Outside her shabby cottage, old Mrs. Tailor was hanging out laundry on a wire line, unaware that some children lay hidden in the leaves of a nearby tree watching her every move. They were determined to find out if she really was a witch.

They watched as she took a broomstick to clean the dirt from her stone steps. But, much to their disappointment, she did not mount the broomstick and take flight. Suddenly, the old lady’s work was interrupted by the cackling of her hen—a signal that an egg had been laid in the warm nest on top of the haystack.

The old broomstick was put aside as she hobbled off towards the haystack followed by Sooty, a black cat she had rescued from a fox trap some time back. With only three legs, it was hard for Sooty to keep up with the old lady. The cat provided proof—the children were sure that only a witch could own a black cat with three legs.

There, standing on a wooden box, was Mrs. Tailor, stretching out to gather her precious egg. Taking the egg in one of her hands, she began to climb down when, without warning, the box broke and the old lady fell.

 “We have to got and help her,” whispered Amy.

 “What if it is a trick?” replied Ben.

 “Don’t be silly, Ben. If she were a witch, she would have turned us into frogs already,” reasoned Meg. “Come on Amy, let’s go.” The girls climbed down the tree and ran all the way to the haystack.

Approaching carefully, they could see a wound on the old lady’s face. She had knocked her head on a stone and her ankle was definitely broken. “Go and get Dad,” Amy yelled to her brother. “Tell him about the accident.”

The boys did not need another excuse to leave. They ran as fast as thy could for help, hoping that Mrs. Tailor would not wake and turn the girls into frogs.

1.Were the children hiding in the tree?

A. They wanted to watch Mrs. Tailor do her housework closely.

B. They were playing a hide-and-seek game

C. They wanted to find out if the rumors about Mrs. Tailor were true

D. They were pretending to be spies

2.Mrs. Tailor stopped sweeping when____

A. her front steps were clean             B. she noticed the children in the tree

C. she was ready to take a flight          D. she heard the hen cackling

3.Ben did not rush in help Mrs. Tailor because_____

A. he thought that she could be necking them

B. he knew that they could not have been in the tree

C. he did not the old lady fall down

D. he was afraid of the three-legged cat

4.Which of these old sayings best suits the story’s lesson for us?

A. Make hay while the sun shines.

B. Never judge a book by its cover.

C. People in glasshouses should not the stones.

D. A bird in the hands worth two in the bush.

第四部分阅读理解（共15小题；每小题2分，满分30分）
A
In the summer of 1978 an English farmer was driving his tractor through a field of wheat when he discovered that some of his wheat was lying flat on the ground. The flattened(变平的) wheat formed a circle about six meters across. Around this circle were four smaller circles of flattened wheat. The five circles were in a formation(构造) like five dots （点）. During the following years, farmers in England found the strange circles in their fields more and more often.
The circles are called “crop circles” because they appear in the fields of grain—usually wheat or corn. The grain in the circles lies flat on the ground but is never broken; it continues to grow, and farmers can later harvest it .Farmers always discover the crop circles in the morning, so the circles probably form at night. They appear only in the months from May to September.
At first, people thought that the circles were a hoax. Probably young people were making them as a joke ,or farmers were making them to attract tourists .To prove that the circles were a hoax, people tried to make circles exactly like the ones that farmers had found. They couldn’t do it .They couldn’t enter a field of grain without leaving tracks, and they couldn’t flatten the grain without breaking it.
Many people believe that beings from outer space are making the circles to communicate（交流）with us from far away and that the crop circles are messages from them.
Scientists who have studied the crop circles suggested several possibilities. Some scientists say that a downward rush of wind leads to the formation of the circles—the same downward rush of air that sometimes causes an airplane to crash（坠毁）.Other scientists say that forces within the earth cause the circles to appear. There is one problem with all these scientific explanations: crop circles often appear in formations, like the five-dot formation. It is hard to believe that any natural force could form those.
61. In the summer of 1978 , an English farmer discovered in his field that______.      
A．some of his wheat had been damaged
B．his grain was growing up in circles
C．his grain was moved into several circles
D．some of his wheat had fallen onto the ground
62. According to the text, the underlined part “hoax” (line 1, para.3 ) probably means       .
A．an action made to fool people
B．a special way to plant crops
C．a research on the force of winds
D．an experiment for the protection of crops
63. Which of the following may prove that the crop circles are not made by man？
A．The farmers couldn’t step out of the field.
B．The farmers couldn’t make the circles round.
C．The farmers couldn’t leave without footprints.
D．The farmers couldn’t keep the wheat straight up.
64. That the crop circles are made by       is probably true.
A．air movement                               B．airplane crashes
C．new farming techniques                 D．unknown flying objects

A few years ago a group of salesmen went to a meeting in Chicago. They had assured their wives that they would be home in plenty of time for Friday night’s dinner. In their rush, with tickets, one of these salesmen happened to kick over a table which held a display of baskets of apples. Apples flew everywhere. Without stopping or looking back, they all managed to reach the plane in time for their boarding.

All but one stopped, took a deep breath and experienced a twinge（刺痛）of sorrow for the girl whose apple stand had been overturned. He told his friends to go on without him, waved goodbye, and told one of them to call his wife when they arrived and explain his taking a later flight. Then he returned to where the apple stand had been overturned. He was glad he did.

The 16-year-old girl was totally blind! She was softly crying, tears running down her face. The salesman knelt on the floor with her, gathered up the apples, put them into the baskets, and helped set the display up once more. As he did this, he noticed that many of them had become damaged; then he set them aside in another basket. When he had finished, he pulled out his wallet and said to the girl, “Here, please take the $20 for the damage we did.” He continued, “I’m sorry for what we did and hope we didn’t spoil your day too badly.”

