It was one of the hottest days of the dry season. We had not seen rain in almost a month. The crops were dying. Cows had stopped giving milk. If we didn’t see some rain soon we would lose everything.

　　I was in the kitchen making lunch for my husband and his brothers when I saw my six-year-old son, Billy, walking toward the woods. He was obviously walking with a great effort. Minutes after he disappeared into the woods, he came running out again, toward the house.

Moments later, however, he was once again walking toward the woods. This activity went on for over an hour: walking cautiously to the woods, then running back to the house. Finally, my curiosity got the best of me. I went out of the house and followed him on his journey.

　　He was cupping both hands in front of him as he walked; being very careful not to spill the water he held in them. Branches and thorns (荆棘) slapped his little face but he did not try to avoid them. As I leaned in to spy on him, I saw the most amazing site.

　　Several large deer appeared threatening in front of him. But Billy walked right up to them. I almost screamed for him to get away. And I saw a baby deer lying on the ground, obviously suffering from heavy loss of water, lift its head with great effort to drink the water cupped in my beautiful boy's hand.

　　I stood on the edge of the woods watching the most beautiful heart working so hard to save a life. As my tears began to hit the ground, they were suddenly joined by other drops... and more drops... and more. I looked up at the sky. It was as if God, Himself, was weeping with pride.

1.Why did the author follow her son?

A. Because there might be danger.

B. Because her son was doing a good deed.

C. Because she was curious.

D. Because she intended to help.

2.Which of the following statements is Not True according to the passage?

A. Rain was in great need.

B. There were few trees in the woods.

C. Billy carried water with his small hands.

D. Billy walked into the woods and then returned over and over again.

3.What Billy did mainly showed that he was ________.

A. caring                            B. beautiful             C. childlike               D. brave

4.Which is the correct order of the development of the story?

① The author was moved to tears.

② Billy fed the water to the baby deer.

③ Billy walked towards the large deer.

④ It began to rain.

⑤ The author followed Billy into the woods.

A. ③②⑤①④                     B. ④①③②⑤  C. ⑤③②①④            D. ⑤②①③④

In the 1950s, a family that owned a farm near Beulah, Michigan kept a bull chained to an elm (榆树). The bull paced around the tree, dragging the heavy iron chain, which led to a groove (槽) in the bark . The groove deepened over the years. Though for whatever reason, it did not kill the tree.

   After some years, the family took their bull away. They cut the chain, leaving the loop around the tree and one link hanging down.

   Then one year, agricultural disaster struck Michigan in the form of Dutch Elm Disease. All of the elms lining the road leading to the farm became infected and died. Everyone thought that the old elm would be the next.

The farm owners considered doing the safe thing: pulling it out and cutting it up into firewood before it died. But they simply could not bring themselves to do it. It was as if the old tree had become a family friend. So they decided to let nature take its course.

   Amazingly, the tree did not die. Nobody could understand why it was the only elm still standing in the county!

Plant experts from Michigan State University came out to observe the tree. They observed the scar left by the iron chain, now almost completely covered by bark. The experts decided that it was the chain that saved the elm’s life. They reasoned that the tree must have absorbed so much iron from the chain that it became immune to the virus.

　It’s said that what doesn’t kill you will make you stronger. Or, as Earnest Hemingway put it, "Life breaks us all, but afterwards, many of us are strongest at the broken places."

1.What did the family do with the elm when the agricultural disaster hit Michigan one year?

A. They invited plant experts to observe it.

B. They pulled it out and chopped it up into firewood.

C. They prevented it from being infected by the disease.

D. They did nothing and just let it be.

2.Which of the following statements is TRUE?

A. A groove formed because of natural forces.

B. The family decided to keep the tree because they had become attached to it.

C. All of the elms in Beulah, Michigan died of the disease.

D. The plant experts advised the family to chop it down.

3.What actually saved the elm?

A. The bull.   B. The groove.    C. The iron chain.  D. The experts.

4.What would be the best title for the passage?

A. Let nature take its course

B. Strengthened by our wounds

C. Constant dripping wears away a stone

D. Bend, but don’t break

　　It was one of the hottest days of the dry season. We had not seen rain in almost a month. The crops were dying. Cows had stopped giving milk. If we didn’t see some rain soon we would lose everything.

　　I was in the kitchen making lunch for my husband and his brothers when I saw my six-year-old son, Billy, walking toward the woods. He was obviously walking with a great effort. Minutes after he disappeared into the woods, he came running out again, toward the house.

Moments later, however, he was once again walking toward the woods. This activity went on for over an hour: walking cautiously to the woods, then running back to the house. Finally, my curiosity got the best of me. I went out of the house and followed him on his journey.

　　He was cupping both hands in front of him as he walked; being very careful not to spill the water he held in them. Branches and thorns (荆棘) slapped his little face but he did not try to avoid them. As I leaned in to spy on him, I saw the most amazing site.

　　Several large deer appeared threatening in front of him. But Billy walked right up to them. I almost screamed for him to get away. And I saw a baby deer lying on the ground, obviously suffering from heavy loss of water, lift its head with great effort to drink the water cupped in my beautiful boy's hand.

