Dad came in the midnight. We heard every sound, but we pretended to be asleep.
Next morning he looked weak and thin, sitting in a chair by the kitchen fire. The light of the fire shone through his long empty sleeve. Everything went as usual. Grandma found something to do in the bedroom. Grandpa went out for some water. Mother, with her back to us, was getting the cakes ready for breakfast.
But nothing was right. When grandma came out of the bedroom, she walked on tiptoe. When grandpa came back, he said nothing about the weather. At breakfast Mother passed us the fruit and said something, but her voice was too high.
At last my sister, Lou, pushed back her chair. “It’s your turn to wash the dishes.” But I had washed the dishes the night before. I said nothing because it was not right to quarrel in front of Dad just home with the empty sleeve.
“It is your turn,” Lou said again. I looked at her in surprise.
“It is not,” I said because I suddenly remembered Mother had told us to go on as usual.
“Children, children,” Mother said in a quiet, glad kind of voice.
And Dad was smiling because he felt at home at last.
【小题1】What do you know happened to Dad in the story?

The months and years went by. I had been Joe’s apprentice for four years.
One evening, Joe and I were sitting in the village inn. A stranger came in, a big, tall man, with heavy eyebrows. The man had large, very clean white hands. To my surprise, I recognized the man. I had seen him at Miss Havisham’s many years before. He had frightened me then. He frightened me a little now.
‘I think there is a blacksmith here----name of Joe Gargery,’ the man said in his loud voice.
‘That’s me!’ Joe answered. He stood up.
‘You have an apprentice, known as Pip,’ the stranger went on. ‘Where is he? ’
‘Here!’ I cried, standing beside Joe.
‘I wish to speak to you both. I wish to speak to you privately, not here,’ the man said. ‘Perhaps I could go home with you.’
We walked back to the workshop in silence. When we were in the sitting room, the man began to speak.
‘My name is Jaggers,’ he said. ‘I am a lawyer in London, where I am well-known. I have some unusual business with young Pip here. I am speaking for someone else, you understand. A client who doesn’t want to be named. Is that clear?’
Joe and I nodded.
‘I have come to take your apprentice to London,’ the lawyer said to Joe. ‘You won’t stop him from coming I hope?’
‘Stop him? Never! ’ Joe cried.
‘Listen, then. I have this message for Pip. He has ---- great expectations!’
Joe and I looked at each other, too surprised to speak.
‘Yes, great expectations’ Mr. Jaggers repeated. ‘Pip will one day be rich, very rich. Pip is to change his way of life at once. He will no longer be a blacksmith. He is to come with me to London. He is to be educated as a gentleman. He will be a man of property.’
And so, at last, my dream had come true. Miss Havisham----because Mr. Jaggers’ client must be Miss Havisham----had plans for me after all. I would be rich and Estella would love me!
Mr. Jaggers was speaking again. ‘There are two conditions,’ he said, looking at me. ‘First, you will always be known as Pip. Secondly,’ Mr. Jaggers continued, ‘the name of your benefactor is to be kept secret. One day, that person will speak to you, face to face. Until then, you must not ask any questions. You must never try to find out this person’s name. Do you understand? Speak out!’
‘Yes, I understand,’ I answered. ‘My benefactor’s name is to remain a secret.’
‘Good,’ Mr. Jaggers said. ‘Now, Pip, you will come into your property when you come of age----when you are twenty-one. Until then, I am your guardian. I have money to pay for your education and to allow you to live as a gentleman. You will have a private teacher. His name is Mr. Matthew Pocket and you will stay at his house.’
I gave a cry of surprise. Some of Miss Havisham’s relations were called Pocket. Mr. Jaggers raised his eyebrows.
‘Do you not want to live with Mr. Pocket? Have you any objection to this arrangement?’ he said severely.
‘No, no, none at all,’ I answered quickly.
‘Good. Then I will arrange everything,’ Mr. Jaggers went on. ‘Mr. Pocket’s son has rooms in London. I suggest you go there. Now when can you come to London?’
I looked at Joe.
‘At once, if Joe has no objection,’ I said.
‘No objection, Pip old chap,’ Joe answered.
‘Then you will come in one week’s time,’ Mr. Jaggers said, standing up. ‘You will need new clothes. Here is some money to pay for them. Twenty guineas.’
He counted the money and put it on the table.
‘Well, Joe Gargery, you are saying nothing,’ Mr. Jaggers said to Joe firmly. ‘I have money to give to you too.’
【小题1】The underlined word “apprentice” in paragraph 1 means ____________.

