It was a sunny day. A city man was driving along a country road with a new wagon(马车)and a beautiful pair of horses. He didn’t pay a lot of  1 to where he was going. Pretty soon he  2  that he was lost, but he  3 to drive, expecting to find his way or to  4 someone who could tell him how to get back to the  5 .
It was a long  6 road. For many hours he kept on driving. When it was almost   7 , he saw in a  8  a tall farmer ploughing the land. He stopped his  9 team of horses near the fence and called out, “Hello, farmer.”
“Hello, yourself,”  the farmer replied,  10 ploughing.
“Where does the horse   11 ? He asked without knowing his languages mistakes.
“I haven’t seen it go anywhere. It   12 stays right where it is,” said the farmer,   13     stopping his work.
“How far is it to the next town?” said the city man, speaking a little  14 .
“Don’t know. I never  15 it,” replied the farmer. By this time the city man was getting 16 . “What do you know? You’re the biggest fool I  17 saw.”
18  stopping, the farmer turned and looked for a long time  19 at the city man. Then he said, “Maybe I don’t know much.   20  I am a fool. But at least I’m not lost!”

It was on a summer burning afternoon in Denver．The sky was blue and the wind was blowing slightly．A man from a big 36  with a new wagon （马车） and a beautiful pair of horses was 37 along a country road．He did not 38  much attention to 39  he was going．Pretty soon he realized that he was 40  , but he continued to drive, 41  to find his way or to meet someone who could tell him how to 42  to the town．
It was a long 43  road．For several hours he kept on driving．44  it was almost dark, he saw in a cornfield a tall farmer plowing （犁） the land．He stopped his 45  team of horses near the fence and called out, "Hello, farmer"
"Hello, yourself" the farmer replied, 46  plowing．
"Where does this  47  go ?"
"I haven't ever seen it go anywhere．It always 48  right where it is " , said the farmer, without stopping his work．
"How far is it  49  the next town?" said the stranger, speaking a little louder．
"Don't know, never  50  it " replied the farmer．
By this time the city man was getting 51  , "What do you know? You're the biggest 52  I ever saw"
The farmer 53  the plow and turned and looked for a long time at the city man．Then he said scornfully （轻蔑地） , "Maybe I don't know much．54  I am a fool．But 55  I'm not lost!"

       As far back as he could remember，Larry had longed to go to Hollywood and become a film star．The young man’s hopes for success were broken again and again，however．Hollywood just did not seem interesting．When he first came to California，Larry had decided never to give up and return home without success．Therefore，he kept on trying．Someday，he told himself，his big opportunity would come．

       Larry found a job parking cars for one of Hollywood’s big restaurants．His pay was elementary，but since the guests were kind enough to give him more money，he managed to make a living．One day he recognized an important film director driving into the parking lot （停车场） and getting out of his car．Larry had recently heard that the man was ready to make a new picture．

       Larry got into the car and prepared to drive it on into the lot and park it．Then he stopped，jumped out，and ran over to the director．“Excuse me，sir，but I think it’s only fair to tell you that it’s now or never if you want me in your next picture．A lot of big companies are after me．”

       Instead of pushing away the boy，the director laughed，then wrote something on a card and handed it to the young man．“Come and see me tomorrow．”

Larry got a small part in the director’s next film．He was on his way！

Which of the following was Larry interested in?

       A．Working as a waiter．    B．Becoming a film star．

       C．Parking cars for film stars．   D．Owing a big company．

Why did Larry find a job parking cars?

       A．Because he liked the job．

       B．Because the parking lot was near Hollywood．

       C．To make a living and wait for the opportunity．

       D．To see a lot of film stars and work for them．

After reading the story what can we infer （推断） about the film director ?

       A．He wanted to laugh at Larry．

       B．He recognized Larry at first sight．

       C．He was kind and gave Larry a try．

       D．He thought Larry would become a star．

what does the word “elementary” mean in this passage?

       A．基本的             B．充足的             C．较高的             D．不达标的

“He was on his way”refers to the fact that ________．

       A．he gave up and returned home

       B．he began to work towards success

       C．he took a journey to Hollywood

       D．he had difficulty in playing the small part

Whether we find a joke funny or not largely depends on where we have been brought up．The sense of humour is mysteriously(神秘地)connected with national characteristics．A Frenchman ,for instance, might find it hard to laugh at Russian joke．In the same way, a Russian might fail to see anything amusing in a joke which would make an Englishman laugh to tears．

       Most funny stories are based on comic situations．In spite of national differences, certain funny situations have a worldwide request．No matter where you live, you would find it difficult not to laugh at, say ,Charlie Chaplin’s early films．However, a new type of humour, which stems largely from America, has recently come into fashion．It is called “sick humour”．Comedians base their jokes on tragic situations like violent (cause by force)death or serious accidents．Many people find this sort of joke distasteful．The following example of “sick humour” will enable you to judge for yourself．

A man who had broken his right leg was taken to hospital a few weeks before Christmas．From the moment he arrived there, he kept on pestering(纠缠) his doctor tell him when he would be able to go home．He was afraid of having to spend Christmas in hospital ．Though the doctor did his best, the patient’s recovery was slow．On Christmas day, however, the doctor consoled(安慰)him by telling him that his chances of being able to leave hospital in time for New Year celebrations were good．The man took heart and, sure enough , on New Year’s Eve he was able to hobble(跛行) along to a party．To compensate(补偿)for his unpleasant experiences in hospital , the man drank a little more than what was good for him．In the process, he enjoyed himself and kept telling everybody how much he hated hospitals．He was still mumbling something about hospitals at the end of the party when he slipped on a piece of ice and broke his left leg．

Whether you find “sick humour” funny or not will depend on ________．

       A．your having been brought up in America                           

B．the joke being related to a really comic situation

       C．your ability to see the funny side of an unpleasant event  

D．your ability to laugh until you cry

The man spent Christmas day feeling miserable because ________．

       A．the doctor had failed to cure him                 

B．he was not able to be with his friends

       C．being unable to walk, he did not enjoy the celebrations at the hospital

       D．he thought he might also miss the New Year’s Eve celebration

The point of the joke taken to explain “sick humour” is that ________．

       A．no sooner was the out of hospital than he had to go back in again．

       B．the man should not have said how much he hated hospitals

       C．the man would be unable to walk for the rest of his life  

D．the man had not got a leg to stand on

What can you learn from this story ?

       A．On New Year’s Eve, the man was able to walk properly to the party．

       B．At the party , he enjoyed himself but only drank a little．

       C．He had to go to hospital again though he hated it．

       D．The man got well soon because the doctor took good care of him．

An expensive car speeding down the main street of a small town was soon caught up with by a young motorcycle policeman. As he started to make out the ticket, the woman behind the wheel said proudly, “Before you go any further, young man, I think you should know that the mayor of this city is a good friend of mine.”The officer did not say a word, but kept writing. “I am also a friend of chief of police Barens,”continued the woman, getting more angrier each moment. Still he kept on writing. “Young man ,”she persisted, “I know Judge Lawson and State Senator (参议员) Patton.” Handing the ticket to the woman, the officer asked pleasantly, “Tell me, do you know Bill Bronson.”
“Why, no,”She answered. “Well, that is the man you should have known,”he said, heading back to his motorcycle, “I am Bill Bronson.”
【小题1】The policeman stopped the car because_____