As kids, my friends and I spent a lot of time out in the woods．“The woods” was our part-time address, destination, purpose, and excuse．If I went to a friend’s house and found him not at home, his mother might say, “Oh, he’s out in the woods, ” with a tone (语气) of airy acceptance．It’s similar to the tone people sometimes use nowadays to tell me that someone I’m looking for is on the golf course or at the gym, or even “away from his desk.” For us ten-year-olds, “being out in the woods” was just an excuse to do whatever we feel like for a while.

We sometimes told ourselves that what we were doing in the woods was exploring(探索)．Exploring was a more popular idea back then than it is today．History seemed to be mostly about explorers．Our explorations, though, seemed to have less system than the historic kind: something usually came up along the way．Say we stayed in the woods, throwing rocks, shooting frogs, picking blackberries, digging in what we were briefly persuaded was an Italian burial mound.

Often we got “lost” and had to climb a tree to find out where we were．If you read a story in which someone does that successfully, be skeptical; the topmost branches are usually too skinny to hold weight, and we could never climb high enough to see anything except other trees．There were four or five trees that we visited regularly—tall beeches, easy to climb and comfortable to sit in.

It was in a tree, too, that our days of fooling around in the woods came to an end．By then some of us had reached seventh grade and had begun the rough ride of adolescence（青春期．In March, the month when we usually took to the woods again after winter, two friends and I set out to go exploring．We climbed a tree, and all of a sudden it occurred to all three of us at the same time that we really were rather big to be up in a tree．Soon there would be the spring dances on Friday evenings in the high school cafeteria.

1.The author and his friends were often out in the woods to _______.

  A．spend their free time                          B．play golf and other sports

  C．avoid doing their schoolwork                D．keep away from their parents

2.What can we infer from Paragraph 2?

  A．The activities in the woods were well planned.

  B．Human history is not the result of exploration.

  C．Exploration should be a systematic activity.

  D．The author explored in the woods aimlessly.

3.The underlined word “skeptical” in Paragraph 3 is closest in meaning to ______.

  A．calm            B．doubtful             C．serious               D．optimistic

4.How does the author feel about his childhood?

  A．Happy but short．                    B．Lonely but memorable.

  C．Boring and meaningless．               D．Long and unforgettable．

       A lot of us lose life’s tough battles by starting a frontal（正面的） attack—when a touch of humor might well enable us to win．Consider the case of a young friend of mine, who hit a traffic jam on his way to work shortly after receiving an ultimatum（ 最后通牒 ） about being late on the job．Although there was a good reason for Sam’s a being late—serious illness at home—he decided that this by-now-familiar excuse wouldn’t work any longer．His supervisor was probably already pacing up and down preparing a dismissal speech．

       Yes, the boss was, Sam entered the office at 9:35．The place was as quiet as a locker room（ 更衣室），everyone was hard at work．Sam’s supervisor came up to him．Suddenly, Sam forced a grin（咧着嘴笑）and stretched out his hand．“How do you do!” he said．“I’m Sam Maynard．I’m applying for a job．Which I understand, became available just 35 minutes ago．Does the early bird get the worm?” The room exploded in laughter．The supervisor clamped off a smile and walked back to his office．Sam Maynard had saved his job—with the only tool that could win a laugh．

       Humor is a most effective, yet frequently neglected（ 忽略 ）, means of handling the difficult situations in our lives．It can be used for patching up differences, apologizing, saying “no”, criticizing, getting the other fellow to do what you want without his losing face．For some jobs, it’s the only tool that can succeed．It is a way to discuss subjects so sensitive that serious dialog may start a quarrel．For example, many believe that comedians on television are doing more today for racial and religious tolerance than people in any other forum．

1．Why was Sam late for his job?

       A．Because he was ill．

       B．Because he got up late．

       C．Because he was caught in a traffic jam．

       D．He was busy applying for a new job．

2．The main idea of this passage is ________．

       A．Sam Maynard saved his job with humor

       B．humor is important in our lives

       C．early bird gets the worm

       D．humor can solve racial discriminations

3．The phrase “clamped off” in Paragraph 3 means ________．

       A．tried to hold back                              B．tried to set

      C．charged                                            D．gave out

4．Which of the following statements can we infer from the passage?

       A．Many lose life’s battles for they are lacking in a sense of humor．

       B．It wasn’t the first time that Sam came late for his work．

       C．Sam was supposed to come to his office at 8:30．

       D．Humor is the most effective way of solving problems．

　　One day， a nervous man was on his way home from the railway station．The road was dark and lonely．He heard footsteps behind him and had a troubled feeling that he was being followed．He began to walk faster．The footsteps became faster， too．He slowed down．The footsteps slowed down．Now he was sure that he was being followed．He tried to hide．Still the footsteps followed him．Not knowing how to save himself， he jumped over a fence and found himself in a cemetery， threw himself down on one of the tombs．

　　“If he followed me here，” he thought fearfully， “there can be no doubt as to his plans．”

　　The man behind followed．He could hear him jump over the fence．Thoughts of thieves and murderers filled his mind．Trembling（发抖） with fear， the nervous man arose（站起） and faced the man who was following him．“What do you want？” he demanded．“Why—why are you following me？”“I say，” asked the stranger， wiping the sweat from his forehead， “do you always go home like this， or are you taking some special exercise tonight？ I want to go to Mr．Brown's and I don't know the way．The station master told me to follow you， as you live next to his door．Excuse me for asking， but is there much further to go before we get there？”

1．The man jumped over a fence and found himself in a cemetery， threw himself down on one of the tombs because________．

A．he wanted to save time

B．he wanted to save himself

C．he wanted to prevent himself from being robbed or killed

D．he had no idea how to prevent himself from being robbed or killed

2．Who followed the man？

A．A thief．

B．A murderer．

C．A kidnapper．

D．A stranger．

3．________ was Mr．Brown's next door neighbour．

A．The station master

B．The follower

C．The man followed

D．The thief

4．The best title for the passage is________．

A．Two Men

B．A False Alarm（一场虚惊）

C．An Adventure

D．A Man Who Was Followed

It has been so bitterly cold here in Pennsylvania. I can't remember a winter being as cold as this，but I’m sure there were__36___ days．___37__ the daylight hours are growing longer minute by minute, it’s easy to find a(n)_38__not to go out unless you absolutely must, but then again I often have to push myself to accomplish things．

  As I stood 0utside with my two dogs yesterday, it was so cold that my nose and face39   crisp and my cars were stinging．Of course，that doesn't_40____to Ricky and Lucy．They have a routine they must__41____to find just the fight  spot _42___ cold or hot it is．So I wait．

  But this time it was different．As cold __43___ it was，I suddenly was refreshed thinking about how wonderful this extreme cold really was. Then the sun _44__the clouds and  _45___ Of summer’s burning hot days flashed through my mind．I could remember standing in the heat of the afternoon,__46____ pouring down my brow and the burning hot sun_47____ my face．I reminded myself then and there that in the  cold of the winter I would I wish I had this___48____

 I was right. Two extremes in my life that most of the time I find uncomfortable, I normally dread them and 49  about it all the way through．But today 1 was50____ them．Without the extremes in my life，I would never_51____ the days__52____ things were just right．Without the extremes life would be__53____ .So bring on the cold so I appreciate the heat more．Make me sweat on a hot summer’s day so I wish I had a handful of_54____ to rub my face in．

  I __55___ complain about my situation too often．But now I want to start finding a reason to be happy with where I’m.