asking, “Please, Mother, what does h-o-u-s-e spell?” or “W-a-l-k, Mother, what is that?”
Often when her mother was too busy or too tired to attend to her, she would sit and fix her eyes on a page that might as well have been printed in Hebrew(希伯来语) for all she could make of it, frowning(锁眉) and studying the print as though she would make out the meaning by force of concentration(专注).
After weeks of this, there came a day when, quite suddenly, as it seemed to her, the printed characters took on a meaning. There were still many words, even on the first page of that simple book, she could not understand；but she could jump those yet make sense of the whole. “I?m reading！I?m reading!” she cried aloud. “Oh, Mother！Oh, Edmund！I?m reading!”
1. The children?s father decided to teach them to read and write so that they _______. A. had an excuse not to have to move B. had a reason for not attending school
C. could write to the School Attendance Office D. would be educated before they left the village 2. The underlined part left at the c-a-t s-u-t-s on the m-a-t?s stage means that _______. A. Laura was working hard and learning quickly B. her father had no time to teach her C. her mother was too busy to attend to her D. Laura knew little about how to read and write 3. From the passage we can infer that _______ made Laura stare at a page in her book. A. her lack of concentration B. her inability to understand
C. her need to understand Hebrew D. her determination to understand 4. Laura finally discovered she could read when she ________. A. understood the main idea B. understood all the words in her book
C. recognized the printed characters D. jumped the first pages of her book
(10)
Just a Little Smile
Mark was walking home from school one day when he saw the boy in front of him fall over and drop all of the books he was carrying, along with two sweaters, a basketball and a walkman. Mark stopped and helped the boy pick up these things. Since they were going the same way, he helped to carry some of his things. As they walked, Mark knew that the boy?s name was Bill, that he loved computer games, basketball and history, and that he was having lots of troubles with his other subjects and that he had just broken up with his girlfriend.
They arrived at Bill?s home first and Mark was invited(邀请) in for a Coke and to watch some television. The afternoon passed happily with a few laughs and some small talk, and then Mark went home. They often saw each other at school, had lunch together once or twice, and then they both finished middle school. They ended up in the same high school where they sometimes saw and talked with each other over the years. At last just three weeks before they finished high school, Bill asked Mark if they could talk.
Bill asked Mark if he still remembered the day years ago when they had first met. “Did you ever think why I was carrying so many things home that day?” asked Bill. “You see, I cleaned out my locker(锁柜) because I didn?t want to leave anything for anyone else. I had put away some of my mother?s sleeping pills and I was going home to kill myself. But after we spent some time together talking and laughing, I began to understand that if I killed myself, I would have missed that time and so many others that might follow. So you see, Mark, when you picked up those books that day, you did a lot more. You saved my life.”
1. When Mark met him the first time, Bill was going _______. A. to have a basketball game B. to his classroom C. to see Mark D. back home 2. From what Bill was carrying, we can know that he _______. A. was a good student B. liked sports and music C. liked all the subjects in school D. was a good friend 3. Mark and Bill _______.
A. were in the same middle school and high school B. were in the same middle school but not in the same high school C. often had lunch together at school D. had known each other before they began to study in middle school 4. In this passage, the phrase “break up” means _______. A. 相处很好 B. 和好如初 C. 关系破裂 D. 保持联系 5. When Mark helped Bill to pick up some of his things, he _______.
A. knew he could save Bill?s life B. knew who Bill was and wanted to help him
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C. didn?t know why he was going to help him D. didn?t know what he was doing was very important to Bill
(11)
Daphne asked Jim, a friend of Walter?s, for some extra help on her political science homework. On Friday, they agreed to meet at the dormitory(宿舍) study room at 8 Sunday night. It was 8:05 when Jim arrived. He wasn?t on time as he usually is, because he had been out enjoying the spring weather after eating at MacDonald?s. But he wasn?t worried, because he knew from Walter that Daphne was usually late. When Daphne hadn?t arrived by 8:25, Jim was a little surprised. He decided to go to the dorm lounge(休息室) and watch his favourite Sunday night TV show. It started at 8:30, so he had to hurry.
