It was New Year’s Night. An aged man was standing at a window. He raised his mournful eyes towards the deep blue sky, where the stars were floating like white lilies on the surface of a clear calm lake. Then he cast them on the earth, where few more hopeless people than himself now moved towards their certain goal --- the tomb. He had already passed sixty of the stages leading to it, and he had brought from his journey nothing but errors and remorse. Now his health was poor, his mind vacant, his heart sorrowful, and his old age short of comforts.

The days of his youth appeared like dreams before him, and he recalled the serious moment when his father placed him at the entrance of the two roads --- one leading to a peaceful, sunny place, covered with flowers, fruits and filled with soft, sweet songs; the other leading to a deep, dark cave, which was endless, where poison flowed instead of water and where devils and poisonous snakes hissed and crawled.

He looked towards the sky and cried painfully, “O youth, return! O my father, place me once more at the entrance to life, and I’ll choose the better way!” But both his father and the days of his youth had passed away.

He saw the lights flowing away in the darkness. These were the days of his wasted life; he saw a star fall down from the sky and disappeared, and this was the symbol of himself. His regret, which was like a sharp arrow, struck deeply into his heart. Then he remembered his friends in his childhood, who entered on life together with him. But they had made their way to success and were now honored and happy on this New Year’s Night.

The clock in the high church tower struck and the sound made him remember his parents’ early love for him. They had taught him and prayed to God for his good. But he chose the wrong way. With shame and grief he dared no longer look towards that heaven where his father lived. His darkened eyes were full of tears, and with a despairing effort, he burst out a cry: “Come back, my early days! Come back!”

And his youth did return, for all this was only a dream which he had on New Year’s Night. He was still young though his faults were real; he had not yet entered the deep, dark cave, and he was still free to walk on the road which leads to the peaceful and sunny land.

Those who still wander on the entrance of life, hesitating to choose the bright road, remember that when years are passed and your feet stumble on the dark mountains, you will cry bitterly, but in vain: “O youth, return! Oh give me back my early days!”

1.We can learn from the passage that ____.

A．the man returned from a long journey and regretted what he had done

B．the man didn’t enter the deep, dark cave when he was young

C．the man was deserted by his parents when he was only a child

D．the man found it no use crying over the spilt milk

2.Why does the author set his story on New Year’s Night?

A．He wants to tell people it’s time to recall the past

B．he suggests the aged man will have a bright future

C．He tries to stress the man’s sad feeling

D．He expects people to share the man’s emotion

3.The aged man in the passage can be described as ________.

A．sorrowful, fearful and regretful             B．hopeful, cheerful and peaceful

C．regretful, painful and disappointed          D．disappointed, regretful and hopeful

4.The author writes the passage mainly to ________.

A．encourage young people to take the right road B．help the old man to pick up his confidence

C．describe the old man’s unsuccessful experience   D．show his compassion for the aged man

But one afternoon as I was having tea with some friends outside the house, Denys came flying from Nairobi and went over our heads westwards; a little while after he turned and came back and landed on the farm. I drove down to the plain to bring him back, but he would not get out of his plane.

“The buffaloes are out feeding in the fields, ”he said, “come out and have a look them. ”

“I cannot come, ”I said, “I have got tea-party up at the house. ”

“But we will go and see them and be back in a quarter of an hour, ”he said.

This sounded to me like the suggestions which people make to you in a dream. So I went up with him. It did not take us long to see the buffaloes from the air; we counted them as they peacefully mixed and separated on the open ground closed in by bushes. There was one very old big black bull, and a number of young ones;  if a stranger had come near to them they would have heard or smelt him at once, but they were not prepared for something from the air. They heard the noise of our machine and stopped feeding, but they did not seem to be able to look up. In the end they realized that something very strange was about;  the old bull first walked out in front of the others. Suddenly he began to go down the valley side and after a moment he broke into a run. The whole group now followed him, rushing hurriedly down into the bushes. In a small wood of low trees they stopped and kept close together. Here they believed themselves to be out of sight. We flew up and away. It was like having been taken there by a secret unknown route.

When I came back to my tea-party the teapot on the stone was still so hot that I burned my fingers on it.

