The other day，my friend Jane was invited to a 40th birthday party．The printed on the invitation was 7：30 pm．Jane went off with her husband。Expecting a merry evening of wine，food，and song．

　 By 9：45，everybody was having great fun，but no food had appeared．Jane David were restless．0ther guests began whispering that they，too，were starving.But no one wanted to leave．just in case some food was about to appear．By 11：there was still no food．And everyone was completely off their heads . Jane and D left hungry and angry．

　 Their experience suggests that the words on the printed invitations need to be

made clearer． Everyone reads and understands the invitations differently．Most of

us would agree that 6：30——8：30 pm means drinks only，go out to dinner afterwards

8：00 pm or 8：30 pm means possible dinner，but 9：30 pm and any time thereafter

means no food，eat beforehand，and roll up late．

　 But this is not always the case．If asked to a students’party at 6：30 pm， normal for guests not to appear before midnight，if at all，and no one cares．Being

the first to arrive——looking eager——is social death．When my mother is asked to a party for 6：30，she likes to be there，if not on time，then no later than seven．

age group(1ate thirties)falls somewhere between the two，but because we still think

we’re young，we’re probably closer to student-time than grown—up time．

　 The accepted custom at present is confusing(混乱的)，sometimes annoying

and it often means you may go home hungry，but it does lend every party that precious

element of surprise．

1．The underlined words“off their heads”probably mean_____.

　 A．tired　　　　　 B．crazy　　　　 C．curious　　　　 D．hopeless

2．Jane and David’s story is used to show that_____.

A．partygoers usually get hungry at parties

　 B．Party invitations can be confusing

　 C．people should ask for food at parties

　 D．birthday parties for middle-aged people are dull

3. For some young people arriving on time for a students’ party will probably

be considered.

　 A. very difficult　　　　　　　　　 B．particularly thoughtful

　 C．friendly and polite　　　　　　 D．Socially unacceptable

4．According to the writer people in their late thirties______ ．

　 A．are likely to arrive late for a party

　 B．care little about the party time

　 C．haven’t really grown up yet

　D．1ike surprises at parties

5．What is the general idea of the text?

　 A．It’s safe to arrive late just when food is served．

　 B．It’s wise to eat something before going to a party．

　 C．It’s important to foIlow social rules of party—going．

　 D．It’s necessary to read invitations carefully．

    I must have been about fourteen then, and I put away the incident from my mind with the

easy carelessness of  youth. But the words, Carl Walter spoke that day, came back to me years

later, and ever since have been of great value to me.

Carl Walter was my piano teacher. During one of my lessons he asked how much practicing I was doing. I said three or four hours a day.

"Do you practice in long stretches, an hour at a time?"

"I try to."

"Well, don't," he exclaimed. "When you grow up, time won't come in long stretches.    Practice in minutes, whenever you can find them five or ten before school, after lunch, between household tasks. Spread the practice through the day, and piano-playing will become a part of your life."

When I was teaching at Columbia, I wanted to write, but class periods, theme-reading, and committee meetings filled my days and evenings. For two years I got practically nothing down on paper, and my excuse was that I had no time. Then I remembered what Carl Walter had said. During the next week I conducted an experiment. Whenever I had five minutes unoccupied, I sat down and wrote a hundred words or so. To my astonishment, at the end of the week I had a rather large manuscript ready for revision, later on I wrote novels by the same piecemeal method. Though my teaching schedule had become heavier than ever, in every day there were idle moments which could be caught and put to use. I even took up piano--playing again, finding that the small intervals of the day provided sufficient time for both writing and piano practice.

There is an important trick in this time--using formula: you must get into your work quickly. If you have but five minutes for writing, you can't afford to waste four chewing your pencil. You must make your mental preparations beforehand, and concentrate on your task almost instantly when the time comes. Fortunately, rapid concentration is easier than most of us realize.

I admit I have never learnt how to let go easily at the end of the five or ten minutes. But life can be counted on to supply interruptions. Carl Walter has had a tremendous influence on my life. To him I owe the discovery that even very short periods of time add up to all useful hours I need, if I plunge（投入）in without delay.

56．The meaning of “stretch” in the underlined part is the same as that in sentence “        ”.

      A．The forests in the north of the province stretch for hundreds of miles.

       B．Bob worked as a government official for a stretch of over twenty years.

       C．My family wasn’t wealthy by any stretch of the imagination.

       D．During his senior year his earnings far enough to buy an old car.

57．Which of the following statements is true?

　　A．The writer didn’t completely take the teacher’s words to heart at first.

　　B．Carl Walter has had a great influence on the writer's life since he became a student.