When he got to the lounge, Walter was just leaving. “Hey, Jim, your favourite TV show just finished. Where were you? It was wonderful!”
“What do you mean, Walter? It?s 8:30, so I?m just in time to watch it!” Jim replied, looking a little confused(困惑). “Did you adjust(校正) your watch last night?” Walter asked. Then he explained, “Last night you were supposed to move your watch ahead one hour. We do this every year on the last Sunday in April. Then, on the last Sunday in October, everyone moves clock back an hour. We say spring ahead, fall back to help us remember which way to adjust our clocks.” Walter stopped to see if Jim had understood his explanation. “You don?t do that in Indiana, I guess.”
“No, we don?t,” Jim said, shaking his head. “In that case, I was over an hour late for my appointment(约定) with Daphne, not only five minutes. Wow! She?ll never let me forget this!”
1. What is an important idea of this story?
A. Daphne is usually late. B. There are no time changes in Indiana.
C. Jim likes his favourite Sunday night TV show. D. Jim was late because he didn?t know about the time changes. 2. Why did Jim look confused when he learned the TV show had just finished?
A. Because he missed the wonderful TV show. B. Because he thought he was just in time to watch his favourite TV show.
C. Because he was late for the show. D. Because he forgot the time of the show.
3. All the citizens in the United States are supposed to move their watches ahead in spring and back in fall, aren't they? A. Certainly they are. B. No, they are not. C. No, those who live in Indiana do not do that. D. Certainly they are besides those living in Indiana.
4. Imagine you are going to a party at 2 p.m. on the last Sunday in April. If you forget about time change, what time will you arrive?
A. 3 p.m.
B. 4 p.m.
C. 1 p.m. (12)
The producer appeared behind the recording studio window and smiled and waved to me like an old friend. And after I had read out a little test piece, he said, “That?s fine, wonderful, your voice is perfect, lively, wonderful.” Then I read a longer passage in English about the delights of touring in Britain, and another about the delights of visiting London, and both were “excellent” and “just right”, and I began to consider a job in radio.
To be honest, I was fairly sure of myself though I lacked experience. Across the room in the Hamburg News Agency where we both worked, a friend named Peter Turner called to me, “I say, Mike, a man on the phone here wants someone to do a recording in English, and I? m booked up. Would you read something to him in English as a sort of test?” I did, and they said, “Perfect, lovely, wonderful, …” Would I come round?
It was after reading their passage in English in the studio that they noticed my vowel(元音) pronunciations were not altogether King?s English, or even Prince Philip?s, there was a larger silence than usual, then the voice said: “Fine, lovely…, but you said the word ?castle? with a short ?a?. Could we have the passage again please, but this time say ?castle?.” This was easy. But then he noticed other differences in my pronunciation. “It?s my northern English accent,” I said angrily because I had to apologize for it.
“Oh, I see…but Mike, we?ll have to get it right, I?m afraid. The recording is for teaching English to German schoolchildren, and it must be spoken in the way it is taught in German schools.”
I read the passage again…and again…and again. But of course you cannot change the pronunciation of a lifetime in an hour. The studio men were in the state of having lost hope and underlined the vowels which caused me to feel angry, so that I?d remember them. Few, really. But because I had to concentrate(集中) on them, I made a lot of mistakes in my reading. Everyone
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D. 2 p.m.
got somewhat irritable(easily made angry), so we all went out for a beer.
1. Broadcasting did not make Mike nervous _______.
A. although he had never done any before B. because he worked in a news agency C. because he was used to talking on the phone D. although the passages were long 2. What happened after Mike had read the third passage?
A. They made him repeat it. B. They said nothing.
C. They began to discuss the King?s English. D. They could not understand one of the words. 3. They wanted Mike to change his pronunciation because _______. A. German schoolchildren did not like a northern accent B. it was different from the English taught in German schools C. it was different from the English spoken in Germany D. German schoolchildren were taught through recordings 4. Why did Mike?s reading of the passage get worse?
