When I was a child, my parents often took me to an old house in a thick forest. No other children ever stayed there. I didn’t even have the choice of playing with a brother or sister.
I could never understand what the attraction(吸引) of the house was, even for my parents, who enjoyed nothing better than to sit in silence with a good book. The woman in the house, my father’s distant cousin, was a terrible cook and her food was inedible.
One day, when I was wandering around the garden behind the house, I noticed a wooden house which had clearly been abandoned(被遗弃的). As I walked towards it, I heard a noise, like an animal moving hurriedly away. Then I saw a man with a long beard standing at the door. I was greatly surprised.
“Please don’t tell them you saw me,” he said. “They never use this place, and I have nowhere else to live.” “Don’t worry,” I said. “I won’t tell anyone. But are you all right out here? I mean—do you have enough to eat?” The old man shook his head.
The same evening, I took a small plastic bag into the dining room and, while no one was looking, emptied some of the food into it. Later, I got out of the back door secretly and gave the food to the old man, whose name I had discovered was Taff.
I had never seen anything else as lovely as the smile of satisfaction on Taff’s face when he ate the food. From then on, my visits to the old house had a purpose, and I enjoyed every minute of the rest of my stay.
【小题1】 How did the writer feel about staying in the old house at first?

Three travelers, Allan, Carl and Paul were sitting on the chairs in a train station. They were waiting for a train that was very late.

To pass the time, they began talking to each other.

At first, they talked about the weather and their work. Then Paul said, "Tell me—what would you most like to do if your doctor tell you that you have only three months to live?"

The other two men thought about this for a while, then Carl spoke.

“Well,” he said, “if I have only three months to live, I’ll take all my money out of the bank and go to foreign countries for holidays with my best friend, Erik. I'd like to travel to the places in the world as many as possible. And I'll stay at the best hotels and then eat the best food. I think I'll have a wonderful time.”

“That's very interesting.” Paul said.

With these words, he turned to the other man, saying, “And what about you?”

“I'll tell you a secret,” Allan said. “I always want to be a racing driver. So if I have only three months to live, the first thing I'd like to do is to sell my house. With the money I’ll buy the fastest car in the world. Maybe I can enter all the big motor races.”

Then he laughed, "I might even end up (以……而告终) world champion.”

“Now it's your turn,” Allan went on, “If your doctor tell you the bad news, what would you most like to do?”

“Oh,” said Paul with a smile. “I’ll go and see another doctor.”

1.The three men were talking _____________.

A. in the post office  B. in the waiting room

C. on the train        D. on the chairs

2.The man called ________ answered the question first.

A. Carl B. Allan C. Erik D. Paul

3.The men began to talk about the weather and the work because they __________.

A. didn't know anything new

B. wanted to pass the time quickly

C. had nothing to do

D. were very interested in each other's work

4."I might even end up world champion." Here the word "champion" means ___in Chinese.

A.名人 B.赛车手 C.大款 D.冠军

5.Which sentence is right according to the passage?

A. The train didn't arrive on time.

B. Paul wanted to buy a racing car very much.

C. Allan was the second man to answer the question.

D. Carl didn't like traveling at all.

Robert was a student in a high school. His father wanted him to study in a good university in the future. But the young man didn’t study hard and liked playing cards (纸牌). He had to go out after his parents fell asleep at night.

One night, when Robert came back, his father saw him. He was very angry and let him live upstairs (在楼上). Of course it was not easy for him to go out again.

Last night Robert listened carefully. When he was sure his parents went to sleep, he went out to play cards. He won some money and was very happy. When he got back, he took off his shoes and was going upstairs. He heard a noise in his parents’ bedroom. Then he saw a man came out. He knew it was a thief. He stopped him at once. The man was very afraid and gave all the things back to him.

“Tell me how you didn’t wake (弄醒) my parents up,” said Robert. “Or I’ll take you to the police station!”

（     ）51. Why did Robert have to go out after his parents fell asleep?

A. Because he had to stay at school all day.

B. Because he could play cards only when his parents fell asleep. 

C. Because he wanted to catch a thief.

D. Because his parents didn’t let him sleep at night.

（     ）52.Why did Robert’s father let him live upstairs?

A. Because he was old.

B. Because Robert didn’t like any noise.

C. Because the room upstairs was better than the one downstairs.

D. Because they could hear if Robert went out at night.

（     ）53.Robert listened carefully because he wanted to know ____________.

A. if his parents fell asleep

B. if his parents were angry

C. if there was a noise in his parents’ room

D. if there was someone outside

（     ）54.The thief gave back all the things because _________.

A. Robert was afraid

B. Robert gave him some money

C. he was afraid that Robert would take him to the police station

D. he wanted to teach Robert how to steal (偷盗)

（     ）55.Which of the statement is NOT right according to the passage?

A. Robert might not take the thief to the police station.

B. Robert’s father didn’t want his son to play cards outside.

C. Robert’s parents caught the thief in their bedroom last night.

D. Robert wanted to know how the thief didn’t wake up his parents.