There’s a man in the habit of hitting me on the head with an umbrella. At first I couldn’t stand it, now I’m used to it.

I don’t know his name. I know he’s average in appearance, wears a gray suit, and has a common face. I met him five years ago one hot morning when I was sitting on a tree-shaded bench in Palermo Park, reading the paper. Suddenly I felt something touch my head. It was the very same man who now, as I’m writing, keeps hitting me, mechanically (机械地) and impassively, with an umbrella.

On that occasion I turned around filled with anger. He just kept on hitting me. I asked him if he was crazy, he didn’t even seem to hear me. Then I threatened to call a policeman. Calmly, cool as a cucumber, he stuck with his task. After a few moments of hesitation, and seeing that he was not about to change his attitude, I stood up and hit him on the nose. The man fell down, but he immediately got back on his feet, obviously with great effort, and without a word again began hitting me on the head with the umbrella. His nose was bleeding and, at that moment, I felt sorry for him. I felt regret for having hit him so hard. After all, the man wasn’t exactly hitting me; he was merely tapping me lightly with his umbrella, not causing any pain at all. Of course, those taps were extremely bothersome. As we all know, when a fly lands on your forehead, you don’t feel any pain; what you feel is annoyance. Well then, that umbrella was one huge fly that kept landing on my head time after time.

Convinced that I was dealing with a madman, I tried to escape. But the man followed me, wordlessly continuing to hit me. So I began to run (I should point out that not many people run as fast as I do). He took off after me, trying to land a blow. The man was out of breath so that I thought, if I continued to force him to run at that speed, he would drop dead right then and there.

When the man began to strike the author with an umbrella, the author ________.

A. became angry

B. called the police

C. turned around and escaped

D. turned around and fought back

The author would most probably agree that the man was ________.

A. deaf          B. blind           C. dead           D. mad

The author felt sorry for the man because ________.

A. the man formed a bad habit of beating others

B. he hit the man so hard that his nose bled

C. the man couldn’t catch up with him

D. there was a fly on the man’s head

It can be learned from the passage that the man ________.

A. shouted loudly while hitting the author

B. wanted to tell the author something

C. ran after the author breathlessly

D. acted as if he were a fly

When my first wartime Christmas came, I was in basic training in New Jersey and not sure if I could make it home for the holidays. Only on the afternoon of December 23 was the list of men who would have three-day passes (通行证) posted. I was one of the lucky soldiers.

    It was Christmas Eve when I arrived, and a light snow had fallen. Mother opened the front door. I could see beyond her, into the corner of the living room where the tree had always stood. There were lights, all colors, and ornaments (装饰物) shining against the green of a pine.

    “Where did it come from？” I asked.

    “I asked the Gates boy to cut it,” my mother said. “I wouldn’t have had one just for myself, but when you called--- oh, such a rush! He just brought it in this afternoon…”

    The pine reached to the proper height, almost to the ceiling, and the Tree Top Krystal Star was in its place. A few green branches reached about a little awkwardly (不够美观地) at the side, I thought, and there was a bit of bare trunk showing in the middle. But the tree filled the room with warm light and the whole house with pleasant smell of Christmas.

    “It’s not like the ones you used to find,” my mother went on. “Yours were always in good shape. I suppose the Gates boy didn’t know where to look. But I couldn’t be picky.”

    “Don’t worry, ” I told her. “It’s perfect.”

    It wasn’t, of course, but at the moment I realized something for the first time: all Christmas trees are perfect.

From the passage, we can infer that ________.

A. the writer spent his Christmas during the war

B. soldiers did not all go home for Christmas during the war

C. all the soldiers had three-day passes 

       D. the writer could not go home for Christmas

When the writer got home, ________.

A. it was December 23  

B. it was snowing heavily

C. he found a Christmas tree in the living room      

D. the Gates boy was cutting a Christmas tree for his mother

From the passage, we can conclude that ________.

A. the writer used to cut very beautiful Christmas trees                  

B. his mother didn’t like perfect trees                

C. his mother didn’t want to have a tree   

D. the writer wouldn’t have a tree cut by someone else

“All Christmas trees are perfect”, because they can remind you of ________.

A. the wartime              B. the green of a pine      C. the pleasant smell    D. the sweet home

The best title for this passage would be “________”.

