A friend of mine named Paul received an expensive car from his brother as a Christmas present．On Christmas Eve when Paul came out of his office，a street urchin（顽童） was walking around the shining car．“Is this your car，Paul？”he asked． 
Paul answered，“Yes，my brother gave it to me for Christmas.” The boy was surprised．“You mean your brother gave it to you and it didn't cost you nothing？Boy，I wish…” He hesitated（犹豫）． 
Of course Paul knew what he was going to wish for．He was going to wish he had a brother like that. But what the boy said surprised Paul greatly. 
“I wish,” the boy went on，“that I could be a brother like that.” Paul looked at the boy in surprise, then he said again, “Would you like to take a ride in my car？” 
“Oh yes，I'd love that．” 
After a short ride，the boy turned and with his eyes shining，said，“Paul，would you mind driving in front of my house？” 
Paul smiled a little．He thought he knew what the boy wanted．He wanted to show his neighbours that he could ride home in a big car. But Paul was wrong again. “Will you stop where those two steps are？” the boy asked． 
He ran up to the steps. Then in a short while Paul heard him coming back, but he was not coming fast. He was carrying his little crippled（残疾） brother. He sat him down on the step and pointed to the car. 
“There she is, Buddy, just like I told you upstairs. His brother gave it to him for Christmas and it didn't cost him a cent. And some day I'm going to give you one just like it…then you can see for yourself all the nice things in the Christmas windows that I've been trying to tell you about.” 
Paul got out and lifted the boy to the front seat of his car. The shining-eyed older brother climbed in beside him and the three of them began an unforgettable holiday ride. 
【小题1】The street urchin was very surprised when ________． 

A．Paul received an expensive car

B．Paul told him about the car

C．he saw the shining car

D．he was walking around the car

【小题2】From the story we can see the urchin ________． 

A．wished to give his brother a car

B．wanted Paul’s brother to give him a car

C．wished he could have a brother like Paul's

D．wished Paul could be a brother like that

【小题3】The urchin asked Paul to stop his car in front of his house ________． 

A．to show his neighbours the big car

B．to show he had a rich friend

C．to let his brother ride in the car

D．to tell his brother about his wish

【小题4】We can infer（推断）from the story that ________． 

A．Paul couldn't understand the urchin

B．the urchin had a deep love for his brother

C．the urchin wished to have a rich brother

D．the urchin's wish came true in the end

【小题5】The best name of the name story is _________．

A．A Christmas Present	B．A Street Urchin
C．A Brother Like That	D．An Unforgettable Holiday Ride

“Wanted: Violin. Can’t pay much. Call…”
That advertisement in the newspaper made me remember my childhood. I, too, had wanted a violin, but we didn’t have the money. Even though times were   16 , I couldn’t wait any longer to ask. “Daddy, may I have a violin of   17 ?” Daddy’s face looked   18 . But a few weeks later, Daddy went home, with a case in his hand,   19 ,“Mary, I found this secondhand violin for seven dollars.”
The day when I carried my violin to school for my first lesson , no one could know how   20  I was. I practiced, joined the school orchestra(管弦乐队), gave performances……Several years seemed to run even quickly and I found myself in the first violin chair. More years   21 , and my violin made every move with me, until one day, I carefully   22  it away.
Now here   23  this want advertisement, I discovered the case deep in my closet（储藏室）. I put it on the table. Then I picked up the   24 , walked to the telephone and called by the   25 .
Later in the day, a man of about 30 knocked at the door. “I’ve been expecting someone would  26  my advertisement. My daughter wants a violin so  27 ,”he said, examining my violin. “How much are you asking?”
I said, “Seven dollars.” “Are you sure?” he asked,   28  he did not believe his ears. “Seven dollars.” I   29  and then added,” I hope your little girl will enjoy it   30  I did.”
I smiled, but I found my tears(眼泪) rolling down my face.

