“Mom, I have cancer.” These four words catapulted my son and me on a journey that lasted two years. On that day I felt a wave of paralyzing fear.

Scott was the oldest of my four children. He was 33 years old and a successful assistant principal at SamRayburn Hifht School in Pasadena, Texas. He and his wife Carolyn were busy raising four active children. Scott was 6’2’’, weighed 200 pounds and had never been sick a day in his life.

A few month earlier a mole（痣）on his neck had changed color. “Dr.Warner called,” Scott said that spring morning. “It’s melanoma.（黑素瘤）” I tried to comfort him, naming all the people I knew who had survived skin cancer. Yet, I felt small tentacles of fear begin to wrap around my chest.

Our next stop was MDAnderson, the famous cancer hospital in Houston. Scott had surgery at the end of May and was scheduled for radiation treatments over the summer recess. “There is an 80 percent chance it won’t reoccur,” the doctors said. At the end of summer, all his tests came back negative and Scott was back at school in the fall. However, in December, Scott discovered a lump on his neck. It was examined and the result came back “malignant.（恶性的）” We now realized that Scott fell into the 20 percent category. I could feel the tentacles tightening around my chest. He entered the hospital for an aggressive treatment, a combination of interferon and interleukin.

After five months of treatment, he had radical surgery on his neck. The test results were encouraging, only three of the 33 lymph nodes（淋巴结） removed were malignant. We were very hopeful.

For the next six months, Scott’s follow-up visits went well. Then in October, X-ray revealed a spot on his lung. The spot was removed during surgery and the doctors tried to be optimistic. It was a daily battle to control the fear and panic each setback brought.

In January, he was diagnosed as having had a “disease explosion.” The cancer had spread to his lungs, spine and liver and he was given three to six months to live. There were times during this period when I felt like I was having a heart attack. The bands constricting my chest made breathing difficult.

When you watch your child battle cancer, you experience a roller coaster of emotions. There are moments of hope and optimism but a bad test result or even an unusual pain can bring on dread and panic.

Scott was readmitted to the hospital for one last try with chemotherapy. He died, quite suddenly, just six weeks after his last diagnosis. I was completely destroyed. I had counted on those last few months.

The next morning I was busy notifying people and making funeral arrangements. I remember having this nagging feeling that something was physically wrong with me. It took a moment to realize that the crushing sensation in my chest was gone. The thing every parent fears the most had happened. My son was gone. Of course, the fear had been replaced by unbearable sorrow.

After you lose a child, it is so difficult to go on. The most minimal tasks, combing your hair or taking a shower, becoming monumental. For months I just sat and stared into space. That spring, the trees began to bloom; flowers began to pop up in my garden. Friendswood was coming back to life but I was dead inside.

During those last weeks, Scott and I often spoke about life and death. Fragments of those conversations kept playing over and over in my mind.

“Don’t let this ruin your life, Mom.”

“Make sure Dad re models his workshop.”

“Please, take care of my family.”

I remember wishing I could have just one more conversation with him. I knew what I would say, but what would Scott say? “I know how much you love me, Mom. So just sit on the couch and cry.” No, I knew him better than that. Scott loved life and knew how precious it is. I could almost hear his voice saying, “Get up Mom, Get on with your life. It’s too valuable to waste.”

That was the day I began to move forward. I signed up for a cake decorating class. Soon I was making cakes for holidays and birthdays. My daughter-in-law told me about a writing class in Houston. I hadn’t written in years, but since I was retired I decided it be time to start again. The local college advertised a Life Story Writing class that I joined. There I met women who had also lost their children. The Poet Laureate of Texas was scheduled to speak at our local Barnes and Noble. I attended and joined our local poetry society. I never dreamed that writing essays and poems about Scott could be so therapeutic. Several of those poems have ever been published. In addition, each group brought more and more people into my life..

I don’t believe you ever recover from the loss of a child. Scott is in my heart and mind every day. However, I do believe you can survive.

Scott fought so bravery to live and he never gave up. He taught me that life is a gift that should be cherished, not wasted. It has taken years to become the person I am today. The journey has been a difficult, painful process but certainly worth the effort and I know that my son would be proud.

1.How old was Scott probably when he died?

A．33               B．35                 C．37           D．40

2.What does the underlined sentence “ The bands constricting my chest made breathing difficult” probably imply?

A．It implies that Scott’s mother was likely to have a heart attack.

B．It implies that there was something wrong with Scott’s mother’s chest.

C．It implies that Scott’s mother was very upset and panic because of Scott’s severe illness.

D．It implies that the cancer had spread to her chest just like her son.

3.Which of the following statements best shows the author’s feeling about Scott’s death?

A．It was a daily battle to control the fear and panic each setback brought.

B．She felt a wave of fear.

