Waiting with her mother at the check-out stand，a little girl saw a circle of white pearls in a box.“Oh，please，Mommy.Can I have them？”The mother __1__the back of the box.“A dollar ninety-five.If you really want them，I'll __2__some extra chores (杂活)for you and soon you can save enough money to buy them for __3__.”

After she got home，Jenny did __4__her share of chores，and at last she had enough money to buy the necklace.She wore it everywhere—school，park，__5__ to bed.The only time she took it __6__ was when she had a bath.

Jenny had a very __7__ daddy and every night when she was ready for bed，he __8__ stop whatever he was doing and come upstairs to read her a fairy tale.One night when he finished the __9__，he asked Jenny，“Could you give me your __10__，darling？”“Oh，no，please，Daddy.But you can have my toy horse __11__.”Dad kissed her and said good night.About a week later，__12__ the story time，Daddy asked for pearls again.“Oh Daddy，you can have my babydoll，”was Jenny's reply.And __13__，Daddy kissed her good night.

A few nights later when Daddy came in，he __14__ Jenny was trembling on the bed，crying.She said __15__ but lifted her little hand up to Daddy.And，when she __16__ it，there was her pearl necklace.“It's for you，Daddy，”she said.Tears in eyes，Daddy reached out with one hand to __17__ the necklace，and with the other hand he pulled out from his pocket a blue case with a __18__ of beautiful genuine(真正的)pearls.He had had them all the time.He was just waiting for her to give up the false stuff(东西) __19__ he could give her genuine treasure.

In our life，how many false things are we holding on to that __20__ us from receiving God 's genuine treasures?

1．A.found B．turned

2．A.smooth away 　 B．think of

C．take over 　　 D．cut down

3．A.ourselves 　 B．yourself

C．themselves 　 D．myself

4．A.so much as　 　　 B．no more than

C．more than 　　 D．less than

5．A.hardly 　　　 B．still

C．almost 　 D．even

6．A.in　 　　 B．up　

C．away 　 D．off

7．A.humorous B．loving

8．A.would 　　　 B．might

C．could 　 D．should

9．A.housework 　　　 B．work

C．bath 　　 D．story

10．A.kiss B．greetings

C．pearls 　 D．toy

11．A.instead 　　 B．also

C．probably 　　　 D．actually

12．A.after B．during

C．before 　 D．until

13．A.surprisingly enough B．once again

C．in return 　　　 D．as usual

14．A.remembered 　 B．noticed

C．realized D．expected

15．A.something 　　　 B．all

C．nothing D．much

16．A.opened 　 B．closed

C．removed 　　　 D．showed

17．A.reject 　　　 B．touch

C．take 　　 D．put

18．A.pile 　 B．piece

C．circle 　 D．set

19．A.until B．so that

C．in case D．though

20．A.stop B．protect

C．save 　　 D．get

The President ________ that he would visit France the following month.

A. deserved　          B. confirmed                       C. predicted                               D. doubted

　　"Mark Twain" was the name used by Samuel Langhorne Clemens (1835-1910) when he wrote books. His father was a lawyer, but a poor one, who lived at Florida, Missouri. The family was so poor that Samuel did not receive much teaching. He had to learn all that he could from the people whom he met. His father died when he was very young, and then there was even less money than before.

　　Many of the men in this part of America worked in the ships on the great River Mississippi, and he did this himself at one time (1857).

　　Where did he find the name "Mark Twain"? It came from the great river itself. It was part of one of the cries used by men who worked in the ships. When a man called "By the mark twain!"  he meant that the river was "two marks deep" there, that is to say, six feet deep ( "Twain" is an old form of the work "Two".) Samuel Clemens often heard these words when he was young, and he used them as a penname all his life.

　　During his work on the Mississippi he met travelers of all kinds, and this helped him a great deal when he started to write. But the number of travelers became smaller when war started in America in 1861. Many of the great ships on the river stopped work. Samuel left then and went to Nevada with his brother, who was at that time Governor of Nevada. There, near the town of Carson, Samuel became a gold miner, but he never made much money at the time. He soon saw that life in the gold mines was not for him. He also tried writing for the newspapers in Nevada, and this seemed more hopeful. He found that he could write.

　　He went to Europe in 1867 and visited France and Italy. In 1870 he married Olivia Langdon, and two years later he was spending nearly all his time writing. Among his books is his own story (1908).

　　He is now always known as Mark Twain, and many people do not even know that his family name was Clemens. He traveled in America and in England, and went to Oxford in 1907. He was one of  the great American writers of the time, and could make his readers laugh – a thing which few writers can do. He died in 1910.

"Mark Twain" was _________.

      A. a famous American writer  B. name of a book

      C. a great river in America  D. a large ship

As a child, Samuel did not get much education because _________.

