I love it at night. It’s peaceful. And when it cools down I sometimes do some ironing. I don’t really care for it. I work full-time and am too busy for most housework. I remember the old woman who taught me to iron(熨烫). I was about 15 and somehow got a live-in job taking care of a woman who had been an able-bodied, healthy woman until the accident that caused her to be paralyzed.
The woman had an electric wheelchair. She could move her head and arms but not her hands or fingers. She had this clamp（夹子）attached to her arm and I’d have to open it and put a cup or a pencil in it and then she could move it. She would tell me how to do things. She would instruct me in great detail on the correct way to do things. Her home was perfect and beautiful. She would follow me around in her electric wheelchair to make sure I did everything exactly right. I’m sure she had been a perfect homemaker. She would have me fold everything, including socks and pillow cases. I would complain silently and wish terrible things on her. She taught me the right way to make the bed and tuck the corners. I know sometimes she’d get frustrated and impatient with me. I knew she wanted to grab it and do it herself. But she never yelled or scolded. Only she insisted I do it right. I didn’t like it much, but I did it.
Today I can iron pretty well. I know where to start on a shirt, the right way to do the collar and sleeves. Now that I think about it, I don’t think she is an old lady. I think she might have been about my age now. Anyway, when I iron, I think of her and silently thank her for all the things I learned.
【小题1】From the passage we can infer that the writer of the passage now is ________.

It was 3:00 a.m. Rain beat against the windows. Tamsen Bell’s cellphone began to ring so she jumped out of bed quickly for she knew that someone was in trouble, and it was up to her and the other members of the Marin Search and Rescue Team to help. The team has a motto: “Any time, any place, any weather.” Bell, 18, joined the search-and-rescue team when she was 14 years old, the youngest age at which a person can join. “I remember the first search I ever went on,” Bell says. “I was very nervous.” Thanks to the strict training program, Bell now is no longer nervous and a lot more confident.
When Bell was 16 years old, she took a lead role in a tough search-and-rescue action that she says changed her life. While hiking, a 60-year-old woman fell off a cliff and landed on a mountain ledge(岩石架). Bell slid down in a seated position to get to where the injured woman lay. The situation was very dangerous and she had to make a quick decision which could have endangered the woman’s life. Bell helped to lift the woman onto a litter(担架), and her teammates then pulled the litter up the mountain using ropes. The rescue took more than eight hours , the longest in the history of the team.
Afterwards, Bell said she realized that she could keep cool in stressful situations. The experience inspired her to devote her life to helping others. She remains a search-and-rescue member and plans to study nursing in college.
“Search-and-rescue work may be tough, but it is rewarding. The best part is the support, and the common feeling that everyone on the team wants to make people’s lives better.” Said Bell.
1. According to the passage, we know that Bell ______.
A. was the youngest member in the team
B. plays a leading role in every task
C. majored in nursing in college
D. learned a lot through the training program
2. Why does Bell say that the tough action changed her life?
A. She learnt to make quick decisions when in danger.
B. She learnt to transport the injured to safety through a litter.
C. The experience inspired her to devote herself to helping others
D. The experience made her realize that she could calm down even in danger.
3. Which of the following is TURE about Bell’s tough task?
A. It was the toughest task in the history of the team.
B. Bell slid down the cliff seated in a litter.
C. It’s the first task Bell took part in after the training program.
D. Bell played a very important role in the action.
4. The passage is mainly about_______.
A. a tough task Bell carried out
B. Bell’s job as a young search-and-rescue member
C. how people keep cool in dangerous situations
D. what search-and-rescue tasks are