She nodded with her tears. As the salesman started to walk away, the blind girl called out to him, “Mr. ...”. He stopped, and turned back. She continued, “Thank you very much”.

1.These salesmen were hurrying because they ________.

2.Which of the following is the correct order of what the salesman did?

a. He made an apology to the blind girl.

b. He told his friends to go on without him.

c. He experienced a twinge of sorrow.

d. He returned to the fallen apple stand.

e. He paid the girl $20 for the damage.

3.Which of the following can describe the salesman? 

4.Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?

I was in a rush as always, but this time it was for an important date I just couldn’t be late for! I found myself at a checkout counter behind an elderly woman seemingly in no hurry as she paid for her groceries.  Being a PhD student without a lot of money, I had hurried into the store to pick up some flowers. I was in a huge rush, thinking of my upcoming evening. I did not want to be late for this date
We were in Boston, a place not always known for small conversations between strangers. The woman stopped unloading her basket and looked up at me. She smiled. It was a nice smile—warm and reassuring(令人宽慰的)-and I returned her gift by smiling back.
“Must be a special lady, whoever it is that will be getting those beautiful flowers,” she said.
“Yes, she’s special,” I said, and then to my embarrassment, the words kept coming out. “It’s only our second date, but somehow I am just having the feeling she’s ‘the one,’” jokingly, I added, “The only problem is that I can’t figure out why she’d want to date a guy like me.”
“Well, I think she’s very lucky to have a boyfriend who brings her such lovely flowers and who is obviously in love with her,” the woman said .”My husband used to bring me flowers every week—even when times were tough and we didn’t have much money. Those were incredible days; he was very romantic and—of course— I miss him since he’s passed away.”
I paid for my flowers as she was gathering up her groceries. There was no doubt in my mind as I walked up to her. I touched her on the shoulder and said “You were right, you know. These flowers are indeed for a very special lady.” I handed the flowers and thanked her for such a nice conversation.
It took her a moment to realize that I was giving her the flowers I had just purchased. “May you have a wonderful evening ,”I said. I left het with a big smile and my heart warmed as I saw her smelling the beautiful flowers.
I remember being slightly late for my date that night and telling my girlfriend the above story. A couple of years later, when I finally worked up the courage to ask her to marry me, she told me that this story had helped to seal it for her—that was the night that I won her heart .
41．Why was the writer in a hurry that day?
A. He was to meet his girlfriend.         B. He had to go back to school soon.
C. He was delayed by an elderly lady.      D. He had to pick up some groceries.
42．What does the underlined phrase “her gift” (Paragraph 2 ) refer to?
A. Her words.            B. Her smile.     C. Her flowers.         D. Her politeness.
43．Why did the writer give his flowers to the elderly lady?
A. She told him a nice story.                B. She allowed him to pay first.
C. She gave him encouragement.             D. She liked flowers very much.
44．What is the message conveyed in the story?
A. Flowers are important for a date.      B. Small talk is helpful.
C. Love and kindness are rewarding.       D. Elderly people deserve respecting.

I was in a rush as always, but this time it was for an important date I just couldn’t be late for! I found myself at a checkout counter behind an elderly woman seemingly in no hurry as she paid for her groceries. A PhD student with not a lot of money, I had hurried into the store to pick up some flowers. I was in a huge rush, thinking of my upcoming evening. I did not want to be late for this date.

We were in Boston, a place not always known for small conversation between strangers. The woman stopped unloading her basket and looked up at me. She smiled. It was a nice smile –warm and reassuring—and I returned her gift by smiling back.

“Must be a special lady, whoever it is that will be getting those beautiful flowers,” she said.

 “Yes, she’s special,” I said, and then to my embarrassment, the words kept coming out.

“It’s only our second date, but somehow I am just having the feeling she’s ‘the one’. Jokingly, I added, “The only problem is that I can’t figure out why she’d want to date a guy like me.”

“Well, I think she’s very lucky to have a boyfriend who brings her such lovely flowers and who is obviously in love with her,” the woman said.” “My husband used to bring me flowers every week –even when times were tough and we didn’t have much money. Those were incredible days; he was very romantic and – of course – I miss him since he’s passed away.”

I paid for my flowers as she was gathering up her groceries. There was no doubt in my mind as I walked up to her. I touched her on the shoulder and said, “You were right, you know. These flowers are indeed for a very special lady.” I handed her the flowers and thanked her for such a nice conversation.

It took her a moment to realize that I was giving her the flowers I had just purchased. “You have a wonderful evening,” I said. I left her with a big smile and my heart warmed as I saw her smelling the beautiful flowers.

I remember being slightly late for my date that night and telling my girlfriend the above story. A couple of years later, when I finally worked up the courage to ask her to marry me, she told me that this story had helped to seal it for her –that was the night that I won her heart.

Why was the writer in a hurry that day?

A．He was to meet his girlfriend.          B．He had to go back to school soon.

C．He was delayed by an elderly lady.      D．He had to pick up some groceries.

What does the underlined phrase “her gift”(Paragraph 2) refer to?

A．Her words.       B．Her smile.      C．Her flowers.      D．her politeness.

Why did the writer give his flowers to the elderly lady?

A．She told him a nice story.              B．She allowed him to pay first.

C．She gave him encouragement.           D．She liked flowers very much.

What is the message conveyed in the story?

A．Flowers are important for a date.        B．Small talk is helpful.

C．Love and kindness are rewarding.       D．Elderly people deserve respecting.