Hallmark arrived in my hometown of Calcutta, India when I was 16. On Valentine’s Day(情人节), I waited in line with many other teenagers just for a chance to get into the store. I remember wishing two things. One of them is that the good-looking boy whom I could see through the store window was picking out a gift for me. Unfortunately, Valentine’s Day passed and I received nothing but a lecture from my father on how Western capitalism(资本主义) was ruining your culture.

The next Valentine’s Day, I still didn’t have a boyfriend, but I did receive a greeting card from a secret admirer. I can’t remember what it exactly said inside the card, but it hardly mattered. I know I’m not the only one who’s had the blues because of being single on Valentine’s Day.

 It’s not just on Valentine’s Day that I’m reminded of these feelings. One night, my friend and I were at the subway station in New York City waiting for the local to arrive. The station was mostly full of college students, and later an older couple walked in. Just at that moment, a street musician started playing She’s Only a Woman to Me. The couple began dancing around the station and lost in their own world. On the train, I found myself recalling the time when I was with a date at the subway station, and there he picked me up in his arms like I was a ballerina(芭蕾舞女演员).

My view of romance has changed from when I was 16 in Calcutta to now, 23, and living in Manhattan. This year, I won’t focus all my romantic expectations on one particular day. I’ll spend Valentine’s Day with friends in New York City. But I won’t try to hide somewhere or turn off my cellphone. Instead, I’ll help my coupled-up friends pack for their weekend trips to Rome.

The underlined word “Hallmark” in Paragraph 1 probably refers to a              .

       A. city                  B. street                       C. store                        D. man

We can infer that in the opinion of the writer’s father                           .

       A. his daughter should have received a gift

       B. people in India shouldn’t celebrate Valentine’s Day

       C. people in India should welcome Western culture

       D. his daughter should know more about capitalism

According to Paragraph 2, if someone has the blues, he or she is probably           .

       A. lucky                B. angry                       C. excited                     D. sad

What is implied in the passage?

       A. The writer now has a boyfriend.

       B. The writer now is afraid of Valentine’s Day.

       C. The writer will go to Rome with her coupled-up friends.

       D. The writer’s attitude towards Valentine’s Day has changed.

My father was Chief Engineer of a merchant ship, which was sunk in World War Ⅱ. The book Night of the U­boats told the story.

Memories

In September ，1940，my mother ,sister and I went to Swansea ,where my father ‘s ship was getting ready to sail ,we brought him a family photography to be kept with him at all times and keep him safe .

Then I remember my mother lying face down ,sobbing .she had heard from a friend that the ship had been sunk by a torpedo (鱼雷).

I can remember the arrived of the telegram（电报），which in those days always brought bad news .my grandmother opened it ,it read ,safe .love ted.”

My most vivid memory is being woken and brought down to sit on my father’s knee, his arm in a bandage .

He was judged unfit to return to sea and took a shore job in Glasgow for the rest of the war, for as long as I can remember ,he had a weak heart ,mother said it was caused by the torpedoes .he said it was because of the cigarette ,whichever ,he died suddenly in his early 50s.

Ten years later I read night of the U-boat and able to complete the story .

A toast

In my room is the book and the photograph .often , glass in hand, I have wondered how I would have dealt with an explosion ,a sinking ship ,a jump into a vast ocean and a wait for rescue ?lest (以免 )we forget ,I have some more whisky and toast the heroes of the war.

1.We can infer that the mother and children went to Swansea ________.

A. to meet a friend               B. to see the father off

C. to take a family photo          D. to enjoy the sailing of the ship

2.What did the author learn about the father from the telegram?

A. he was still alive.              B. His knee was broken.

C. His ship had been sunk.         D. He had arrived in Glasgow.

3.The underlined word “it” in Paragraph 6 refers to the father’s ________.

A. weak heart                   B. taking a shore job

C. failure to return to sea          D. injury caused by a torpedo

4.What is the passage mainly about?

