At Blossom End Railroad Station, 22-year-old Stanley Vine sat, waiting for his new employer. The surrounding green fields were so unlike the muddy landscape of war-torn France. After four horrible years as an army private fighting in Europe, Stanley had returned to England in February 1946. Armed now with some savings and with no prospects for a job in England, he answered a newspaper ad for farm help in Canada. Two months later he was on his way.

When the old car rumbled toward the tiny station, Stanley rose to his feet, trying to make the most of his five foot, four inch frame. The farmer, Alphonse Lapine, shook his head and complained, “You’re a skinny thing.” On the way to his dairy farm, Alphonse explained that he had a wife and seven kids. “Money’s tight. You’ll get room and board. You’ll get up at dawn for milking, and then help me around the farm until evening milking time again. Ten dollars a week. Sundays off.” Stanley nodded. He had never been on a farm before, but he took the job.

From the beginning Stanley was treated horribly by the whole family. They made fun of the way he dressed and talked. He could do nothing right. The humourless farmer frequently lost his temper, criticizing Stanley for the slightest mistake. The oldest son, 13-year-old Armand, constantly played nasty tricks on him. But the kind-hearted Stanley never responded.

Stanley never became part of the Lapine family. After work, they ignored him. He spent his nights alone in a tiny bedroom. However, each evening before retiring, he lovingly cared for the farmer’s horses, eagerly awaiting them at the field gate. He called them his gentle giants. On Saturday nights he hitch-hiked into the nearest town and wandered the streets or enjoyed a restaurant meal before returning to the farm.

Early one November morning Alphonse Lapine discovered that Stanley had disappeared, after only six months as his farmhand. The railway station master, when questioned later that week, said he had not seen him. In fact no one in the community ever heard of him again. That is, until one evening, almost 20 years later, when Armand, opened an American sports magazine and came across a shocking headline, “Millionaire jockey(赛马骑师), Stanley Vine, ex-British soldier and 5-time horse riding champion, began life in North America as a farmhand in Canada.”

