I never wanted a dog, but now I'm so glad I have one. About two years ago, my wife, Cathy, got a little dog with a face only a mother could love. We named her Gertie.
Gertie is the kind of dog that has to grow on you. So I dicided that the dog would be trained. This didn't quite go as planned. At 15 weeks old, she was nearly made to leave the Petsmart Training School. She spent every night lying in our bed-snoring (打鼾)so loudly that I hardly got a good night's sleep.
Then, about six months after she arrived, I felt that something in my heart was taking place, and I was unable to stop it. My behaviour(行为方式)began to change. I began to smile at people when passing them in a street. I returned(招手)from neighbours. I started calling my kids, and to my surprise, they started calling me. I even tried to speak to my grandchildren over the phone once. I even was glad to listen to laughter from a 10-month-old granddaughter. The point is that I was changing.
My wife and I both agree that it is Gertie who has changed my behaviour. Gertie is now nearly two years old and almost fully grown.I have come to like the pet little by little, though she is my wife's dog.
【小题1】What did the man think of the dog at the beginning?

Try reading the following sentences as fast as you can. “She sells seashells by the seashore. The shells she sells are surely seashells. So if she sells shells on the seashore, I’m sure she sells seashore shells.”

Not very easy, was it? What you’ve just read is called a tongue twister (绕口令). It is an exercise made up of sounds that are hard to pronounce(发音，读) in order to help people pronounce words faster and more correctly. Try the next example.

“Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled pepper. Did Peter Piper pick a peck of pickled peppers? If Pete Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers, where’s the peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked?”

Tongue twisters usually do not have much meaning. They are just designed to improve people’s ability  to pronounce words. Although they may be very difficult, these exercises are very important to people who are trying to speak English correctly. This is because tongue twisters help people to tell the differences between similar sounds.

So if you wish to pronounce words more smoothly, you’d better try picking out some tongue twisters and practicing them.

1.Tongue twisters are helpful in improving ___________ skills.

A. listening        B. writing      C. pronunciation     D. communication

2.The first tongue twister is hard because ___________.

A. it is very boring to read            B. it teaches us a lot of knowledge

C. we don’t know who “she” is        D. the sounds of “s” and “sh” are similar

3.The passage is probably taken from _________ in a school newspaper.

A. Story Time          B. Study Garden

C. Latest News          D. Lost and Found

I never wanted a dog, but now I'm so glad I have one. About two years ago, my wife, Cathy, got a little dog with a face only a mother could love. We named her Gertie.

Gertie is the kind of dog that has to grow on you. So I dicided that the dog would be trained. This didn't quite go as planned. At 15 weeks old, she was nearly made to leave the Petsmart Training School. She spent every night lying in our bed-snoring (打鼾)so loudly that I hardly got a good night's sleep.

Then, about six months after she arrived, I felt that something in my heart was taking place, and I was unable to stop it. My behaviour(行为方式)began to change. I began to smile at people when passing them in a street. I returned(招手)from neighbours. I started calling my kids, and to my surprise, they started calling me. I even tried to speak to my grandchildren over the phone once. I even was glad to listen to laughter from a 10-month-old granddaughter. The point is that I was changing.

My wife and I both agree that it is Gertie who has changed my behaviour. Gertie is now nearly two years old and almost fully grown.I have come to like the pet little by little, though she is my wife's dog.

1.What did the man think of the dog at the beginning?

A．It looked very beautiful.

B．It wasn't very lovely.

C．It wasn't necessary to be trained.

D．It could change his life.

2.When did the man's behaviour begin to change?

A．About two years ago.

B．When Gertie was nearly two years old.

C．When Gertie was 15 weeks old.

D．About six months after Gertie arrived.

3.Which of the following is NOT mentioned about the man's change?

A．He began to smile at people

B．He liked helping his neighbours.

C．He started calling his kids.

D．He spoke to his grandchildren over the phone.

4.What can we learn from this passage?

A．The dog has been trained very well.

B．The man has become more confident.

C．The man has become more friendly.

D．The man likes the dog better than his wife.

On August 26, 1999, New York City was struck by a terrible rainstorm. The rain caused the streets to  1  and the underground system almost came to a stop.

    Unluckily this happened during the  2   rush hour. Many people who were going to work were  3 to go home. Some tried their best to   4   a taxi or to get on a bus. Still others   5   the storm bravely, walking miles to get to work.

    I happened to be one of the people on the way to work that morning. I went from underground line to underground line only to find that most  6  had stopped. After making my way through crowds of people, I finally found an underground line that was   7 . Unluckily, there were so many people waiting to   8 the underground that I could not even get down the stairs to the   9 . So I took the train going in the  10   direction, and then turned back to the downtown(市中心）train. Finally, after what seemed like forever, the train   11   my stop. Then I had to walk several blocks in the heavy rain. When I finally got to my office, I was   12   through, tired and discouraged.

     My co-workers and I spent most of the day drying off. When it was 5:00 pm，I was ready to go home. I was going to  13 off my computer when I received an e-mail from Garth, my Director:

I would like to thank all of you who made the  14  and finally came to work. It is always reassuring (令人欣慰的), at times like these, when workers so clearly show their attention and devotion to their   15 Thank you.

1  A. break              B. flood              C. fall                D. crash

2  A. afternoon     B. evening       C. morning           D. night

3  A. made             B. asked          C. invited           D. gathered

4  A. order              B. pay             C. call               D. search

5  A. showed      B. fought            C. broke            D. faced

6  A. practice            B. order           C. process           D. service

7  A. working            B. acting             C. turning             D. rushing

8  A. check             B. get on          C. jump into        D. find

9  A. street              B. ground           C. floor             D. road

10  A. different          B. opposite         C. changed           D. right

11  A. stopped           B. crossed          C. reached            D. parked

12  A. wet              B. hungry           C. angry            D. cold

13  A. pay              B. get                  C. turn            D. put

14  A. rule              B. effort               C. promise          D. model

15  A. computers       B. lives                 C. actions                  D. jobs