A. A group of forgotten heroes            

B. A book describing a terrifying battle.

C. A ship engineer’s wartime experience.      

D. A merchant’s memories of a sea rescue.

 

The family had just moved. The young woman was feeling a little __1__. It was Mother’s Day – and 800 miles separated her from her parents.

She had called them that morning, and her mother had __2__ how colorful their backyard was __3__ spring had arrived. Later, she told her husband how she __4__ those lilacs (丁香花) in her parents’ yard. “I know where we can find some,” he said. “Get the __5__ and come on.” So off they went.

Some time later, they stopped at a hill and there were lilacs all round. The young woman rushed up to the nearest __6__ and buried her face in the flowers. Carefully, she __7__ some. Finally, they returned to their car for the __8__ home. The woman sat smiling, surrounded by her __9__.

When they were near home, she shouted “Stop,” got out quickly and __10__ to a nearby nursing home. She went to the end of the porch (门廊), where a(n) __11__ patient was sitting in her wheelchair, and put the flowers into her lap. The two __12__, bursting into laughter now and then. Later the young woman turned and ran back to her __13__. As the car pulled away, the woman in the wheelchair __14__ with a smile, and held the lilacs __15__.

“Mom,” the kids asked, “__16__ did you give her our flowers?”“It is Mother’s Day, and she seems so __17__while I have all of you. And anyone would be __18__ by flowers.”

This satisfied the kids, but not the husband. The next day he __19__ some young lilacs around their yard.

I was the husband. Now, every May, our yard is full of lilacs. Every Mother’s Day our kids __20__ purple lilacs. And every year I remember that smile of the lonely old woman. And that has become a lasting touching memory of my life.

1.                A．moved         B．worried         C．angry D．depressed

 

2.                A．learned        B．imagined        C．mentioned    D．realized

 

3.                A．now that        B．so that          C．as if  D．even if

 

4.                A．missed         B．planted         C．watered  D．showed

 

5.                A．cars           B．kids            C．clothes   D．lilacs

 

6.                A．bush           B．hill            C．yard D．door

 

7.                A．bought         B．picked          C．sent D．raised

 

8.                A．break          B．holiday         C．trip  D．dinner

 

9.                A．friends         B．memory        C．flowers   D．honor

 

10.               A．responded      B．pointed        C．drove D．hurried

 

11.               A．loving          B．elderly         C．serious    D．sensitive

 

12.               A．hesitated       B．waited         C．sat   D．chatted

 

13.               A．family          B．mother         C．path  D．home

 

14.               A．nodded        B．waved         C．left   D．continued

 

15.               A．weakly         B．politely         C．quickly    D．tightly

 

16.               A．why           B．when          C．how  D．where

 

17.               A．quiet          B．confused       C．alone D．patient

 

18.               A．calmed         B．persuaded      C．disappointed   D．cheered

 

19.               A．arranged       B．dried          C．grew D．hid

 

20.               A．find           B．gather         C．receive   D．sell

 

 

When I was a teenager I volunteered to work at the water station at a 10,000m race. My job was to__36__ water to the runners, I remember being so __37__ to see all the different kinds of people who passed by and grabbed a cup of water. Some ran past, some walked past and a few wheeled past. I saw so many types of people doing it. I thought maybe I could do it too! So the next year I __38__ up for the race.

That first 10,000m race was quite an __39 _. I jogged, I walked, I jogged and I walked. __40__ , I didn’t know if I could finish. Then came a defining(起决定性作用的)__ 41__ .

At one point near the end, a 70-year-old man ran past me, very, very fast, and I felt __42__ because I was 15 years old, younger than him but I couldn’t even keep up with him. I felt __43_ for a second.

But then I __44__ something. He was running his race and I was running mine. He had__45_ abilities, experience, training and goals for himself. I had mine. Remember my _46_ was only to finish.

After a minute, it_47__ me that this was a lesson I could draw from. I learned something about myself at that moment. I turned my embarrassment into __48__ .

