At three a.m., Jack Mills was sitting at the controls of the mail train. The train was made up of 13 cars. At the end of the train, 71 mailmen sat sorting the mail. Inside the second car, there were only five mailmen and 128 bags full of five-pound notes. This train had run more than 100 years without being robbed(抢劫). At three minutes past three, Mills and his helper, David Whitby, saw a yellow warning light. They slowed the train, and then stopped. Whitby went to the telephone beside the track. It was out of order. Then he saw a man moving between the second and the third cars. Before Whitby could give a warning, he was knocked down by two men. Mills’ cars with all the mailmen had been disconnected by the robbers. At the bridge, the bags of money were unloaded from the train and thrown into waiting trucks. One of the robbers who obviously knew the schedules(时刻表) of all the trains kept looking at his watch. At 3:45 he said, “That will have to be enough.” The robbers drove away with more than 2,500,000 pounds.
41. The robbery took place______.
A. before 3:03                                                         B. in the early morning   
C. after three o’clock in the afternoon             D. after 3:45
42. The robbers_____ before the train stopped.
A. were all in the train                                          B. forced Mills to stop the train
C. were waiting for the train to stop                D. ordered Mills to go on driving
43. Why didn’t the other mailmen help the mailmen in the second car when the robbery happened?
A. Because they were busy sorting the mail.
B. Because they didn’t want to help the mailmen in the second car.
C. Because the last eleven cars were separated from the front cars.
D. Because they knew nothing about the robbery.
44. One of the robbers kept looking at his watch because________.
A. he wanted to know the exact time               B. he enjoyed looking at his watch
C. he didn’t know when another train would come
D. they had to leave before another train came
45. Which of the following is NOT true?
A. The train was out of order.         
B. The telephone was put out of order by the robbers
C. Whitby had an assistant driver.          
D. The robbers carried the money away by truck.

There lived a king who liked art. One day an artist offered to  paint the most beautiful picture in the world on the wall of his palace.

So he king said, “ All right, you may work on one of the walls in the new hall. ”

Just then, another artist said, “Please allow me to work on the opposite wall. I shall make exactly what that man will make on the opposite wall. Moreover, I shall do so without looking at his work. I would even request you to have a thick curtain put up between the two walls so the either of us cannot see the other. ”

Everyone in the king’s court, including the king and the first artist was surprised. So the king decided to give the man a chance.

The following day, a thick curtain was put into place and both the artists got to work. The first artist brought in a regular supply of paint, oil and water. But the second one would come with a cloth and a bucket of water every day.

A month later the first artist said that his work was completed and invited the king to come.

So the king sent the message to the second artist, saying he was coming to see their works that evening.

After seeing the first artist’s wall, the king was very impressed with the painting and gave him a huge sum of money as a reward. He then asked for the curtain to be opened up.

The same painting was seen on the opposite wall too! It was exactly like the one on the first wall. But this man had not seen what was going on, on the other side of the curtain.

The man said simply, “It’s very easy I just polished the wall every day! ”

It was a wall made of white marble. The fellow polished it till it shone like a mirror. The reflection of the painting across the room showed up in it!

56．A thick curtain was put up between the two walls in order to __________.

A．help them concentrate on their work

B．keep the first artist’s painting a secret

C．prevent their painting from being seen

D．make it hard for them to exchange ideas

57．Why did the first artist receive a huge sum of money from the king?

A．His painting satisfied the king.

B．His painting was the best the king has ever seen.

C．He painted better than the second artist.

D．The king promised to give him a reward.

58．How was the king feeling when he saw the second wall ?

A．Surprised and excited.           B. Fascinated and doubtful.

C．Satisfied and curious.            D. The paintings on the wall.

59．What would be best title of the text?        .

A．A king who loved art            B．Two artists and the king

C．Whose painting is better?        D．The painting on the wall

第二节  语法填空（共10小题；每小题1.5分，满分15分）

阅读下面短文，按照句子结构的语法性和上下文连贯的要求，在空格处填入一个适当的词或使用括号中词语的正确形式填空，并将答案填写在答题卡标号为31～40的相应位置上。

Our vicar(牧师) is always raising money for one cause or    31     , but he has never managed to get enough money to have the church clock   32    (repair). The big clock which used to strike the hours day and night was damaged many years ago and     33    （be) silent ever since.

    One night,    34   , our vicar work up with a start: the clock was striking the hours! Looking at

his watch, he saw that it was one o'clock, but the bell struck thirteen times     35    it

stopped.   36    (arm) with a torch, the vicar went up into the clock tower to see    37      was going on. In the torchlight, he caught sight of a figure whom he immediately recognized as Bill Wilkins, our local grocer.

