When I was nine years old, I used to go to the post office with my mother, sending greeting cards to my aunt in Singapore. To me, these trips were really    memories. And receiving mail through a mailbox outside our gate was just as exciting.

     My small hands could    get the mail without using a key! I always could never    to see how much I was getting. Oh, a letter! From Singapore! I would run back home and show it to my      . When there was a letter for me, I wouldn’t run—I would open it right there.

   After my family moved back to Singapore, I      going to the post office. Years later, my company sent me to Shanghai, and the post office found me again. Two years ago I celebrated my     with five friends on top of the mountain in Longsheng, China. At sunrise we    up to a beautiful view from the mountain top. Later in the afternoon, as we were going     the mountain and returning from the sunrise viewing place, a small   caught our attention. It only sold noodles, coffee and had a China       sign.

   We asked the owner if she could really send mail. She happily said yes. It seemed hard to believe,     we were at the highest top of the mountain. I picked one postcard out and asked my friends to write     a birthday note. We bought a stamp, wrote some notes and gave the shop owner the postcard.

   Three weeks later, I arrived home and      my mailbox: Hello, postcard! I broke into a big smile.

    That birthday postcard attracted me again to the post office and all its delights. I had    the post office all these years. Today I     send postcards to friends. And every time I am at the post office buying stamps, I cannot help but smile—how one postcard will make its way across the world and brighten up someone’s day.

1.A. bad                       B. poor                          C. good                           D. short

2.A. easily                       B. simply               C. hardly                          D. specially

3.A. weigh                B. wait                             C. get                                   D. plan

4.A. friend                      B. aunt                          C. mother                        D. owner

5.A. enjoyed                    B. stopped               C. hated                                   D. considered

6.A. wedding                     B. return                        C. success                         D. birthday

7.A. broke                      B. woke                         C. grew                           D. stood

8.A. around                      B. over                         C. up                           D. down

9.A. bank                       B. hospital                       C. shop                           D. river

10.A. Traffic                               B. Life                          C. Police                          D. Post

11.A. because                            B. though                        C. while                D. when

12.A. him                     B. me                           C. her                          D. them

13.A. bought                             B. repaired             C. painted              D. opened

14.A. missed                              B. influenced             C. studied                       D. visited

15.A. just                                B. seldom                        C. still                           D. Never

Mr. White works in an office. He liked reading in bed when he was at school. It was bad for his eyes and now he is near-sighted. But he wouldn’t want anybody else to know about it and he never wears a pair of glasses. It often brings him some trouble.
One winter morning he was sent to a village school on business. He got off a bus at a stop in a small town. Then he had to walk there. The road to the village wasn’t smooth. There were stones here and there. He fell over several times and it made his clothes very duty. At last he got to the village. Suddenly it began to blow strongly and it got much colder. His hat was blown off while he was looking for the school. He had to run after it but he couldn’t catch it. He was wondering why his hat ran into a house as if it had legs. And then he ran into the house, too.
A big woman appeared and stopped him by shouting angrily, " What are you running after my hen for?"
【小题1】According to the passage, which of the following is true?

After my husband died, my world crashed around me. My six children were ten, nine, eight, six, three and 18 months, and I was overwhelmed(不知所措的) with the responsibilities of earning a living, caring for the children and simply keeping my head above water.

I was lucky to find a wonderful housekeeper to care for the children during the week, but from Friday nights to Monday mornings, the children and I were alone, and frankly(坦诚地) I was uneasy. Every unusual noise or any late-night phone call filled me with fear. I felt really alone.

One Friday evening I came home from work to find a big beautiful German shepherd(牧羊犬) on our doorstep. It was obvious he wanted to make the house his home. The children took an instant liking to “German” and asked me to let him in. I agreed to let him sleep in the basement(地下室) until the next day. That night I slept peacefully for the first time in many weeks.

The following morning we made phone calls and checked lost-and-found ads for German’s owner, but with no results. Saturday night he was still with us. 

