My friend got married. His mother carried two bags of cotton from the countryside by bus and train to his city. After arriving at the city, there was still a long way to his house without any bus passing by the house. His mother walked to his home breathlessly for 40 minutes without taking a taxi in order to save money.

My friend felt bitter as well as funny at his mother’s deeds. He pointed to the cashmere and silk quilts and said, “So long as you have money, you can buy anything in the supermarket. There is no need for you to carry so much cotton here in such a long way.”

But his mother insisted and said, “The cotton of this year is light and warmth-keeping. Have a try and you will know!”

Maybe every parent is the same, caring for their children with stubborn love without caring about whether they know or like it.

This early spring, I went to visit my grandmother. We had dry beans stew （炖菜）, eggplant salad bar, sauce radish （酱萝卜条）for our dinner, all of which were dried by my grandmother last autumn and tasted wonderful. I loved the dishes to my heart’s content and could not help praising them again and again.

After a few days, my grandmother, who seldom visited us, came to my home and unpacked her bag, smilingly taking out bags of dried eggplants, dried beans and dried vegetable. She told me that I left so hastily last time that she forgot to give me some of these foods, so she took this chance to bring me what I liked.

I was speechless at that time. Due to my casual complimentary her food, my grandmother, a nearly 70-year-old lady, by taking three buses from the west of the city to the east, came to my home with the food I liked. But she was bus-sick in life and even seldom went strolling in the street.

My pretty girlfriend had a failed marriage in the past. After divorce, her parents shed the deepest protection and care to her by helping her attend to the child and offering financial aids. Her parents’ love made her pull herself together and forgot the man who had hurt her before.

Nonetheless, her father, an honest and upright old man, after hearing his ex-son-in-law got promoted in his company, felt terrifically irritated and went to his company to question his boss why a philandering man with corrupt conducts could get promoted. The whole office fell into a mess immediately and many staff just watched on the sidelines. Some people even whispered lightly, "It is a new era now and the relationship between men and women is very open. No one would care about that any more!"

The old man stood silently in the office with his hands shivering and eyes tearing.

That night, my girlfriend cried heavily in front of me. I asked her whether it was her father’s stupid deeds that made her feel humiliated. But she said that she felt guilty for her dad and that though the rest of the whole world betrayed her, her old father would still back her up and help her get the justice she deserved, just as when she was young and the neighboring boy grabbed her ball, her father would get it back for her. However, this changed world was no longer the stage for her old father and his deeds became funnily obsolete. No one managed to see the real and ever-lasting love to his daughter behind his seemingly rude behaviors.

Now we have grown up so much so that we could support our family and have our own children. But in our parents’ heart, they are still worried that we do not have sufficient quilts and dried vegetables. They would not feel troubled to bring all these to us regardless of long tough journey. They even would not like us to suffer a bit and try all means to protect us without caring about whether what they do is awkward and stupid or not.

Who in the world would love us so deeply and relentlessly without asking for any repay? Only our parents!

41.　 What does the author want to tell us?

A. The love from our parents is real and deep though sometimes it doesn't appear so.

B. The love from our parents is awkward sometimes, which is rather annoying.

C. Children should appreciate parents' love because their life is so hard.

D. The world is changing so the love of parents should change too.

42.　 The underlined word "humiliate" in the eleventh paragraph means ________.

　 A. guilty　　　 B. moved　　　　 C. happy　 　D. ashamed　　

43.　 How many examples of older generation’s love are mentioned in the passage?

　 A. One　　　　 B. Two　　　 C. Three　　　 D. four

44.　 After the author's girlfriend's former husband got promoted, her father _____.

A. congratulated him　 　　　　　　 　 B. made his daughter marry him again

C. had a quarrel with him 　　　　 D. argued with his boss

45.　 From the passage we can learn the author's grandmother is ___________.

A. upright and honest　 　　　　　　 B. loving and troublesome　

C. thoughtful and careful　　　　　　 D. generous and active

A lesson in caring
It was a cold evening. My daughter and I were walking up Broadway. I didn’t notice a guy sitting inside a cardboard box. But Nora    36    . She wasn’t even four, but she   37    at my coat and said, “That man’s cold. Daddy, can we take him home?”
I don’t remember my   38    . But I do remember a sudden   39    feeling inside me. I had always been delighted at how much my daughter noticed in her   40     , whether it was     41    flying or children playing. But now she was noticing   42    and beggary.
A few days later, I saw an article in the newspaper about volunteers who picked up a food package from a nearby school on a Sunday morning and   43     it to an elderly person. It was quick and easy. I signed us up. Nora was   44    about it. She could understand the importance of food, so she could easily see how   45    our job was. When Sunday came, she was ready, but I had to    46    myself to leave the house to fetch the food package. On my way to the school, I fought an urge (强烈愿望) to turn    47    . The Sunday paper and coffee were waiting for me at home. Why do this?   48    , we phoned the elderly person we’d been appointed. She   49    us right over.
The building was in a bad state. Facing us was a silver-haired woman in an old dress. She took the package and asked us to come in. Nora ran inside. I unwillingly followed.   50     inside, I saw that the department belonged to someone poor. Our hostess showed us some photos. Nora played and when it came time to say goodbye, we three hugged. I walked home    51    .
Professionals call such a(n)   52    “a volunteer opportunity”. They are opportunities and I’ve come to see. Where else but as volunteers do you have the opportunity to do something    53     that’s good for others as well as for yourself? Nora and I regularly serve meals to needy people and   54     clothes for the homeless. Yet, as I’ve    55     her grow over these past four years, I still wonder—which of us has benefited more?