A. He needed a drink to clear his throat. B. He was trying to do the recording in an hour. C. He was trying hard to get certain sounds right. D. He could not learn so many new sounds.
(13)
A great French writer said that we should help everyone as much as possible because we often need help ourselves. The small even can help the great. To this effect, he tells a simple story.
An ant was drinking at a small river and fell in. She tried hard to reach the side, but made no progress at all. The poor ant, almost tired out, was still bravely doing her best when a bird saw her. Moved with pity, the bird threw her a blade (叶片) of grass, which supported her like a boat, and thus she reached the bank again. While she was resting and drying herself in the grass she heard a man coming near. He was walking along barefooted and carrying a gun in his hand. As he saw the bird he wished to kill her, and he would certainly have done so, but the ant bit him in the foot just before he raised his gun to fire. He stopped to see what had bit him, and the bird immediately flew away. It was an animal much weaker and smaller than herself that had saved her life.
1. According to the French writer, we often need help from others, therefore we should________. A. not help others
B. help those who may be helpful to us D. help others as much as we can
C. get as much help as possible
2. The ant finally got on the bank _______.
A. when the water pushed her B. with the help of a piece of wood C. with the help of a blade of grass D. when the bird reached out a leg for her 3. The French writer tells the story in order to show _______. A. how an ant saved a bird C. how clever the bird is
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B. how brave the ant is
D. even the small can help the great
Key1【答案与解析】本文讲一个从欧洲移民去澳大利亚的匈牙利人多年后带他的朋友重返故里看到袋鼠时发生的有趣的事。 1. C。细节判断题。运用排除法：由于文章中说 He lived in Australia for a long time，所以可排除 A和 B；根据文章第1句 In the last fifty years… 排除选项 D。故选 C 较为恰当。
2. B。细节题。根据 I?m going to go back to Hungary to visit my home town 可知答案是 B。
3. A。细节题。 根据 The Hungarian Australian took his friends from Sydney to Rome in a big plane, and then they went from Rome to Budapest in a train as they wanted to see the mountains, and the villages and the towns 可知他们从 Sydney 到 Rome 乘的是飞机，然后坐火车从 Rome 到 Budapest，所以他们从 Sydney 到 Budapest 是先乘飞机，再坐火车，故选 A。
4. A。细节判断题。根据 ...both of the kangaroos ran to him 可知 kangaroos 是有生命的，而且会 ran(跑)，比较4个答案可知只能选 A。 Key2【答案与解析】本文讲一个幸福的男人在早上由他的五个女儿和妻子服侍的故事。
