After her husband had gone to work, Mrs. Richards sent her children to school and went upstairs to her bedroom. She was too excited to do any housework that morning, for in the evening she would be going to a fancy-dress party with her husband. She intended to dress up as a ghost（幽灵） and as she had made her costume the night before, she was impatient to try it on. Though the costume consisted only of a sheet, it was very effective. After putting it on, Mrs. Richards went downstairs. She wanted to find out whether it would be comfortable to wear.
Just as Mrs. Richards was entering the dining room, there was a knock on the front door. She knew that it must be the baker. She had told him to come straight in if ever she failed to open the door and leave the bread on the kitchen table. Not wanting to frighten the poor man, Mrs. Richards quickly hid in the small storeroom under the stairs. She heard the front door open and heavy footsteps in the hall. Suddenly the door of the storeroom was opened and a man entered. Mrs. Richards realized that it must be the man from the Electricity Board who had come to read the meter. She tried to explain the situation, saying “ It’s only me”, but it was too late. The man let out a cry and jumped back several paces. When Mrs. Richards walked towards him, he fled（逃走）, slamming（砰然关上） the door behind him.
【小题1】.
Mrs. Richards went upstairs because     .

第三部分：阅读理解（共20小题，每小题2分，满分40分）
阅读下面的短文，从A,B,C,D四个选项中，选出最佳选项
My elder brother Steve, in the absence of my father who died when I was six, gave me important lessons in values that helped me grow into an adult. For instance, Steve taught me to face the results of my behavior. Once when I returned in tears from a Saturday baseball game, it was Steve who took the time to ask me what happened. When I explained that my baseball had soared through Mrs. Holt’s basement window, breaking the glass with a crash, Steve encouraged me to confess(坦白) to her. After all, I should have been playing in the park down Fifth Street and not in the path between buildings. Although my knees knocked as I explained to Mrs. Holt, I offered to pay for the window from my pocket money if she would return my ball. I also learned from Steve that personal property is a sacred thing. After I found a shiny silver pen in my fifth-grade classroom, I wanted to keep it, but Steve explained that it might be important to someone else. He reminded me of how much I’d hate to lose to someone else the small dog my father carved from a piece of wood. I returned the pen to my teacher, Mrs. Davids, and still remembered the smell of her perfume as she patted me on my shoulder.
Yet of all the instructions Steve gave me, his respect for life is the most vivid in my mind. When I was twelve I killed an old brown bird in the yard with a BB gun. Excited with my accuracy, I screamed to Steve to come from thehouse to take a look. I shall never forget the way he stood for a long moment and stared at the bird on the ground. Then in a dead, quiet voice, he asked, “Did it hurt you first, Mark?” I didn’t know what to answer. He continued with his eyes firm, “The only time you should even think of hurting a living thing is if it hurts you first. And then you think a long, long time. “ I really felt terrible then, but that moment stands out as the most important lesson my brother taught me.
56. What is the main idea of the passage?
A. The relationship between Mark and Steve
B. The important lesson Mark learned in school
C. Steve’s important role in Mark’s growing process.
D. Mark and Steve’s respect for living things.
57. It can be inferred from the passage that when Mark confessed to Mrs. Holt, ____.
A. he felt surprised                B. he was light-hearted
C. he felt frightened               D. he behaved bravely
58. In the story about the pen, which of the following lessons did Steve teach his brother?      
A. Respect for personal property.
B. Respect for life.
C. Sympathy for people with problems.
D. The value of honesty.
59. Which of the follow is true according to the passage?
A. Mark was still a boy when he wrote this passage.
B. Even if a living thing hurts you, you should not kill it without hesitation
C. When a living thing hurts you, you should kill it.
D. Mark lost the small dog his father raised.