Miss Lovely began to work in our office last year. She thought she was 36 and hardly talked with us . Her house was a little far from our company and she had to go to work 37 every day.
Of course, she had to spend a lot of 38 on this, She decided to have her own car, and began to 39 how to drive two months ago . Now she was able to drive, but had to 40 a license before she could buy a car. It took her a week to 41 the traffic regulations. She was sure she would 42 the examinations.
It was finally time for her to take the examinations yesterday.  Miss Lovely didn’t come to work. We 43 she would drive her new car to our company this morning. But to our  44 she came here by taxi and didn’t tell anybody about it. None of us asked her the 45 but her face clearly showed she had 46 in the exams.
This afternoon one of our workmates told us 47 had happened to the girl when she was 48. Yesterday the chief examiner had asked her some questions, but she could answer only  a 49 .For example,“Would you run over a man or a dog if you see them both in the middle of the 50 ?”
“Of course  I’d run over the dog ,sir”, Miss Lovely answered without 51 .
“I’m sorry to tell you, Miss Lovely,”the examiner shook his 52 and said ,“you have to take the examination again!”
“I don’t think my answers were 53 ,sir”the girl said in a hurry.“I 54  run over a man, you know!”
“Ｉagree with your 55, Miss Lovely,”the chief examiner said with a smile,“but why not brake（刹车）？”

第三部分：阅读理解（共20小题，每题3分，满分60分）

阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。

Sarah Williams went to a boarding school. Here is one of the letters she wrote to her parents from the school:

Wentworth Girls’ school

Beachside

July 20th

Dearest Mom and Dad,

I’ m afraid I have some very bad news for you. I have been very naughty and the school principal is very angry with me. She is going to write to you. You must come and take me away from here. She does not want me in the school any longer.

The trouble started last night when I was smoking in bed. This breaks the rules, of course. We are not supposed to smoke at all.

As I was smoking, I heard footsteps coming towards the room. I did not want a teacher to catch me smoking, so I threw the cigarette away.

Unfortunately, the cigarette fell into the waste-paper basket, which caught fire.

There was a curtain near the waste-paper basket which caught fire, too. Soon the whole room was burning.

The principal phoned for the fire department. The school is a long way from the town and by the time the fire department arrived, the whole school was in flames. Many of the girls are in the hospital.

The principal says that the fire was all my fault and you must pay for the damage. She will send you a bill for about a million dollars.

I’m very sorry about this.

Much love,

Sarah

P. S.  None of the above is true, but I have failed my exams. I just want you to know how bad the things could have been!

56．Sarah wrote home to        .

         A．tell her parents about the fire               B．ask for a lot of money

         C．tell her parents she had failed her exams               D．tell her parents she had to leave school

57．Why did Sarah tell her parents the story about the fire?

         A．She wanted to worry them.

         B．She wanted to make them laugh.

         C．She wanted to make them less angry at the real news.

         D．She wanted to warn them about what the principal was going to do.

58．The letter before the P. S. was ________.

         A．mostly true                B．partly true                           C．all true               D．completely untrue

59．Sarah said the principal was angry because ________.

         A．she had failed her exams                               B．it was her fault that had caused the fire

         C．she had not made the phone call in time           D．she had been caught smoking in bed

  She is only 12 years old but lives only with her younger sister. Her parents are far away from home, and she has to take care of her younger sister. She is He Can, a student at Anqing Jiangzhen Middle School in Anhui, one of the “stay-at-home children” in her town. To make money, these kids’ parents go to big cities to find jobs. Their children have to stay at home because they have to go to school.    
He Can’s parents left home when she was only four. They only come back for the Spring Festival every year. Because she had to live with different relatives at different times, He Can went to eight different primary schools.    
“I used to complain,” she said. “But later I understood my parents. They have to go away to make a better life for us.” He Can said her frequently (频繁地) changing life also has a good side.    
“When I went to a new school, I had to try to make friends,” said He Can. “I became outgoing. Now I’m not afraid of talking to people.”    
He Can said her relatives were kind to her. They taught her how to cook and wash clothes.     
When He Can was going to start junior high school, her parents agreed to let her live out with her younger sister. She rents a house near the school. Sometimes their grandmother comes over and helps them.    
Every day, He Can gets up at 6:00 am and cooks breakfast. Then the two girls go to school. They have supper at 6:00 pm. Then He Can does chores and helps her sister take a shower. She usually goes to bed at 9:30 pm.    
Though busy, He Can is still a top student in her class. She said the secret is never to put things off until tomorrow.    
“I think my life is OK,” she said. “But if possible, I would like my parents to settle down (安顿下来) and live with us.”
【小题1】Why does He Can live only with her younger sister?