Sometimes I really doubt whether there is love between my parents. They are very busy working to  1  the family. They don’t act in the  2  ways that I read in books or I see on TV. 3  flowers to each other on Valentine’s Day is even more  4 .

One day, my mother was sewing a quilt(床罩). I  5  sat down beside her and looked at her. “Mom, is there love between you and Dad?” I asked her in a  6  voice.

My mother stopped and raised her head with  7 in her eyes. She didn’t answer immediately. Then she  8  her head and continued to sew the quilt. At last my mother said:

“Susan,” she said, “Look at this thread. Sometimes it appears, but most of it  9  in the quilt. The thread really makes the quilt strong and  10 . If life is a quilt, then love should be a  11 .It can hardly be seen anywhere or anytime, but it’s really there. Love is  12 .”

The next spring, my father suddenly got sick seriously. When they returned from the hospital, mother looked rather pale and it seemed  13 of them had had a serious illness. Every day in the morning and dusk, my mother helped my father  14  slowly on the country road. My father had never been so  15. Along the country road, there were many beautiful flowers, green grass and trees. The sun gently glistened through the leaves. All of these  16  the most beautiful picture in the world.

“Dad, how are you feeling now?” I asked him one day. He said gently. “ 17 , I just like walking with your mom. I like this kind of life.”  ___18  his eyes, I know he loves my mother deeply.

 19  I thought love meant flowers, gifts and sweet kisses. But from this  20 ,I understand that love is just a thread in the quilt of our life. Love is inside, making life strong and warm.

1. A. hold                        B. support                      C. live on                       D. keep

2. A. romantic           B. friendly                            C. lovely                 D. active

3. A. Taking              B. Passing                      C. Buying                D. Sending

4. A. no problem                                              B. out of question         

C. out of the question                                 D. in question

5. A. silently             B. eagerly                      C. peaceful              D. anxiously

6. A. loud                        B. low                           C. gentle                 D. tender

7. A. interest             B. fear                           C. excitement           D. surprise

8. A. bowed              B. raised                        C. hang                   D. lower

9. A. lost                  B. turned out                  C. disappeared                D. came up

10. A. cold               B. lasting                       C. long                    D. comfortable

11. A. needle             B. cloth                          C. thread                 D. sheet

12. A. in the quilt      B. out of the quilt        C. outside                D. inside

13. A. either             B. both                          C. neither                       D. every

14. A. walk               B. run                            C. stand                   D. exercise

15. A. rude                   B. polite                       C. gentle                 D. careful

16. A. came up              B. turned up                 C. called up             D. made up

17. A. In other words     B. To tell the truth      C. In my opinion    D. On the contrary

18. A. Seeing            B. Reading                            C. Watching             D. Observing

19. A. Once                  B. Though                    C. When                D. Unless

20. A. process           B. way                           C. matter               D. experience

Dad came in the midnight. We heard every sound, but we pretended to be asleep.

       Next morning he looked weak and thin, sitting in a chair by the kitchen fire. The light of the fire shone through his long empty sleeve. Everything went as usual. Grandma found something to do in the bedroom. Grandpa went out for some water. Mother, with her back to us, was getting the cakes ready for breakfast.

       But nothing was right. When grandma came out of the bedroom, she walked on tiptoe. When grandpa came back, he said nothing about the weather. At breakfast Mother passed us the fruit and said something, but her voice was too high.

       At last my sister, Lou, pushed back her chair. “It’s your turn to wash the dishes.” But I had washed the dishes the night before. I said nothing because it was not right to quarrel in front of Dad just home with the empty sleeve.

