It was a bright spring afternoon when Fieda told me she wouldn’t need me any more. I had just finished my four-hour work － 36    up and down the stairs of her three-storey home, cleaning the floor and washing the dishes. She was 37    jeans and a sweater, sitting at the table I had just 38    . a pile of papers spread around her. Her husband’  39    was going to be reduced by thirty percent. And they were trying to live as if it had 40   happened. I felt sorry for her. but I also felt a sense of 41   .

     I had been cleaning Freda’s house for five years and had 42    an unexpected relationship with the family. It was not just 43    I had become an expert at scraping（刮掉）dirt stuck to their wooden floor, 44    that I had learned exactly how to place toys on the girls’ beds. It was  45    than that, for I felt I had become a part of their 46   .Freda stayed at home with the kids, 47    I would often see her in the morning 48   them to school. And I’d be there when they 49   home at lunch for sandwiches and piano practice. I had 50   them grow up. Now I was tired, but the  51 thing was that I still wanted to keep scraping away the dirt and dust for the family.  

     I left Freda’s house that day, wondering about the 52     of my relationship with my clients（主顾）. Who am I  53    them? As a matter of fact, I’m  54     an employee － the lowest kind of employee. But I’m also a trusted  55   of the family. I can’t help worrying about what happens around me.

36.A.stepping         B.coming                    C.jumping              D.moving

37.A.hanging               B.making                     C.wearing                    D.changing

38.A.cleaned               B.washed               C.swept                       D.brushed

39.A.duty                    B.money                      C.work                        D.pay

40.A.already                B.seldom                     C.never                       D.yet

41.A.regret                  B.surprise                    C.fear                          D.loss

42.A.started                 B.developed           C.improved            D.broken

43.A.why                     B.what                        C.that                          D.which

44.A.but                      B.and                          C.or                            D.for

45.A.less                     B.least                         C.more                        D.most

46.A.life                      B.story                        C.activity                     D.experience

47.A.as                        B.so                            C.since                        D.however

48.A.taking                  B.bringing                    C.meeting                    D.calling

49.A.left                      B.returned                   C.went                        D.marched

50.A.found                  B.noticed                     C.watched                    D.realized

51.A.possible         B.great                       C.proper                      D.strange

52.A.meaning               B.nature                      C.result                       D.importance

53.A.for                  B.to                         C.with                         D.at

54.A.hardly            B.certainly                 C.probably                   D.merely

55.A.member         B.person                     C.relative              D.companion

The day my fiancé fell to his death, it started to snow, just like the bottom hadn’t fallen out of my world when he fell off the roof. His body, when I found it, was lightly covered with snow. It snowed almost every day for the next four months, while I sat on the couch and watched it pile up.

    One morning, I shuffled(拖着脚步走) downstairs and was surprised to see a snowplow(扫雪机) clearing my driveway and the bent back of a woman shoveling my walk. I dropped to my knees, crawled through the living room, and back upstairs so those good Samaritans would not see me. I was mortified. My first thought was, how would I ever repay them? I didn’t have the strength to brush my hair, let alone shovel someone’s walk.

    Before Jon’s death, I took pride in the fact that I rarely asked for help or favors. I defined myself by my competence and independence. How could I respect myself if all I did was sit on the couch everyday and watch the snow fall?

    Learning how to receive the love and support that came my way wasn’t easy. Friends cooked for me and I cried because I couldn’t even help them set the table. “I’m not usually this lazy,” I swept. Finally, my friend Kathy sat down with me and said, “Mary, cooking for you is not a burden. It makes me feel good to be able to do something for you.”

    Over and over, I heard similar words of comfort from the people who supported me during those dark days. One very wise man told me, “You are not doing nothing. Being fully open to your grief may be the hardest work you will ever do.”

In many ways I have changed for the better. I have been surprised to learn that there is incredible freedom that comes from facing one’s worst fear and walking away whole.

1.What made the author feel sad?

A. Her fiancé’s sudden death.            B. Constant heavy snow.

C. Her fiancé abandoning her.            D. Her job being refused again.

2.What’s the meaning of the underlined word “mortified” in Paragraph 1?

  A. Surprised.        B. Angry.         C. Ashamed.        D. Moved.

3.It is _______ that helped the author out of darkness.

  A. herself          B. her friends      C. her fiancé        D. a snowplow

4.Which of the following statements is NOT true?