56. Stanley Vine decided to go to Canada because ________.

A. he couldn’t find a job in England              B. he wanted to serve in the Canadian army

C. he loved working as a farmhand              D. he wanted to escape from war-torn France

57. Which of the following is True according to the passage?

A. Stanley joined the Canadian army when he was 18 years old.

B. On the farm Stanley had to milk the cows 14 times a week.

C. The Lapine family were rich but cruel to Stanley.

D. Stanley read about the job offer in a newspaper.

58. What can we infer from the passage?

A. Stanley’s weekly salary was not enough for him to live on.

B. When Stanley first met his employer, he tried to impress him but failed

C. Stanley had never worked on a farm, so he made a lot of mistakes.

D. Stanley left the farm by train, without telling anyone why he did so.

59. What did Stanley like doing after work each day?

A. Hitch-hiking to different towns.                B. Wandering around the farm alone.

C. Preparing meals on the farm.                   D. Caring for the farmer’s horses.

60. Why was Armand so astonished when he read about Stanley in the magazine?

A. He had no idea Stanley had always been a wealthy man.

B. He didn’t expect Stanley to become such a success.

C. He didn’t know his father paid Stanley so little money.

D. He didn’t know Stanley had been a British soldier.

E
“A good book for children should simply be a good book in its own right,” says Mollie Hunter. Born and brought up near Edinburgh, Mollie has devoted her talents to writing primarily for young people. She firmly believes that there is always and should always be a wider audience for any good book whatever its main market is. In Mollie's opinion it is necessary to make full use of language and she enjoys telling a story, which is what every writer should be doing. “If you aren't telling a story, you're a very dead writer indeed,” she says. With the chief function of a writer being to entertain, Mollie is indeed an entertainer. “I have this great love of not only the meaning of language but of the music of language,” she says. “This love goes back to early childhood. I've told stories all my life. I had a school teacher who used to ask us what we would like to be when we grew up and, because my family always had dogs, and I was very good at handling them, I said I wanted to work with dogs, and the teacher always said ‘Nonsense, Mollie, dear, you’ll be a writer.’ So finally I thought that this woman must have something, since she was a good teacher and I decided when I was nine that I would be a writer.”
This childhood intention is described in her novel, A Sound of Chariots, which although written in the third person is clearly autobiographical and gives a picture both of Mollie's ambition and her struggle towards its achievement. Thoughts of her childhood inevitably(不可避免地)brought thoughts of the time when her home was still a village with buttercup meadows and strawberry fields—sadly now covered with modern houses.“I was once taken back to see it and I felt that somebody had lain dirty hands all over my childhood. I'll never go back,”she said. “Never.”“When I set one of my books in Scotland,”she said,“I can recall my romantic (浪漫的) feelings as a child playing in those fields, or watching the village blacksmith at work. And that's important, because children now know so much so early that romance can't exist for them, as it did for us.”
57. What does Mollie Hunter feel about the nature of a good book?
A. It should not aim at a narrow audience.
B. It should not be attractive to young readers.
C. It should be based on original ideas.
D. It should not include too much conversation.
58. In Mollie Hunter's opinion, which of the following is one sign of a poor writer?
A. Being poor in life experience.        B. Being short of writing skills.
C. The weakness of description.           D. The absence of a story.
59. What do we learn about Mollie Hunter as a young child?
A. She didn't expect to become a writer.         B. She didn't enjoy writing stories.
C. She didn't have any particular ambitions.   D. She didn't respect her teacher's views.
60. What's the writer's purpose in this text?
A. To describe Mollie Hunter's most successful books.
B. To share her enjoyment of Mollie Hunter's books.
C. To introduce Mollie Hunter's work to a wider audience.
D. To provide information for Mollie Hunter's existing readers.

The easy way out isn't always easiest. I learned that lesson when I decided to treat Doug, my husband of one month, to a special meal. I glanced through my cookbook and chose a menu(菜谱) which included homemade bread. Knowing the bread would take time , I started on it as soon as Doug left for work. As I was not experienced in cooking, I thought if a dozen was good, two dozens would be better, so I doubled（加倍）everything. As Doug loved oranges, I also opened a can of orange and poured it all into the bowl. Soon there was a sticky dough (面团) covered with ugly yellowish marks. Realizing I had been defeated, I put the dough in the rubbish bin outside so I wouldn't have to face Doug laughing at my work. I went on preparing the rest of the meal, and, when Doug got home , we sat down to eat Cornish chicken with rice. He tried to enjoy the meal but seemed disturbed. Twice he got up and went outside , saying he thought he heard a noise. The third time he left, I went to the windows to see what he was doing. Looking out, I saw Doug standing about three feet from the rubbish bin, holding the lid up with a stick and looking into the container. When I came out of the house, he dropped the stick and explained that there was something alive in our rubbish bin. Picking up the stick again, he held the lid up enough for me to see. I felt cold. But I stepped closer and looked harder. Without doubt it was my work. The hot sun had caused the dough to double in size and the fermenting yeast (酵母)made the surface shake and sigh as though it were breathing. It looked like some unknown being from outer space. I could see why Doug was so shaken. I had to admit what the “living thing” was and why it was there. I don't know who was more embarrassed(尴尬)by the whole thing -- Doug or me.

1._The writer's purpose in writing this story is ___________

    A. to tell an interesting experience

B. to show the easiest way out of a difficulty

C. to describe the trouble facing a newly married woman

D. to explain the difficulty of learning to cook from books

2._ Why did the woman's attempt at making the bread turn out to be unsuccessful?

A. The canned orange had gone bad.      B. She didn't use the right kind of flour.

C. The cookbook was hard to understand. D. She did not follow the directions closely.

3._ Why did the woman put the dough in the rubbish bin?

A. She didn't see the use of keeping it         B. She meant to joke with her husband.

C. She didn't want her husband to see it .  D. She hoped it would soon dry in the sun.

4._ What made the dough in the rubbish bin look frightening?

A. The rising and falling movement.    B. The strange-looking marks. 

C. Its shape.                     D. Its size.

5._ When Doug went out the third time, the woman looked out of the window because she was ____.

