While waiting to pick up a friend at the airport in Portland, Oregon, I had an experience which occurred merely two feet away from me.
Trying to locate my friend among the passengers coming through the jet way, I noticed a man walking toward me carrying two light bags. He stopped right next to me to greet his family.
First he kissed his three children one by one and said, “It’s nice to see you. I missed you so much!” Then he hugged his wife, “I’ve saved the best for last!” giving her the longest, most passionate kiss I ever remember seeing. They stared at each other’s eyes, smiling at one another, while holding both hands. For an instant they reminded me of newlyweds（新婚夫妇）, but I knew by the age of their kids that they couldn’t  possibly be.
Full of admiration, I asked, “Wow! How long have you two been married?” “Being together for fourteen years total, married twelve of those.” He replied, without breaking his gaze from his lovely wife’s face. “Well, then, how long have you been away?” I asked. “Two whole days!” “Two days?” I was astonished. By the intensity (热烈) of the greeting, I had assumed he’d been gone for at least several weeks --- if not months. I knew my expression betrayed me, so I turned away my eyes and said quietly, “I hope my marriage is still that passionate after so long!”
The man suddenly stopped smiling and looked me straight in the eye. With forcefulness he told me something that left me a different person. “Don’t hope, friend…decide!” Then he smiled again, shook my hand and said, “God bless!”
With that, he and his family turned and walked away together.
I was still watching that man and his special family walk just out of sight when my friend came up to me and asked, “What are you looking at?” Without hesitation, and with a curious sense of certainty, I replied, “My future!”
【小题1】The best title of the passage may be __________.   

A．Long Loving Hugs	B．My Future
C．Don’t Hope. Decide	D．Love Is Everywhere

【小题2】Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?

A．The man replied to the author, with his eyes still fixed on his wife’s face.

B．After being away for several weeks, the man missed his family very much.

C．It was fourteen years since the couple had got married.

D．Their three kids reminded the author of newlyweds.

【小题3】By saying “my expression betrayed me” (in Paragraph 4), the author means that __________.

A．he failed to express his ideas to the man

B．the man sensed his real feelings from his expression

C．he didn’t believe in his expression any more

D．his expression was not faithful to him

【小题4】From the passage, we can infer that __________.

A．the experience may be easily forgotten by the author

B．the author will live a passionate life from now on

C．the author will be away from his family and hug them passionately upon his return

D．Americans prefer to save the best for last

Disease, poverty, hate, love—Charles Dickens’ stories opened his readers eyes to the most important themes of his age. Two hundred years on, his stories still speak volumes across the world, proving that Dickens’ legacy(遗产) was far greater than just “great literature”
February 7 marks the 200^th anniversary of the writer’s birthday. To mark this date, BBC writer Alex Hudson listed six things Dickens gave the modern world. Let’s take a look at two of them.
A white Christmas
Dickens is described as “the man who invented Christmas”—not the religious festival, but the cultural aspects that we associate with the festive season today. In the early 19^th century, Christmas was barely worth mentioning, according to critic and writer Leigh Hunt. The committee which ran the Conservative Party even held ordinary business meetings on Christmas Day – unthinkable in the West nowadays, when everyone but the most necessary workers takes at least three days off.
Many people believe that Dickens’ popular descriptions of the festive period became a blueprint for generations to come. In his classic novel, A Christmas Carol, he not only put forward the idea of snow at Christmas, but also painted a picture of glowing warmth –“ home enjoyments, affections and hopes”.
In his biography of Dickens, Peter Ackroyd wrote: “ Dickens can be said to have almost single-handedly created the modern idea of Christmas.”
“Dickensian” poverty
Dickens was one of the first to take an honest look at the underclass and the poor of Victorian (the period during British Queen Victoria’s reign from 1837 to 1901) London.
He helped popularize the term “red tape” to describe situations where people in power use needless amounts of bureaucracy（官僚作风） in a way that particularly hurts the weaker and poorer members of society.
“Dickensian” has now become a powerful word for describing an unacceptable level of poverty. In 2009, when the president of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers in the UK wanted to talk about deprivation in some areas of Britain, she did not use words like “terrible” or “horrific”, but rather described it as “life mirroring the times of Dickens”. 
【小题1】What is the main idea of the article?

A．An introduction to Charles Dickens’ classic novels.

B．Charles dickens’ impact on the world.

C．Charles Dickens’ amazing characters.