I __49__ that I would not give up running races. In fact, I would run even more races and I would learn how to train and prepare __50__ and one day I would be one of those 70-year-old persons who were still running. As I crossed the finish line, I was proud of my __51 __.

In life we all have those moments when we __52__ ourselves with others. It’s only__53 .__ Don’t allow those moments to __54___ you. Turn them into motivation and let them inspire you. With the proper preparation and training, you can improve your result to __55__ anything you want in life.

1.                A．bring out       B．pass out         C．take out  D．pick out

 

2.                A．excited         B．worried         C．concerned    D．anxious

 

3.A gave B. made    C. signed          D. dressed

4.                A．achievement    B．encouragement  C．interest   D．experience

 

5.                A．At times        B．In time         C．In all D．At all

 

6.                A．victory         B．decision        C．moment  D．conclusion

 

7.                A．embarrassed    B．annoyed        C．moved   D．thrilled

 

8.                A．relaxed         B．defeated        C．puzzled   D．inspired

 

9.                A．realized        B．lost            C．noticed   D．remembered

 

10.               A．necessary       B．evident         C．common   D．different

 

11.               A．motto          B．plan           C．goal  D．direction

 

12.               A．worried        B．hit            C．reached   D．hurt

 

13.               A．attraction       B．devotion        C．expectation    D．inspiration

 

14.               A．hoped         B．promised       C．decided   D．suggested

 

15.               A．slightly         B．hardly          C．clearly    D．properly

 

16.               A．excitement      B．accomplishment C．movement D．judgment

 

17.               A．introduce       B．relate          C．present   D．compare

 

18.               A．important       B．natural         C．strange    D．ridiculous

 

19.               A．weaken        B．wound         C．amuse D．cheer

 

20.               A．prevent        B．deliver         C．achieve   D．abandon

 

 

I am Sergey Brin! I was born in Moscow. In 1979, when I was 5, my family immigrated to the United States. I remember that on my 9th birthday I got my first computer “Commodore 64”.

Later I graduated with honors in the University of Maryland in Mathematics and IT. The main field of my science research was the technologies used to collect data from unsystematic sources as well as large quantities of texts and science data. I was the author of dozens of articles in leading American academic magazines.

The greatest event in my life happened when in 1998 I was preparing for the defense（论文答辩）of my Doctor’s degree in Stanford University. There the fate made me meet Larry Page—a young computer genius. Larry belonged to the intellectual society. Larry and I quickly became friends when we worked together.

We were searching day and night on the Internet. We were finding a lot of information but with the feeling we still couldn’t find enough of what we were looking for. Naturally the idea for a search engine that would allow specific information to be found in the endless pool of data was born like it came to us. It wasn’t our plans but we gave up the education at the university. You know the next part, maybe we managed to turn an ordinary garage in Meplo Park, California, the U. S. A. into our first office, in which Google was born. With excitement we typed the name of the thing which we created with love on September 14th 1998—www. google.com. Now, after those years we bought this garage. As a symbol it will always remind us that everything is possible.

1.Sergey Brin actually graduated from ＿＿＿.

A. the University of Maryland         B. the University of Moscow

C. the University of California         D. Stanford University

2. From the passage we know that Larry Page ______.

A. was Brin’s important partner in starting Google

B. was born in a rich merchant family

C. was once a student in the University of Maryland

D. was a professor from Stanford University

3. Which is the right order of what happened?

a. My family moved from Russia to the U. S. A.

b. I met Larry Page.

c. I was given a computer as a present on my 9^th birthday.

d. Google was born in an ordinary garage in California.

A. c-a-b-d                    B. c-b-a-d            C. a-c-b-d                          D. a-c-d-b

4.Which of the following would be the best title for this passage?

A. The History of Google                         B. The Great Contribution of Google

C. The Great Success of Google                    D. The Birth of Google

5. Which of the following statements is TRUE?

A. The main field of my science research was computer.

B. I wrote many articles in leading American magazines.

C. Larry is one of my classmates.

D. When I was 5, I got my first computer “Commodore 64”.