　　I stood on the edge of the woods watching the most beautiful heart working so hard to save a life. As my tears began to hit the ground, they were suddenly joined by other drops... and more drops... and more. I looked up at the sky. It was as if God, Himself, was weeping with pride.

56. Why did the author follow her son?

A. Because there might be danger.

B. Because her son was doing a good deed.

C. Because she was curious.

D. Because she intended to help.

57. Which of the following statements is Not True according to the passage?

A. Rain was in great need.

B. There were few trees in the woods.

C. Billy carried water with his small hands.

D. Billy walked into the woods and then returned over and over again.

58. What Billy did mainly showed that he was ________.

A. caring                    B. beautiful         C. childlike                 D. brave

59. Which is the correct order of the development of the story?

① The author was moved to tears.

② Billy fed the water to the baby deer.

③ Billy walked towards the large deer.

④ It began to rain.

⑤ The author followed Billy into the woods.

A. ③②⑤①④            B. ④①③②⑤     C. ⑤③②①④            D. ⑤②①③④

If it is not only possible but even easy to predict which ten-year-old boys are at greatest risk of growing up to be persistent offenders (惯犯), what are we doing with the information? The last thing that we should do is to wait until their troubles have increased in adolescence and then attack them with the new Criminal Justice Bill.

If this bill becomes law, more young people will be drawn into prisons and all the evidence shows that this worsens rather than improves their future. The introduction of short sharp punishment will simply give more young people a taste of something else they don’t need and if you want to train someone to be anti-society, "I can’t think of a better way to do it" says the writer of this report.

The Cambridge Institute of Criminology comes up with five key factors that are likely to make for adolescence crimes: a low income family, a large family, parents regarded by social workers to be bad at raising children, parents who themselves have a criminal record, and low intelligence in the child. Of the 63 boys in the sample who had at least three of them when they were ten, half became criminals—compared with only a fifth of the sample as a whole.

Three more factors make the prediction more accurate: being judged troublesome by teachers at the age of ten, having a father with at least two criminal records and having another member of the family with a criminal record. Of the 35 men who had at least two of these factors in their background, 18 became persistent offenders and 8 more were in trouble with the law.

The role of the schools is recognized as extremely important. The most reliable prediction of all on the futures of boys came from teachers’ ratings of how troublesome they were at the age of ten. If the information is there in the classroom, there must be a response that brings more attention to those troublesome children: a search for things to give them praise rather than academic achievement, a refusal to allow them to go on playing truant, and a promoting of ambition and opportunity which should start early in their school careers.

46. According to the author, adolescence crimes should be dealt ______.

  A. before they become adolescents

　B. when they are put into prison

　C. when they are in the period of adolescence

　D. when the problem becomes serious

47. The number of young offenders could be reduced by the way of ______.

　A. setting new legal system

　B. helping with their academic performance

　C. applying brief periods of severe punishment

　D. knowing about their backgrounds　　

48. Ten-year-old children likely to become offenders are usually______.

　A. spoilt children from small families

　B. bright children in a poor family

　C. slow children with many brothers and sisters

　D. children whose parents gain wealth dishonestly

49. The writer concludes that potential offenders could be helped by ______.

　A. making less trouble through self discipline

　B. being given more encouragement at school

　C. being permitted to leave school as they like 

　D. stricter treatment from teachers

Suppose a key man in your firm had just met with a terrible accident. The doctor tell you that this man upon whom you depend for directing sales, checking your books or for performing some other important roles, will be laid up for months, You’d have to replace him, wouldn’t you? And probably at a pay about equal to his ?
　　Then you’d be faced with double paying for one job because stopping the pay of an injured man would simply be out of the question.
　　You can prevent this kind of unproductive outgo on your payroll by providing your key man with the protection of Travelers Business Accident Insurance!
　　This insurance provides total medical expense and a weekly income in case a key man is disabled for some time. Should the disability prove everlasting, an income for life is certainty. Why not make out a list of your key men now? Then get together with Travelers Insurance Company, and let us tell you how little it costs to apply this much needed protection to your business.
　　Write and we'll serve you!

1. 1.

   The above is most probably________．

   1. A.
      a report
   2. B.
      a letter
   3. C.
      an announcement
   4. D.
      an advertisement
2. 2.

   What is really true according to the above?

   1. A.
      Travelers Insurance Company provides services of accident insurance．
   2. B.
      An important person of the firm has just had an accident．
   3. C.
      Accident Insurance will protect the important person from accident．
   4. D.
      Unfortunately the important person has become disabled．
3. 3.

   Whom might the writing be mainly for?

   1. A.
      An important person in a firm．
   2. B.
      An employee of a firm．
   3. C.
      The boss of a company．
   4. D.
      Readers of a newspaper．
4. 4.

   Why would the pay be doubled?

   1. A.
      Because two persons are doing one job of the same．
   2. B.
      Because the important job is worth double pay．
   3. C.
      Because it is necessary that the injured person should be paid．
   4. D.
      Because the double pay is for two persons．
5. 5.

   Travelers Insurance Company ________ for a person insured．

   1. A.
      will pay for all the cost of treatment and the lifelong income
   2. B.
      will pay the weekly income or even that of lifetime
   3. C.
      won’t get much from the firm
   4. D.
      will provide everlasting pension as well as medical expense