Even at school there had been an unhealthy competition between George and Richard.

“I’ll be the first millionaire in Coleford!” Richard used to boast.

“And you’ll be sorry you knew me,” George would reply “because I’ll be the best lawyer in town!”

George never did become a lawyer and Richard never made any money. Instead both men opened bookshops on opposite sides of Coleford High Street. It was hard to make money from books, which made the competition between them worse.

Now with only one bookshop in town, business was better for George. But sometimes he sat in his narrow , old kitchen and gazed out of the dirty window , thinking about his former rival （竞争对手）。Perhaps he missed him?

George was very interested in old dictionaries, He’d recently found a collector in Australia who was selling a rare first edition. When the parcel arrived, the book was in perfect condition and George was delighted. But while he was having lunch, George glanced at the photo in the newspaper that the book had been wrapped in. He was astonished—the smiling face was older than he remembered but unmistakable! Trembling, George started reading.

“Bookends have bought ten bookstores from their rivals Dylans. The company, owned by multi-millionaire Richard Pike, is now the largest bookseller in Australia. ”

1.George and Rivhard were      at school.

A. roommates                    B. good friends

C. competitors                      D. booksellers

2.How did George feel about Richard after his disappearance?

A. He envied Richard’s marriage.

B. He thought of Richard from time to time.

C. He felt lucky with no rival in town.

D. He was guilty of Richard’s death.

3.George got information about Richard from         .

A. a dictionary collector in Australia

B. the latter’s rivals Dylans

C. a rare first edition of a dictionary

D. the wrapping paper of a book

4.What happened to George and Richard in the end?

A. Both George and Richard became millionaires.

B. Both of them realized their original ambitions.

C. George established a successful business white Richard was missing.

D. Richard became a millionaire while George had no great success.

A 10-year-old boy fatally shot his father Friday, striking him several times as he sat in the front seat of a SUV to pick up the boy from his mother’s home for a weekend visit.

The incident happened about 3:45 p.m. on a cul-de-sac (死胡同)in the 1700 block of Cedar Cove Court, said Sgt. B. E. Williams of the Harris County Sheriff’s Department.

An investigation found that Rick James Lohstroh, 41, was shot by his son, who was sitting in the back seat of the man’s Toyota 4-Runner, said Sgt. B. E. Williams of the Harris County Sheriff’s Department. The shooting took place outside the home of Lohstroh’s ex-wife, where the boy lives with his mother and a 7-year-old brother.

“We’re not certain of anything until we finish our investigation,” Williams said. “The information we have at this time is that the 10-year-old did fire the weapon.”

The mother and the 7-year-old were inside the house when the shooting occurred, said Williams.

Williams said the gun belonged to the boy’s mother. After firing shots through the back seat, the boy exited(退出) the back of the vehicle and continued to fire at the car.

The man died on the way to Memorial Herman Hospital. Lohstroh was a doctor at the University of Texas Medical Branch. The man and woman shared custody（监护）of the children. Williams said the mother and the boy were still in the home talking to investigators Friday night.

Neighbors described the family as being quiet and keeping to themselves.

Justin Gray, 17, was walking in the neighborhood when he heard gunshots. “We’ve had a suicide（自杀）in this neighborhood once, but never anything like this,” Gray said.

1. The best title for the news should be         .

2.Which of the following is TRUE according to the news?

3.What can we infer from the report?

4.The reason why the boy shot his father      .

第二节完型填空（共20小题；每小题1.5分，满分30分）

请认真阅读下面短文，从短文后各题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。

I hired a carpenter to help me restore an old farmhouse. After he had just finished a rough first day on the job, a   16   tire made him lose an hour of work, his electric saw   17   and now his ancient pickup truck refused to   18  . While I drove him home, he sat in stony silence.   19  arriving, he invited me in to meet his family.

As we walked toward the front door, he paused  20   at a small tree, touching tips of the  21   with his hands.

