Down on the beach of Dover, 56-year-old Channel swimmer Jackie Cobell bravely set off for Calais. The time was 6:40 am. 28 hours and 44 minutes later the exhausted, successful mother from Kent crawled (爬行) to the shore and walked proudly into the record books. After five years in training, Mrs Cobell became the slowest person to cross the Channel under her own steam. The previous record for the slowest crossing, set by Henry Sullivan at 26 hours and 50 minutes, has stood for 87 years before Mrs Cobell started at Dover Saturday morning.
She had struggled through changing tides that swept her first one way, then the other. It turned the 21-mile crossing into a 65-mile one. She declared, “Time and tide wait for no man—and they certainly didn’t wait for me. I was fully expecting it to get dark before I got to Calais but I never imagined I’d also see the dawn again. But I wasn’t going to give up.”
Her feat(壮举) raised more than $2,000 in charity sponsorship for research into Huntingdon’s disease, a sum that was continuing to grow as news of her achievement spread. That was why she did it. “I don’t really know myself,” she said. “ I just kept thinking of all the people I’d be letting down if I stopped.”
Mrs Cobell took to the water so well at school. But after bringing up two daughters, she started to gain weight. Five years ago she took up swimming again and decided to prepare for the Channel challenge to lose weight. She became much fitter. Then came the big swim. “I practiced on Windermere lake,” she said. “it’s about half the distance of the Channel so I just doubled it, added some extra time, and worked out I could probably get to Calais in about 16 hours.”
Her husband David, trainer, official observer and friend sailed alongside her on a boat. She said, “I sang to keep myself going. When they told me I was a record breaker I thought they were just having a joke—until I realized it was the record for the slowest crossing. But maybe next time I might be a bit quicker.”
【小题1】According to Paragraph 1, Mrs Cobell_____________.

A．started to learn swimming five years ago

B．arrived at Calais on late Sunday morning

C．wanted to break the record for the slowest crossing

D．was too exhausted to move after crossing the Channel

【小题2】Why did Mrs Cobell spend so much time crossing the Channel?

A．Because the tides changed her direction.

B．Because she was not in good condition.

C．Because she wasn’t good at swimming.

D．Because the winds kept her from swimming fast.

【小题3】Mrs Cobell crossed the Channel for the main purpose of____________.

A．taking a risk

B．losing more weight

C．raising money for charity

D．becoming famous worldwide

【小题4】 How did Mrs Cobell feel about the record she set?

A．Dissatisfied

B．Excited

C．Annoyed

D．Proud

Our “Mommy and Me” time began two years ago. My next-door neighbor and fellow mother, Christie, and I were out in our front yards, watching seven children of age 6 and under ride their bikes up and down. “I wish I could take one of my children out alone,” said Christie.
Then we worked out a plan: When Christie takes one of her children out, I’ll watch her other three. And when she watches two of mine, I’ll take someone out.  
The children were extremely quick to accept the idea of “Mommy and Me” time. Christie’s daughter, McKenzie, went first. When she returned, the other children showered her with tons of questions. McKenzie was smiling broadly. Christie looked refreshed and happy. “She’s like a different child when there’s no one else around,” Christie shared with me quickly. With her mother all to herself, McKenzie didn’t have to make an effort to gain attention. 
Just as Christie had noticed changes in McKenzie, I also discovered something different in each of my children during our alone times. For example, I am always surprised when my daughter, who is seldom close to me, holds my hand frequently. My stuttering（口吃的）son, Tom doesn’t stutter once during our activities since he doesn’t have to struggle for a chance to speak. And the other son, Sam, who’s always a follower when around other children shines as a leader during our times together.
The “Mommy and Me” time allows us to be simply alone and away with each child talking, sharing, and laughing, which has been the biggest gain. Every child deserves（应得到）to be an only child at least once in a while.
【小题1】What is the text mainly about?  

A．The basic needs of children.

B．The advantage of spending time with one child at a time.

C．The happy life of two families.

D．The experience of the only child being with mother.

【小题2】Right after McKenzie came back, the other children were _____________.  

A．happy

B．curious

C．regretful

D．friendly

【小题3】What is one of the changes the author finds in her children?  

A．Tom has less difficulty in speaking.	B．Sam holds her hand more often.
C．The boys become better followers.	D．The daughter acts like a leader.

【小题4】The author seems to believe that ___________.  

A．having brothers and sisters is fun

B．it’s tiring to look after three children

C．every child needs parents’ full attention

D．parents should watch others’ children.

Early one morning the sub­inspector at a station at the other end of the town rang me. An elephant was damaging the town. Would I please come and do something about it?

I did not know what I could do, but I got onto a horse and started out.  I took my gun, maybe too small to kill an elephant, but I thought the noise might scare him. Various local people stopped me on the way and told me about the elephant's doings.

It was not, of course, a wild elephant, but a tame one. It had been chained up but last night it had broken its chain and escaped. Its owner, had set out to run after it, but had taken the wrong direction. He was now twelve hours' journey away, and in the morning the elephant had suddenly appeared in the town. It had already destroyed somebody's bamboo hut (棚屋), killed a cow and turned over fruit­stalls.

