Many years ago, when I was fresh out of school and working in Denver, I was driving to my parents' home in Missouri for Christmas. I stopped at a gas station(加油站)about 50 miles from Oklahoma City, where I was planning to stop and visit a friend. While I was standing in line at the cash register(收款台), I said hello to an older couple who were also paying for gas.

I took off, but had gone only a few miles when black smoke poured from the back of my car. I stopped and wondered what I should do. A car pulled up behind me. It was the couple I had spoken to at the gas station. They said they would take me to my friend's. We chatted on the way into the city, and when I got out of the car, the husband gave me his business card.

I wrote him and his wife a thank-you note for helping me. Soon afterward, I received a Christmas present from them. Their note that came with it said that helping me had made their holidays meaningful.

Years later, I drove to a meeting in a nearby town in the morning. In late afternoon I returned to my car and found that I'd left the lights on all day, and the battery(电池)was dead. Then I noticed that the Friendly Ford dealership - a shop selling cars - was right next door. I walked over and found two salesmen in the showroom.

"Just how friendly is Friendly Ford?" I asked and explained my trouble. They quickly drove a pickup truck to my car and started it. They would accept no payment, so when I got home, I wrote them a note to say thanks. I received a letter back from one of the salesmen. No one had ever taken the time to write him and say thank you, and it meant a lot, he said.

"Thank you" - two powerful words. They're easy to say and mean so much.

The author planned to stop at Oklahoma City_________.

A. to visit a friend

B. to see his parents

C. to pay at the cash register

D. to have more gas for his car

The words “took off” underlined in Paragraph 2 mean “______”.

A. turned off   B. moved off   C. put up   D. set up

What happened when the author found smoke coming out of his car?

A. He had it pulled back to the gas station.

B. The couple sent him a business card.

C. The couple offered to help him.    

D. He called his friend for help.

The battery of the author’s car was dead because_______.

A. something went wrong with the lights

B. the meeting lasted a whole day

C. he forgot to turn off the lights

D. he drove too long a distance

By telling his own experiences, the author tries to show______.

A. how to write a thank-you letter

B. how to deal with car problems

C. the kind-heartedness of older people

D. the importance of expressing thanks

短文中共有10处语言错误，错误涉及一个单词的增加、删除或修改。

增加：在此处加一个漏字符号(∧)，并在其下面写出增加的词;

删除：把多余的词用斜线(＼)划掉; 修改：在错的词下划一横线，并在其下面写出修改后的词。

注意：1.每处错误及其修改均仅限一词；2.只允许修改10处，多者（从十一处起）不计分。

Dear Li Ming,

I received your letter last week. Don’t worry about me.    I’m getting on well my research works in the lab. But to my surprise you say you will give up learn English. The reason is because you have not done well in it recently and you have lost interesting. I’m afraid I can’t agree with you. I know it is not easy to learn English, and English is widely used in the world today and it will be important tool in your future work. Beside, it is becoming more and more important in our daily life. If you study hard, and you will succeed. Do remember: Where there is a will there is a way. I’m looking forward to hearing a good

news from you.    

Yours, Tommy

 

After giving a talk at a high school, I was asked to pay a visit to a special student. An illness had kept the boy home, but he had expressed an interest in meeting me. I was told it would mean a great deal to him, so I agreed.

   During the nine-mile drive to his home, I found out something about Matthew. He had muscular dystrophy (肌萎缩症). When he was born, the doctor told his parents that he would not live to five, and then they were told he would not make it to ten. Now he was thirteen. He wanted to meet me because I was a gold-medal power lifter, and I knew about overcoming obstacles and going for my dreams.

   I spent over an hour talking to Matthew. Never once did he complain or ask, “Why me?” He spoke about winning and succeeding and going for his dreams. Obviously, he knew what he was talking about. He didn’t mention that his classmates had made fun of him because he was different. He just talked about his hopes for the future, and how one day he wanted to lift weights with me. When we had finished talking, I went to my briefcase and pulled out the first gold medal I had won and put it around his neck. I told him he was more of a winner and knew more about success and overcoming obstacles than I ever would. He looked at it for a moment, then took it off and handed it back to me. He said, “You are a champion. You earned that medal. Someday when I get to the Olympics and win my own medal, I will show it to you.”

   Last summer I received a letter from Matthew’s parents telling me that Matthew had passed away. They wanted me to have a letter he had written to me a few days before:

Dear Dick,

My mum said I should send you a thank-you letter for the picture you sent me. I also want to let you know that the doctors tell me that I don’t have long to live any more, but I still smile as much as I can.

I told you someday that I would go to the Olympics and win a gold medal, but I know now I will never get to do that. However, I know I’m a champion, and God knows that too. When I get to Heaven, God will give me my medal and when you get there, I will show it to you. Thank you for loving me.

                                               Your friend,

                                                   Matthew

1. The underlined sentence in the third paragraph probably means that_______.

   A. the boy never complained about how unlucky he was to have this disease

   B. the boy never complained about not being able to go to school

   C. the boy never complained why the author had never come to see him before

   D. the boy never complained about not gettig a medal

2. From the passage we learn that ________.

   A. Matthew was an athlete

   B. Matthew was an optimistic and determined boy

   C. The author used to have the same disease as Matthew had

   D. Matthew became a champion before he died

3.Matthew didn’t accepted the author’s medal because           .

