After my husband died, my world crashed around me. My six children were ten, nine, eight, six, three and 18 months, and I was overwhelmed(不知所措的) with the responsibilities of earning a living, caring for the children and simply keeping my head above water.

I was lucky to find a wonderful housekeeper to care for the children during the week, but from Friday nights to Monday mornings, the children and I were alone, and frankly(坦诚地) I was uneasy. Every unusual noise or any late-night phone call filled me with fear. I felt really alone.

One Friday evening I came home from work to find a big beautiful German shepherd(牧羊犬) on our doorstep. It was obvious he wanted to make the house his home. The children took an instant liking to “German” and asked me to let him in. I agreed to let him sleep in the basement(地下室) until the next day. That night I slept peacefully for the first time in many weeks.

The following morning we made phone calls and checked lost-and-found ads for German’s owner, but with no results. Saturday night he was still with us. 

On Sunday I had planned to take the children on a picnic. Since I thought it best to leave German behind in case(以免) his owner came by, we drove off without him. When we stopped to get gas at a local station, we were amazed to see German racing to the gas station after us. He stayed again Sunday night.  

Monday morning I let him out for a run while the children got ready for school. He didn’t come back. We thought we’d never see him again. On Friday evening, German was back again. We took him in, and again he stayed until Monday morning, when our housekeeper arrived. It went like this for almost 10 months. We looked forward to his coming. Each Monday morning he left home.

Each week, between German's visits, I grew a little braver, but every weekend I enjoyed being with him . Then one Monday morning we patted his head and let him out for what turned out to be the last time. He never came back. We never saw or heard from German again. I think of him often. He came when I needed him the most and stayed until I was strong enough to go on alone. I believe German was sent because he was needed, and because no matter how abandoned(被放弃的) and alone we feel, somehow, somewhere, someone knows and cares. We are never really alone.

1.What does the underlined part “keeping my head above water” in the first paragraph mean?

A．trying to keep calm in public

B．trying to get attention from other men

C．showing her high spirit in the face of trouble

D．trying to continue to live

2.When the author’s husband died, ______.

A．she couldn’t raise the six children on her own

B．she couldn’t relax at weekends

C．The housekeeper only came at weekends

D．she was too busy to feel lonely

3. Which of the following is WRONG according to the article?

A．German was fond of living with the family.

B．The writer felt safe and protected with German around.

C．The dog stayed until the writer was strong enough to go on alone.

D．The writer was too busy that weekend to go to find the dog’s owner.

4.Which is the best title for the passage?

A．A homeless dog                        B．A friend’s strength

C．How to keep a dog                      D．Keep up when in trouble

When I was walking down the street one day, I found a small bag on the ground. I picked it up and opened it to see if I could find out the owner’s name. There was nothing inside it except some dollars and an old photo--- a picture of a woman and a young girl about twelve years old. I put the photo back and took the bag to the police station. Before I left, the policeman wrote down my name and address. He thought the owner might want to thank me.
That evening I went to have dinner with my aunt and uncle. They had also asked a young woman to have dinner with us. Her face was familiar, but I couldn’t remember where I had seen her. During our talk, the young woman happened to say that she had lost her bag that afternoon. At once I remembered where I had seen her. She was the young girl in the photo, though she was now much older. She was very surprised, of course, when I told her about the bag.
After dinner we went to the police station and she got back her bag. The policeman said to me, “It’s a wonderful thing. You not only found the bag, but also the owner of the bag.”
1. In the bag there was _______.
A. nothing                        B. a new photo and some money
C. an old picture and some money     D. some dollars and a piece of paper
2. The writer opened the bag because he wanted to________.
A. find some money          B. find some letters 
C. find the owner’s photo      D. find out whose bag it was
3. The writer gave the bag to ________.
A. a policeman  B. his uncle  C. his aunt    D. his friend
4. How many people had the dinner that evening?
A. Two       B. Three       C. Four       D. Five
5. The writer knew the young woman because _________.
A. he had met her somewhere before   B. she looked like the girl in the picture
C.she often had meals with the writer   D. she was the old woman in the photo