C．She felt a feeling of fear begin to wrap around her chest.

D．The fear had been replaced by unbearable sorrow.

4.From Scott and his mother’s conversation, we can know that Scott is ________.

A．considerable      B．humorous         C．determined      D．sensitive

5.The author intends to tell us that___________.

A．it takes a long time to make a person recover from the shock of losing a child

B．Scott is proud of his mother

C．life is full of happiness and sorrow.

D．We’d better make our life count instead of counting your days.

6.What might be the best title of the passage ?

A．Life is valuable                         B．Grieving and Recovery

C．Love and sorrow                        D．Alive or dead

I have only once been in trouble with the law. The whole process of being arrested and taken to court was a rather unpleasant experience at the time, but it makes a good story now. What makes it rather disturbing was the arbitrary circumstances both of my arrest and my subsequent? fate in court.

It happened in February about twelve years ago. I had left school a couple of months before that and was not due to go to university until the following October. I was still living at home at the time.

One morning I was in Richmond, a suburb of London near where I lived. I was looking for a temporary job so that I could save up some money to go traveling. As it was a fine day and I was in no hurry, I was taking my time, looking in shop windows, strolling in the park, and sometimes just stopping and looking around me. It must have been this obvious aimlessness that led to my downfall.

It was about half past eleven when it happened. I was just walking out of the local library, having unsuccessfully sought employment there, when I saw a man walking across the road with the obvious intention of talking to me. I thought he was going to ask me the time. Instead, he said he was a police officer and he was arresting me. At first I thought it was some kind of joke.

But then another policeman appeared, this time in uniform, and I was left in no doubt.

“But what for?” I asked.

“Wandering with intent to commit an arrestable offence.” he said.

“What offence?” I asked.

“Theft.” he said.

“Theft of what?” I asked.

“Milk bottles,” he said, and with a perfectly straight face too!

“Oh,” I said.

It turned out there had been a lot of petty thefts in the area, particularly that of stealing milk bottles from doorsteps.

Then I made my big mistake. At the time I was nineteen, had long untidy hair, and regarded myself as part of the sixties’ “youth counterculture”. As a result, I wanted to appear cool and unconcerned with the incident, so I said, “How long have you been following me?” in the most casual and conversational tone I could manage. I thus appeared to them to be quite familiar with this sort of situation, and it confirmed them in their belief that I was a thoroughly disreputable （品行不端的）character.

????????????? A few minutes later a police car arrived.

????????????? “Get in the back,” they said. “Put your hands on the back of the front seat and don’t move them.”

????????????? They got in on either side of me. It wasn’t funny any more.

????????????? At the police station they questioned me for several hours. I continued to try to look worldly and familiar with the situation. When they asked me what I had been doing, I told them I’d been looking for a job. “Aha,” I could see them thinking, “unemployed”.

Eventually, I was officially charged and told to report to Richmond Magistrates’ Court the following Monday. Then they let me go.

I wanted to conduct my own defense in court, but as soon as my father found out what had happened, he hired a very good lawyer. We went along that Monday armed with all kinds of witnesses, including my English teacher from school as a character witness. But he was never called on to give evidence. My “trial” didn’t get that far. The magistrate （法官） dismissed the case after fifteen minutes. I was free. The poor police had never stood a chance. The lawyer even succeeded in getting costs awarded against the police.

And so I do not have a criminal record. But what was most shocking at the time was the things my release from the charge so clearly depended on. I had the “right” accent, respectable middle-class parents in court, reliable witnesses, and I could obviously afford a very good lawyer. Given the obscure nature of the charge, I feel sure that if I had come from a different background, and had really been unemployed, there is every chance that I would have been found guilty. While asking for costs to be awarded, my lawyer’s case quite obviously revolved （回转） around the fact that I had a “brilliant academic record”.

Meanwhile, just outside the courtroom, one of the policemen who had arrested me was gloomily complaining to my mother that another youngster had been turned against the police. “You could have been a bit more helpful when we arrested you,” he said to me reproachfully （责备地）.

What did he mean? Probably that I should have looked outraged and said something like, “Look here, do you know who you’re talking to? I am a highly successful student with a brilliant academic record. How dare you arrest me!” Then they, probably, would have apologized perhaps even taken off their caps, and let me on my way.

1.Judging from the first paragraph, the writer’s attitude towards his story is _______.

A. angry????? ????????????? ????????????? ????????????? ????????????? B. sad?????? ?????????????

C. amused?????? ????????????? ????????????? ????????????? ????????????? D. more than just one of the above

2.The first man who came up to him was ______.

A. a uniformed policeman???????????????? ????????????? B. a policeman in plainclothes

C. not a policeman?????????????????????? ????????????? D. a good joker

3.The court never asked the author’s English teacher to give evidence because _______.

