A beautiful and very successful actress was the star for a new musical show. Her home was in the country, but she didn’t want to go back there every night, so she bought an expensive house in the center of the city, got some beautiful furniture and got a man to paint the rooms in new colour.
It was very difficult to get tickets for her show in the evening, because everyone wanted to see it. So she decided to give the painter two of the best seats. She hoped that this would make him work better for her. He took the tickets without saying anything, and she heard no more about them until the end of month, when she got the painter’s bill. At the bottom of it were these words: “Four hours from 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. watching Miss Hall sing and dance: 3 pounds,” with this note: “Before 5:00 p.m. I get 10 shillings (先令)an hour and after 5:00 p.m. 15 shillings.”

1. 1.

   The actress bought a house in the center of the city because        .

   1. A.
      she liked to live in the busiest place
   2. B.
      she didn’t like to live in the country
   3. C.
      she wanted to work harder than before
   4. D.
      she didn’t want to live in old house
2. 2.

   In order to make the painter work better for her, the actress        .

   1. A.
      gave him two tickets for her show
   2. B.
      sang and danced for four hours
   3. C.
      decided to give him 3 pounds
   4. D.
      invited him for a big dinner
3. 3.

   The actress got the painter’s bill        .

   1. A.
      to ask for the money of his painting work
   2. B.
      to ask her to pay for his watching her show
   3. C.
      in which he showed his thanks for the tickets
   4. D.
      in which he expressed his dissatisfaction
4. 4.

   It can be learned from the text that one pound is         shillings.

   1. A.
      10
   2. B.
      12
   3. C.
      15
   4. D.
      20
5. 5.

   What kind of man was the painter?

   1. A.
      He was a careful man.
   2. B.
      He was a poor man.
   3. C.
      He was not friendly to others.
   4. D.
      He knew little about music and dance.

阅读理解

A beautiful and very successful actress was the star for a new musical show. Her home was in the country, but she didn’t want to go back there every night, so she bought an expensive house in the center of the city, got some beautiful furniture and got a man to paint the rooms in new colour.

It was very difficult to get tickets for her show in the evening, because everyone wanted to see it. So she decided to give the painter two of the best seats. She hoped that this would make him work better for her. He took the tickets without saying anything, and she heard no more about them until the end of month, when she got the painter’s bill. At the bottom of it were these words: “Four hours from 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. watching Miss Hall sing and dance: 3 pounds,” with this note: “Before 5:00 p.m. I get 10 shillings (先令)an hour and after 5:00 p.m. 15 shillings.”

1.The actress bought a house in the center of the city because        .

2. In order to make the painter work better for her, the actress        .

3. The actress got the painter’s bill        .

4.It can be learned from the text that one pound is         shillings.

5.What kind of man was the painter?

Reading Comprehension(阅读理解)：

　　Geoffrey Payne talks for the first time about the night his wife was killed. The judge thought it was he who killed his wife. Now he wrote to a magazine from the prison(监狱) about what happened on the night of 13 October 1999.

　　I had to stay late at the hospital that night to do an operation. I finally left at about 11 p.m. I drove home slowly because the weather was terrible－the wind was blowing and it was raining heavily. I was turning into our road when a man suddenly ran in front of my car. I almost hit him but I stopped just in time. I was frightened and the man looked frightened too. I got out of the car but he ran away before I could ask if he was all right. It was very strange.

　　When I got home, the lights were on but it was very quiet. I called to my wife but there was no answer. Then I remembered that she was out at a concert.

　　I was still very upset about what happened on the road, so I made myself a drink. Then I went upstairs to have a bath. I saw that the window in the bedroom was open. This was strange because my wife always locked the doors and windows before she went out. She was afraid of burglars(夜盗者). When I went to close it, I found Ellen. She was lying on the floor. There was blood everywhere. I rushed over and felt for her pulse but she was dead. I sat on the floor beside her body and was too frightened to do anything.

　　The next thing I knew, the sky was getting light. I can't remember a thing about that night. In the morning I phoned the police. They arrived about half an hour after I phoned them. But it seemed like hours. During that time I tried hard to remember anything I could about the night before. I couldn't stop thinking about the man in the road. What was he doing at that three of night in our quiet neighbourhood? Why did he look so frightened Why did he run away?

Choose the best answer(根据短文内容，选择最恰当的答案，用A、B、C或D表示，填入括号内)：

1．Geoffrey Payne was a ________.

[　　]

2．________ while Payne was turning into his road that night.

[　　]

A．A man suddenly ran in front of his car

B．His wife called him from the concert hall

C．A man stopped him and asked him the way

D．A man hit Payne's car with a big stone and ran away

3．When Payne got home, he found ________.

[　　]

A．Ellen waiting for him

B．the bedroom window closed

C．Ellen lying on the floor, blood all over

D．a burglar in his house

4．After he found Ellen dead, Payne ________.

[　　]

A．called the police at once

B．called out for help

C．tried to find out who killed his wife

D．sat beside his wife's body without knowing what to do

5．Which of the following is NOT TRUE?

[　　]

A．Payne called the police the next morning.

B．Payne could remember clearly what had happened.

C．The policemen arrived thirty minutes after Payne's call.

D．Payne wondered what the man was doing in his neighbourhood that night.

6．In this passage Payne tried to ________.

[　　]

A．say something about his family

B．show he was very sorry for his wife's death

C．tell why his wife was killed that night

D．make people believe the man in the road probably killed his wife