For years, my family has vacationed in the same Florida town. In fact, we just returned home after spending a week of spring break there with our three sons.

Many nights, we take the same scenic drive to dinner at a favorite restaurant. As we travel along Gulf Shore Boulevard, we admire a combination of small beach apartments, swanky high-rises and spectacular homes.

A few years ago, we noticed that whenever we drive this particular route, there are always two men sitting in front of the same third-floor window of a low-rise apartment building that overlooks the road. All that is visible from the road are their two silhouettes. Even during off-peak months, they’ve always been there. Over the years, we’ve had great fun speculating about who they are, whether they’re having a drink, and if so, what they fancy, where they’re from, and what they might be discussing. Our guesses have become a modern form of car bingo. Widowers? Retirees? Partners? We’ve run through the gamut of possibilities.

Eventually, I started beeping the horn as we passed. We’d wave. Our new friends would do likewise. There was something comforting in seeing them. In a world of constant change, it has been nice to look up and see that they are there, just as we remember from our last visit. And then last spring, we drove by and they were missing. The apartment was dark. No one was visible in the window. Strangely, we drove by and they were missing The apartment was dark. No one was visible in the window. Strangely, we grew worried about two people we’d never even met. Where did they go? A new round of the guessing game began.

On our last trip at Christmastime, we were relieved to see them once again. We were driving past about 6 p.m., and there they were at cocktail hour. I told my wife that I suspected they were gin drinkers and said we should buy them a bottle. She said that if I bought it, she’d deliver it. I said, “Tomorrow.”

1.Driving along the scenic route, the author’s family were to          .

A．meet their friends there     B．visit the Florida town

C．appreciate a place of interest      D．have supper together

2.Why did the author blow the horn?

A．It was a pleasure for them to see the two men again.

B．It was his habit while driving along the special route.

C．It was an agreement between him and the two men.

D．It was for the sake of safety while driving.

3.Which of the following can best describe the family?

A．generous and sensitive        B．curious and kind

C．helpful and brave                  D．friendly and hurnorous

4.Which of the following will best continue this passage?

A．The two men’s favorite drinks.

B．The two men’s beach apartments

C．The reason of the two men’s absence

D．The author’s next visit to the town

 —Have you graduated from college?

—Yes, ________.

A. I studied French for two years.

B. I have been studying French.

C. I have studied French for two years.

D. I had studied French for two years.

— Have you graduated from collage?
— Yes, ________.

1. A.
   I studied French for two years.
2. B.
   I have been studying French.
3. C.
   I have studied French for two years.
4. D.
   I had studied French for two years.

One day while shopping in a small town in southern California，it was my misfortune to be approached by a clerk whose personality conflicted with mine. He seemed most unfriendly and not at all concerned about my intended purchase. I bought nothing，and marched angrily out of the store. My hostility（敌意） toward that clerk increased with each step.

On the outside，standing by the road，was a dark­skinned young man in his early twenties. His expressive brown eyes met and held mine，and in the next instant a beautiful, dazzling（给人印象深刻的） smile covered his face. I gave way immediately. The magnetic（磁力的） power of that smile dissolved （溶解）all bitterness within me，and I found the muscles in my own face happily responding（回应）.

“Beautiful day，isn't it？”I remarked，in passing. Then，I turned back.“I really owe you a debt of gratitude（感谢），”I said softly.

His smile deepened, but he made no attempt to answer．A Mexican woman and two men were standing nearby．The woman stepped forward and volunteered, "Sir, but he doesn't speak English．Do you want me to tell him something?" In that moment I felt transformed（改变）．The young man's smile had made a big person of me．My friendliness and good will toward all mankind stood ten feet tall．

"Thank you?" The woman seemed slightly puzzled．

I gave her arm a friendly pat as I turned to leave．"Just tell him that," I insisted．"He'll understand．I am sure !"

Oh, what a smile can do! Although I have never seen that young man again, I shall never forget the lesson he taught me that morning．From that day on, I became smile-conscious, and I practice the art anywhere and everywhere, with everybody．

1.Why did the author leave the store angrily?

A．The clerk treated him unkindly．           B．He couldn't buy what he wanted．

C．The clerk didn't speak English．            D．The store's goods were too dear．

2.By saying "I felt the muscles（肌肉） in my own face happily responding" （in Paragraph 2）, the author means __.

A．he was still angry                        B．he did not want to smile

C．he would thank the young man             D．he smiled back at the young man

3.The author asked the woman to say "Thank you!" to the young man because the young man_____.

A．had helped the author before              B．taught the author how to smile

C．was a kind employee of the store           D．taught the author a valuable lesson

4.In the passage, the author seems to suggest that we should __   ___.

A．be generous to strangers                 B．practice smiling every day

C．smile at other people                    D．help people in trouble

In James Cameron’s fantasy films, such as Avatar and The Abyss, the unexplored is decorated in color and filled with alien danger. But on his dive to the deepest place on Earth, which took place on a Sunday last month, reality proved far different: white, deserted, and dull.
“I felt like I literally had gone to another planet and come back,” Cameron said after returning from the cold, dark place in the western Pacific Ocean, nearly 7 miles (11km) below the surface. “It was a very fantastic day.” Cameron is the first person to explore the deepest valley in the ocean since two men made a 20-minute trip there in 1960.
He spent about three hours gliding through the icy darkness, brightened only by lights on the one-man sub(潜水艇). This deepest section of the Mariana Trench is so untouched that at first it appeared dull. But there’s something strangely interesting about the first pieces of video that Cameron shot — a sense of aloneness.
“It’s really the sense of isolation, realizing how tiny you are down in this big, black and unexplored place,” the Titanic director said. The wordless minute-long video, released by sponsor National Geographic, shows Cameron’s sub gliding across what he calls “the very soft, almost gelatinous(胶状的) flat plain.”
To Cameron, the main thing was to appreciate being there. “There had to be a moment where I just stopped, and took it in, and said, ‘This is where I am; I’m at the bottom of the ocean, the deepest place on Earth. What does that mean?’” Cameron told reporters during a conference call. The trip was only about half as long as planned because Cameron’s battery ran low. He said he would return and film it in 3D for later viewing.
“I see this as the beginning,” Cameron said. “It’s not a one-time deal and then moving on. This is the beginning of opening up this new frontier.”
【小题1】Why did Cameron dive to the deepest place on Earth?