I had been rather proud of myself when my friends and family got the ticket, whether it was for speeding, parking or stop sign violations (违反). It was something that happened to others. But last Friday I joined the club.
I was asked to do a new project last week. On Friday morning on my way to work, I suddenly remembered that I had spent the past six weeks without considering that I had a week’s vacation planned during that time. I was very disappointed with myself for not remembering it.
The truth is that I was not paying enough attention to my driving and I did not come to a complete stop at the stop sign in front of a school. I was so distracted (思想不集中的) that I didn’t even notice I had a policeman on my tail with his lights flashing. Finally I looked in my mirror and caught on.
The policeman was rude and took my papers. Fortunately, I had everything up to date and since I had never had a ticket before, there was nothing for him to do but write me a ticket. While I was sitting there in the seat of “shame”, I felt bad. If I had been that distracted and a child had run onto the road, perhaps I would have not reacted as well as I could have. It was a wake-up call.
People at work asked me if I tried to talk my way out of it（为自己开脱）. Frankly, it never occurred to me. I felt sorry. Now I no longer have a clean driving record. Please be careful out there, as a moment’s distraction can lead to tragedy.
【小题1】What is this passage mainly about?

Elizabeth and I are 18 now, and about to graduate．I think about our elementary-school friendship, but some memories have blurred （模糊）．What happened that day in the fifth grade when Beth suddenly stopped speaking to me? Does she know that I've been thinking about her for seven years? If only we could go back, and discover what ended our relationship．
I have to speak with Beth．I see her sometimes, and find out school is "fine"．It's not the same．It never will be．Someone says that she's Liz now．What happened to Beth?
I can't call her．Should I write? What if she doesn't answer me? How will I know what she's thinking?
Yes, I'll write her a letter．These things are easier to express in writing．" Be-," no, " Li-," no, " Elizabeth," I begin．The words flow freely, as seven year old memories are reborn．I ask her all the questions that have been left unanswered in my mind, and pray she will answer．I seal my thoughts in the perfect white envelope, and imagine Beth looking into her mailbox．Will she know why I'm writing? Maybe she once thought of writing the same letter．
As the mailman takes my envelope from me forever, I wonder if I've made the right decision．Do I have the right to force myself into Beth's life again? Am I simply part of the past? I have taken the first step．Beth has control of the situation now．
One day has passed．Are my words lying on the bottom of the post office floor?
Two days are gone．I'm lost in thought and don't even hear the phone ting．
"Hello? It's Elizabeth．"
【小题1】What can we learn about Beth?

完形填空 (共15小题；每小题2分，满分30分)
阅读下面短文，掌握其大意，然后从41—55各题所给的A、B、C和D项中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
Never Save Something Beautiful for That Special Day
　　Years ago I was talking with a classmate in Sydney. At the time his wife had just passed away not too long ago. He told me while going through her things, he found a silk scarf _1  in a designer store when they had traveled to New York City. The scarf was beautiful, with elegant _2 , and a high price tag still hanging. His wife begrudged wearing it; she was _3  it for a special day.
　　He _4  at that moment; I didn’t say anything either. After a long pause he said: “Never save something beautiful for that special day. Each _5  day is a special day.”
　　Whenever I _6  what he had said, I would put down the things I was doing to grab a novel, turn on the music and lie down on the couch to _7  some time for myself. I would appreciate the glorious scenery of the Tanshui River through a French window, _8  the dust gathered on the glass. I would take my wife out to _9 , not thinking what to do with the meal already cooked. Life should be the experience we truly cherish, not days we just have to endure.
　　One time I shared the above conversation with a lady. When I saw her again, she told me that she no longer _10  the beautiful china in a cabinet. She had thought to save them for a special day, only to discover that it never _11  came. “Future”, “someday” are not contained in her _12  any more. If there are things that are pleasant or make her complacent, she wants to hear or see them now.
　　We often hope to gather with old friends, but always say, “let’s find a(n) _13 .” We often want to hug our grown children, but always wait for the appropriate moment. We often want to write to our spouses to express our strong affection or to show our deep admiration, but always tell ourselves that there is no need to _14 . In fact, each morning when we open our eyes, we should tell ourselves that this is a special day. Each day, each minute is so incredibly _15 .