Jenny went to visit her friends in New York last weekend．Her friends met her at the airport on Friday afternoon and drove her to the hotel．They had dinner at a Chinese restaurant and went to see a film after that．
　　Jenny and her friends set out early on Saturday morning for a farm and stayed there until Sunday morning．During their stay, they went fishing and swimming in the small river on the farm．They played football in the field and enjoyed a big meal around a camp fire（篝火）, singing and dancing till late into the night．
　　Nobody could get up early on Sunday morning．So when they got back to New York City, it was about three o’clock in the afternoon．They drove right to the airport because Jenny didn’t want to miss her plane back home．Jenny only stayed in New York for two nights but she had a great time with her friends．
【小题1】Jenny went to New York________．

One day, Raul was miles away from the small ranch（牧场） house in a large valley.   36

seemed to be all right, yet he felt strange and somewhat uneasy. The wind had picked up, and angry, dark clouds   37  across the sky. He could smell the rain coming. And it did.  38  ,the lightning flashed through the clouds, nearly   39    Raul. The thunder（雷声） was so loud that he buried his  40   in his hands and rubbed his eyes. Then he heard it. Hoof beats（蹄声）.He   41  .There before him stood a tall, white   42  . An old man stared down at him from its back.

      “Wh-wh-who are y-y-you?” asked Raul. “My name is Gray Cloud,” the old man answered   43  .“Come with me.”

      Raul followed on his horse. A   44   feeling came over him. All    45    them the rain was pouring down,  46    not a drop fell on them. They seemed to be  47   back toward Raul’s home. Raul lost track of time. Then all at once he found  48  at the ranch gate. The old man turned his horse,  49  his hand, and smiled. Lightning flashed again. The old man and his horse were  50 .

Raul’s father ran out across the yard  to   51  him. “we have been  52  sick about you. Are you okay? Hurry. Let’s get in out of the  53  .”

   “Wait,” said Raul. “Have you ever heard of an old man called Gray Cloud?”

   “Can’t say I … wait. I  54  my great-grandfather used to tell storied about a man called Gray Cloud. He died a long time ago. They say he was  55  by lightning during a terrible thunderstorm. Why do you ask?”

“Yes, I'll be ready at nine in the morning. Goodbye, dear, and thanks again. ”It had not been an easy telephone call for Mrs. Robson to make．Her daughter had been very kind，of course，and had immediately agreed to pick her up and drive her to the station，but Mrs. Robson hated to admit that she needed help．Since her husband had died ten years before，she had prided herself on her independence．She had continued to live in their little house, alone．

On the evening, however，she was standing at her living-room window，staring out at the SOLD notice in the small front garden . Her feelings were mixed．Of course，she was sad at the thought of leaving the house，as it was full of many memories．But at the same time she was looking forward to spending her last years near the sea，back in the little seaside town where she had been born. With the money from the sale of the house，she had bought a little flat there. She turned from the living room window，and looked mindedly at the walls. There was a small fish tank，with two goldfish in it. When asked why，her husband used to say，“It’s nice to have something alive in the room．’’Since he had passed away，she had always kept some goldfish，had always had “something alive in the room”．

The next morning，as her train was pulling out of the station，Mrs. Robson called to her daughter．“Kate，you won’t forget to collect the goldfish，will you? The children will love them. It’s…”，

“I know.” Kate interrupted gently. “It s nice to have something alive in the room.”

53. According to the passage，we know that Mrs. Robson____

A. was tired of living alone

B. was not liked by her daughter

C. did not like asking people for help

D. did not want to be visited by her daughter

54. Mrs. Robson was going to         ．

A. be in hospital                B. 1ive with her daughter

C. travel abroad alone           D. move to her hometown

55. The feelings of Mrs. Robson on her last night in the house were         

A. sad and hopeful             B. regretful and excited

C. sad and regretful            D. excited and hopeful

56. From the last two paragraphs，we can know that Mrs. Robson        ．

A．enjoyed keeping pets at home

B．missed her husband very much

C．had the same hobby with her husband

D．was worried about her daughter’s bad memory