D．Why Charles Dickens is popular across the world.

【小题2】Why is Dickens called “the man who invented Christmas”?

A．Because he created the religious festival.

B．Because many of his novels have something to do with Christmas.

C．Because one of his novels helped to shape Christmas celebrations.

D．Because he was the first man to have proposed celebrating Christmas.

【小题3】According to the article, the phrase “red tape” refers to _______.

A．rules or procedures that are required to accomplish a task

B．a situation in which poor members of society are hurt.

C．conflict between people in power and weaker people

D．pointlessly time-consuming official procedures

Without any hesitation, he said, “I’d be better off dead.” Hearing those words come out of my best friend’s mouth tore my heart apart. He has repeated that phrase more than once, and my mind continually plays it over like a voice recording.
I met him about three years ago. After knowing me for six months, he told me about his struggles with depression. Sadness was not the only emotion that came over me; I was shocked. He seemed so outgoing and happy all the time. I soon learned that he was physically and emotionally abused as a young child, causing him to have suicidal thoughts.
He refuses to talk to others about his depression because he now distrusts adults, especially those in his family. Nevertheless, he feels as if I understand him and that I know the right words to speak. Therefore, when it comes to helping him, convenience is not in my vocabulary. It does not matter where I am or what I am doing, for he always comes first.
Many students at his school laugh at him when they notice scars on his arms from cutting. As he sees it, other kids have every right to make fun of him. But no one holds such a right, so I encourage him to ignore the heartless kids who treat him badly. When he feels the weight of judging eyes or hateful voices, I always remind him that I care about him unconditionally. Just hearing me say I will always be his best friend seems to give him the security he needs to keep on going.
My best friend once told me that if he had not had me, he would not be alive. He said that my encouraging words convinced him not to take his life. Our friendship has taught me that a single kind word can influence someone’s life. With the fragility of life as it is, I believe in the necessity of encouragement.
【小题1】According to the first paragraph, what the author’s friend said made the author feel ______.

A．puzzled

B．heart broken.

C．frightened

D．hopeless

【小题2】By saying “convenience is not in my vocabulary”, the author means ______.

A．he is always ready to help his friend.

B．he hardly spares time to help his friend.

C．he has no good excuse for refusing his friend.

D．he is not good at communicating with his friend.

【小题3】From the passage we learn that the author’s friend ________.

A．had a happy childhood but everything changed later

B．wanted to share his story but no one listened.

C．took it for granted that he was made fun of

D．was always of sad appearance

【小题4】What does the author learn from his experiences?

A．How to make a big difference to others.

B．The importance of encouragement.

C．How to get rid of depression

D．The necessity of security

Dr. Jack M. Gwaltney, Jr. a professor at the University Of Virginia School Of Medicine infected six student volunteers with virus, the most common cause of colds. A few days later, when they were coughing and sneezing, he gathered 37 more people and divided them into three groups. Group 1 members spent three days and nights in the same room with one of the infected students, separated by a screen so they couldn't touch one another. Group 2 sat around a table while an infected volunteer talked, coughed and sang to them. Group 3 held hands with an infected student for ten seconds, and then touched their own noses or eyes.
Although most scientists at the time, the mid-70s, believed colds were spread by virus-laden droplets spread through the air when infected people coughed or sneezed, Gwaltney suspected physical contact might play an important role. Sure enough, of the 15 people who had touched a student volunteer, 11 became infected—compared with only one of those who had been sitting at the table, and none who had spent three days and nights together.
"The best evidence we have is that hand-to-hand contact is the most efficient way of transmitting virus," says Gwaltney. The study was one of a series that helped establish Gwaltney's reputation as a leading authority. Dr. Robert Couch says, "It would not be inappropriate to call him Mr. Common Cold."
When Gwaltney is asked how close scientists are to finding a cure, he replies: "If you mean ‘get rid of’, I don't think we're going to be able to do that with cold viruses any time soon. But if you look in the dictionary, you'll see that 'cure' is explained as a successful treatment. And we're not just getting more effective at treating the symptoms (症状)—we're getting at the root cause too. "
【小题1】Dr. Jack M. Gwaltney conducted the experiment in order to__________.

A．find out the most common cause of colds

B．infect the student volunteer

C．find out the role physical contact plays in the common colds

D．find out the role virus-laden air plays in the infection of colds

【小题2】The result of the experiment shows that ___ plays an important role in the infection of colds.