On Sunday I had planned to take the children on a picnic. Since I thought it best to leave German behind in case(以免) his owner came by, we drove off without him. When we stopped to get gas at a local station, we were amazed to see German racing to the gas station after us. He stayed again Sunday night.  

Monday morning I let him out for a run while the children got ready for school. He didn’t come back. We thought we’d never see him again. On Friday evening, German was back again. We took him in, and again he stayed until Monday morning, when our housekeeper arrived. It went like this for almost 10 months. We looked forward to his coming. Each Monday morning he left home.

Each week, between German's visits, I grew a little braver, but every weekend I enjoyed being with him . Then one Monday morning we patted his head and let him out for what turned out to be the last time. He never came back. We never saw or heard from German again. I think of him often. He came when I needed him the most and stayed until I was strong enough to go on alone. I believe German was sent because he was needed, and because no matter how abandoned(被放弃的) and alone we feel, somehow, somewhere, someone knows and cares. We are never really alone.

1.What does the underlined part “keeping my head above water” in the first paragraph mean?

A．trying to keep calm in public

B．trying to get attention from other men

C．showing her high spirit in the face of trouble

D．trying to continue to live

2.When the author’s husband died, ______.

A．she couldn’t raise the six children on her own

B．she couldn’t relax at weekends

C．The housekeeper only came at weekends

D．she was too busy to feel lonely

3. Which of the following is WRONG according to the article?

A．German was fond of living with the family.

B．The writer felt safe and protected with German around.

C．The dog stayed until the writer was strong enough to go on alone.

D．The writer was too busy that weekend to go to find the dog’s owner.

4.Which is the best title for the passage?

A．A homeless dog                        B．A friend’s strength

C．How to keep a dog                      D．Keep up when in trouble

Home Alone
It was Sunday afternoon. My brother and I were alone at home. My parents went for a party and asked me to look after my brother.  I was doing my homework while my younger brother was watching TV. Suddenly the doorbell rang. Ding-Dong!  My brother thought that it was our parents, so he opened the      1  quickly.
A tall man wearing a black raincoat stood outside. He said that he came to sell books and asked politely     2  our parents were at home.
Without thinking, my brother said, "No." Then the man asked if we would like to 3 some story books. I refused him. When I wanted to close the door, he suddenly pushed the door very      4   and came into our house.  He took out a     5    and ordered me to tie up my brother’s hands with a rope.  I tied up his hands in a special way so my brother could untie
     6    easily. The man then tied my hands up and locked     7    of us in the kitchen. Soon, he went upstairs to     8  money. I taught my brother to untie the rope on his    9 .He then untied me. I rushed to the telephone to call the police,     10     the line was dead. The doors were all locked from the outside. It was lucky that the man      11   to lock the kitchen window. We got out of the house through the kitchen window and went to the   12 pay phone to call the police.
Soon   13  came to our house and the man was caught. By that time, my parents had come home. We told them the whole story. My parents were   14 that we were not hurt. They told me that I should stop my brother from   15 the door to strangers. I learnt a lesson on safety.
(    ) 1. A. window         B. door         C. book        D. fridge
(    ) 2. A. if               B. why         C. when        D. how
(    ) 3. A. lend         B. borrow      C. sell            D. buy
(    ) 4. A. politely           B. slowly      C. hard        D. quietly
(    ) 5. A. book             B. knife       C. gift        D. pen
(    ) 6. A. himself      B. myself          C. herself         D. themselves
(    ) 7. A. none          B. neither         C. both        D. all
(    ) 8. A. look at            B. look after  C. look like       D. look for
(    ) 9. A. feet              B. hands       C. neck        D. legs
(    ) 10. A. and         B. so             C. or          D. but
(    ) 11. A. wanted          B. remembered   C. forgot          D. tried
(    ) 12. A. farthest        B. nearest         C. largest         D. smallest
(    ) 13. A. my friends        B. the police       C. the neighbors    D. my parents
(    ) 14. A. glad            B. angry       C. sad         D. sorry
(    ) 15. A. cleaning        B. closing     C. locking         D. opening