A. surprised at his being interested in the bin  B. afraid that he would discover her secret

C. unhappy that he didn't enjoy the meal      D. curious to know what disturbed him

It was January lst, the first day of the year and a holiday for me．I went to the bank to get the bank work out of the way. The bank clerk nodded and I sat in front of him．  He was busy filling up entries in his register．

I put my form and booklet in front of him．After waiting for a few more minutes, in which I showed all signs of being impatient, I asked him if my work was done． He shouted, "Nothing is done, and it will take time ! "

Just then I saw his morning cup of tea, which had been lying there for the last ten minutes, untoucheD.The tea had turned almost cold while he was doing his work．Suddenly I felt what this man must be feeling  when customers like me come always in a hurry to get their work done． We do not even feel the need to thank them for being there．

So I told him, "Sir, please have your teA.I am not in a hurry． " This man suddenly looked up at me and for the first time we had eye contact．I saw a different person there, who was as hard-pressed for time as I always am．

I saw both of us sailing in the same boat. I felt that he was also missing the small things in life like a hot cup of tea or lying in a warm bed for a few more minutes like me．He gave me a rare smile and said, "It is an everyday affair with me; you are not in a hurry but somebody else will be．

He really touched my heart with his wise words． I felt that all this time I thought of him as someone who was there for my convenience, but today I suddenly felt a strange communion with him. I vowed(郑重宣布) to be friendly with people who help me with my work and be thankful that they are there for me．

1.Which of the following is NOT true of the writer?

A．He works in the bank as a clerk, too．

B．He went to the bank to do some business．

C．He was touched by the untouched cup of tea．

D．He got annoyed after waiting a few minutes．

2.What can we learn about the bank clerk?

A．He hated to work on a holiday .

B.He didn't like his work in the bank.

C．He was under great work pressure．

D．He communicated well with his customers．

3.What can you learn from the underlined sentence in Paragraph 5?

A．He was sometimes in the similar situation．

B．They once sailed in the same boat．

C．They expected to sail in the same boat．

D．He's too busy to sail in a boat, too．

4.The writer's attitude towards the bank clerk might be that of     .

A.tolerance   B.gratitude  C.sympathy  D.satisfaction

5.What does the text try to tell us?

A.To be patient with your customers

B．Helping others is helping yourself

C.To be thankful to those who help you.

D.It is our duty to do things for others

E

Last year, my boyfriend suggested that I should run the London marathon(马拉松), and I laughed. He laughed too, but he laughed too long and too loud. That made me think. I realized that he didn't believe that I could do it. That made me angry, and determined, Now he knows that I can!

Training wasn't easy, but I kept going. I didn't need special training but I did need to buy very good shoes. Each day, I went a little further. By the end of three months, I was running five days a week. Some- times in the evenings I ran 10 km； on Sunday mornings, I sometimes ran about 30 kin. I used to come home, have a shower and eat my breakfast. I felt wonderful!

On the day of the race in London, I lined up with about 30,000 other runners. The faster runners were at the front, while slower runners like me were placed further back. In that way, the professional runners and club runners were not slowed down by the amateurs(业余爱好者).

At first, there were so many runners close together that we were almost falling over each other.  We could only run very slowly but that was a good thing because it meant that we didn't rush off too quickly. Gradually the runners spread out and there was more space. There were thousands of people watching us along the route and they cheered and clapped everyone, even the slowest runner. It was wonderful!

For the first 10 km I felt very happy and my legs felt very comfortable. However, at 15 km I got a pain in my side and running became difficult, but I kept going and the pain disappeared. At the 30 km mark, I felt extremely tired, and wanted to stop, but I kept on going. I covered another 3 km and then I began to feel better again.

By the time I reached the 35 km mark, I knew I was going to get to the end of the course. Somehow that confidence made me feel lighter and faster and it seemed as if my legs flew over the last few kilometers. I passed hundreds of slower runners, some of whom had passed me earlier, and I felt wonderful! AS I came round the last bend(弯道)and saw the finishing line, I could see three runners ahead of me. I raced past all of them to finish the race in just under four hours. The winner had completed the race in 2 hours and 10 minutes, but I didn't care! I had run 42 km and completed my first marathon!

72. The writer's boyfriend laughed at her because     .

A. he thought she could run the marathon 

B. he .didn't think she could run the marathon

C. he wanted her to run the marathon        

D. she wanted to run the marathon

73. When the race began             .

A. all the faster runners were asked to stand before those slower ones

B. many runners fell over each other  

C. all the runners were asked to run slowly

D. the professional runners and club runners ran very fast

74. The hardest time for the writer was when she           

A. had run for 15 kilometers  

B. got a pain in her side

C. reached the 30 kilometer mark

D. was about to reach the finish line

75. The passage suggests that it is better to start a long race slowly             .

A. than to run at the same speed all the time 

B. than to run too fast at the beginning

C. than to run slowly at the end    

D. than to run very fast all the time