       “It is your turn,” Lou said again. I looked at her in surprise.

       “It is not,” I said because I suddenly remembered Mother had told us to go on as usual.

       “Children, children,” Mother said in a quiet, glad kind of voice.

       And Dad was smiling because he felt at home at last.

What do you know happened to Dad in the story?

A．He was badly ill.                                        B．He had a long journey.

C．He drank too much.                                    D．He lost one of his arms.

The family        when they saw Dad’s empty sleeve.

A．was too surprised to do anything                  B．felt sad and cried a lot

C．tried not to show their feelings                            D．showed no worry at all

From the story, we know          .

A．the two sisters often quarreled about who should wash the dishes

B．the family liked seeing the two sisters quarrelling after breakfast

C．Dad loved the two sisters very much though they often quarreled

D．Mother told the two sisters to quarrel with each other the night before

Which of the following can be the best title of the story?

A．The Quarrelling Sisters                               B．Dad Was Back

C．After the Accident                                      D．An Empty Sleeve

All things change except barbers, the ways of barbers, and the surroundings of barbers. These never change. What one experiences in a barber’s shop the first time he enters one is what he always experiences in barbers’ shops afterward till the end of his days.
I got shaved this morning as usual. A man approached the door from Jones Street as I approached it from Main--a thing that always happens. I hurried up, but it was of no use; he entered the door one little step ahead of me, and I followed in and saw him take the only empty chair, the one headed by the best barber. It always happens so. I sat down, hoping that I might sit in the chair belonging to the better of the remaining two barbers, for he was a bit ahead. I watched the probabilities with strong interest. When I saw that No. 2 was gaining on No. 1, my interest grew to solicitude (孤单). When No. 1 was gradually losing the race, my solicitude rose to anxiety. When No. 1 caught up again, and both were about to finish and say “Next!” first, my very breath stood still with the suspense. But when I saw that he had lost the race by a single instant, I rose angrily and quitted the shop, to keep from falling into the hands of No. 2; for I have none of that firmness that enables a man to look calmly into the eyes of a waiting barber and tell him he will wait for his fellow-barber’s chair.
I stayed out fifteen minutes, and then went back, hoping for better luck. Unfortunately, all the chairs were occupied now, and four men sat waiting, silent, and looking bored, as men always do who are waiting their turn in a barber’s shop. I sat down and waited.
At last my turn came. A voice said “Next!” and I give in to No. 2, of course. It always happens so. I smiled and said that I was in a hurry, and it affected him as strongly as if he had never heard it.  
He explored my hair with his claws and suggested that it needed trimming(修剪). I said I did not want it trimmed. He explored again and said it was pretty long for the present style. I said I had had it cut only a week before. He stopped for a moment, and then asked “who cut it?” I stared at him from the mirror and replied “You did!” Then a dog-fight attracted his attention, and he ran to the window and stayed and watched it…
1. The author left the barber’s shop mainly because_________.
A. he would like to wait for “No. 1” outside
B. he would rather be served by the best barber
C. he lacked the courage to tell “No. 2” his intention
D. he was angry at the slow speed of “No. 1”
2. What is the change of the author’s attitude from the moment he went into the barber’s to the moment he left it?
A. Disappointed---Anxious---Hopeful---Angry.
B. Disappointed --Hopeful---Anxious---Angry.
C. Hopeful--- Sad --- Anxious ---Angry.     
D. Hopeful--- Anxious --- Angry --- Sad.
3. The author chose “No. 2” in the end, because________.
A. he had no choice                                  B. he was in a hurry
C. “No. 1” avoided him on purpose            D. he is always one step behind others
4. The underlined word “suspense” in the 2nd paragraph probably means ________.
A. loneliness                                             B. possibility
C. anxiety                                                D. hope
5. What is likely to happen next?
A. The author lost his temper.                    B. “No. 2” ran out of his patience.
C. The author was well-served by “No. 2”. D. The author was treated the same way as usual.