Imagine the situation. You are driving along a desert or on a mountain. You have no idea where you are. You passed the last house two hours ago. Then your car breaks down. It is night and it is cold. You have no mobile phone. What do you do? Well, next time take a GPS with you. This invention may be able to help you. It is a device(装置) which uses satellites (卫星) to find the user’s position(位置). It can find your position to within 20 metres. A GPS cannot start your car, but at least you will know where you are.
GPS, which means Global Positioning System, is a small radio receiver. It looks like a mobile phone. You can hold it in your hand, or put in your pocket. It is sometimes put into a watch or a telephone. We also find GPS devices in cars, planes, or boats. Some of these devices have electronic maps, so you know where you are. For example, in a city they can tell you the name of the street.
There are three parts to the Global Positioning System. The first part is the receiver. You can hold it in your hand, or have it fixed into your car, plane, etc. The second part is a group of satellites orbiting the Earth. The receiver contacts at least four of the satellites and calculates(计算) its position. The third part of the system is a network of ground stations. They are all over the world. They control the satellites and make sure they are working well.
Some people think that in the future the GPS will be as common as the mobile. They are becoming cheaper and more and more accurate(精确的). There are also new uses for the GPS. Perhaps they will become like watches. Everyone will have one and you will never be lost again.
【小题1】According to the passage, with the help of the GPS, people __________.

When I was walking down the street one day, I found a small bag on the ground. I picked it up and opened it to see if I could find out the owner’s name. There was nothing inside it except some dollars and an old photo--- a picture of a woman and a young girl about twelve years old. I put the photo back and took the bag to the police station. Before I left, the policeman wrote down my name and address. He thought the owner might want to thank me.

  That evening I went to have dinner with my aunt and uncle. They had also asked a young woman to have dinner with us. Her face was familiar, but I couldn’t remember where I had seen her. During our talk, the young woman happened to say that she had lost her bag that afternoon. At once I remembered where I had seen her. She was the young girl in the photo, though she was now much older. She was very surprised, of course, when I told her about the bag.

   After dinner we went to the police station and she got back her bag. The policeman said to me, “It’s a wonderful thing. You not only found the bag, but also the owner of the bag.”

1. In the bag there was _______.

      A. nothing                        B. a new photo and some money

      C. an old picture and some money     D. some dollars and a piece of paper

2. The writer opened the bag because he wanted to________.

A. find some money          B. find some letters 

C. find the owner’s photo      D. find out whose bag it was

3. The writer gave the bag to ________.

      A. a policeman  B. his uncle  C. his aunt    D. his friend

4. How many people had the dinner that evening?

      A. Two       B. Three       C. Four       D. Five

5. The writer knew the young woman because _________.

A. he had met her somewhere before    B. she looked like the girl in the picture

C.she often had meals with the writer     D. she was the old woman in the photo

         Years ago, I lived in a building in a town. There was another building across form mine, and it was only a few meters away. There lived a woman whom I had never met. I could see her sit by the window each afternoon, drinking or reading.

         Several months later, I noticed her window was very dirty. Everything was not clear through the window. I wondered why the woman didn’t wash her window.

         One sunny morning, I decided to clean up my apartment, including washing my windows. Late in the afternoon when I finished the cleaning, I sat down for a rest by the window. What a surprise! The woman sitting by her window was clearly seen! Her window was clean! Suddenly, I realized I had made a mistake. I was watching her through my dirty window all the time!

         That was quite an important lesson for me. Since then, whenever I wanted to judge(判断) someone, I asked myself first, “ Am I looking at him through the dirty window of my heart?” Then I try to clean the window of my own world so that I may see the world clearly.

1.The writer lived in           years ago.

         A. a hotel                 B. a village                 C. a town                   D. the countryside

2.The woman often drank and read by the window           .

         A. in the morning   B. in the afternoon  C. in the evening      D. the whole day

3.One sunny morning, the writer decided to do some          .

         A. reading                B. cleaning                 C. shopping               D. cooking

4.The writer was surprised to find the woman’s window was          .

         A. far                         B. broken                   C. clean                      D. dirty

5.From the passage(文章), we can learn            .

        A. we should judge ourselves before we judge others

        B. we should judge others through the dirty windows

        C. we shouldn’t clean the windows often