When Debbie Parkhurst choked on a piece of apple at her Maryland home, her dog jumped in, landing hard on her chest and forcing the piece of apple to pop out of her throat. Debbie Parkhurst’s husband, Kevin, was at his job at a Wilmington, Del., chemical firm when she took a midday break from jewelry and bit into an apple. When the Keesling family of Indiana were about to be overcome by carbon monoxide(CO), their cat clawed(抓) at wife Cathy’s hair until she woke up and called for help.

　　For their timely acts, Toby, a golden 2 1/2-year-old dog, and Winnie, a gray-eyed American shorthair, were named Dog and Cat of the Year by the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

Neither Parkhurst nor Keesling could explain their pets’ timely heroics,though Parkhurst suggested it might have been guided by God intervention(干预). “That’s what our veterinarian(兽医) said,”she said. “He wasn’t making a joke; he’s very spiritual, and now I have to agree with him.” 

But both pets were themselves rescued in baby, Toby as a 4-week-old baby thrown into a garbage bin to die, and Winnie as a week-old orphan hiding under a barn, so helpless that Keesling’s husband, Eric, had to feed her milk.

As the Keeslings recalled it, a gas-driven pump spread carbon monoxide through the house. By the time Winnie moved into rescue spot, the couple’s 14-year-old son, Michael, was already unconscious. “Winnie jumped on the bed and was clawing at me, with a kind of angry noise,” Cathy Keesling said. “When I woke up I felt like a T-bar had hit me across the head.”

State police and officers responding to her 911 call said the family was only minutes from death, judging by the amount of poisonous gas in the house.

1.We can know Debbie Parkhurst _________.

A．works in a Wilmington, Del.,chemical firm

B．was making jewelry when she had the accident

C．might have died but for her pet’s help

D．was unconscious when her pet found her

2.Both pet’s heroic acts most probably connected with _________.

A．God arrangements                      B．their being once helped

C．their sense of danger                    D．their veterinarians’ training

3.Why did Winnie try to wake Cathy Keesling up?

A．Because a T-bar was going to hit him.

B．Because he was hungry and wanted milk.

C．Because Debbie choked something in her throat.

D．Because there was danger in her house.

4.From the passage we can infer that _________.

A．if you love me love my animals

B．all pets are useful to people

C．we can’t never be too careful in our daily life

D．to help others sometimes can get reward

My mother-in-law, Dorothy, is showing me the red notebook that’s almost as precious to her as my husband’s baby pictures. Inside the notebook is a list of the books she has read since 2007. For some people waking up in the middle of the night is a terrible thing. But for my mother-in-law, that time is a gift. At 87, she is getting the education she never had by working her way through great literature. She has now read close to 100 books, including every single novel by Anthony Trollope, Charles Dickens, Jane Austen, Edith Wharton, Henry James and Thomas Mann.
My mother-in-law discusses her passion with the enthusiasm of a young girl, although she can also be a very tough critic, writing “VG’ for “ very good” in the margins next to her favorites. So far, only a handful of books have received the top prize.
Born in Ridgefield, Conn, Dorothy was the youngest daughter of an Italian gardener. She taught herself English by reading The New York Times. Eager to come to Manhattan, she became a nurse, married a dentist and spent the next several decades keeping the house and raising a family. In her later years, she put her nursing skills to good use by taking care of my father-in-law, who had lung cancer. There were many trips to the emergency room in the middle of the night and then a long hospital stay. She stayed awake to watch over him for 15 hours a day. Always a light sleeper, she developed sleeplessness as a result of the stress.
It worsened after he died. Deeply sad and lonely for the first time in her life, she began waking up around 2am. Julian and Sylvia, the elderly couple next door suggest she read literature. And so Julian, a great lover of literature, became her “professor”, providing books from his large library. Suddenly the terrifying hole turned onto a world of amazing characters.
【小题1】Why is Dorothy considered a tough critic?