    'Whatever are you doing up here Bill?' asked the vicar in surprise.

    'I'm trying to repair the bell,' answered Bill. 'I've been coming up here night after night for weeks now. You see, I was hoping to give you a surprise.'

    'You certainly    38    give me a surprise!'  said the vicar.

'You've    39     （probability）woken up everyone in the village as well. Still, I'm glad the bell is working again.'

    That's the trouble, vicar,' answered Bill. 'It's working all right, but I'm afraid that   40   one o'clock it will strike thirteen times and there's nothing I can do about it."

    We'll get used to that, Bill,' said the vicar. "Thirteen is not as good as one, but it's better than nothing. Now let's go downstairs and have a cup of tea.'

I returned to Abuja, the capital of Nigeria, after graduation. I had been there before my mother became a minister.  Two weeks later, I told my mother I was bored. She said, “Here’re the car keys. Go and buy some fruit.” ____ 1____, I jumped into the car and speeded off.

Seeing me or rather my ___ 2____, a boy sprang up（跳起来），   3__ to sell his bananas and peanuts. “Banana 50 naira. Peanut 200 naira!” Looking at his black-striped bananas, I    4__ to 200 total for the fruit and nuts. He    5__ . I handed him a 500 naira note. He didn’t have    6__ , so I told him not to worry. He was    7__ and smiled a row of perfect teeth.

When, two weeks later, I    8__ this same boy, I was more aware of my position in Nigerian society. I should    9__ this country as the son of a    10___. But it was hare to find pleasure in a place where it was so    11___ to see a little boy who should have been in school selling fruit.

“What’s up?” I asked. He answered in    12___ English, “I … I no get money o buy book.” I took out two 500 naira notes. He looked around    13___ before sticking his hand into the car    14___ the bills. One thousand naira means a lot to a family that    15___ only 50,000 each year.

The next morning, security officers told me, “In this place, when you give a little, people think you’re a fountain of opportunity（机会）.”    16__ it’s right, but this happens everywhere in the world. I wondered if my little friend had actually used the money for    17___. After six months’ work in northern Nigeria, I returned and saw him again standing on the road.  “Are you in school now?” He nodded. A silence fell as we looked at each other, then I    18___ what he wanted. I held out a 500 naira note. “Take this.”  He shook his head fiercely and stepped back    19__ hurt.  “It’s a gift.” I said. Shaking his head again, he handed me a basket of bananas and peanuts. “I’ve been waiting to     20___ these to you.”

A. Encouraged     B. Disappointed  C. Delighted   D. confused

A. car   B. mother   C. driver   D. keys

A. willing   B. afraid   C. eager   D. ashamed

A. got down  B. bargained down  C. put down  D. took down

A. explained   B. promised   C. agreed   D. admitted

A. change   B. notes   C. checks   D. bills

A. troubled  B. regretful  C. comfortable  D. grateful

A. ran after  B. ran into  C. ran over  D. ran to

A. protect  B. enjoy  C. help   D. support

A. minister  B. headmaster  C. manager  D. president

A. lucky  B. amazing  C. funny   D. common

A. old  B. broken   C. traditional  D. modern

A. proudly  B. madly   C. curiously  D. nervously

A. for   B. with   C. at   D. upon

A. spends   B. pays   C. makes   D. affords

A. possibly  B. actually  C. certainly  D. fortunately

A. joys   B. nuts   C. books   D. bananas

A. asked   B. imagined  C. reminded  D. realized

A. when   B. as if   C. even if   D. after

A. send   B. provide   C. sell    D. give

Mr Clarke works in a middle school. He likes reading and often  1 some books from the library. He keeps  2 to the radio every morning and reading  3 after supper. So he knows much and teaches well. His  4 worship（崇拜）him very much. Mike, Mr Clarke’s little son，is only nine. He  5 likes reading books. And he often asks his father some questions. Mr Clarke always thinks he’s too  6 to understand him and chooses_ 7 ones to answer. Of course the boy is not satisfied with（对…满意）it．
One day Mike read  8 about the electric lights（电灯）and was  9 　 it．When his father told him to do some housework，he went on thinking of it．He asked him  10 questions，and his father answered all．Then his father said proudly，“Fathers always know  11 than sons!”The boy thought for a while and said，“  12 !”
　　“Oh? Why?”
　　Mike didn’t answer and asked，  13 ，“Who invented the electric lights?”
　　“  14 .”answered Mr Clarke．
　　“Why didn’t his father invent them，then?”
Looking at his son，Mr Clarke didn’t know  15  to answer !