   A. he thought it was too expensive

   B. he was sure that he could win one in the future

   C. he thought it was of no use to him as he would die soon

   D. he would not be pitied by others

4. What would be the best title for this passage?

   A. A sick boy.          B. A special friend.

   C. A real champion.     D. A famous athlete.

 

I was in my third year of teaching creative writing at a high school in New York, when one of my students, 15-year-old Mikey, gave me a note from his mother. It explained his absence from class the day before.
I had seen Mikey himself writing the note at his desk. Most parental-excuse notes I received were penned by my students. If I were to deal with them, I’d be busy 24 hours a day.
The forged excuse notes made a large pile, with writing that ranged from imaginative to crazy. The writers of those notes didn’t realize that honest excuse notes were usually dull: “Peter was late because the alarm clock didn’t go off.”
Isn’t it remarkable, I thought, how the students complained and said it was hard putting 200 words together on any subject? But when they produced excuse notes, they were brilliant.
So one day I typed out a dozen excuse notes and gave them to my classes. I said, “They’re supposed to be written by parents, but actually they are not. True, Mikey?” The students looked at me nervously.
“Now, this will be the first class to study the art of the excuse note --- the first class, ever, to practice writing them. You’re so lucky to have a teacher like me who has taken your best writing and turned it into a subject worthy of study. ”
Everyone smiled as I went on, “You used your imaginations. So try more now. Today I’d like you to write ‘An Excuse Note from Adam to God’ or ‘An Excuse Note from Eve to God’.” Heads went down. Pens raced across paper. For the first time ever I saw students so careful in their writing that they had to be asked to go to lunch by their friends.
The next day everyone had excuse notes. Heated discussions followed. The headmaster entered the classroom and walked up and down, looking at papers, and then said, “I’d like you to see me in my office.”
When I stepped into his office, he came to shake my hand and said, “I just want to tell you that that lesson, that task, whatever the hell you were doing, was great. Those kids were writing on the college level. Thank you. ”
【小题1】What did the author do with the students found dishonest?

A．He reported them to the headmaster.	B．He lectured them hard on honesty.
C．He had them take notes before lunch.	D．He helped improve their writing skills.

【小题2】The author found that compared with the true excuse notes, the produced ones by the students were usually__________.

A．less impressive

B．more imaginative

C．worse written

D．less convincing

【小题3】The author had the students practice writing excuse notes so that the students could learn_________.

A．the importance of being honest	B．how to write excuse notes skillfully
C．the pleasure of creative writing	D．how to be creative in writing

【小题4】The underlined word “forged” in the second paragraph means “______”.

A．former

B．copied

C．false

D．honest

【小题5】What did the headmaster think of the author’s way of teaching?

A．Effective.

B．Difficult

C．Misleading.

D．Reasonable

I am serving in a company in Cheyenne. The work has been challenging, but the  36  are big, and I have been given a rise. The weather has been cold lately.  37  walking has been excellent exercise, I have realized that I need another form of  38  for the winter.

My boyfriend Mike knew of this  39  and he researched some local sites for cheap cars. The minute he  40  me the information about a 1978 Ford Fairmont, I  41  this car was meant to be! I began communicating with the  42 , a man named Dale Meyer. I found out that the car was bought by his grandfather and was still in good  43 . He and his two brothers had  44  learned to drive using this car.

We  45  a price of $400, and fixed a time for a test drive. The day before the test drive, I received a phone call from Dale. He  46  a little nervous, but also excited. He asked simply, “You really  47  this car, don’t you?”

“Of course. I couldn’t love it more,” I gave an enthusiastic  48 . He then said to me, “How about me giving it to you for a dollar?” His offer left me  49 . At that time words  50  me.

I picked up my new Fairmont last night. Dale walked me around the car,  51  its bumps and nicks (磕磕碰碰). As he was telling me the  52  of the car, it seemed that he was losing an old friend. As I was pulling  53  the driveway, he stopped me and said, “Don’t forget to pass this  54  on.”

It was truly a  55  end. Never underestimate the kindness of strangers.

36. A. presents    B. awards    C. honors     D. rewards

37. A. Because    B. Although   C. If       D. When

38. A. entertainment  B. pleasure    C. transportation  D. training

39. A. habit     B. purpose    C. goal      D. desire

40. A. found     B. sent      C. asked      D. taught

41. A. knew     B. wondered   C. doubted     D. promised

42. A. producer    B. owner    C. customer    D. stranger

43. A. situation    B. state     C. operation    D. condition

44. A. slowly     B. actually    C. naturally    D. hardly

45. A. thought of   B. referred to   C. settled on    D. talked about

46. A. looked     B. sounded    C. felt      D. behaved

47. A. like      B. repair     C. drive     D. use

48. A. refusal     B. description   C. reply      D. attitude

49. A. careless    B. lifeless    C. motionless   D. speechless

50. A. left      B. failed     C. forgot     D. beat

51. A. searching    B. checking   C. explaining    D. touching

52. A. sufferings    B. stories    C. materials    D. troubles

53. A. away from   B. into     C. by       D. out of

54. A. car      B. custom    C. kindness    D. experience

55. A. sudden     B. perfect    C. foolish     D. forced