“Hey, Jenna, do you think we’ll still be friends when we’re eighty – two?” I asked my friend. It was clear she was wondering where I had come up with such a question. Losing Jenna would  be like losing a very close sister. We hung out together. We gave each other advice.
“Of course, we’ll still be friends when we’re eighty – two.” Jenna announced loudly.
The next year, in fourth grade, we met Jamie. The three of us soon became close friends. We played together almost every day. I thought even time couldn’t pull us apart, but I was sadly mistaken.
The three of us started fighting a lot. Before Christmas, we had a really big fight, and Jamie and Jenna were against me, both saying I was bossy. I felt helpless and lonely. I thought Christmas would be horrible!
I was surprised when Jenna came to my house and gave me an awesome Christmas card she had made for me. I was so sure that she was still disappointed with me.
“Wow, ” I said. breaking the silence as we stood on either side of my front door. “Thanks.”
“Okay…well…I have to go,” she said softly.
“Okay. See you late then…” and I closed the door.
“Who was that at the door?” my mum asked.
The card stared off with “Merry Christmas”, but then it said, “I am so glad we’re friends. I am sorry about what I said when we were fighting. A fight won’t stop us from being friends. Besides, we said we were going to be friends even when we’re eight – two.”
I stopped reading and started laughing. I couldn’t believe I had forgotten what she said that day in her back yard. I couldn’t believe I had been so selfish in trying to get even and making my friends feel sorry for me that I had forgotten about real friendship.
【小题1】How would the author and Jenna get along with each other after Christmas?

第三部分：阅读理解（共20小题；每小题2分，满分40分）
阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
A
The wedding took place in a Birmingham hotel. The bride and her father arrived in a new black American sport car. Her father looked nervous and uncomfortable in front of the cameras. The bride wore a silk wedding dress. She smiled nervously at the waiting photographers and went to a room on the first floor where she met her future husband for the very first time.
Carla Germaine and Greg Cordell were the winners of a radio station’s competition. The aim of the competition was to find two strangers prepared to marry without having met each other. Miss Germaine, 23, is a model. Mr. Cordell, 27, is a TV salesman. They were among the two hundred people who entered a peculiar “experiment” organized by BMRB radio in Birmingham, England, Greg, and Carla were among eight finalists who were interviewed live on a radio. They took a lie detector（测谎仪） test and the station also spoke to their friends and family about their personalities. The competition judges include an astrologer（占星家） who declared that they were suited.
The couple celebrated their wedding with a wedding breakfast and a party for 100 guests in the evening, but not everyone shared their joy. Miss Germaine’s mother looked anxious throughout the wedding and Mr. Cordell’s parents are reported to be less than delighted.
Organizations, including the marriage guidance Service Relate, have criticized the marriage. As one person put it, “We have enough problems getting young people to take marriage seriously without this. Marriage should always be about love.”
The couple are now on a Caribbean honeymoon followed by journalists. Their other prizes include a year’s free use of a wonderful apartment in the center of Birmingham, and a car. But will it last?
56. How did the couple’s parents react to the wedding?
A. The bride’s mother shared their joy.
B. The bride’s father felt uncomfortable about the wedding.
C. The bridegroom’s parents were quite delighted.
D. The bridegroom’s parents were not that joyful.
57. Some experts believe that _____.
A. marriage without the couple’s meeting each other first ends up in divorce   
B. young people nowadays are too careless about marriage    
C. taking a lie detector test can not solve all the marriage problems    
D. most young people take marriage seriously except this couple
58. One of the prize for the couple is _____.
A. to spend their honeymoon wherever they like   
B. to use an apartment free for some time    
C. to have a wedding dress free                  
D. to own an American sports car
59. Which of the following is the best title of the passage?
A. Two strangers and a wedding            B. A wedding based on love   
C. A short-lived marriage                 D. A well-matched couple

