places a wooden board covered with a piece of red leather across the arms of the chair, so that the barber doesn’t have to bend to cut the boy’s hair.

“Hey, young man, you’re       , you won’t need this soon, you’ll be able to sit in the chair.” the barber says.

“Wow,” says Tom, turning round to look at his dad. “Dad, Mr. Smith said I could be sitting in the chair soon, not just on the      !”

“So I hear,” his father replies. “I expect Mr. Smith will start       me more for your hair then.”

In the       Tom sees a little head sticking out of a long nylon cape. Occasionally he       glances at the barber as he works. He smells a(n)       of smelly sweat and aftershave as the barber moves around him, combing and cutting.

Tom feels like he is in another world,       except for the sound of the barber’s shoes rubbing on the plastic carpet and the       of his scissors. In the       from the window he could see through the window, a few small clouds moved slowly through the frame, moving to the       of the scissors’ click.

Sleepily, his eyes dropping to the front of the cape where his hair       softly as snow and he       sitting in the chair just like the men and older boys, the special       left leaning against the wall in the corner.

When Mr. Smith has      , Tom hops down from the seat.      , he sees his own thick,       hair mixed among the browns, greys and blacks of the men who have sat in the chair before him. For a moment he wants to reach down and       the broken blonde hair, to       them from the others, but he does not have time.

They reach the pavement outside the shop. “I tell you what, boy, let’s get some fish and chips to take home,       your mum from cooking tea,” says Tom’s dad.

Tom is excited and catches his dad’s hand. He is surprised to find, warming in his father’s palm, a handful of his own       .

1.A. building up        B. sending up                       C. bringing up D. shooting up

2.A. desk                     B. board                               C. couch                      D. sofa

3.A. paying                  B. blaming                            C. charging                  D. accusing

4.A. mirror                           B. book                                C. shelf                      D. catalogue 

5.A. steals                   B. discovers                         C. returns                    D. transforms

6.A. lack                     B. memory                           C. mixture                   D. expression

7.A. helpless               B. noiseless                          C. fearless                   D. thoughtless

8.A. control                B. direction                          C. effect                     D. click

9.A. immigration        B. opposition                       C. reflection               D. assumption

10.A. rhyme               B. trail                                  C. pattern                    D. sound

11.A. falls                   B. covers                              C. melts                       D. explodes

12.A. considers                   B. succeeds                         C. approves                D. imagines

13.A. package            B. bench                               C. scissors          D. carpet

14.A. treated              B. compromised                 C. finished                   D. entertained

15.A. Looking into     B. Looking forward             C. Looking up             D. Looking down

16.A. blonde              B. red                                    C. black                        D. white

17.A. send for            B. find out                            C. gather up                D. show off

18.A. punish               B. separate                           C. deliver                    D. confirm

19.A. persuade          B. save                                  C. excuse                   D. relax

20.A. money               B. tip                                    C. fish                           D. hair

David’s Haircut
When David steps out of the front door he is blinded for a moment by the white, strong sunlight and reaches for his dad’s hand automatically. It’s the first really warm day of the year, an unexpected heat that bridges the gap between spring and summer. Father and son are on their way to the barbershop, something they have always done together.
Always, the routine is the same. “It’s about time we got that mop of yours cut,” David’s dad will say, pointing at him with two fingers, a cigarette caught between them. “Perhaps I should do it. Where are those scissors, Janet?” Sometimes his dad runs after him round the living room, pretending to cut off his ears. When he was young, David used to get too excited and start crying, scared that maybe he really would lose his ears, but he has long since grown out of that.
Mr Samuels’ barbershop is in a long room above the chip shop, reached by a steep and worn flight of stairs. David follows his father. He loves the barbershop — it’s like nowhere else he goes. It smells of cigarettes and men and hair oil. Sometimes the smell of chips will climb the stairs along with a customer and when the door opens the waiting men lift their noses together. Black and white photographs of men with various out-of-fashion hairstyles hang above a picture rail at the end of the room, where two barber’s chairs are fixed to the floor. They are heavy, old-fashioned chairs with foot pumps that screams as Mr Samuels adjusts the height of the seat. In front of the chairs are deep sinks with a showerhead and long metal pipe attached to the taps, not that anyone seems to use them. Behind the sinks are mirrors and on either side of these, shelves overflowing with all types of plastic combs, shaving mugs, scissors, cut throat razors, hair brushes and, 10 bright red bottles of Brylcreem(男士发油), piled neatly in a pyramid. At the back of the room sit the customers, silent for most of the time, except when Mr Samuels breaks off from cutting and smoke his cigarette, sending a stream of grey-blue smoke like the tail of kite twisting into the air.
When it is David’s turn for a cut, Mr Samuels places a wooden board covered with a piece of red leather across the arms of the chair, so that the barber doesn’t have to bend to cut the boy’s hair. David scrambles up onto the bench.
“Hey, young man, you’re shooting up, you won’t need this soon, you’ll be able to sit in the chair,” the barber says.
“Wow,” says David, turning round to look at his dad, forgetting that he can see him through the mirror. “Dad, Mr Samuels said I could be sitting in the chair soon, not just on the board!”
“So I hear,” his father replies, not looking up from the paper. “I expect Mr Samuels will start charging me more for your hair then.”
“At least double the price,” said Mr Samuels, winking at David.
Finally David’s dad looks up from his newspaper and glances into the mirror, seeing his son looking back at him. He smiles.
“Wasn’t so long ago when I had to lift you onto that board because you couldn’t climb up there yourself,” he says.
“They don’t stay young for long do they, kids”, Mr Samuels declares. All the men in the shop nod in agreement. David nods too.
In the mirror he sees a little head sticking out of a long nylon cape. Occasionally he steals glances at the barber as he works. He smells a mixture of smelly sweat and aftershave as the barber moves around him, combing and cutting, combing and cutting.
David feels like he is in another world, noiseless except for the sound of the barber’s shoes rubbing on the plastic carpet and the click of his scissors. In the reflection from the window he could see through the window, a few small clouds moved slowly through the frame, moving to the sound of the scissors’ click.
Sleepily, his eyes dropping to the front of the cape where his hair falls softly as snow and he imagines sitting in the chair just like the men and older boys, the special bench left leaning against the wall in the corner. He thinks about the picture book of Bible stories his aunt gave him for Christmas, the one of Samson having his hair cut by Delilah. David wonders if his strength will go like Samson’s.
When Mr Samuels has finished, David hops down from the seat, rubbing the itchy hair from his face. Looking down he sees his own thick, blonde hair mixed among the browns, greys and blacks of the men who have sat in the chair before him. For a moment he wants to reach down and gather up the broken blonde hair, to separate them from the others, but he does not have time.
They reach the pavement outside the shop. “I tell you what, boy, let’s get some fish and chips to take home, save your mum from cooking tea,” says David’s dad and turns up the street.
The youngster is excited and catches his dad’s hand. The thick-skinned fingers close gently around his and David is surprised to find, warming in his father’s palm, a handful of his own hair