Being beautiful means a lot to teenage girls. Once it did to me too. I was the vainest person in the world, but that all changed one December night.
It was a Thursday, and I was getting ready for the wrestling tournament the following day. I was so excited; it was going to be my first tournament as a cheerleader. I walked past the mirror and stopped to check my appearance. I noticed my eyebrows were a little bushy, and that’s when my vanity kicked in. The brows could be easily fixed with the waxing kit I had purchased. I put the jar of wax in the microwave. But instead of heating the wax for 30 seconds, I pressed too many zeros and heated it for three minutes. As I reached for the jar, I dropped it, spilling it all over myself.
My mother came running when she heard my screams. The hot wax was rolling down my face and arm. My mom took a wet washcloth and tried to wash the wax off my face. This proved to be a bad idea, because the wax was honey based, and it pulled my skin off with the wax.
The 15-mile drive to the emergency room seemed to take hours. When we finally arrived, the nurse didn’t waste any time. They took me straight to a doctor and gave me extra-strength painkillers, so my mind was in confusion. The doctor explained how severe my burns really were: my arm was a combination of first-, second- and third-degree burns, and needed to stay bandaged. My face was first- and second-degree burns. If the wax had gotten any closer to my right eye, I would have lost my sight. I was covered in multi-colored “goop(药膏)”, wrapped, and sent home to recover.
I got up the next morning and the first thing I wanted to do was wash off the remaining wax. I unwrapped the bandages and “degooped”, letting warm water gently remove the rest of the wax. The next step was to do a self-evaluation of the damage. I couldn’t believe how horrible I looked. A horror-movie monster stared back at me from the mirror. All I could think was, my life is over. For someone as vain as me, this was very true. I thought I was going to be horribly disfigured(毁容的)for the rest of my life! All I could do was cry.
My mom made it worse by forcing me to go out in public. She dragged me to the grocery store and wherever else she felt like taking me. Everywhere we went, people had a million questions, none of which I wanted to answer. Then my mom declared she was going to put me through even more torture—I had to go to school on Monday. School only led to more questions from more people.
Now, two years later, my wounds have healed, leaving a few scars. I still feel self-conscious if I don’t wear make-up, and I’ve discovered that three-quarter length sleeves are wonderful for covering the scars on my arm.
After spending several months adjusting to this injury, I realized how vain I was. I had made beauty important, but it never was or will ever be that important. It took this event to teach me that no matter how much you change on the outside, you’re still the same person on the inside. 
【小题1】After the accident, the writer has come to realize that ________.

For more than six million American children, coming home after school means coming home to an empty house. Some deal with the situation by watching TV. Some may hide. But all of them have something in common. They spend part of each day alone. They are called latchkey children. They’re children who look after themselves while their parents work. And their bad condition has become a subject of concern.

Lynette Long was once the headmaster of an elementary school. She said, “We had a school rule against wearing jewelry. A lot of kids had chains around their necks with keys attached. I was constantly telling them to put them inside shirts. There were so many keys, it never came to my mind what they meant.” Slowly, she learned they were house keys.

She and her husband began talking to the children who had them. They learned of the impact(影响) working couples and single parents were having on their children. Fear is the biggest problem faced by children at home alone. One in each three latchkey children the Longs talked to reported being scared. Many had nightmares and were worried about their own safety.

The most common way latchkey children deal with their fears is by hiding. It might be in a shower stall, under a bed in a closet. The second is TV. They’ll often play it at high volume. It’s hard to get statistics on latchkey children, the Longs learned. Most parents are slow to admit they leave their children alone.

The main idea about “latchkey children” is that they _______. 

A. are growing in numbers              

B. are also found in middle-class neighborhoods

C. watch too much television during the day 

D. suffer problems from being left alone

Which sentence in the second paragraph is the topic sentence?

A. We had a school rule against wearing jewelry.

B. A lot of kids had chains around their necks.

C. I was constantly telling them to put inside their shirts.

D. They were house keys.

The main feeling these children have when they are at home by themselves is _______. 

A. tiredness       B. freedom      C. loneliness       D. fear

We may draw a conclusion that _______. 

A. latchkey children enjoy having such a large amount of time alone

B. latchkey children try to hide their feeling

C. latchkey children often watch TV with their parents

D. it’s difficult to find out how many latchkey children there are