1. When young, the writer 　　　　　　   .

A. was interested to kill as many animals as possible

B. had failed to find the buffaloes

C. enjoyed shooting one of every sort of African animal

D. used to camp in the hills and watch the buffaloes in a plane

2. The writer went to the plane 　　　　　　   .

A. to pick Denys up and take him back to the tea-party

B. to have a talk with Denys

C. to persuade Denys to leave the plane

D. because they wanted to go up in the plane

3. When the buffaloes heard the noise of the plane, they 　　　　　　   .

A. looked up at it

B. ran away immediately

C. continued feeding

D. were uncertain what to do

4. The buffaloes felt safe when they reached the wood because they 　　　　　　   .

A. thought they couldn’t be seen

B. could only be seen from the ground

C. could only be seen if the plane flew higher

D. could not see the plane

Here in the hills were buffaloes. I had even, in my very young days—when I could not live till I had killed one of each kind of African animal—shot a bull out here. Later on, when I was not so interested to shoot as to watch the wild animals, I had been out to see them again, but twice I had to go back without success.

But one afternoon as I was having tea with some friends outside the house, Denys came flying from Nairobi and went over our heads westwards; a little while after he turned and came back and landed on the farm. I drove down to the plain to bring him back, but he would not get out of his plane.

“The buffaloes are out feeding in the fields, ”he said, “come out and have a look them. ”

“I cannot come, ”I said, “I have got tea-party up at the house. ”

“But we will go and see them and be back in a quarter of an hour, ”he said.

This sounded to me like the suggestions which people make to you in a dream. So I went up with him. It did not take us long to see the buffaloes from the air; we counted them as they peacefully mixed and separated on the open ground closed in by bushes. There was one very old big black bull, and a number of young ones;  if a stranger had come near to them they would have heard or smelt him at once, but they were not prepared for something from the air. They heard the noise of our machine and stopped feeding, but they did not seem to be able to look up. In the end they realized that something very strange was about;  the old bull first walked out in front of the others. Suddenly he began to go down the valley side and after a moment he broke into a run. The whole group now followed him, rushing hurriedly down into the bushes. In a small wood of low trees they stopped and kept close together. Here they believed themselves to be out of sight. We flew up and away. It was like having been taken there by a secret unknown route.

When I came back to my tea-party the teapot on the stone was still so hot that I burned my fingers on it.

1. When young, the writer 　　　　　　   .

A. was interested to kill as many animals as possible

B. had failed to find the buffaloes

C. enjoyed shooting one of every sort of African animal

D. used to camp in the hills and watch the buffaloes in a plane

2. The writer went to the plane 　　　　　　   .

A. to pick Denys up and take him back to the tea-party

B. to have a talk with Denys

C. to persuade Denys to leave the plane

D. because they wanted to go up in the plane

3. When the buffaloes heard the noise of the plane, they 　　　　　　   .

A. looked up at it

B. ran away immediately

C. continued feeding

D. were uncertain what to do

4. The buffaloes felt safe when they reached the wood because they 　　　　　　   .

A. thought they couldn’t be seen

B. could only be seen from the ground

C. could only be seen if the plane flew higher

D. could not see the plane

Here in the hills were buffaloes (野牛). I had even, in my very young days — when I could not live till I had killed one of each kind of African animal — shot a bull out there. Later on, when I was not so interested to shoot as to watch the wild animals, I had been out to see them again. But twice I had to go back without success.

But one afternoon as I was having tea with some friends outside the house, Denys came flying from Nairobi and went over our heads westwards; a little while after he turned and came back and landed on the farm. I drove down to the plane to bring him back, but he would not get out of his plane.

“The buffaloes are out feeding in the hills,” he said, “come out and have a look at them.”

“I cannot come,” I said. “I have got a tea-party up at the house.”

“But we will go and see them and be back in a quarter of an hour,” he said.

This sounded to me like the suggestions which people make to you in a dream. So I went up with him. It did not take us long to see the buffaloes from the air; we counted them as they peacefully mixed and separated on the open ground closed in by bushes. There was one very old big black bull, and a number of young ones; if a stranger had come near to them they would have heard or smelt him at once, but they were not prepared for something from the air. They heard the noise of our machine and stopped feeding, but they did not seem to be able to look up. In the end they realized that something very strange was about; the old bull first walked out in front of the others. Suddenly he began to go down the valley side and after a moment he broke into a run. The whole group now followed him, rushing hurriedly down into the buses. In a small wood of low trees they stopped and kept close together. Here they believed themselves to be out of sight. We flew up and away. It was like having been taken there by a secret unknown route.

When I came back to my tea-party the teapot on the stone was still so hot that I burned my fingers on it.

1.The writer drove to the plane ________.

2. Denys said it would only take a quarter of an hour to go and see the buffaloes ________.

3.When the buffaloes heard the noise of the plane, they ________.