A pair of twin-brother ligers, a rare lion-tiger hybrid(杂种), have become superstars in China's southernmost island province of Hainan after becoming the first ligers in the country to reach their first birthday.
Tens of thousands of tourists visited the liger brothers at Hainan Tropical Wildlife Park during the week-long May Day holiday that ended on Sunday, hoping to catch a glimpse of the rare animals. At least 10,000 people signed a red banner when the park celebrated the liger's birthday on May 2. People expressed the hope that the twins would be strong and healthy, the Hainan Daily reports. Zookeepers even made the twins a special birthday cake out of beef and eggs.
The ligers, born on May 2, 2005 , are named 'Ping Ping' and 'An An', which together translate as 'safe and sound'. Their mother Huan Huan is a six-year-old tigress and their father is a four-year – old lion named Xiao Erhei.  The couple first gave birth to a liger in June 2004 but the cub (幼兽)  died of respiratory(呼吸的）failure 72 hours later.
The pregnancy (怀孕) rate for lion-tiger couples is only between one and two percent and the cubs normally have a short life expectancy due to the differences in their chromosomes(染色体). Zoologists say only six to eight ligers are living in the world. China's first tiger-lion hybrid cub was born at Hongshan Zoo in Nanjing, capital of east China's Jiangsu Province, in 2002. But it died a week later.
Ping Ping and An An have broken the survival record set by a liger who lived for 113 days at Hongshan Zoo.
1. Why can Ping Ping and An An become superstars?
A. Because they are the most beautiful ligers.
B. Because they are the cleverest ligers.
C. Because they are the most attractive ligers.
D. Because they are the first ligers to live for a year.
2. Why can't ligers live long ?
A. Because their chromosomes are different.
B. Because they are too small when they are born.
C. Because their parents don't live long.
D. Because they are short of food.
3. How many ligers did the passage mention?
A. Three.         B. Four.          C. Five.         D. Six.
4. What is the best title of this passage?
A. China's longest living twin ligers celebrate their lst birthday
B. Why can't ligers in the world live long
C. How to raise ligers safely
D. The story behind the ligers

It was getting dark and snow was coming down. Joe was driving home. He'd been unemployed since the factory closed. Most of his friends had left, but he stayed on. After all, he was born here. Suddenly he saw a lady standing on the side of the road and then he pulled up. She was worried. No one had stopped to help her. Was he going to hurt her? He looked poor and hungry. Joe knew how she felt and said, “My name is Joe and I'm here to help you.” All she had was a flat tire, but for an old lady, that was bad enough. Joe changed the tire, but he got dirty and his hands were hurt.
She wanted to pay Joe and said any amount would have been all right. Joe never thought twice about the money and there were plenty who had given him a hand in the past. He had lived his whole life that way. He told her that if she really wanted to pay him back, the next time she saw someone who needed help, she could give that person the assistance that they needed. Later the lady went in a small restaurant to take a bite to eat. The cash register was like the telephone of an out-of-work actor-it didn't ring much. The waitress, who was nearly eight months pregnant (怀孕) brought a clean towel to her with a sweet smile. The old lady remembered Joe. After the waitress brought the change from a 100-dollar bill, she found the lady gone and something written on a piece of paper “Someone once helped me out-the way I'm helping you. If you really want to pay me back, don't let the chain of love end with you.” That night the waitress gave her sleeping husband a soft kiss and whispered, “Everything's going to be all right. I love you, Joe.”
【小题1】What did Joe do that dark snowy evening?

Kenya wants to organize a major international conference to discuss how to fight piracy(海盗) off the coast of Somalia. The conference may also deal with ways to rescue Somalia from seventeen years of civil war. More than forty percent of its people depend on food aid.
Kenyan Foreign Minister Moses Wetangula says the world cannot end piracy and civil war without dealing with Somalia’s political problems.
Somali pirates operate in the Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden. The Gulf of Aden connects the Red Sea to the Mediterranean by way of the Suez Canal. The pirates have fast boats, modern weapons and equipment like satellite phones and global positioning systems.
Pirates hijacked the Sirius Star off the coast of Kenya and moved it to waters off Somalia.
The tanker Sirius Star, at three hundred thirty meters long, is the biggest ship ever known to have been captured by pirates. It also happened farther south than most attacks, and farther out at sea ---- more than eight hundred kilometers from land.
The ship was headed for the United States with two million karrels of oil, worth an estimated one hundred million dollars. A Saudi Arabian company owns the tanker. The pirates have  reportedly demanded twenty-five million dollars in negotiations to release the ship and its crew of twenty-five.
Somali pirates generally do not steal goods or kill hostages. They are believed to be holding seventeen ships with about three hundred crew members. Among the ships is a Ukrainian vessel hijacked(劫持) in September with a load of military weapons including tanks.
The increase in piracy is raising the cost of insuring ships. Also, oil from the Middle East and exports from East Asia could take longer to arrive.
Some of the world’s heaviest shipping traffic passes the Somali coast. But major shipping companies have begun to consider new routes. One of the world’s biggest shippers, A.P, Moeller Maersk, says it will avoid the Gulf of Aden. A move away from the Suez Canal could hurt Egypt’s economy.
American and other foreign navy ships are now watching for pirates. This week the Indian Navy destroyed a heavily armed “mother ship” in the Gulf of Aden. But the area to protect covers more than one hundred sixty million square kilometers.
【小题1】 According to the passage, which of the following is the key to solving the piracy in Somalia?

A．The cost of ship transport is decreasing.

B．The routes of some ships might change.

C．Nothing has been done to fight against the piracy.

D．The Suez Canal is of no importance to Egypt’s economy.