A few days ago I got a call from my old college friend whom I haven’t seen for a very long time. The topic, which was about all the good old times that we had changed to a touching story when he started talking about his father.
His father’s declining health made him stay at the hospital. Because of his illness, his father suffered from insomnia (失眠) and often talked to himself. My friend, who had not been able to sleep for a few days as he had to keep watching his father’s condition, became annoyed and told his father to keep silent and try to get some sleep. His father said that he really wanted to sleep well because he was very tired and told my friend to leave him alone in the hospital if he did not want to keep him company.
After his father finished talking, he fell unconscious (失去知觉). My friend was very sorry for speaking the ill words towards his father. My friend, whom I knew as a tough person, cried as a baby on the other end of the telephone. He said that from that moment on, he prayed every day, asking God to let his father wake up from his coma. He promised himself that whatever words came out from his father’s mouth after he regained his consciousness, he would gladly take them. His only hope for God was to give him a chance to rectify his past mistake.
Often, we complain when we have to accompany or watch over our parents for years, months, days, hours or even minutes. But do we realize that our parents keep us company and watch over us for as long as we (or they) live? From the day we were born to our adulthood, and even when deaths come to us, they are always at our side.
Imagine how sad our parents will be when they hear a seemingly innocent （天真无邪的）word of “no” come out from our mouths. We can make promises to ourselves that from now on there will be no more complaints that come out from our mouths when we have to watch over or accompany our parents. No more complaints come out from our mouths when we feel that our parents have treated us like little children. There are so many unlucky ones who have neither fathers nor mothers. They long to have the things that we most complain about, but never have them.
Actually, it takes only a second to think and light the lamp that will bring us to a place where peace is dwelling.
【小题1】Which of the following word can be used to describe the writer’s friend?

My destination is the River Walk, one of the most popular places in all of Texas. In the first half of 20th century, to control flooding, the city fathers began redirecting the San Antonio River. They built a network of canals that pass through the downtown area. At nearly every street corner, stairs lead down to walkways on both sides of the canals.

The River Walk is linked with cafes, bars, shops --- and, of course, plenty of bridges. You can easily cross over to the other side without having to return to the street. It’s a constant party along the River Walk, with music and festivals throughout the year. The Mud Festival, for example, takes place each January, when the city empties this section of the river to clean it out. That’s when the Mud King and Mud Queen are crowned.

No visit to Texas would be complete without seeing a rodeo --- another aspect of this part of the country that is completely foreign to someone from New England. The announcer walks on stage and gets the crowd excited with talk about the courageous cowboys who’ll be performing. While he’s talking, a band plays sad songs about love gone wrong.

Suddenly the announcer calls for silence. He takes off his tall hat and asks us to join him in prayer. We pray for the cowboys who are, we are told, risking their lives to entertain us, as well as for the bulls and other animals taking part in the shows. We pray for the tourists who are visiting. The rodeo gets going and the fun begins.

Our prayers for the cowboys and animals are answered, and nobody gets hurt. But as we walk over to the cowboy dance hall after the show to enjoy a Texas-size barbecue, it’s clear that not enough prayers were said for the bulls’ less athletic relatives --- the ones not chosen for rodeo work. They’ll be our meal. It seems that moving too slowly has its disadvantages, too.

46.What do you know about the River Walk from the article?

A. People hold parties to celebrate festivals here every day.

B. It refers to the sidewalks on either side of this section of the San Antonio River.

C. There are many bridges that connect the River Walk and the Main Street.

D. Stairs link the River Walk to cafes, bars and shops in the street.

47. Which of the following statements about Mud festival is NOT true?

A. Mud Festival dates back to the first half of 20th century.

B. Mud Festival is held in January every year.

C. Mud King and Mud Queen are chosen in the festival

D. Mud Festival is celebrated to clear the mud of the San Antonio River.

48. What does the underlined word “rodeo” refer to?

A. One aspect of the American country life. B. The concert given by a band.

C. The cowboys’ performance. D. The grand Texas-size barbecue.

49. Why do some bulls become the visitors’ meal?

A. Because they do not run as fast as those taking part in the shows.

B. Because the visitors do not pray enough for them before the shows.

C. Because they lose the competition to their relatives in the shows.

D. Because they are only beef cattle intended as people’s food.

50. Which of the following words can NOT be used to describe the writer’s mood?

A. light-hearted       B. excited          C. anxious        D. humorous

Coketown was a town of red brick, or of brick that would have been red if the smoke and ashes had allowed it; but in fact it was a town of unnatural red and black like the painted face of savage（野人）. It was a town of machinery and tall chimney, out of which smoke trailed themselves for ever and ever. It had a black canal in it, and a river that ran purple with ill smelling color, and large piles of building full of windows where there was a rattling and a trembling all day long, and where the steam-engine worked up and down like the head of an elephant in a state of madness. The town contained several large streets all very like one another, and many small streets still more like one another, inhabited by people equally like one another.

A sunny midsummer day. There was such a thing sometimes even in Coketown. Seen from a distance in such weather, Coketown lay covered in a smoke of its own. You only knew the town was there, because you knew there could have been no such a place upon the view without a town.

The streets were hot and dusty on the summer day, and the sun was so bright that it even shone through the smoke over Coketown, and could not be looked at steadily. Workers appeared from low underground doorways into factory yards, and sat on steps, wiping their face sand looking at coals. The whole town seemed to be frying in oil. There was a smell of hot oil everywhere. The atmosphere of those places was like the breath of hell（地狱）, and their inhabitants wasting with heat, walked lazily in the desert. But no temperature made the mad elephants more mad or more sane（理智的）. Their tiresome heads went up and down at the sane rate, in hot weather and in cold, wet weather and dry. The measured movement of their shadows of wood; while for the summer noise of insects, it could offer all the year round, from the dawn of Monday to the night of Saturday.