When Debbie Parkhurst choked on a piece of apple at her Maryland home, her dog jumped in, landing hard on her chest and forcing the piece of apple to pop out of her throat. Debbie Parkhurst’s husband, Kevin, was at his job at a Wilmington, Del., chemical firm when she took a midday break from jewelry and bit into an apple. When the Keesling family of Indiana were about to be overcome by carbon monoxide(CO), their cat clawed(抓) at wife Cathy’s hair until she woke up and called for help.
　　For their timely acts, Toby, a golden 2 1/2-year-old dog, and Winnie, a gray-eyed American shorthair, were named Dog and Cat of the Year by the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
Neither Parkhurst nor Keesling could explain their pets’ timely heroics,though Parkhurst suggested it might have been guided by God intervention(干预). “That’s what our veterinarian(兽医) said,”she said. “He wasn’t making a joke; he’s very spiritual, and now I have to agree with him.” 
But both pets were themselves rescued in baby, Toby as a 4-week-old baby thrown into a garbage bin to die, and Winnie as a week-old orphan hiding under a barn, so helpless that Keesling’s husband, Eric, had to feed her milk.
As the Keeslings recalled it, a gas-driven pump spread carbon monoxide through the house. By the time Winnie moved into rescue spot, the couple’s 14-year-old son, Michael, was already unconscious. “Winnie jumped on the bed and was clawing at me, with a kind of angry noise,” Cathy Keesling said. “When I woke up I felt like a T-bar had hit me across the head.”
State police and officers responding to her 911 call said the family was only minutes from death, judging by the amount of poisonous gas in the house.
【小题1】We can know Debbie Parkhurst _________.

阅读下面短文, 掌握其大意, 然后从16 ~ 30各题所给的A、B、C和D项中，选出最佳选项, 并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
It was Christmas Eve, but I had to work in the clinic. The only thing that   16  my day was the beautiful Christmas tree in our waiting room and a   17  sent to me by my boyfriend — a dozen red roses.
As I was cleaning my desk, I was told that a   18  in the office urgently needed to speak with me. Stepping out, I   19  a tired-looking woman with a baby in her arms. 20 , she explained that her husband was my next   21 . The guards were to bring him to the office that afternoon. She wasn’t allowed to visit her husband in   22 , so he had never seen his son. She   23  me to let the boy’s father sit in the waiting room with her as   24  as possible before I called him for his appointment. I agreed.
A short time later, her husband arrived. The woman’s tired face   25  when her husband sat beside her. They laughed, cried and shared their child.
After almost an hour, I called the prisoner in. He seemed like a   26  and humble man. I   27  what he possibly could have done to be held under such conditions. I tried to make him comfortable.
Finally, I wished him a Merry Christmas—a(n)  28  thing to say to a man headed back to prison. He smiled and thanked me. He also said sadly that he couldn’t get his wife anything for Christmas. Hearing this, I was   29  with a wonderful idea.
I’ll never forget the   30   on both their faces as the prisoner gave his wife the beautiful roses.

【小题2】

A．flower B．souvenir C．gift D．plant

完形填空

　　“You are the sunshine of my life.” Has anyone 1 said that to you? Unfortunately, the words we use for 2 we love are much more ordinary. 3 ordinary, in fact. But－just 4 they say the art of a good joke is in the telling－it all 5 who the magic words come from.

　　The most 6 words we use are darling, sweetheart, pet, dear and love－certainly between couples who 7 together for 8 . For boyfriends and girlfriends, words like honey and baby－familiar 9 American pop songs－might seem more 10 . Lover could be even more exciting. “Come here, Lover” certainly sounds seductive(诱人的). 11 that with “Come here, mother” and you'll see 12 I mean. But some very settled older couples with children 13 each other mother and father, 14 this is rather old－fashioned now. Even more old－fashioned is the kind of conversation we find in the 19th－century novels 15 couples address each other very formally as, for example, Mr. Bennett or Mrs. Bennett.

　　Talking about one's loved ones in public is another matter. Generally speaking, women are happier to do this than men. They 16 call their partner my old man or my hubby, my better half or my other half. Today, it's 17 to call your husband, wife, boyfriend or girlfriend your partner. This is often used 18 the equal status(地位) of the two people in a couple. However, some men still refer not to my wife 19 the wife, the missus(Mrs. )or the old lady. 20 talk about her indoors, or the trouble and strife－Cockney rhyming slang for wife.

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