A. the time for the trial was limited to fifteen minutes only

B. the author wanted to conduct his own defense in court

C. the case was dismissed before the trial reached that stage

D. he was found to be unqualified as a character witness

4.The author believes that he would most probably have been declared guilty if _______.

A. the magistrate had been less gentle?????? ?????????????

B. he had really been out of work

C. he had been born in a lower— class family ?????????????

D. both B and C

5. In the opinion of one of the policeman who had arrested the author, the whole thing might not have occurred if ______.

A. he had protested strongly at the time???? ?????????????

B. he had begged to be allowed to go home

C. he hadn’t wandered aimlessly?????????? ?????????????

D. he had tried to look cool

6.We can see from the passage that the author ______.

A. has broken the law only once

B. has never broken the law

C. has broken the law on more than one occasion

D. once broke the law without knowing it

“Mom, I have cancer.” These four words catapulted my son and me on a journey that lasted two years. On that day I felt a wave of paralyzing fear.
Scott was the oldest of my four children. He was 33 years old and a successful assistant principal at SamRayburn Hifht School in Pasadena, Texas. He and his wife Carolyn were busy raising four active children. Scott was 6’2’’, weighed 200 pounds and had never been sick a day in his life.
A few month earlier a mole（痣）on his neck had changed color. “Dr.Warner called,” Scott said that spring morning. “It’s melanoma.（黑素瘤）” I tried to comfort him, naming all the people I knew who had survived skin cancer. Yet, I felt small tentacles of fear begin to wrap around my chest.
Our next stop was MDAnderson, the famous cancer hospital in Houston. Scott had surgery at the end of May and was scheduled for radiation treatments over the summer recess. “There is an 80 percent chance it won’t reoccur,” the doctors said. At the end of summer, all his tests came back negative and Scott was back at school in the fall. However, in December, Scott discovered a lump on his neck. It was examined and the result came back “malignant.（恶性的）” We now realized that Scott fell into the 20 percent category. I could feel the tentacles tightening around my chest. He entered the hospital for an aggressive treatment, a combination of interferon and interleukin.
After five months of treatment, he had radical surgery on his neck. The test results were encouraging, only three of the 33 lymph nodes（淋巴结） removed were malignant. We were very hopeful.
For the next six months, Scott’s follow-up visits went well. Then in October, X-ray revealed a spot on his lung. The spot was removed during surgery and the doctors tried to be optimistic. It was a daily battle to control the fear and panic each setback brought.
In January, he was diagnosed as having had a “disease explosion.” The cancer had spread to his lungs, spine and liver and he was given three to six months to live. There were times during this period when I felt like I was having a heart attack. The bands constricting my chest made breathing difficult.
When you watch your child battle cancer, you experience a roller coaster of emotions. There are moments of hope and optimism but a bad test result or even an unusual pain can bring on dread and panic.
Scott was readmitted to the hospital for one last try with chemotherapy. He died, quite suddenly, just six weeks after his last diagnosis. I was completely destroyed. I had counted on those last few months.
The next morning I was busy notifying people and making funeral arrangements. I remember having this nagging feeling that something was physically wrong with me. It took a moment to realize that the crushing sensation in my chest was gone. The thing every parent fears the most had happened. My son was gone. Of course, the fear had been replaced by unbearable sorrow.
After you lose a child, it is so difficult to go on. The most minimal tasks, combing your hair or taking a shower, becoming monumental. For months I just sat and stared into space. That spring, the trees began to bloom; flowers began to pop up in my garden. Friendswood was coming back to life but I was dead inside.
During those last weeks, Scott and I often spoke about life and death. Fragments of those conversations kept playing over and over in my mind.
“Don’t let this ruin your life, Mom.”
“Make sure Dad re models his workshop.”
“Please, take care of my family.”
I remember wishing I could have just one more conversation with him. I knew what I would say, but what would Scott say? “I know how much you love me, Mom. So just sit on the couch and cry.” No, I knew him better than that. Scott loved life and knew how precious it is. I could almost hear his voice saying, “Get up Mom, Get on with your life. It’s too valuable to waste.”
That was the day I began to move forward. I signed up for a cake decorating class. Soon I was making cakes for holidays and birthdays. My daughter-in-law told me about a writing class in Houston. I hadn’t written in years, but since I was retired I decided it be time to start again. The local college advertised a Life Story Writing class that I joined. There I met women who had also lost their children. The Poet Laureate of Texas was scheduled to speak at our local Barnes and Noble. I attended and joined our local poetry society. I never dreamed that writing essays and poems about Scott could be so therapeutic. Several of those poems have ever been published. In addition, each group brought more and more people into my life..
I don’t believe you ever recover from the loss of a child. Scott is in my heart and mind every day. However, I do believe you can survive.
Scott fought so bravery to live and he never gave up. He taught me that life is a gift that should be cherished, not wasted. It has taken years to become the person I am today. The journey has been a difficult, painful process but certainly worth the effort and I know that my son would be proud

1. 1.

