My mother is a diligent and kind woman. She is very busy from morning till night. As a teacher, she works hard. 　71　Both my brother and I love her dearly as she loves us.
　　My mother has been teaching math at a middle school in my hometown. She goes to work early in the morning and does not return home until late in the afternoon. 　72　 She treats them with patience and teaches them well. For her excellent quality and very good teaching results, she has been elected as a model teacher several times.
　　　73　 Every day, when she comes back home from work, she sets about doing housework, sweeping the living room and bedrooms or cleaning the furniture, and putting everything in good order. She seems to be busy all the time. As she has been very busy working every day, she looks older than her age. But she looks as cheerful and happy as ever. Mother never buys expensive dresses for herself, but she often buys some inexpensive but high quality clothes for us. 　74　 She just eats a plain meal outside when she is too busy to cook herself. She lives a busy yet simple life, without any complaints.
　　Often she says to us, “Work while you work, and play while you play. That is the way to be happy and gay. If you do not work, you will become lazy and be of no use to society”. What a piece of good advice this is! 　75　This advice of hers will always serve as a guide to my behavior. My mother is great indeed, and I always feel proud of her.
　　A. She enjoys listening to classic music.
　　B. As a mother, she takes good care of us and gives us every comfort.
　　C. She loves her students and cares for them.
　　D. She never goes to expensive restaurants to enjoy meals.
　　E. My mother is hard-working and never wastes money.
　　F. I never forget it and always bear it in my mind.
　　G. Can you tell us something about your mother?

When people want to know about the weather, they usually go to their radios, TVs, newspapers, or to the Internet. However, you can also find many weather signs among wildlife, because of their highly developed senses. Drops in air pressure (压力) produce an effect on small animals in many ways. Mice and deer are good weather indicators. People who spend a lot of time outdoors have observed that, before a storm, field mice come out of their holes and run around. Deer leave high ground and come down from the mountains.
    Birds are especially good weather indicators because they also show the effect of a pressure drop in many ways. For example, some birds become irritable (急躁的) and quarrelsome and will fight over a piece of bread. Other birds chirp (叽叽喳喳) and sing just before a storm. It seems they know they won't get another chance for an hour or two. Birds also seek safe places before a storm. You will sometimes see birds settling in trees or gathering together on a wire close to a building. Pre-storm low pressure makes the air so thin that birds have difficulty flying.
   It is unusual to see many birds flying overhead in the summertime, rather than during the periods in the spring or autumn. Watch for other weather signs if you see this. If they fly in the wrong direction, they may be flying ahead of a storm.
   By paying closer attention to some important signs in nature, we can become better prepared for any kind of weather.
68. The word "indicators" in paragraph 1 probably means________.      
  A. maps     B. services        C. signs       D. stations
69.There will be a storm if birds_________.                        
  A. make more noise than usual        B. fly in different directions
  C. come down from tall trees         D. share a piece of bread
70. The best title for the text would be_______.                       
  A. Signs of a Storm            B. Drops in Air Pressure
  C. Animals' Sharp Senses       D. Nature's Weather Signs 

                May:Happenings from the past

May 5,1884

Isaac Murphy,son of a slave and perhaps the greatest horse rider in American history,rides Buchanan to win his first Kentucky Derby.He becomes the first rider ever to win the race three times.

May 9 , 1754

Benjamin Franklin's Pennsylvania Gazette produces perhaps the first American political cartoon(漫画), showing a snake cut in pieces,with the words"Join or Die"printed under the picture.

May 11,1934

The first great dust storm of the Great Plains Dust Bowl, the result of years of drought(干旱),blows topsoil all the way to New York City and Washington,D.C.

May 19,1994

Jacqueline Lee Bouvier Kennedy Onassis,former first lady and one of the most famous people of the 1960s,died of cancer in New York City at the age of 64.

May 24,1844

Samuel F. B. Morse taps out the first message,"What hath God wrought,"over the experimental long-distance telegraph line which runs from Washington,D.C.,to Baltimore,Md.

64.We know from the text that Buchanan is ____ .

　A.Isaac's father　　　　　　　　B.a winning horse

　C. a slave taking care of horses   D.the first racing horse in Kentucky

65.What is the title of the first American political cartoon? 

　A.Join or Die　　　           B.Pennsylvania Gazette　　　

C.What Hath God Wrought　　　D.Kentucky Derby

66.In which year did the former first lady Jacqueline die? 

　A.1934.　　　　B.1960.　　　　C.1964. 　　　D.1994.

67.Which of the following places has to do with the first telegram in history?

　A.Washington,D.C.　　　　B.New York City.　　　　

C.Kentucky.　　　　      D.Pennsylvania.  

    In the course of working my ways through school, I took many jobs I would rather forget. But none of these jobs was as dreadful as my job in an apple plant. The work was hard; the pay was poor; and, most of all, the working conditions were terrible.

    First of all, the job made huge demands on my strength. For ten hours a night, I took boxes that rolled down a metal track and piled them onto a truck. Each box contained twelve heavy bottles of apple juice. I once figured out that I was lifting an average of twelve tons of apple juice every night.

    I would not have minded the difficulty of the work so much if the pay had not been so poor. I was paid the lowest wage of that time—two dollars an hour. Because of the low pay, I felt eager to get as much as possible. I usually worked twelve hours a night but did not take home much more than $100 a week.

    But even more than the low pay, what made me unhappy was the working conditions. During work I was limited to two ten-minute breaks and an unpaid half hour for lunch. Most of my time was spent outside loading trucks with those heavy boxes in near-zero-degree temperatures. The steel floors of the trucks were like ice, which made my feet feel like stone. And after the production line shut down at night and most people left, I had to spend two hours alone cleaning the floor.