完形填空（共20小题；每小题1.5分，满分30分）

阅读下面短文，掌握其大意，然后从36-55各题所给的四个选项（A，B，C和D）中，选出最佳选项。

Trudy, an American girl, tried swimming across the English Channel. That was August 6, 1962. Her father had　 36　 her two things. One was not to pull her out of the water　 37　 she asked. The other was to give her a red sports　 38　 if she made it.

In gay spirits Trudy　 39　 out , swimming strongly. All the swimmers started at 7：09 in the morning. His father and the trainer were going along in a boat beside her.

At ten o’clock, rain began falling.　 40　 , Trudy trod （踩）water while drinking and eating a chicken leg. Then she started swimming　 41　 The wind was　 42　 and the sea became rougher.

Late　 43　 the wind became even worse. The trainer　 44　 it was useless trying to finish. He called to Trudy to　 45　 .

“No human being could do it in this weather, ” he said, “It’s　 46　 to go on.

However, her father shouted, “Don’t grab her. Let her　 47　 ”

At seven o’clock the tides（潮水）turned　 48　 her. It was more difficult to move ahead. But Trudy still swam on. She　 49　 victory was possible now, for the English coast was in　 50　 .

It was getting dark. A sound could be heard　 51　 the wind; hundreds of car horns （喇叭）were cheering her on. With　 52　 strength, she finished the last 200 yards.

At 9：35 p.m. Trudy got out of water. She had swum some 35 miles in　 53　 the 21 - mile - wide - Channel　 54　 a strong storm. But she had made it in 14 hours and 30 minutes.

“Well, Pop, ”she said to her father. “I　 55　 I get my car this time, don’t I”

36．A. given                  B. refused              C. allowed             D. promised

37．A. as                    B. unless               C. even if              D. when

38．A. suit                    B. shoe                C. hat                 D. car

39．A. rushed                 B. left                 C. started               D. worked

40．A. At midday              B. In the morning          C. In the evening    D. In the late afternoon

41．A. faster                  B. better               C. again               D. across

42．A. stopping　              B. rising               C. changing            D. increasing

43．A. morning               B  afternoon           C. evening             D. night

44．A. thought                B. considered           C. decided             D. felt

45．A. keep up                B. slow down          C. give up              D. take a rest

46．A. difficult                        B. stupid               C. impossible           D. unnecessary

47．A. go                    B. decide              C. come out            D. go on

48．A. towards                B. with                C. at                  D. against

49．A. realized                 B. noticed              C. found out            D. thought

50．A. the distance                     B. reach               C. sight                D. hand

51．A. over                  B. in                  C. with                D. from

52．A. fresh                  B. greater              C. weakening           D. remaining

53．A. flying                  B. swimming          C. crossing             D. passing

54．A. in spite of                B. because of            C. against              D. during

55．A. demand               B. am afraid            C. hope               D. guess

完形填空

Harriet Tubman was born a slave. She didn’t get a   1   to go to school.   2   a child, Harriet had to work very hard in   3   all day. That way, her owner could   4   a lot of money when he sold his crops. Harriet   5   think that she was being treated fairly.

  6   Harriet grew up, she ran away from the plantation(庄园)to the Northern United States. There, and in Canada,   7   could be free.

Harriet liked to be free. She felt   8   for all of the black people who were   9   slaves.

Harriet returned to   10   to help other slaves to run away. She made   11   that they got to the North and became free.

Harriet was in great   12   because of a law that   13  .The law said it was not permitted to   14   runaway slaves. She also   15   that the slave owners said they would   16   $4000 to anyone who could catch Harriet Tubman.

There were many stories about Harriet   17   slaves run away. In all, she made nineteen trips back to the South and guided about 300 slaves to   18  .When the Civil War broke out, the northern states   19   with the southern states. Harriet   20   the northern states because the Northerners believed that slaves should be free. She worked as a nurse and spied behind enemy lines until the northern states won the war.

1.A.day　　　　  B. chance　　   C. permission　　　　 D. moment

2.A.As　　　　   B.Being　　　　  C.Since　　　　　　　　 D.Like

3.A.the farm   B.a school　　  C.the fields　　　　    D.a factory

4.A.make B.pay　　　　　　 C.got　　　　　　　　    D.spend

5.A.certainly   B.didn’t　　　　  C.did　　　　　　　　　　 D.no longer

6.A.Since　　   B.After　　　　   C.Then　　　　　　　　  D.With

7.A.the white  B.white　　　　  C.black　　　　  　　   　　  D.black people

8.A.happy　　   B.sure　　　　    C.wrong　　　　 D.sorry

9.A.still　　　　  B.yet　　　　　　  C.only　　　　　　　　   D.not

10.A.Canada   B.the South　　 C.the North　　　　   D.the U.S.

11.A.perfect    B.way　　　　    C.possible　　　　　　  D.sure

12.A.anger　　  B.anxiety C.hurry　　　　　　　　 D.danger

13.A.has just been passed　　　　　　   B.had just been broken

C.had just been passed　　　　　　　　   D.has just been broken

14.A.help B.set free C.stop　　　　    　　　　　　  D.catch

15.A.found　　 B.noticed C.found out    　　　　　　  D.made sure

16.A.pay B.make　　　　   C.spend　　　　　　　　 D.get

17.A.help B.helped  C.helping　　    D.to help

18.A.freedom  B.safety　　　　  C.North　　　　　　　　 D.Southern states

19.A.united　　 B.fought  C.made peace　　    D.gave in

20.A.looked for     B.stood for　　 C.looked on　　　　   D.went to