A. How to Choose a Christmas Tree                B. How Soldiers Spent Christmas     

C. The Perfect Christmas Tree                           D. The Christmas Without a Tree

Alice Walker makes her living by writing, and her poems, short stories, and novels have won many awards and fellowships for her. She was born in Eatonton, Georgia. She went to public schools there, and then to Spelman college in Atlanta before coming to New York to attend Sarah Lawrence college, from which she graduated in 1966. For a time she lived in Jackson, Mississippi, with her lawyer husband and a small daughter. About Langston Hughes, American Poet, here first book for children, she says, “After my first meeting with Langston Hughes I vowed I would write a book about him for children someday. Why? Because I, at 22, knew next to nothing of his work , and he didn’t scold me; he just gave me a stack of his books. And he was kind to me; I will always be grateful that in his absolute warmth and generosity he fulfilled my deepest dream ( and need) of what a poet should be.?”

“To me he is not dead at all. Hardly a day goes by that I don’t think of him or speak of him. Once, just before he died, when he was sick with the flu, I took him a sack full of oranges. The joy I felt in giving that simple gift is undiminished by time. He said he liked oranges, too.”

1.What is the main topic of the passage?

A．Alice Walker’s reflection on Langston Hughes.

B．The influence of Alice Walker on the writing of Langston Hughes.

C．Langston Hughes’ book about Alice Walker.

D．A comparison of the childhoods of Alice Walker and Langston Hughes.

2.In the passage, Alice Walker is described as _____.

A．a research fellow at Spelman College

B．a professor at Sarah Lawrence College

C．a prize-winning writer of prose and poetry

D．an author of plays for children

3.Before attending college, Alice Walker went to school in _____.

A．Atlanta, Georgia	B．Eatonton, Georgia
C．Jackson, Mississippi	D．Lawrence, Massachusetts

4.The word “vowed” the first paragraph is closest in meaning to _____.

A．shouted

B．believed

C．refused

D．promised

5.It can be inferred from the passage that Alice Walker was 22 years old when _____.

A．she moved to Jackson, Mississippi

B．she moved to New York

C．she first met Langston Hughes

D．Langston Hughes died

 

第二节：      请阅读下列应用文及相关信息，并按照要求匹配信息。

A.     As we know, the 2008 Olympic Games will be held in Beijing and many people from other countries will come to visit China. The taxi drivers in Dongfeng Taxi Company think the way to show kindness is to be able to greet the foreigners in their languages. They need someone who can teach them languages and the best time is at night when they are not so busy.

B.    Tom is so addicted to on-line games that he cannot concentrate on his study like before. Now he often misses school in   order to play games, thus telling lies to his teachers and parents again and again. Though he realizes what he does is wrong, he just can't stop it. How badly he needs someone's help.

C.    Mane, a 44-year-old single mother of three, has to walk two miles to the nearest supermarket twice a week because she doesn't know which bus to take. What's worse, since she does not know words, she can not write out a shopping list. Also, she can only recognize items by sight, so if the product has a different label, she will not recognize it as the product she wants.

D.   "Helping hand" organization will hold an event to help the starving children in Africa. The event starts in August and those taking part in will go without food for 30 hours. In this way, it is expected that money will be raised for the poor children.

E.   "Green Earth" cares a lot for the animals in danger. Still many people in the world don't know much about the importance of animal protecting. This summer vacation a lot of events will be organized to call on people to live in  harmony with our earth.

F.     A group of young children in a remote village in southwest China are in great need of teachers. Because of the low salary, many teachers came and then went. The villagers hope to have a teacher who can stay for at least a year, because they know knowledge can make a difference to the children's future.

    以下是乐于提供资助的人员信息介绍。请匹配他们与所对应的资助对象。

Stephen: Last summer I went through a training program and became a literacy volunteer. When I began to discover what other people's lives were like because they could not read, I realized the true importance of reading.

Ben: After graduation, I don't want to apply for a job at once Instead, I plan to spare one year to help those who need help most and try my best to improve their lives. You know, education is essential to poverty relief and at the same time I'll get valuable experience for my future career.

Susan : I'm a girl from England and has studied French for years. I'm here in Beijing University studying Chinese. I like China as it is full of mysteries. So I hope the voluntary work will help me to get in touch with Chinese people and get to  know about China. Although my study is busy, I can be free at night and at the weekends.