    I stayed on the job for five months, all the while hating the difficulty of the work, the poor money, and the conditions under which I worked. By the time I left, I was determined never to go back there again. 

 60. Why did the writer have to take many jobs at that time?

    A. To pay for his schooling            B. To save for his future

    C. To support his family              D. To gain some experience

 61. The following facts describe the terrible working conditions of the plant EXCEPT____.

    A. loading boxes in the freezing cold B. having limited time for breaks

    C. working and studying at the same time D.getting no pay for lunch time

 62. What is the subject discussed in the text?

    A. The writer’s unhappy school life    

B. The writer’s eagerness to earn money

    C. The writer’s experience as a full--time worker  

    D. The writer’s hard work in an apple plant

 63. How is the text organized?

    A. Topic—Argument –Explanation.     

    B. Opinion—Discussion—Description.

    C. Main idea—Comparison—Supporting examples.

    D. Introduction—Supporting examples—Conclusion.

From age eight to eleven, I attended a small school in Bath, England. It was a small school of four classes with about twenty-five children in each class according to age. For the most part, one teacher had to teach all subjects to the children in the class. However, sometimes the headmaster, Mr. Ronald Broches, would come in and spend an hour or so,teaching some subjects in which he was especially interested. He was a large man with a very happy nature. He had a sense of humor and would delight in telling the children small stories that would make us laugh. He was a very fair man and had a great influence on many of the children.

In my own case , I found that he took great interest in me and he quickly found that I enjoyed puzzles(难题) . He would often stop me as I was going to class and take a piece of paper out of his pocket, often with a puzzle on it. The puzzles were usually mathematical or logical. As time went on, they slowly got more difficult, but I loved them. Not only that, they made me interested in math and problem-solving that stays with me to this day. They also showed me that intellectual(智力的) activity was rewarding when the correct answers were found, but perhaps more importantly it was great fun.

To this day, I can remember Mr. Broches’ cheerful cry of “Well done!” whenever I got a problem right. The simple communication with a man whom I loved greatly has had a deep influence on my life. I shall forever be thankful that our paths crossed. Mr. Broches died just two weeks after I had won the 1993 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. Unluckily, I had no chance to speak to him before he died. I learnt later that he heard of my success and I will always hope that he knew the deep influence he had made on my life.

56. There were about        children in each class when the writer was in the school in Bath, England.

  A. 4          B.8        C.11        D.25

57. From the text, we can learn that         .

A the puzzles made the students laugh

B the students were afraid of the headmaster

C  the puzzles made Richard enjoy math

D  the headmaster never taught in the school.

58. The writer felt sorry because        .

A.      Mr. Broches had passed away before he won the Nobel Brize

B.      he didn’t express his thanks before Mr. Broches died

C.     he couldn’t find Mr. Broches after he grew up

D.     Mr. Broches didn’t know his success

Richard’s father died when he was five. Later on he 36 his mother. The poor boy had to 37 on his own, so he went to work for a rich farmer, who paid him nothing except food and clothes. An old woman felt 38 for him and often helped him. The boy wanted to go to (the) 39 very much, but he had no money. He 40 lost heart and found some old books near the school and 41 himself to read and write.

There was a narrow 42 between two mountains which connected the village and the town. One morning, people 43 there was a big stone on the path. It brought them 44: they had to move it away, or they had to cross the mountains to the town. 45 the stone weighed thirty tons at least and even the strongest young man couldn’t move it. They 46 for a long time, but nobody knew what to do.

Richard looked at it carefully for a while and said, “I have a 47 to move it away.” But 48 men believed him. Some villagers even 49 him. The night 50 and people went back. Only the boy stayed there. To their surprise, the villagers found the stone was 51 the next morning. They didn’t 52 who had moved it away. The old woman said Richard had done it all by himself.

“How could he?” the rich farmer called out, “He’s 53 fifteen! He couldn’t move it at all!”

“He 54 a big hole beside the stone.” said the old woman, “and then he could 55 push it into the hole!”

Looking at each other, the villagers couldn’t say a word.

36. A. loved       B. lost         C. supported     D. helped

37. A. study        B. think C. work     D. live

38. A. angry       B. proud C. sorry        D. excited

39. A. school      B. town        C. mountain        D. bed

40. A. hardly       B. even        C. ever           D. never

41. A. taught       B. asked       C. allowed          D. caused

42. A. window      B. path        C. door         D. river

43. A. believed     B. asked           C. found      D. agreed

44. A. happiness  B. money      C. good         D. difficulty

45. A. But          B. For         C. So        D. And

46. A. stayed           B. discussed C. played    D. cried

47. A. book       B. question     C. way       D. text

48. A. most     B. many     C. some      D. few

49. A. cared about      B. laughed at       C. looked at    D. looked after

50. A. went       B. made C. fell            D. worked

51. A. broken     B. gone       C. heavier         D. smaller

52. A. know        B. forget       C. remember     D. notice

53. A. mainly       B. nearly      C. already         D. only

54. A. put          B. set          C. dug            D. filled

55. A. easily      B. excitedly   C. luckily           D. happily

 ----- Would you mind my coming over and having a look at your new garden? My little son’s curious about those roses you grow.

   ----- _______. You’re welcome.

   A. Yes, I do    B. Never mind    C. Yes, please   D. Not at all

I don’t think it is _____ for you to spend such a lot of time on that kind of

        matter.

   A. worth    B. worthy    C. worthwhile   D. Worthily

 ----- Could you tell me his phone number?

   ----- _______ the phone book and find it out yourself.

  A. Look up   B. Search for    C. Refer to    D. Going through

Rather than ______ on a busy bus, he always prefers ______ to work by

        bike every day.

   A. ride;go   B. to ride; to go   C. ride; to go    D. ride; going