A．sneezing at the infected person

B．touching the infected person

C．sitting together with the infected person

D．talking with the infected person

【小题3】Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?

A．Dr. Gwaltney was sure that hand-to-hand touch is the cause of the common cold.

B．Only one of the people who had spent three days and nights together became infected.

C．Dr. Gwaltney conducted many an experiment as to the cause of colds.

D．Dr. Gwaltney tested altogether 43 volunteers to see how they could develop colds.

【小题4】Mr. Common Cold is______.

A．a newly-found virus

B．a nickname (绰号) of respect to Dr. Gwaltney

C．a method to cure colds

D．a way by which the other scientists laughed at Dr. Gwaltney

【小题5】When Dr. Gwaltney gives a reply in the end of the passage, he means that______.

A．they have found the fundamental cause of colds

B．they have managed to wipe out the cold viruses

C．they have meant to experiment more

D．they have made much progress in dealing with colds

We once had a poster competition in our fifth grade art class.
“You could win prizes,” our teacher told us as she wrote the poster information on the blackboard. She passed out sheets of construction paper while continuing, “The first prize is ten dollars. You just have to make sure that the words on the blackboard appear somewhere on your poster.”
We studied the board critically. Some of us looked with one eye and held up certain colors against the blackboard, rocking the sheets to the right or left while we conjured up our designs. Others twisted their hair around their fingers or chewed their erasers while deep in thought. We had plans for that ten-dollar grand prize, each and every one of us. I’m going to spend mine on candies, one hopeful would announce, while another practiced looking serious, wise and rich.
Everyone in the class made a poster. Some of us used parts of those fancy paper napkins, while others used nothing but colored construction paper. Some of us used big designs, and some of us preferred to gather our art tidily down in one corner of our poster and let the space draw the viewer’s attention to it. Some of us would wander past the good students’ desks and then return to our own projects with a growing sense of hopelessness. It was yet another grown-up trick of the sort they seemed especially fond of, making all of us believe we had a fair chance, and then always—always—rewarding the same old winners.
I believe I drew a sailboat, but I can’t say that with any certainty. I made it. I admired it. I determined it to be the very best of all of the posters I had seen，and then I turned it in.
Minutes passed.
No one came along to give me the grand prize, and then someone distracted me, and I probably never would have thought about that poster again.
I was still sitting at my desk, thinking, What poster? when the teacher gave me an envelope with a ten-dollar bill in it and everyone in the class applauded for me.
【小题1】What was the teacher’s requirement for the poster?

A．It must appear in time.

B．It must be done in class.

C．It must be done on a construction sheet.

D．It must include the words on the blackboard.

【小题2】The underlined phrase in Paragraph 3 most probably means ________.

A．formed an idea for

B．made an outline for

C．made some space for

D．chose some colors for

【小题3】After the teacher’s words, all the students in the class________.

A．looked very serious

B．thought they would be rich

C．began to think about their designs

D．began to play games

【小题4】After seeing the good students’ designs, some students________.

A．loved their own designs more

B．thought they had a fair chance

C．put their own designs in a corner

D．thought they would not win the prize

【小题5】We can infer from the passage that the author________.

A．enjoyed grown up tricks very much

B．loved poster competitions very much

C．felt surprised to win the competition

D．became wise and rich after the competition

I was walking along the deserted main street of a small seaside town in the north of England looking somewhere to make a phone call. My car had broken down outside the town and I wanted to get in touch with the Automobile Association .Low gray clouds were drifting across the sky and there was a cold damp wind blowing off the sea. It had rained in the night and water was dripping from the bare trees that lined the street. I was glad that I was wearing a thick coat.
I could see no call box, nor was there anyone at that early hour I could ask. I had thought I might find a shop selling the Sunday papers or a milkman doing his job, but the town was completely dead.
Then suddenly I found what I was looking for. There was a small post office, and almost hidden from sight in a dark narrow street next to it was the town's only public call box, which badly needed a coat of paint, I hurried forward but stopped in astonishment when I saw through the dirty glass that there was a man inside. He was very fat, and was wearing a cheap blue plastic raincoat and rubber boots. I could not see his face - he was bending forward over the phone with his back pressed against the glass and didn't even raise his head at the sound of my coming nearer and nearer. Carefully and surprisedly, I remained standing a few feet away and lit a cigarette to wait my turn. It was when I threw the dead match on the ground that I noticed something bright red trickling from under the call box door.
【小题1】The author was walking through the small seaside town__________.

