The air bag is a piece of safety equipment in cars. It was first designed by John W. Hetrick in 1952. Like many inventions, he came up with the idea as a result of an event that had occurred in his life. He says:
“In the spring of 1952, my wife, my seven-year-old daughter, Joan, and I were out for a Sunday drive in our 1948 Chrysler Windsor. About three miles outside Newport we were watching for deer jumping across the road. Suddenly, there was a large rock in our path. I hit the brakes and we went into a ditch(壕沟).
“As I applied the brakes, both my wife and I threw our hands up to keep our daughter from hitting the car. There was soft mud in the ditch, so the car wasn’t damaged, and no one was hurt.”
“During the ride home I couldn’t stop thinking about the accident. I asked myself,‘Why couldn’t some object come out to stop you from striking the inside of the car?’As soon as I got home that night I drew some sketches(草图). Each evening for the following two weeks, I’d add or reduce something from the sketches.”
Hetrick applied an event he had observed while in the Navy to the design of the air bag. He was repairing a torpedo(鱼雷) which had a cloth covering. When the compressed（压缩的） air that was in the torpedo was let out, the covering was suddenly filled with air and was shot to the ceiling.
With this knowledge, he developed his design until he was able to obtain a patent on the invention on August 5, 1952. The idea was similar to the air bag designs of today. Compressed air is stored in a container and when a traffic accident occurs and the car slows down at a rapid enough rate, the air will be released into the air bag. The idea was ingenious, but Hetrick’s air bag never would have functioned properly. It was really a breakthrough, but it would require years and years of designing and testing by some top car designers before it could be used.
【小题1】The car accident Hetrick was involved in ________.

A．damaged his car	B．happened in 1948
C．was caused by a deer	D．caused no harm to his family

【小题2】Hetrick’s experience in the Navy________.

A．turned out to be dangerous	B．was helpful to his invention
C．involved designing torpedoes	D．inspired him to design an air bag

【小题3】The underlined word “ingenious” in the last paragraph is closest in meaning to _______.

A．creative

B．ridiculous

C．crazy

D．complex

【小题4】What do we know about the air bag Hetrick designed?

A．It came into use in the 1950s.	B．It performed perfectly in car accidents.
C．It prepared the way for air bags nowadays.	D．It took Hetrick about two months to develop it.

【小题5】The text is mainly about ____.

A．the great inventor Hetrick	B．The invention of air bags
C．a terrible car accident	D．road safety in the 1950s

My goddaughter, Shari, owns The Berry Factory in Sacramento, California, and her mother, Joan, and I were helping with the Valentine’s Day rush. We’d dipped hundreds of berries, arranged gift baskets and packaged orders to be   36    around the country.
By the end of the day, the two middle-aged women, Joan and I, were exhausted. But Shari didn’t seem tired. That was   37  Shari.   38 she was very busy, I’d seen her give away berries to everyone—parking attendants, mail carriers and hairdressers. “For me?” they would say, bursting into    39  .
 40 a“thank you”, Shari took us out for dinner. But there was a 45-munite  41  at her favorite restaurant. “No big   42  . There’s another place just up the road,” she said, driving up there. This time we walked right   43  .
When the waitress came to   44   our drink orders, Shari    45   into her handbag, pulling something out. “ I want you to have these,” she said,   46  the waitress a box of chocolate-dipped strawberries. “ She will love those berries!” I thought.   47   the waitress seemed very surprised instead. She only let out a “thank you”  48  grabbing the box and rushing into the kitchen.
A few minutes later, the waitress returned    49  our iced tea. “ I apologize,” she said. “ My best friend and I had   50  to send each other something every Valentine’s Day. But she    51   last year. I didn’t know how I’d    52   this day without her. Then you handed me that box.”
“ I’m so sorry to hear that,” said Shari. “ It’s not much, but I hope you can   53  them.”
“ Oh, I will,” the waitress said. “ See, every year we   54  sent each other the same thing: a box of chocolate-dipped strawberries bought from our favorite store, The Berry    55   .”

【小题1】	A．brought B．produced C．travelled D．shipped
【小题2】	A．ordinary B．typical C．strange D．healthy
【小题3】	A．If B．Since C．Though D．Until
【小题4】	A．a smile B．tears C．laughter D．song
【小题5】	A．By B．Without C．Through D．As
【小题6】	A．discussion B．wait C．choice D．talk
【小题7】	A．mistake B．deal C．idea D．matter
【小题8】	A．out B．along C．in D．away
【小题9】	A．ask B．tell C．bring D．take
【小题10】	A．looked B．passed C．reached D．pushed
【小题11】	A．handing B．forcing C．removing D．providing
【小题12】	A．But B．Or C．And D．So
【小题13】	A．until B．before C．after D．while
【小题14】	A．for B．to C．from D．with
【小题15】	A．promised B．explained C．imagined D．recognized
【小题16】	A．passed out B．passed away C．passed by D．passed through
【小题17】	A．look through B．break through C．get through D．follow through
【小题18】	A．impress B．treasure C．value D．enjoy
【小题19】	A．always B．hardly C．sometimes D．still
【小题20】	A．Market B．Store C．Factory D．Garden

 

 The field research will take Joan and Paul about five months;it will be a long time_____we meet them again.

A.after                                 B.before

C.since                                 D.when

 

The field research will take Joan and Paul about five months;it will be a long time_____we meet them again.

A.after                                                            B.before

C.since                                                            D.when

29. The field research will take Joan and Paul about five months; it will be a long time ______ we meet them again.

A. after          B. before          C. since            D. when