Ever since I was little, my favorite season was winter. I loved to play in the snow and enjoy the hot chocolate.   1  , winter never gave me the special gift of snow on my birthday. I would ask my grandmother  2  it didn’t snow on my birthday. She would laugh and tell me I asked too many questions.   3  one day, she promised that she would make it snow on my next birthday.
That year,   4  my birthday, my grandmother died. I was sad but angry because she had promised to make it snow. The day of my sixth birthday, I woke up and ran to the window,   5  to see just one snowflake. But there was no snow. I felt mad at my grandmother. She had broken a promise.
By my sixteenth birthday, I   6  all hope of getting my snow, even though I still wished for 7 . During my party, I stayed with my friends and family and was truly happy. I   8  the best time ever! Then I saw the white snow   9  down all around. I was so excited that I ran around screaming and laughing. My friends all laughed   10  me, but I didn’t care.
When I   11  home, my grandpa said he had a gift for me. I was   12  because he had given me a gift. It was a small white box, which looked old. I opened it. There was a crystal snowflake(水晶雪花) with a card that   13  , “Happy Birthday.”
How could this be? My grandpa said it was my grandmother’s final   14  on my “sweet sixteenth”. I cried.
I was   15  that my smiling grandmother angel was and had been watching over me.

 “BANG!” the door caused a reverberation (回声). It was just standing there, with father standing on one side, and I was on the other side. We were both in great anger. “Never set foot in this house again!” stormed father. I rushed out of the flat and ran along the street. The street lights were shining, causing rather a sad feeling.

A young father who held a child in his arms walked past me. I felt as if I saw my childhood from another space: happy and carefree. But now … I don’t know whether it is because I have grown up or because dad is getting old. We differ in our ways of thinking. He always put his opinions and codes of behavior on me. Whenever I do something wrong, he never admits it. We are just like two people coming from two different worlds. I wandered in the streets, until I had only the street lights to keep me company. When I finally reached the high-rise apartment block in which I lived ,I saw that the light was still on.

I thought to myself: “Is father waiting for me, or is he still angry with me?”

All the lights were off except father’s. Dad was always like this. Maybe he didn’t know how to express himself. After an argument he has the habit of creeping up(悄悄地来到) in my sleep. This was how he always was．He has been a leader for so long that telling everyone else what to do has become his second nature. With the key in hand, I was as nervous as I had ever been. At last, I decided to open the door. As soon as I opened the door tears ran down my cheeks. I suddenly realized that the iron(铁的) door that I had imagined between us did not exist at all. Love—it’s second to none. 

1.Decide which is the best order of the following according to what happened in the passage.

a. I opened the door and entered the house.

b. Sadly I ran out into the street.

c. I reached the place where I lived and saw my house still brightly lit.

d. I thought of my father’s kindness towards me.

e. I walked about in the street without any aim.

A. b, e, d, c, a        B. b, e, c, d, a             C. b, e, a, c, d        D. b, e, c, a, d

2.What made the writer think of his childhood ?

A. The sight of the street lights.???????????????  

B. The sight of the empty street.

C. The sight of a father with a child in his arms.??

D. The sight of light in his own house.

3. Why do you think the father often shouts at his son?

A. perhaps the father is getting older and older. 

B. perhaps the son has already grown up.

C. perhaps they never agree with each other. 

D. perhaps the father has got used to doing that.

4. According to the passage what does “Love—it’s second to none” mean ?

A. 爱并没有什么??? B. 爱是第二位的???

C.? 爱是至高无上的??? D. 爱就是没什么

5.What conclusion can you come to after reading the passage?

A. The father treats his son in an unfair way. 

B. The father is actually kind to his son.

C. The father is neither kind nor cruel to his son. 

D. The father is always finding fault with his son.

Sarah ran in, shouting, “Look what I found!”  Over the top of the paper I was reading; came a terrible thing that caused me to jump. It was a snake skin found in our garden.
“Isn’t it beautiful?” said my seven-year-old daughter.
I opened my eyes widely and looked at the snake skin in fear（恐惧地）. I didn’t think it was beautiful, but I learned never to appear nonchalant(冷漠的)with children. Everything they see for the first time is important to their sense of beauty; they see only excellence in the world.
“Why does it do this?”  Sarah asked.
“Snakes shed(蜕) their skins because they need to renew themselves,”  I explained.
“Why do they need to renew（使更新） themselves?” Sarah asked.
“We often need to shed our skins, those coatings that we cover ourselves with,” I said to my daughter. “We leave some things and find other thing unwanted or unnecessary. This snake no longer needs this skin. It is probably too little for him, and he probably doesn’t think he looks as smart in it as he once did. ”
As we talked, I knew that she began to understand. Although she couldn’t understand clearly, she would know that renewal is part of progress; that we need to take a good look at ourselves, our rooms, schoolwork and spirit, and see what we need to keep and what we need to leave.  I was careful to tell that this is a natural way, not one to be forced.
“Snakes don’t peel off their skins when they like them. “I explained. “It happens as a natural thing of their growth. ”
“I see, Dad,” said Sarah as she held the snake skin, and then ran off.
I hoped she would remember this; we need to throw some away because they are worthless or unnecessary. Then we can store them as memories in our deep hearts.
【小题1】Father jumped up when her daughter came to him with a snake skin because ＿＿＿＿＿＿.