1. D。细节题。根据第3段第2句 then he knocked once on the table. One of my sister brought his bread, already buttered for him 可知答案为 D。
2. B。判断题。根据 I love you very much, Edith. I would love more if you buttered my bread on both sides 可知 Edith 是他女儿的名字。 3. C。判断题。文中描写出了五个女儿早上的忙碌，他们的父亲总是不停地让为她们做事，而且他的命令只限于几个单词，甚至动作，所以应该选择 C。
4. A。推断题。根据第3段最后一句 He read the paper all through the breakfast 以及早饭以后直到上车还在看报纸可知他很喜欢看报纸，因此应该选择 A。
5. B。推断题。看过全文我们知道整个早上他家里所有的人都在为他服务，由此可以看出他的家是以他为中心的，因此应该选择 B。 Key3【答案与解析】本文以妈妈的书桌为线索说明了妈妈对女儿的那种深沉的爱。
1.C。细节题。文章中的第1句就告诉我们，当作者是个小孩时（刚有书桌高），就喜欢她妈妈的 desk。
2. A。细节题。在文章中的三、四自然段中，从作者的字里行间我们可知：她妈妈外表冷谈，内心却对女儿充满了爱。
3. B。词义推断题。妈妈的爱只表现在行动上，而作者则想要那种 heart-to-heart talks between mother and daughter所以她们之间就产生了 gulf(隔阂)。由此可知gulf在这里是指妈妈和女儿之间的不同的想法。故选B。
4. D。细节判断题。从文章倒数第2段最后一句话 … a one-page letter, folded and refolded many times 可知妈妈把作者的信读了一遍又一遍。
5. C。主旨题。这个故事是以妈妈的书桌为线索引出的妈妈对作者的那种深沉的爱，所以选 Ｃ 项最佳。
Key4【答案与解释】这是一个悲壮的故事。Matthew是一个不幸的孩子，他一出生就患了不治之症；一位意志坚强的学生，他奇迹般地活过了五岁、十岁、十三岁??；一位富有骨气的少年，他就是到了阴曹地府，也要向“我”展示他的“金牌”。
1. C。语义理解题。从第 1 段第 2 句话中的 …but he had expressed an interest in meeting me, and it would mean a great deal to him 可得出答案。“”
2. C。词义猜测题。从全文和第 3 段第 2 句话 Never once did he complain or ask, “Why me?” 不难猜出该句子的意思。 3. A。主旨题。通读全文可以得出结论：他是一位意志坚定的好小子。
4. D。主旨题。从第 4 段最后一句话 Someday when I get to the Olympics and win my own medal, I will show it to you 和文
章最后的书信中不难找到答案。
Key5【答案与解释】叔叔James一年一次的到来并没给孩子们带来欢乐和兴奋，他们和妈妈一样感到不怎么高兴。他总是晚上八点才到，呆上几个小时后赶最后一趟火车离开。
1. B。细节题。由第 2 段第 1 句中的 unexpectedly 便知答案。
2. D。细节题。从第 2 段最后一句话 Indeed, after his first greeting and a careless kiss, James took no notice of Maggie either, except to add, “You?ll be getting on with the supper, Maggie.” Such was his regard for her 可得出答案。
3. B。细节题。从第 3 段第 4、5 两句话可知答案。
4. A。语义理解题。根据文章第 4 段可知孩子们太小了，他们不理解妈妈讲的 lost two wives and taken a third 的真正含义，以为他叔叔前两个妻子都弄丢了。根据文章内容，可排除B和D。而根据常识可知，如果他前两个妻子只是离开了他，而他又另娶他人，他就会犯重婚罪，这是不允许的，因此排除C。
Key6【答案与解析】一个男人在饭店要了一杯水，突然一位女孩拔出枪把他打死了，为什么？众说纷纭，却没有一个说对的。原来那个男人老是打嗝，女孩只想吓他一下，却不知那天枪碰巧上了子弹。
1. D。判断题。根据文章最后一段可知那个男人老是打嗝，他要了一杯水，是想缓冲一下，不让自己打嗝，所以此题答案为 D。 2. D。细节题。根据最后1段 …that the girl in the restaurant knew that a great and sudden fear could get rid of … 可知答案为 D。 3. D。通读全文可知文章没有说明这个男人为什么打嗝，所以答案为 。
4. D。 通读全文可知女孩本是出于好心吓一吓那个男人，帮他制止打嗝，谁知那天枪碰巧上了子弹，所以答案为 D。
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Key7【答案与解析】作者喜欢在宴会上问人们一个问题，人们为这个问题可以争论整个晚上，其实他们每个人的答案都是对的。 1. C。细节题。根据最后一段 it has never failed to get a discussion going 及 sometimes this one topic lasts the whole evening 可知答案为 C。
2. A。语义理解题。通读全文可知这篇文章只是作者的一个假设，所以它不是真实的，因此答案为 A。 3. D。根据最后一段可知答案为 D。