I came round the hut and saw a man's dead body sprawling in the mud.  He was an Indian, and he could not have been dead many minutes. The people said that the elephant caught him with its trunk, put its foot on his back and grounded him into the earth. This was the rainy season and he was lying on his stomach in the soft mud, the__peacebreaker standing beside, looking innocent.

As I lifted my gun, I hesitated a few seconds. Then I fired. That was a shot that did for him.

You could see the pain of it knock the last strength from his legs. But in falling he seemed for a moment to rise, his trunk reaching skyward like a tree. He trumpeted, for the first and only time. And then down he came, with a crash that shook the ground.

1.Which of the following statements about the author is TRUE?

A．He was an Indian.

B．He knew elephants well.

C．He was not a local villager.

D．He was the owner of the elephant.

2.The elephant made so much trouble because ________.

A．its owner treated him cruelly

B．it got out of control

C．it hated the village people

D．it was a wild elephant

3.The underlined words “the peacebreaker” in Paragraph 4 refer to ________.

A．the elephant	B．the dead man
C．the author	D．the sub­inspector

4.It can be inferred that the author felt ________ when he shot the elephant.

A．excited	B．sad
C．frightened	D．happy

 

A woman renewing her driver’s license at the County Clerk’s office was asked to state her occupation. She hesitated, uncertain how to classify herself.
“What I mean is,” explained the recorder, “do you have a job, or are you just a …”
“Of course I have a job,” said Emily. “I’m a mother.”
“We don’t list ‘mother’ as an occupation…‘housewife’ covers it,” said the recorder.
One day I found myself in the same situation. The clerk was obviously a career woman, confident and possessed of a high sounding title. “What is your occupation?” she asked.
The words simply popped out. “I’m a Research Associate in the field of Child Development and Human Relations.”
The clerk paused, ballpoint pen frozen in midair.
I repeated the title slowly, then I stared with wonder as my statement was written in bold, black ink on the official questionnaire.
“Might I ask,” said the clerk with new interest, “Just what you do in this field?”
Coolly, without any trace of panic in my voice, I heard myself reply, “I have a continuing program of research (what mother doesn’t), in the lab and in the field (normally I would have said indoors and out). Of course, the job is one of the most demanding in the humanities (any mother care to disagree?), and I often work 14 hours a day (24 is more like it). But the job is more challenging than most careers and rewards are more of a satisfaction rather than just money.”
There was an increasing note of respect in the clerk’s voice as she completed the form, stood up, and showed me out.
As I drove into our driveway, buoyed up (鼓舞) by my glamorous new career, I was greeted by my lab assistants---ages 13, 7, and 3.
Upstairs I could hear our new experimental model (a 6 month old baby), in the child-development program, testing out a new vocal（嗓音的） pattern.
I felt proud! I had gone on the official records as someone more distinguished and indispensable (不可缺少的) to mankind than “just another mother.”
Motherhood…What a glorious career! Especially when there’s a title on the door.
【小题1】 What can we infer from the conversation between the woman and the recorder at the beginning of the passage?

A．Motherhood was not recognized and respected as a job by society.

B．The recorder was impatient and rude.

C．The author was upset about the situation that mothers faced.

D．The woman felt ashamed to admit what her job was.

【小题2】How did the female clerk feel at first when the author told her occupation?

A．curious

B．indifferent

C．interested

D．puzzled

【小题3】Why did the woman clerk show more respect for the author?

A．Because the author cared little about rewards.

B．Because she admired the author’s research work in the lab.

C．Because the writer did something she had little knowledge of.

D．Because she thought the author did admirable work.

【小题4】What is the author’s purpose of writing the passage?

A．To show how you describe your job affects your feelings toward it.

B．To show that the author had a grander job than Emily.

C．To argue that motherhood is a worthy career and deserves respect.

D．To show that being a mother is hard and boring work.

  First Frenchman: I once heard someone shout, "Look out," I put my head out of a window and a basin of water fell on me. It seems that "Look out" may mean "don‘t look out."
　　Second Frenchman: Once I was on a ship and heard the captain shout, "All hands on deck," I put my hands on the deck and someone walked on them.
　　Third Frenchman: I once visited an English friend early in the morning and the maid who came to the door and said, "He’s not up yet. Come back in half an hour," When I went again for him, she said, "He‘s not down yet."
　　"If he’s not up and he’s not down, where is he?" I asked.
　　She said, "He’s still in bed. When I say ‘He’s not up ’ I mean ‘he has not yet got up’. When I say ‘He’s not down ’ I mean ‘he has not yet come downstairs,’"
【小题1】"All hands on deck" means “ _______ ”.

A．All the sailors gather on deck	B．Give your hands to me
C．Put your right hand and left hand on deck	D．Shake your hands with me

【小题2】When the maid said, “He’s not up yet.” She meant that _______ .

A．he has not grown up yet	B．he has not yet got up
C．he has not woke up yet	D．he has not yet come upstairs

【小题3】When the third Frenchman went back, the English friend _______ .

A．was washing his face	B．was having his breakfast
C．was still in an upstairs room	D．was reading a newspaper

【小题4】Which do you think is the best title for this article?

A．Three Frenchmen and their English Friends

B．The English Language

C．Three French Stories

D．What a Language!