When opening the door, he   22   an amusing transformation. His brown face was covered with   23   and he hugged his two small children and gave his wife a kiss.

After leaving the  24   family, I passed the tree and my curiosity got the   25   of me. I asked him, who   26   me to the car, “Before we went in,  27   did you stop by the tree earlier”

“Oh, that’s my trouble tree,” he replied, “I know I can’t help having  28   on the job and in my life, but those troubles don’t   29   in the house with my wife and children. I know I can control one thing for 30  . I can hang them up on the tree every night  31   I come home. Then in the morning I pick them up again before I  32   for work.”

“ 33   thing is,” he smiled, “when I come out in the morning to pick them up, there aren’t nearly as  34   as I remember  35   up the night before.”

16．A．broken     B．terrible     C．flat    D．fantastic

17．A．quit   B．deleted     C．declined    D．reduced

18．A．ride   B．increase    C．perform    D．start

19．A．Before      B．On    C．Immediately     D．Directly

20．A．shortly     B．briefly      C．quietly      D．straight

21．A．trucks       B．leaves       C．branches   D．shoots

22．A．went by    B．went over C．went off   D．went through

23．A．smiles      B．sorrow      C．confidence       D．doubts

24．A．happy       B．large C．complex   D．modern

25．A．worse       B．better       C．more D．less

26．A．drove       B．sent   C．instructed  D．walked

27．A．how  B．who  C．why  D．where

28．A．matters     B．troubles    C．questions  D．worries

29．A．belong      B．insert C．include     D．provide

30．A．instance    B．ages  C．purpose    D．sure

31．A．when B．since C．because     D．if

32．A．ask    B．come C．leave D．look

33．A．Frightful  B．Funny      C．Strange     D．Accessible

34．A．much       B．few   C．little  D．many

35．A．picking     B．holding     C．hanging    D．giving

第三节：完形填空（共20小题；每小题1.5分,满分30分）
阅读下面短文,从短文后所给各题的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中,选出可以填入空白处的最佳选项,并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
I hired a plumber（水管工） to help me restore an old farmhouse, and he just finished a rough first day on the job: a  41 tire made him lose an hour of work, his electric drill quit and his ancient one ton truck refused to  42  .
   43  I drove him home, he sat in stony silence.    44  arriving, he invited me in to meet his   45 . As we walked toward the front door, he paused briefly at a small   46 , touching the tips of the branches with both   47 .
When   48 the door he passed through an amazing transformation. His brown face was in all smiles and he hugged his two small children and gave his   49 a kiss.  50 he walked me to the car. We passed the tree and my   51 got the better of me. I asked him about what I had   52 him do earlier.
"Oh, that's my   53 tree," he replied. "I know I can't help having troubles on the job, but one thing's   54 :those troubles don't   55 the house with my wife and the children. So I just hang them up on the tree    56  when I come home and ask God to    57 them. Then in the morning I   58 
them up again." "And the   59 thing is," he smiled, "when I come out in the morning to pick them up, there aren't   60 as many as I remember hanging up the night before."
41. A. smooth                  B. broken                  C. failed                     D. flat
42. A. begin                     B. start                       C. set                         D. launch
43. A. While                    B. During                   C. As soon as              D. Though
44. A. In                         B. For                        C. On                         D. At
45. A. friends                   B. parents                   C. family                    D. home
46. A. room                     B. tree                       C. flower                    D. wood
47. A. arms                      B. hands                     C. fingers                   D. feet
48. A. opening                 B. closing                   C. knocking                D. covering
49. A. wife                      B. daughter                C. son                        D. baby
50. A. Meanwhile             B. Afterwards             C. Previously              D. Consequently
51. A. satisfaction             B. responsibility          C. occupation              D. curiosity
52. A. heard                     B. made                     C. seen                       D. let
53. A. comfort                 B. pain                       C. suffering                D. trouble
54. A. at length                B. for sure                  C. at risk                   D. straight away
55. A. belong in               B. hold back               C. fit in                      D. bring to
56. A. one day                 B. every morning        C. one night                D. every night
57. A. take note of            B. take care of            C. look for                 D. focus on
58. A. pick                      B. take                       C. bring                     D. choose
59. A. flexible                  B. funny                    C. casual                    D. humorous
60. A. almost                   B. roughly                  C. nearly                    D. approximately

