I’m glad it’s Sunday again. I can stay in bed   36 I like, drinking tea and   37   those thick newspapers that are brought  38  the newsboy through the letterbox at 8:30. In this way, I can catch up with all the   39  I haven’t got time to read during my work time.

When I   40  the papers, I then prepare my bath. The Sunday morning bath is   41  of the week. There’s no need to hurry because there’s no bus to   42  and my friends are told not to call me up before noon on Sundays, so there is no danger of   43    by the telephone.

  44 spend the afternoon after lunch is always a bit of problem. In summer I can go to the park and sit in a chair   45  boys playing football, while in winter I sit in front of the fire and   46   when reading a book, sometimes I turn on the television and sleep through an old film.  

Then there’s the   47 ahead of me. Perhaps I’ll call on some friends or go to the cinema   48   a new film I want to see or to town for a concert. Oh, there are   49   pleasant ways of passing Sunday evenings. The only sad thing is that Monday morning is getting    50 .

The owner of a missing cat is asking for help. “My baby has been missing for over a month now, and I want him back so badly,” said Mrs. Brown, a 56-year-old woman. Mrs. Brown lives by herself in a trailer park near Clovis. She said that Clyde, her 7-year-old cat, didn’t come home for dinner more than a month ago. The next morning he didn’t appear for breakfast either. After Clyde missed an extra-special lunch, she called the police.

When the policeman asked her to describe Clyde, she told him that Clyde had beautiful green eyes, had all his teeth but was missing half of his left ear, and was seven years old and completely white. She then told the officer that Clyde was about a foot high.

A bell went off. “Is Clyde your child or your pet?” the officer suspiciously asked. “Well, he’s my cat, of course,” Mrs. Brown replied. “Lady, you’re supposed to report missing PERSONS, not missing CATS,” said the sppeadeotoned policeman. “Well, who can I report this to?” she asked. “You can’t. You have to ask around your neighborhood or put up flyers,” replied the officer.

Mrs. Brown figured that a billboard would work a lot better than an 8”x11” piece of paper on a telephone pole. There was an empty billboard at the end of her street just off the interstate（州际公路） highway. The billboard had a phone number on it. She called that number, and they told her they could blow up a picture of Clyde (from Mrs. Brown’s family album) and put it on the billboard for all to see.

“But how can people see it when they whiz（快速移动） by on the interstate?” she asked. “Oh, don’t worry, ma’am, they only whiz by between 2 a.m. and 5:30 a.m. The rest of the day, the interstate is so full of commuters that no one moves.” They told her it would cost only $3,000 a month. So she took most of the money out of her savings account and rented the billboard for a month.

The month has passed, but Clyde has not appeared. Because she has almost no money in savings, Mrs. Brown called the local newspaper to see if anyone could help her rent the billboard for just one more month. She is waiting but, so far, no one has stepped forward.

1.How long has the cat been missing?

A．More than a month                      B．More than two months

C．More than three months                  D．It’s been back.

2.Who did the old lady finally turn to for help?

A．A billboard company                     B．The police

C．The phone company                     D．The interstate telephone line

3.How is the old lady like?

A．Stupid            B．Loving            C．Smart            D．Decisive(有决断力的)

4.The underlined word was mistyped（打错了）. But we can still guess it’s most probable meaning:____________.

A．angry            B．surprised          C．happy            D．excited

5.What’s the best title for this passage?

A．An advertisement                       B．A missing cat

C．A pet’s story                          D．Life without cat

Dear Pet,

Without knowing more about you, it’s hard for me to give you some good advice.

But first, I am sure that you are 39  . You said that nobody would care if you left home. What about your   40  ?  And other family members? It seems that you are very 41  . You’d better go to a doctor or talk   42  your parents. They will be able to help you.

Second, I’m sure there’s someone else in your class who feels lonely,   43 . You never know   44 other people feel. Try to make friends with your classmates. And you could 45 a club to meet new people and make friends, too.

You 46  find happiness in yourself. So my  47  advice is to write a list of all the good things about yourself, learn to like yourself, and then  48  will see your confidence (信心)and like you, too.

Editor

My teenage son Karl became withdrawn after his father died. As a single parent, I tried to do my best to talk to him. But the more I tried, the more he pulled away. When his report card arrived during his junior year, it said that he had been absent 95 times from classes and had six falling grades for the year. In this way he would never graduate. I sent him to the school adviser, and I even begged him. Nothing worked.

One night I felt so powerless that I got down on my knees and asked God for help. “Please God, I can’t do anything more for my son. I’m at the end of my rope. I’m giving the whole thing up to you.”

I was at work when I got a phone call. A man introduced himself as the headmaster. “I want to talk to you about Karl’s absences.” Before he could say another word, I choked up（哽咽）and all my disappointment and sadness over Karl came pouring out into the ears of this stranger. “I love my son, but I just don’t know what to do. I’ve tried everything to get Karl to go back to school and nothing has worked. It’s out of my hands. ” For a moment there was silence on the other and of the line. The headmaster seriously said, “Thank you for your time”, and hung up.

　　Karl’s next report card showed a marked improvement in his grades. Finally, he was even on the list of the best students at school. In his fourth year, I attended a parent –– teacher meeting with Karl. I noticed that his teachers were surprised at the way he had turned himself around. On our way home, he said, “Mum, remember that call from the headmaster last year?” I nodded. “That was me. I thought I’d play a joke but when I heard what you said, it really hit me how much I was hurting you. That’s when I knew I had to make you proud.”

1.Which of the following has the similar meaning as the underlined word “withdrawn” in the  first paragraph?

2.There was silence on the other end of the line because _ _________.

3.Who was it that telephoned Karl’s mother that day?

4.From the passage we can learn that _____________.

A man hated his wife’s cat and decided to throw it away.
One day, he drove it over one mile from his home and left it in a park. But when he got home, he saw that his wife was playing with the cat.
The next day he drove the cat about three miles away. He put the cat out of the car and went home. Driving back his driveway（私人车道）, the cat was there already.
The man keep taking the cat further and further away and the cat would always get home before him. At last he decided to drive more than ten miles away. He turned right, then left, past a bridge, then right again and another right until he thought he was far enough from home and left the cat there.
Hours later the man was still driving home. He was lost! He called home and asked his wife, “Jen, is the cat there?”
“Yes,” his wife answered, “why do you ask?”
The man answered, “Put it on the phone. I’m lost and need directions.”
【小题1】The first time the man drove out, he _____.
A. sold the cat
B. took the cat home
C. left the cat in the park
【小题2】Which of the following is TRUE?
A. The man liked his wife’s cat and often played with it.
B. Every time the man threw the cat away, it came home earlier than the man.
C. The last time the man threw the cat away, it lost its way and didn’t come back.
【小题3】 Why did the man call home?
A. Because he was lost.
B. Because he missed his wife very much.
C. Because he wanted to know if the cat was at home.
【小题4】How far away did the man take the cat the last time?
A. Over 1 mile.            B. About 3 miles.          C. More than 10 miles.