【小题1】

A．easy B．hard C．late D．long

【小题2】

A．my B．mine C．myself D．me

【小题3】

A．angry B．happy C．sad D．funny

【小题4】

A．answering B．saying C．asking D．telling

【小题5】

A．surprised B．excited C．interested D．embarrassed

【小题6】

A．past B．was passed C．passing D．passed

【小题7】

A．carried B．put C．took D．threw

【小题8】

A．about B．by C．in D．for

【小题9】

A．advertisement B．violin C．case D．newspaper

【小题10】

A．date B．name C．number D．address

【小题11】

A．offer B．answer C．receive D．find

【小题12】

A．badly B．easily C．quickly D．luckily

【小题13】

A．though B．when C．as if D．until

【小题14】

A．repeated B．continued C．reminded D．suggested

【小题15】

A．which B．when C．what D．as

When I was growing up, I had an old neighbor, Dr. Gibbs. He didn’t look like any doctor I’d ever known. He never invited us to play in his yard, but he was a very kind person.
When Dr. Gibbs wasn’t saving lives, he was planting trees. He owned a large field and wanted to make it a forest.
The good doctor had some interesting ideas about planting trees. He never watered his new trees. Once I asked why. He said that watering plants spoiled them, and that if you watered them, each baby tree would grow weaker and weaker, so you had to make things difficult for them and pick out the weaker trees early on.
He talked about how watering trees made for shallow（浅的）roots, and how trees that weren’t watered had to grow deep roots in search of water under the earth by themselves. Deep roots were very important.
So he never watered his trees. He’d planted an oak and, instead of watering it every morning, he’d beat it with a rolled-up newspaper. I asked him why he did that, and he said it was to get the tree’s attention.
Dr. Gibbs died several years after I left home. Every now and then, I walked by his house and looked at the trees that I watched him plant about twenty-five years ago. They’re very big and strong now. I planted some trees a few years back and carried water to them for whole summer.
After two years of caring too much, whenever a cold wind blows in, they shake a lot.
Every night before I go to bed, I check on my two sons. Mostly I pray（祈祷）that their lives will be easy. But lately I’ve been thinking that it’s time to change my prayer. I know my children are going to face difficulties. There’s always cold wind blowing somewhere, so what we need to do is to pray for roots that reach deep into the brave heart, so when the rains fall and the winds blow, we could face it strongly and won’t be beaten down.
【小题1】We know from the passage the doctor           .

A．didn’t know how to plant trees at all

B．wasn’t good at his own medical job

C．had his own ways of planting trees

D．had nothing to do but plant trees

【小题2】When Dr. Gibbs said “…pick out the weaker trees early on.”, he meant that          .

A．some weak trees would be easily found out at the beginning

B．he would choose the weak trees to water earlier

C．the weak trees would be sent to his patients later

D．he would not plant weak trees so early anymore

【小题3】The passage tells us that the writer      .

A．should beat his trees with a rolled-up newspaper

B．didn’t often water his trees

C．didn’t have a large field

D．took too much care of his trees

【小题4】Which can be the best title of the passage?

A．Watering trees

B．Growing roots

C．Doctor and his neighbor

D．Father and his children

Billy: I’ve been fixing the computer for over three hours, but it still doesn’t work.

  Nana: Why don’t you take a rest and try 　　　?  Maybe you’ll do better then.

  (A) early        (B) finally (C) later   (D) once

 

Dear Linda,
I have been in England three months now, and it’s my first time to be here. I hope you don't think I've forgotten you. There have been so many places to see and so many things to do that I've not had much time for writing letters.
I shall soon be starting my studies at King's College. So far I've been learning about England and British ways of living. I won't tell you about London. There are plenty of books you can read and plenty of pictures you can look at. I'm sure you'll be more interested to know what I think about the life here.
I find some of the customs (风俗) new and interesting. People here do not shake hands as much as we do in Europe. During the first few weeks I was often surprised because people did not put out their hands when I met them. Men raise their hats to women but not to each other.
Yours
Alice
【小题1】The writer came to London from _________.

A．Asia

B．Europe

C．America

D．Africa

【小题2】The writer __________.

A．has never been to England before

B．came to England just now

C．came to England three months ago

D．will come to England in three months

【小题3】She has _________.

A．not written any letters

B．much time to write letters

C．no time to write letters

D．a little time to write letters

【小题4】She came to England to _________.

A．study

B．make a living

C．learn British ways of living

D．learn about life there

【小题5】Englishmen ___________.

A．do not often shake hands with friends when they meet

B．often shake hands with friends when they meet

C．raise their hats to all friends when they meet

D．do not raise their hats to friends when they meet