Three boys and three girls were going to Fort Lauderdale and when they boarded the bus，they were carrying sandwiches and wine in paper bags，dreaming of golden beaches as the gray cold of New York vanished behind them.

As the bus passed through New Jersey，they began to notice Vingo, He sat in front of them，dressed in a plain，ill-fitting suit，never moving，his dusty face masking his age. He kept chewing the inside of his lip a lot，frozen into some personal cocoon of silence.

Deep into the night，outside Washington，the bus pulled into Howard Johnson's，and everybody got off except Vingo. He sat rooted in his seat，and the young people began to wonder about him，trying to imagine his life：perhaps he was a sea captain，a runaway from his wife，an old soldier going home. When they went back to the bus，one of the girls sat beside him and introduced herself.

"We're going to Florida,” she said brightly, “I hear it's really beautiful.”

“It is，”he said quietly，as if remembering something he had tried to forget.

"Want some wine?" she said. He smiled and took a swig.  He thanked her and once again returned to his silence. After a while，she went back to the others，and Vingo nodded in his sleep.

In the morning，they awoke outside another Howard Johnson's．And this time Vingo went in.  The girl insisted that he join them.  He seemed very shy, and ordered black coffee and smoked nervously as the young people chattered about sleeping on beaches. When they returned to the bus，the girl sat with Vingo again，and after a while, slowly and painfully，he told his story. He had been in jail in New York for the past four years，and now he was going home.

“Are you married?”

“I don't know.

“You don’t know?” she said.

“Well，when I was in jail I wrote to my wife，”he said. “I told her that I was going to be away a long time，and that if she couldn't stand it．if the kids kept asking questions，if it hurt too much，well she could just forget me, I'd understand. Get a new guy，I said she's a wonderful woman，really something and forget about me. I told her she didn't have to write me for nothing.  And she didn't.  Not for three and a half years.”

"And you’re going home now，not knowing?”

“Yeah，”he said shyly. “Well，last week，when I was sure the parole (假释) was coming through, I wrote her again.  We used to live in Brunswick，just before Jacksonville，and there’s a big oak (橡树) tree just as you came into town. I told her that if she'd take me back，she should put a yellow handkerchief on the tree，and I'd get off and come home,  If she didn't want me, forget it, no handkerchief，and I'd go on through.”

"Vow,” the girl exclaimed. "Wow.”

She told the others，and noon all of them were in it, caught up in the approach of Brunswick，looking at the pictures Vingo showed them of his wife and three children. The woman was handsome in a plain way，the children still unformed in the much-handled snapshots.

Now they were 20 miles from Brunswick, and the young people took over window seat on the right side，waiting for the approach of the great oak tree. The bus acquired a dark，hushed mood，full of the silence of absence and lost years. Vingo stopped looking, tightening his face into the ex-con's mask, as if fortifying himself against still another disappointment.

Then Brunswick was ten miles, and then five. Then，suddenly，all of the young people were up out of their seats，screaming and shouting and crying，doing small dances of joy. All except Vingo.

Vingo sat there stunned，looking at the oak tree. It was covered with yellow handkerchiefs，20 of them，30 of them，maybe hundreds，a tree that stood like a banner of welcome billowing in the wind. As the young people shouted，the old rose and made his way to the front of the bus to go home.

1.Which is right about Vingo?

2. The underlined word "`exclaimed" probably indicates that the girl was“______”

A. surprised        B:  angry         C:  embarrassed     D.  puzzled

3. From the story，we know that

4.What is the best title for the story?