67. Which of the following words is NOT properly used to describe Coketown ?

A. unpleasant           B. dirty               C. noisy             D. deserted

68. From the passage we know that Coketown was mainly a（n）_____town.

A. industrial               B. agricultural        C. historical            D. cultural

69. Only _____ were not affected by weather.

A. the workmen          B. the habitants       C. the steam-engines     D. the woods

70. Which is the author’s opinion of Coketown?

A. Coketown should be replaced by woods       B. The town had too much oil in it

C. The town was seriously polluted             D. The town’s atmosphere was unchanged

From the beginning of human history, wild animals provided food, clothing and sometimes medicine for man. We may not depend as much on wild animals now. But we hear about them every day. Americans use the names of animals in many ways. Automobile manufacturers and gasoline companies especially like to use big cats to sell their products. They like lions, tigers and wildcats. When Americans say wildcat, they usually mean a lynx, an ocelot or a bobcat. All these cats attack quickly and fiercely. So wildcats represent something fast and fierce.  

     An early American use of the word wildcat was quite different. It was used to describe members of Congress who declared war on Britain in 1812. A magazine of that year said the wildcat congressmen went home. It said they were unable to face the responsibility of having involved their country in an unnecessary war.

     Wildcat also has been used as a name for money in the 1800s. At that time, some states permitted banks to make their own money. One bank in the state of Michigan offered paper money with a picture of a wildcat on it. Some banks, however, did not have enough gold to support all the paper money they offered. So the money had little or no value. It was called a wildcat bill or a wildcat banknote. The banks who offered this money were called wildcat banks. A newspaper of the time said those were the days of wildcat money. It said a man might be rich in the morning and poor by night.

     Wildcat then was also used for an oil well or gold mine that had almost no oil or gold in it. Dishonest developers would buy such property. Then they would sell it and leave town with the money. The buyers were left with worthless holes in the ground. Today, wildcat oil wells are in areas that are not known to have oil.

1.What is the main idea of the passage?

A. Wildcats and their stories.    B. Wildcats and their characters.

C. Varieties of animal species.    D. Relationship between animals and humans.

2. The underlined words "a lynx, an ocelot or a bobcat" in Paragraph 1 may refer to "__________".

A. gasoline companies       B. automobile manufacturers

C. brands of automobile                         D. names of wildcats

3.Which of the following would people like to have or trust according to the passage?

A. Wildcat congressmen.            B. Wildcat oil wells.

C. Wildcat banks.                D. Wildcat cars.

4.It can be inferred that during the days of wildcat money__________.

A. people couldn't buy anything with the money

B. people complained and suffered a lot

C. the rich invested too much on oil wells

D. people didn't know how to save money

He was 11 years old and went fishing every chance he got from the dock at his family's cabin on an island in the middle of a New Hampshire lake.
On the day before the bass season opened, he and his father were fishing early in the evening, catching sunfish and perch（鲈鱼）with worms. Then he tied on a small silver lure（鱼饵）and practiced casting. The lure struck the water and caused colored ripples in the sunset, then silver ripples as the moon rose over the lake.
When his pole doubled over, he knew something huge was on the other end. His father watched with admiration as the boy skillfully worked the fish alongside the dock.
Finally, he very gingerly lifted the exhausted fish from the water. It was the largest one he had ever seen, but it was a bass. The boy and his father looked at the handsome fish, gills playing back and forth in the moonlight. The father lit a match and looked at his watch. It was 10 P.M.--- two hours before the season opened. He looked at the fish, then at the boy.
"You'll have to put it back, son," he said.
"Dad!" cried the boy.
"There will be other fish," said his father.
"Not as big as this one," cried the boy.
He looked around the lake. No other fishermen or boats were anywhere around in the moonlight. He looked again at his father. Even though no one had seen them, nor could anyone ever know what time he caught the fish, the boy could tell by the clarity of his father's voice that the decision was not negotiable. He slowly worked the hook out of the lip of the huge bass and lowered it into the black water.
The creature swished its powerful body and disappeared. The boy suspected that he would never again see such a great fish.
That was 34 years ago. Today, the boy is a successful architect in New York City. His father's cabin is still there on the island in the middle of the lake. He takes his own son and daughters fishing from the same dock.
He was right. He has never again caught such a magnificent fish as the one he landed that night long ago. But he does see that same fish---again and again---every time he comes up against a question of ethics（道德规范）.
66. Why did the father ask his son to put the perch back?
A. Because the father disliked the perch.  B. Because the father was afraid of being fined.
C. Because the ethics must be observed.
D. Because the son was more experience in fishing than his father.
67. The underlined word “negotiable” in the passage refers to _________.
A. reasonable     B. transferable     C. acceptable    D. reliable
68. When does the architect (the father’s son) think of that perch put back?
A. When he takes his own son and daughters fishing from the same dock.
B. When he builds many famous buildings.
C. When he pays a visit to his old father.
D. When he faces some problems about ethics.
69. Which word can not be used to describe the boy’s father?
A. honest    B. noble-minded      C. caring        D. generous
70. From the passage, we can learn _________.
A. how we do the right thing and are strengthened
B. how we have a chance to beat the system and take it
C. how we master some skills of going fishing
D. how we understand our parents’ words is very important