A．late morning

B．before midnight

C．early morning

D．late evening

【小题2】The weather of the day was ____, when the story happened.

A．stormy, damp and clear

B．windy, cold and cloudy

C．rainy, cold and clear

D．rainy, windy and cold

【小题3】Why was the author astonished when he saw that there was a man in the call box? Because___

A．the man inside was still wearing a raincoat

B．he didn't expect it to be taken up

C．the man had his back with him

D．the man did not seem to be moving

【小题4】The author waited, standing a few feet away from the box because____.

A．it was bad manners to overhear other's phone calls

B．the man didn't notice his coming

C．he wanted to have a cigarette to calm himself down

D．it was not safe to be close to the box

【小题5】What do you suppose happened to the man in the call box?

A．He slept.

B．He was too fat to move around.

C．He was lost in his important phone call.

D．He had most probably been killed.

Chinese female film stars, like Gong Li and Zhang Ziyi, due to the charm of their films, have set a good image for Chinese women in the world. Compared with Chinese women, the image of Chinese men is not so good in the eyes of Western women, the Shanghai Evening Post reported.
In March 2006, Zhang Jiehai, a doctorate（博士学位） holder at the Sociology Institute of the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, led a research team to investigate how Western women look at Chinese men. The survey shows that many Western women think Chinese men are mostly known for their care for the family. Chinese men, as the Western women say, are willing to spend money for women. As to their shortcomings, Western women think that Chinese men do not have good manners and that some Chinese men have the habit of spitting everywhere, keeping nails and hair long, picking their noses and ears in public places, and not cleaning their teeth thoroughly. These bad habits make many Western women think that Chinese men are unwilling to take care of their personal image.
The survey was carried out in two ways, by questionnaires and interviews. All the respondents（调查对象） agreed that Chinese men show much tender loving care for the family and that many Chinese men do know how to respect women. They open the door for women and carry their handbags for them. For some American women, the bad image of Chinese men in the world is largely because of Hollywood films. In many Hollywood films, Chinese men usually do not have a good image. But this has been changed by Hong Kong film star Chow Yun-Fat. After the Chinese film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon was shown in cinemas in the United States in 2002, many Westerners began to change their impression of Chinese men.
【小题1】Which statement best expresses the main idea of the first paragraph?

A．Chinese female film stars enjoy as great fame as Chinese male film stars in the world.

B．Chinese male film stars do not perform well in their films in the eyes of Western women.

C．Chinese female film stars don’t like Western male film stars.

D．Chinese female film stars have set a good image for Chinese women.

【小题2】Which is NOT mentioned as the shortcoming of Chinese men in Paragraph 2?

A．Spitting everywhere.

B．Speaking too loudly in public places.

C．Not cleaning their teeth thoroughly.

D．Picking their noses and ears in public places.

【小题3】In some American women’s eyes, Chinese men’s images are bad because of ______.

A．Chinese female film stars

B．Chinese male film stars

C．Hollywood films

D．Film stars in Hong Kong

【小题4】What does the passage mainly deal with?

A．Chinese men in the eyes of Western women.

B．Foreign film stars and Chinese film stars.

C．Chinese women in the eyes of Western men.

D．Chinese film stars in Hollywood films.

I was walking along the main street of a small seaside town in the north of England looking for somewhere to make a phone call．My car had broken down outside the town and I wanted to contact the AA Company．Low grey clouds were gathering across the sky and there was a cold damp wind blowing off the sea which nearly threw me off my feet every time I crossed one of the side streets．It had rained in the night and water was dropping from the bare trees that lined the street．I was glad that I was wearing a thick coat．
There was no sign of a call box, nor was there anyone at that early hour whom I could ask．I had thought I might find a shop open selling the Sunday papers or a milkman doing his rounds, but the town was completely dead．The only living thing I saw was a thin frightened cat outside a small restaurant．
Then suddenly I found what I was looking for．There was a small post office, and almost hidden from sight in a dark narrow street．Next to it was the town’s only public call box, which badly needed a coat of paint．I hurried forward, but stopped in astonishment when I saw through the dirty glass that there was a man inside．He was fat, and was wearing a cheap blue plastic raincoat．I could not see his face and he didn’t raise his head at the sound of my footsteps．
Carefully, I remained standing a few feet away and lit a cigarette to wait for my turn．It was when I threw the dead match on the ground that I noticed something bright red trickling from under the box call door．
【小题1】At what time was the story set?