1. 1.

   How old is David most probably age according to the context?

   1. A.
      2
   2. B.
      4
   3. C.
      10
   4. D.
      17
2. 2.

   Why does the author describe the barbershop detailedly in David’s eyes in Paragraph 3?

   1. A.
      Because David is not familiar with this place and tries to remember it
   2. B.
      Because David develops great friendfish with the shop owner
   3. C.
      Because the barbershop is a place that attracts him greatly
   4. D.
      Because the barbershop is very traditional and David can see one nowhere else
3. 3.

   Saying “I expect Mr Samuels will start charging me more for your hair then”, David’s dad is ________

   1. A.
      showing his proudness of his son’s growth
   2. B.
      complaining about the price of the haircut
   3. C.
      expressing his thanks to the shopowner’s kindness
   4. D.
      counting his expense on his son’s haircut
4. 4.

   The underlined sentence sugests that David ________

   1. A.
      looks down upon those old, grey-haired men
   2. B.
      feels extremely excited about becoming a bigger boy
   3. C.
      thinks blond hair is much more precious than other color
   4. D.
      is quite curious about his broken blonde hair
5. 5.

   Which detail from the story best shows the deep love that father gives son?

   1. A.
      Dad runs after his son round the living room
   2. B.
      Dad buys his son some fish and chips
   3. C.
      Dad sees his son through the mirror
   4. D.
      Dad holds some of his son’s hair in his palm
6. 6.

   What is the author’s tone of writing this passage?

   1. A.
      serious
   2. B.
      light-hearted
   3. C.
      critical
   4. D.
      persuasive

阅读理解

　　It was early in the spring about 15 years ago a day of pale sunlight and trees just began to turn green. I was a young police reporter, driving to a scene I didn't want to see. A man had accidentally backed his pickup truck over his baby granddaughter in the driveway of their home. It was a fatality.

　　As I parked among police cars and TV news cruisers, I saw a white haired man standing near a pickup. Cameras were trained on him, and reporters were sticking microphones in his face. Looking totally bewildered(困惑的) , he was trying to answer their questions. Mostly he wag only moving his lips, blinking and choking up.

　　After a white the reporters gave up on him and followed the. police into a small white house. I could still see that old man looking down at the place in the driveway where the child had been.

　　“I was just backing up there to spread that good dirt. ”he said to me, though I had not asked him anything. “I didn't even know she was outdoors. ”He stretched his hand toward the flower bed, then let it flop to his side.

　　Entering the kitchen, I came upon the scene. On a table, backlight by a curtained window, lay the tiny body. wrapped in a clear white sheet. Somehow the grandfather had managed to stay away from the crowd. He was sitting on a chair beside the table, in profile (侧面) to me and unaware of my presence, looking at the small body.

　　In that quiet moment I recognized the making of a prize winning news photograph. I raised the camera.

　　I don't know how many seconds I stood there, unable to snap that shutter. I was keenly aware of the powerful story telling value that photo would have, and my professional conscience(意识) told me to take it. Yet I couldn't make my hand fire that flashbulb and intrude on the poor man's island of sadness.

　　At length I lowered the camera and walked away shaken with doubt about my suitability for the journalistic profession. Of course I never told the city editor or any fellow reporters about that missed opportunity for a perfect news picture. But I still feel right about what I did.

1．What would be the best title for the passage?

[　　]

A．The Perfect Picture

B．The Death of a Child

C．The Kind Reporter

D．The Terrible Accident

2．When the writer saw him the old man was ________.

[　　]

A．crying for his lost grandchild

B．looking at the driveway

C．spreading some dirt on the flowerbed

D．receiving an interview

3．The writer missed the chance of taking the picture because ________.

[　　]

A．the effect might not be satisfactory

B．the old man hated to be interrupted

C．he didn't realize the story telling value of it

D．he wouldn't take advantage of the other's sadness

4．The writer's purpose in writing the story is to ________.

[　　]

A．describe a heart-broken scene

B．tell one of his experiences

C．blame other photographers

D．persuade people to pity others