Tim: Since I myself have overcome a lot of difficulties in my life, I understand young people's problems and I know how to listen patiently to others and offer some advice. I'm working now in the daytime so I can only spend two to three hours a day at night to help others.

Lisa: I burst into tears when I saw those children in a TV programme. What a sight. They are only bone and skin left. What's worse, every day the children are dying because of lack of food. I realized how lucky I am with enough food and a good chance to get education. The summer vacation is coming and I hope I can do something for them.

One morning in Philadelphia, the sun shone bright through all the thick jungles and the tall churches. John, 6, wearing the worn-out clothes, walked from a far place, his dark small hands holding a piece of stolen bread.

John stopped for a moment at the entrance to the church and then left tightly holding the bread,      

He was an orphan(孤儿), whose parents were killed in World War II leaving him alone in the orphanage for five years, Like many children in the house, he had a lot of free time. Mostly no one took care of them, so they had to learn how to steal those they wanted.             

John believed God to be real, so every Sunday morning in any case he would go to the church to have a look and listen to those people singing inside or reading the Bible. He felt only at this moment he was the child of God and so close to God. But he couldn’t enter because his clothes were so dirty. John himself knew it.

John was quietly calculating the times. This was his 45th Sunday at the entrance to the church. He stood on tiptoe（踮着脚尖） for a while and walked away.

As time passed, the pastor(牧师) noticed John and learned from others that he was the small boy who liked stealing things in the orphanages.

On the 46th Sunday, the sun was shining and John came still holding a piece of bread with his dark small hands. When he just stood there, the pastor came out. He felt like running away, but he was carried by the pastor's friendly smile.

The pastor walked up to his side, clearly seeing John's small hands shaking.

"Are you John?"

John didn't answer, but looked at the pastor and nodded.

"Do you believe in God?" the pastor patted John on his head with dust.

"Yes, I do!" This time John told him loudly.

"So you believe in yourself?"

John looked at the pastor, without a word.

The pastor went on saying, "At the first sight of you, I find you're different from other kids because you have a good heart."

His face turning red, John said nervously, "In fact, I'm a thief." With that, he lowered his head.

The pastor didn't speak, but held John's dark small hands, slowly opened them and put them against his wrinkled face.

"Ah" Just at the same time, John shouted and was about to take out his dark small hands. Yet the pastor tightly held his small hands and spread them out in the sun.

"Do you see, John?"

"What?"

"You're cupping the sunshine in your hands."

John blankly looked at his hands: when did they become so beautiful?

"In God's eyes, all children are the same. When they are willing to spread out their hands to greet the sun, the sun will naturally shine on them. And you have two things more than they do. First is courage and the second is kindness." With that, the pastor led him into the church. It was the first time that John went into this sacred place, and at this moment he didn't feel inferior, but the unspeakable warmth.

On that morning greeting the sunshine, John found himself again, along with the confidence, satisfaction, happiness, dreams he had never had.

Twenty years have passed. Now the boy who ever tightly held the bread with his dirt hands has been the most famous cook in Philadelphia and made many popular dishes.

Every Sunday morning, he would personally send the bread he baked to the orphanage. Those children who greeted him with cheers were used to consciously spreading their palms before they got the bread.

Because they all knew when we are willing to spread out our hands to greet the sunshine, the sun will naturally shine on us.

1.The method the writer uses to develop Paragraph is ______________

A．presenting contrasts (对比)                B．showing causes （原因）

C．offering analyses                        D．providing explanations

2.Why didn't John go inside whenever he went to the church?

A．He was frightened to be recognized by the pastor

B．He was not welcomed by those singing in the church.

C．He was sorry for his dirty clothes and identity as a thief.

D．He was left alone in the orphanage and nobody cared for him.

3.Which of the following questions did John reply certainly?

A．“Are you John?"                        B．"Do you see, John?"

C．"So you believe in yourself?"               D．"Do you believe in God?"

4.Which of the following can best describe the pastor's great effect on John?

A．John became a famous cook.

B．John admitted his bad behavior. (行为)

C．John believed God to be real

D．John spread warmth to other orphans.

5.According to the passage, the sunshine cupped in hands can bring ________

A．cheers and confidence                   B．dreams and imagination

C．courage and kindness                    D．forgiveness and satisfaction