　　C．The writer owes great thanks to his teacher for teaching him to work in long stretches.

　　D．Rapid concentration is actually more difficult than most people imagine.

58．We can infer that the writer             . 

       A．has new books published each year however busy his teaching is

      B．is always tired of interruptions in life because his teaching schedule is always heavy

      C．has formed a bad habit of chewing a pencil while writing his novels

       D．can find sufficient time for mental preparations beforehand, so he's devoted to work   instantly

59．What is the best title of this passage?

       A．Concentrate on Your Work           B．A Little at a Time

       C．How I Became a Writer           D．Good Advice Is Most Valuable

完形填空

　　One day a police officer managed to get some fresh mushrooms. He was so pleased with what he had bought that he offered to 1 the mushrooms with his brother officers. When their breakfast arrived 2 , each officer found some mushrooms on his plate.

　　“Let the dog 3 a piece first, ”suggested one 4 officer who was afraid that the mushrooms should be poisonous.

　　The dog seemed to 5 his mushroom, and the officers then began to eat their meal, saying that the mushrooms had a very strange 6 quite pleasant taste.

　　An hour later, however, they were all astonished 7 the gardener rushed in and said 8 that the dog was dead. Immediately, the officers jumped into their cars and rushed to the nearest hospital. Pumps were used and the officers had a very 9 time getting rid of the mushrooms that 10 in their stomachs.

　　When they 11 to the police station, they sat down and started to 12 the mushroom poisoning. Each man explained the pains that 13 had felt and they agreed that 14 had grown worse on their 15 to the hospital. The gardener was called to explain the way 16 the poor dog had died. “Did it 17 much before death?”asked one of the officers, 18 very pleased that he had escaped a 19 death himself. “No”, the gardener looked rather 20 , “It was killed by a car. ”

1．

[　　]

2．

[　　]

3．

[　　]

4．

[　　]

5．

[　　]

6．

[　　]

7．

[　　]

8．

[　　]

9．

[　　]

10．

[　　]

11．

[　　]

12．

[　　]

13．

[　　]

14．

[　　]

15．

[　　]

16．

[　　]

17．

[　　]

18．

[　　]

19．

[　　]

20．

[　　]

完形填空（共15小题；每小题2分，满分30分）
阅读下面短文，掌握其大意，然后从16－30各题所给的四个选项(A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
Jenkins was a jeweller, who had made a large diamond ring worth ￡57,000 for the Silkstone Jewellery Shop. When it was ready, he made a copy of it which looked ___16__ like the first one but was worth only￡2,000. This he took to the shop, which accepted it without a question.
　　Jenkins gave the much more 17__ ring to his wife for her fortieth birthday. Then, the husband and wife __18__ to Paris for a weekend. As to the __19__ ring, the shop sold it for￡60,000.
　　Six months later the buyer __20__it back to Silkstone's office. "It's a faulty diamond,"he said. "It isn't worth the high __21__ I paid." Then he told them the __22__. His wife's car had caught fire in an __23__. She had escaped  ,__24__ the ring had fallen off and been damaged  in the great __25__ of the fire.
　　The shop had to agree. They knew that no fire on earth can ever damage a perfect diamond. Someone had taken the __26__ diamond and put a faulty one in its place. The question was: who __27__ it?
　　A picture of the ring appeared in the __28__. A reader thought he recognized the ring. The next day, another picture appeared in the papers which showed a famous dancer walking out to a plane for Paris. Behind the dancer there was a woman __29__ a large diamond ring."Do You know the __30__ with the lovely diamond ring?" the papers asked their readers. Several months later, Jenkins was sentenced to seven years in prison.
16. A. surely         B. only　　　C. nearly　　 D. exactly
17. A. real　　　　 B. worthy　　C. modern      D. valuable
18.A. drove　　　  B. flew        C. sailed　　　　D. bicycled
19. A. last          B. first 　　　  C. second　　　D. next
20. A. sold　　　 B. posted　　　 C. brought　　  D. returned
21.A. money　　　B. price　　     C. cost　　   D. value
22. A. facts　　　 B. questions　    C. results       D. matters
23. A. accident      B. affair　　   C. incident　　  D. experience
24. A. so　　　　 B. but　　        C. or　　    D. and
25. A. pile　　　　 B. heat　　　　　C. pressure     D. power
26. A. real　　　　B. pure　　　　C. right　　   D. exact　
27.A. made　　　B. stole　　       C. copied　　 D. did
28.A. magazines   B. notices　    C. newspapers　　 D. programmes
29. A. carrying　　B. holding      C. dressing  　D. wearing　　　 
30. A. dancer　　　B. woman　　　C. jeweler       D. reader