A．An early winter morning．	B．A cold winter afternoon．
C．An early summer morning．	D．A windy summer afternoon．

【小题2】Which of the following words best describe the writer’s impression of the town?

A．Cold and frightening．	B．Dirty and crowded．
C．Empty and dead．	D．Unusual and unpleasant．

【小题3】The underlined word “trickling” in the last paragraph means _____．．

A．rushing out suddenly	B．shining brightly
C．flowing slowly in drops	D．appearing slowly

【小题4】Why didn’t the man raise his head when the writer came near?

A．He was annoyed at being seen by the writer．

B．He was angry at being disturbed by the writer．

C．He was probably fast asleep．

D．He was probably murdered．

About ten years ago when I was an undergraduate in college in New York, I was working as a practice student at my University's Museum of Natural History. One day while I was working at the cash register in the gift shop, I saw an elderly couple come in with a little girl in wheelchair.
As I looked closer at this girl, I saw that she was seated on her chair. I then realized she had no arms or legs, just a head, neck and the trunk of the human body. She was wearing a little white dress with the patterns of red roses and yellow dots.
As the couple wheeled her up to me I was looking down at the register. I turned my head toward the girl and gave her a wink(眨眼示意). As I took the money from her grandparents, I looked back at the girl, who was giving me the most beautiful, largest smile I have ever seen
All of a sudden her handicap was gone and all I saw was this beautiful girl, whose smile just melted me and almost instantly gave me a completely new sense of what life is all about. I immediately felt full of hope and confidence. She took me, a poor, unhappy college student, into her world, a world of smiles, love and warmth.               
That was ten years ago, but I still remember it clearly as if it happened just yesterday. I'm a successful business person now and whenever I get down and think about the troubles of the world, I think about that little girl and the remarkable lesson about life that she taught me.
【小题1】What was the writer a decade ago?

A．A worker working in a university.

B．A teacher teaching in a college.

C．A clerk working in a museum.

D．A university student who had not yet taken a degree.

【小题2】What does the underlined world “handicap” in Paragraph 4 probably mean?

A．Life difficulty.	B．Troublesome problem.
C．Failure in work.	D．Physical disability.

【小题3】How did the writer probably feel before meeting the disabled girl?

A．She felt full of hope.

B．She was filled with confidence.

C．She felt unhappy because of poverty.

D．She felt life was beautiful.

【小题4】Which of the following title suits this passage best?

A．A Disabled Girl.	B．A Disabled Girl’s Smile.
C．Full of Hope.	D．Full of Confidence.

Three wishes
A man and his wife were very poor. They kept hoping for new clothes and good food. The man enjoyed eating, and he especially liked cakes. One night an old woman came to their house and told them she would let them have three wishes. They could wish for anything they wanted.
The man had just finished eating a piece of bread for his dinner, but he was still hungry. He said, “I wish I had a big cake!”
Suddenly a cake appeared on his plate.
“You fool!” His wife cried. “You could have wished for a house full of wonderful food, but you wished for a cake. I wish that cake was on the end of your foolish nose! ”
Immediately the cake stuck to the end of his nose.
Then the man and his wife started blaming each other. “It’s your fault!” the man cried. “No, it’s your fault!” she answered. What could they do? The cake was still stuck to the husband’s nose.
“Oh!” the wife cried. “I wish none of this had ever happened!”
Immediately the cake was gone, and the man was saying, “I’m still hungry. How I wish I had some cakes! ”
But of course nothing happened.
【小题1】The man quarreled with his wife because ___.

A．he always enjoyed eating

B．his wife hoped that he asked for a house

C．the cake stuck to the end of his nose according to his wife’s wish.

D．he didn’t want anything except cakes

【小题2】The wrong statement of the following is ___.

A．the man made his wishes before dinner

B．the wife made two wishes, which worked

C．the wife wanted her husband to wish for more than a big cake

D．the man wished that the cake were not on his nose

【小题3】Why did the old woman not satisfy the man’s wish when he said he was still hungry and wanted some cakes?

A．Because the old lady was angry with them

B．Because this was the fourth wish.

C．Because the man had made this wish before.

D．Because the cake had been gone.