A. The author was a capable and independent woman.

B. The author was so lazy that she wouldn’t shovel the walk.

C. Finally the author got through hardest work bravely.

D. When facing the worst fear, you will get strength.

5.What’s the author’s purpose in the passage?

A. To talk about her hardest work in her life.

B. To talk about her real love between her and her fiancé.

C. To tell us to walk out of hardest work confidently and bravely.

D. To tell us the importance of friendship.

       I was waiting for a phone call from my agent．He had left a message the night before, telling me that my show was to be cancelled．I called him several times, but each time his secretary told me that he was in a meeting and that he would call me later．So I waited and waited, but there was still no call．Three hours passing by, I became more and more and impatient．I was certain that my agent didn’t care about my work, and he didn’t care about me．I was overcome with that thought．I started to shout at the phone, “Let me wait, will you? Who do you think you are?”

       At that time I didn’t realize my wife was looking on．Without showing her surprise, she rushed in, seized the phone, tore off the wires, and shouted at the phone, “Yeah! Who do you think you are? Bad telephone! Bad telephone!” And she swept it into the wastebasket．

       I stood watching her, speechless．What on earth．．．?

       She stepped to the doorway and shouted at the test of the house, “Now hear this! All objects in this room----if you do anything to upset my husband, out you go!”

       Then she turned to me．Kissed me and said calmly, “Honey, you just have to learn how to take control．” With that, she left the room．

       After watching a crazy woman rushing in and out, shouting at everything in sight , I noticed that something in my mood （情绪） had changed．I was laughing．How could I have trouble with that phone? Her anties helped me realize I had been driven crazy by small things．Twenty minutes later my agent did call．I was able to listen to him and talk to him and talk to him calmly．

Why did the author shout at the telephone?

       A．He was mad at the telephone．         B．He was angry with his agent．

       C．He was anxious about his wife．        D．He was impatient with the secretary?

What did the author’s wife do after she heard his shouting?

       A．She said nothing．           B．She shouted at him．

       C．She called the agent．         D．She threw the phone away．

What made the author laugh?

       A．His own behavior            B．His wife’s suggestion

       C．His changeable feelings．     D．His wife’s sweet kiss．

What does the underlined word “anties” refer to?”

       A．Smut words                 B．Unusual actions． 

       C．Surprising Looks         D．Anxious feelings．

I was waiting for a phone call from my agent. He had left at message the night before, telling me that my show was to be cancelled. I called him several times, but each time his secretary told me that he was in a meeting and that he would call me later. So I waited and waited, but there was still no call. Three hours passing by, I became more and more and impatient. I was certain that my agent didn’t care about my work, and he didn’t care about me. I was overcome with that thought. I started to shout at the phone, “Let me wait, will you? Who do you think you are?”  

At that time I didn’t realize my wife was looking on. Without showing her surprise, she rushed in, seized the phone, tore off the wires, and shouted at the phone, “Yeah! Who do you think you are? Bad telephone! Bad telephone!” And she swept it into the wastebasket.  

I stood watching her, speechless. What on earth...?  

She stepped to the doorway and shouted at the test of the house, “Now hear this! All objects in this room----if you do anything to upset my husband, out you go!”  

Then she turned to me. Kissed me and said calmly, “Honey, you just have to learn how to take control.” With that, she left the room.  

After watching a crazy woman rushing in and out, shouting at everything in sight , I noticed that something in my mood （情绪） had changed. I was laughing. How could I have trouble with that phone? Her anties helped me realize I had been driven crazy by small things. Twenty minutes later my agent did call. I was able to listen to him and talk to him and talk to him calmly.  

56. Why did the author shout at the telephone?

A. He was mad at the telephone.

B. He was angry with his agent.

C. He was anxious about his wife.

D. He was impatient with the secretary.

57. What did the author’s wife do after she heard his shouting?

A. She said nothing.

B. She shouted at him.

C. She called the agent.

D. She threw the phone away.

58. What made the author laugh?

A. His own behavior.

B. His wife’s suggestion.

C. His changeable feelings.

D. His wife’s sweet kiss.

59. What does the underlined word “antics” refer to?

A. Smart words.

B. Unusual actions.

C. Surprising looks.

D. Anxious feelings.

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.”

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

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.

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

4. How did Mrs Cobell feel about the record she set?

   A. Dissatisfied        B. Excited         C. Annoyed         D. Proud