   How old was Scott probably when he died?

   1. A.
      33
   2. B.
      35
   3. C.
      37
   4. D.
      40
2. 2.

   What does the underlined sentence “ The bands constricting my chest made breathing difficult” probably imply?

   1. A.
      It implies that Scott’s mother was likely to have a heart attack
   2. B.
      It implies that there was something wrong with Scott’s mother’s chest
   3. C.
      It implies that Scott’s mother was very upset and panic because of Scott’s severe illness
   4. D.
      It implies that the cancer had spread to her chest just like her son
3. 3.

   Which of the following statements best shows the author’s feeling about Scott’s death?

   1. A.
      It was a daily battle to control the fear and panic each setback brought
   2. B.
      She felt a wave of fear
   3. C.
      She felt a feeling of fear begin to wrap around her chest
   4. D.
      The fear had been replaced by unbearable sorrow
4. 4.

   From Scott and his mother’s conversation, we can know that Scott is ________

   1. A.
      considerable
   2. B.
      humorous
   3. C.
      determined
   4. D.
      sensitive
5. 5.

   The author intends to tell us that___________

   1. A.
      it takes a long time to make a person recover from the shock of losing a child
   2. B.
      Scott is proud of his mother
   3. C.
      life is full of happiness and sorrow
   4. D.
      We’d better make our life count instead of counting your days
6. 6.

   What might be the best title of the passage ?

   1. A.
      Life is valuable
   2. B.
      Grieving and Recovery
   3. C.
      Love and sorrow
   4. D.
      Alive or dead

Just recently I had been wondering if there was much point in doing little acts of kindness. So often they get   36 , and occasionally they come back to bite you!
Then, just last week, after a long travel, I found myself   37   at a bus station. The bus was four hours late! So, I guess I wasn’t in a good   38 .
That’s when a woman asked me if I had any spare   39   to help her get a bus ticket.
“Oh, sure,” I said sarcastically (挖苦地). “How much would you like?”
As I spoke, I mentally kicked myself for my  40   and reached into my bag for some money. As I handed her five dollars, I heard low sounds from her stomach because of real    41 .
I reached back into my bag and brought out a   42   I had bought earlier. I handed it to her with a(n)   43   that I hoped would make up for my earlier tone of voice. Getting a   44   look at her now, I realized she was extremely tired, like she had had several months of   45   days!
As she took the food, a look of   46   washed over her. In return, she tried to give me a Milwaukee bus ticket! I don’t live in Milwaukee and the ticket will probably   47   be used, but I took it.
A few minutes later she came back over, apologized, and told me she was still  48   of five dollars. I took some singles out of my bag and slipped a twenty in there as well.   49 , the voice in my head told me I was being a fool.
Five minutes later she came back again and tried to   50   my twenty. When I said it was for her so she could get something else to   51 , and that I was completely serious and I wasn’t taking it   52  , she started crying and hugged me.
From now on, when I wonder if it is   53   trying to help someone, I will remember that woman. Maybe I am really making a   54   for someone. So, sure, sometimes my efforts might not be noticed, and sometimes they might come back to bite me, but they might actually   55   another human being!

【小题9】

A．quick B．gentle C．good D．cold

完形填空

　　From time to time I received PC magazines from well meaning editors. Reading them, I recognized the 1 characters, but the whole thing is Creek to me. When faced with such publications, I think to myself, “They might 2 send newspapers or magazines to a blind person. ”I 3 to say it, but I have to admit I don't 4 know how to type, much 5 how to enjoy the Internet. Several times I've tried to learn to use a computer and each time I gave up 6 , for it is not really very user-friendly. I was afraid of all mechanical 7 , afraid of the keyboard and the jumping mouse. I was content with the 8 that my classmate, Bai Yansong, another prime time host, also wrote his articles by 9 . He told me that feeling the 10 of the pen 11 the surface of the paper gave him a kind of 12 . I had the 13 feeling and found it a good excuse not to use a computer. By 1999, however, I 14 felt this attitude was right. One day I went to my supervisor's(导师) home to 15 an article that was hand-written and a little muddily done. Hearing my 16 , the wife of my supervisor said, “It doesn't matter. I can type it out on my computer. ” “You can use a computer?”

　　“Sure. I learned to use it when I was 70.”

　　I was so 17 that I wasn't able to cry out a single word. 18 out of their flat, I made up my mind for the one-hundredth time to start learning to use a computer. I still had Bai Yansong to 19 me company, but once he started learning to use the computer, he would 20 very fast and then I would be really alone, wouldn't I?

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C．slowly

D．less

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