A.his father died too early

B.the family was very poor

  C. he disliked school very much

D. he could learn what he liked from the people he met

What gave him a great deal when he started writing? _______

A. His poor childhood     B. The Mississippi river 

C. All kinds of travelers he met  D. His brother

We can infer from the passage that ________.

A. Samuel loved writing from his early age

B. Samuel did not love writing at the beginning

C. his writings to the newspaper were successful

D. his brother encouraged him to write more

According to the writer of the passage, a good writer could _________.

A. write a lot for his readers

B. make a lot of money for his family

C. cause his readers to laugh

D. travel everywhere he wanted

A few days ago I asked my sons’ governess（女家庭教师）Julia to come into my study. “Be seated, Julia, ”I said, “Let’s settle our accounts. I guess you most likely need some money, but maybe you’re too polite to mention it. Now then, we agreed on thirty dollars a month...”

　　“Forty.”

　　“No, thirty. I made a note of it. I always pay our governess thirty. Well, um, you’ve been here two months, so...”

　　“Two months and five days.”

　　“Exactly two months. I made a special note of it. That means you have sixty dollars coming to you. Take off nine Sundays... you know you didn’t work with Tom on Sundays, you only took walks. And three holidays... ”Julia was biting her finger nail nervously, her face red, but - not a word.

　　“Three holidays, therefore take off twelve dollars. Four days Tom was sick and there were no lessons, as you were occupied only with Dick. Three days you had a toothache and my wife gave you permission not to work after lunch. Twelve and seven - nineteen. Take nineteen off ... that leaves. hmm.... forty one dollars. Correct？”

　　Julia’s left eye reddened with tears welling up. Her chin trembled; she coughed nervously and blew her nose, but - still not a word.

　　“Around New Year’s Day you broke a teacup and a saucer; take off two dollars. The cup cost more, it was a treasure of the family, but- forget it. When didn’t I take a loss! Then, due to your neglect （疏忽）, Tom climbed a tree and tore his jacket; take away ten. Also due to your carelessness the maid stole Dick’s shoes. You ought to watch everything! You get paid for it. So, that means five more dollars off. The tenth of January I gave ten dollars.”

　　“You didn’t. ”sobbed Julia.

　　“But I made a note of it.”

　　“Well... if you say so.”

　　“Take twenty seven from forty one -that leaves fourteen.”

　　Both her eyes were filled with tears. Beads of sweat stood on the thin pretty little nose. Poor girl!

　　“Only once was I given any money,” she whispered, her voice trembling, “and that was by your wife. Three dollars, nothing more.”

　　“Really? You see now, and I didn’t know that! Take three from fourteen.. leaves eleven. Here’s your money, my dear. Three, three, three, one and one. Here it is !”

　　I handed her eleven dollars. She took them and pocketed them.

　　“Merci （法语: 谢谢）,”she whispered.

　　I jumped to my feet and started pacing the room. I was overcome with anger. “For what, this - ‘merci’?” I asked.

　　“For the money. ”

　　“But you know I’ve cheated you - robbed you ! I have actually stolen from you ! Why this‘merci’？”

　　“In my other places they didn’t give me anything at all.”

　　“They didn’t give you anything? No wonder! I played a little joke on you, a cruel lesson, just to teach you... I m going to give you all the eighty dollars! Here they are in the envelope all ready for you... Is it really possible to be so spineless （懦弱）?Why didn’t you protest? Why were you silent? Is it possible in this world to be without teeth and claws（爪）—to be such a fool?”

　　Embarrassed, she smiled. And I could read her expression,“It is possible.”

　　I asked her pardon for the cruel lesson and, to her great surprise, gave her the eighty dollars. She murmured her little“merci”several times and went out. I looked after her and thought,“How easy it is to crush the weak in this world !”

While talking to Julia, the wrier expected from her ________.

　　A. a protest　　　　　　　　　　　B. gratitude

　　C. obedience　　　　　　　　　　 D. an explanation

What shocked the writer was Julia’s ________.

　　A. nervousness in front of her boss

　　B. acceptance of injustice

　　C. shyness when talking about money

　　D. reluctance to express herself

The writer said, “Is it possible in this world to be without teeth and claws?” He was actually telling the governess ________.

　　A. to be more aggressive

　　B. to be more careful in her work

　　C. to protect her right

　　D. to live independently

At the end of the story, the writer said,“ How easy it is to crush the weak in this world!”to show ________.

　　A. his understanding of Julia’s anxiety

　　B. his worry about Julia’s future

　　C. his concern on the living condition of working - class people

　　D. his sympathy for the mental state of those exploited

From the story, we can tell that Julia’s employer was ________.

　　A. greedy but honest

　　B. ill - tempered but warm - hearted

　　C. strict but forgiving

　　D. none of the above

Love in a Box