4. C。通过阅读全文可知：你有可能把钱给你朋友的儿子，也有可能把钱留给自己的儿子读医学校，也有可能你觉得朋友的儿子是个花花公子，就把钱先给他存起来，等以后再给他。所以 A、B、D 三项都有可能，只有 C 项不可能。因此答案为 C。
Key8【答案与解析】本文主要讨论了世界最高峰上是否真的存在 snow man 这一问题。巨大的脚印到底是谁留下的？现在仍然是个谜。 1. D。主旨题。这篇文章主要讲述在世界上最高峰的雪人是个谜。
2. B。细节题。有些 mountain climbers(登山队员)发现了两脚直立行走的雪人，且他的脚印非常大。
3. D。细节题。在 But not until 1951 did a mountain climber bring back pictures of large footprints 中我们可知雪人的巨大脚印是在1951年拍摄的。
4. C。细节判断题。照片清晰地表明了雪人是 walked on two legs(两条腿行走)，所以人们排除了他不是 bear 和 monkey，是 ape man(猿人)吗？人们还没有得到答案，仍然是个 mystery(谜)。
5. A。细节题。从登山队员首先(1887年)发现雪地里的大脚印到现在大约有一百多年了，所以 Ａ 项是最符合的。
Key9【答案与解析】本文讲述的是Laura的父母亲因为怕孩子们到离家来回有一英里半的学校去上学会弄破衣服、得感冒或弄脏头而不让孩子们上学以及Laura在自己的努力下学会读书时感到十分的小故事。
1. B。语义理解题。根据第1段最后一句可得知答案。
2. D。判断题。从第2段第1句…but just as Laura was beginning on words of one syllable可以做出正确判断。
3. D。语义理解题。从第3段中的she would sit and fix her eyes on a page 和…frowning(锁眉) and studying the print as though she would make out the meaning by force of concentration(专注)可以看出，答案应该选D。
4. A。语义理解题。理由是 …she could jump those yet make sense of the whole。
Key10【答案与解析】这篇文章描写了人与人之间小小的一个微笑竟挽救了一个生命的故事。
1. D。根据文章最后一段的第4行我们可知：当时Bill是打算going home to kill himself(回家自杀)。 2. B。第1段第2行说Bill掉落的东西中有篮球和随身听。由此可知他是个热爱体育和音乐的人。
3. A。由文章第2段They often saw each other at school和They ended up in the same high school可以得知答案。 4. C。从下文Bill欲寻死的想法来看，第1段最后一句broke up的意思是关系破裂。 5. D。从最后一段Bill的叙述我们可以推测Mark当时完全不知道他对Bill的重要性。
Key11【答案与解析】Daphne 约定 Jim 在星期天晚上8点到宿舍帮助她做political science homework.，但Jim不知道要把时钟往前拨快一小时，因为在他们所在的州每年4月份的最后一个星期天要把时钟拨快一小时。所以他迟到一小时。
1. D。主旨题。通读全文，不难概括出the important idea of this story。
2. B。语义理解题。本来8:30播放的节目，在他8:30赶到时却播完了，所以Jim 感到奇怪，其实Jim不知道别人的时间往前提了1小时。
3. C。语义理解题。从第4段最后一句话You don?t do that in Indiana, I guess 可以做出正确选择。 4. A。语义理解题。因为别人的时间往前拨快了一小时，所以2点钟也就是你的手表显示的1点钟。
Key12【答案与解析】一个偶的机会使“我”想进入电台工作，但在面试时，电台的人发现“我”的元音发音不准确。尽管“我”试了很多多次，但最后还是以失败而告终。
1. A。语义理解题。作者在第2段第1句话已坦言…I lacked experience，故选A。
2. A。细节题。从第3段中的Could we have the passage again please, but this time say ?castle? 可以做出正确判断。
3. B。判断题。根据第4段第2句话The recording is for teaching English to German schoolchildren, and it must be spoken in the way it is taught in German schools 可以判断为什么选B。
4. C。推断题。根据最后一段第5句话…because I had to concentrate(集中) on them, I made a lot of mistakes in my reading可以推知答案是C。
Key13【答案与解析】本文通过一个寓言故事讲述了小东西可帮大忙的道理。
1. D。细节题。根据文章第1句we should help everyone as much as possible可推知此题答案为D。
2. C。推断题。根据文章第2段第4句the bird threw her a blade (叶片) of grass, which supported her like a boat, and thus she reached the bank again可推知此题答案为C。
3. D。主旨题。根据文章第1段第2句The small even can help the great可推知此题答案为D。
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