When I was young, I belonged to a club that did community service work. There was one specific  36  that was unusual for me. I spent three or four hours handing out warm dinner to the homeless   37   in the streets. After that I went to a homeless shelter not far from the Bay Bridge.

I was in high school and at the time my sister was too young to   38   . She wanted to help,   39  she made many chocolate chip cookies for me to  40   and hand out to people. When getting to the shelter, I passed out the   41   . I began making sandwiches and   42    them with the crowd. I had the containers with my sister’s   43    in them and began to   44    around, offering them to anyone near me.

I approached an   45   gentleman and said, “ Sir, would you like a cookie?” He stopped and turned around, looked at me and said, “What did you say? Did you call me sir?” I told him I had, and his eyes   46    a little bit and said, “ No one has   47    called me sir.’ So he was completely moved.

It   48    me.

I explained I had been raised that   49    color and social status, everyone deserved respect. It   50    me to think that just because he was homeless, no one   51    him the honor. It broke my heart. I just didn’t understand   52    no one ever called him sir. I had never thought that anyone was below me because I wasn’t raised that way. Every   53    person deserves to be treated with respect. Years later, I still carry that memory and the   54    it taught me. Sometimes, what we take for granted can    55    make a difference in someone’s life.

A. case                  B. chance                    C. event              D. accident

A. out                        B. far                                 C. away               D. off

A. participate            B. decide                          C. choose               D. go

A. however               B. but                         C. yet                         D. so

A. enjoy                   B. eat                          C. collect                    D. take

A. papers                      B. meals                     C. books               D. gifts

A. shared                  B. provided                 C. helped                    D. returned

A. dishes            B. fruits                 C. cookies             D. sandwiches

A. walk              B. turn                  C. run              D. show

A. well-dressed         B. innocent                        C. old                   D. modest

A. watered                B. cried                      C. opened              D. closed

A. never                       B. ever                       C. still                        D. yet

A. encouraged           B. attracted                        C. struck                D. defeated

A. in spite of             B. regardless of            C. in case of        D. because of

A. persuaded          B. saddened                 C. frightened          D. moved

A. handed                 B. offered                   C. reminded            D. promised

A. what                    B. how                      C. whether              D. why

A. single                  B. usual                      C. ordinary             D. normal

A. lesson                  B. class                       C. truth                D. reality

A. possibly              B. nearly                     C. really                D. usually

In the toys section, I noticed a small boy of about five years old,  1  (press) against his chest．He kept on touching the hair of the doll and looked very sad．I wondered 2  he wanted to give the doll to．So I walked towards him and asked him all about it．

“It is the doll 3  my sister loved most and wanted so much for this Christmas．She was so sure that Santa Claus would bring it to her．”

I told him not to worry．However, he replied sadly, “No, Santa Claus cannot bring it to  4   she is now．I’ll have to give the doll to my mother so that she can give 5  to her when she goes there．”

His eyes were filled with   6   (sad) while saying this．

“Recently, my sister   7   (go) to be with God．Daddy said that Mommy will also join God very soon, so I think she can bring the doll 8  her to give it to my sister．”

My heart almost stopped beating   9   (complete)．The little boy looked up at me and said, “I told Daddy to tell Mommy not to go yet．I asked him to wait  10   I come back from the store．”

 

The small unframed painting called “Fisherman” was signed by a little-known Italian artist, Maveleone (1669-1740). When it was sold recently in New York for $27,000, the seller, Mr. Oliver Pitt, was asked to explain how the picture had come into his possession.

Pitt said, “I didn’t know it was so valuable. I’m not an art expert. Photography is my hobby. I bought ‘Fisherman’ in Italy in 1970 for $140. The picture was dirty, and I couldn’t see the artist’s signature. But anyway it wasn’t the picture that I liked. I bought it because of the frame. ”

“It’s a most unusual frame, made of tiny, silvery sea-shells. They are set in such a way that they reflect perfect light onto the surface of a picture. I now have a photograph of my wife in that frame, and I’ll never part with it.”

“When I returned to New York I showed the painting in its frame to a customs officer. I told him that I had paid $140 for it but admitted I didn’t know its actual worth. The customs man valued it at $140, and I was asked to pay duty on that value. I did so, there and then. ” 

“Later, I took off the frame, and that uncovered Maveleone’s signature. My wife suggested in fun that the painting might be a valuable one, so I cleaned it and put it up for sale.”

As a result of this explanation, Oliver Pitt had to appear in court. He was accused of knowingly making a false statement of the value of a picture so as to cheat the Customs Department.

Pitt was not happy. “I told the truth as I knew it then,” he said, “What else could I say?”

And then the judge agreed with him. “The Customs Department is to be responsible,” he said, “for making a true valuation of goods brought into the country, so that the correct amount of duty may be charged. Mr. Pitt did not cause or try to cause the mistake that was made. He paid the duty that was demanded. If, now, the Customs Department finds that its valuation was not correct, it cannot be allowed to have another try. Pitt is not guilty”.

When Oliver Pitt bought the picture, ________.

    A. it was unframed                     B. Maveleone signed the deal

    C. he suggested that it was valuable        D. it was the frame that attracted him 

From the passage we can infer that if Maveleone had been a well-known artist,        _.

    A. the painting would have cost much more than $ 140

    B. he wouldn’t have sold his painting

    C. the customs officer wouldn’t have been cheated

    D. Pitt wouldn’t have had the intention to buy any of his paintings

Pitt took off the frame probably in order to        _.

    A. clean the painting to put it up for sale

    B. look for the artist’s signature

    C. use it for his wife’s photograph

    D. find the painting’s true value

Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the story?  

    A. In the end Pitt was asked to pay the correct amount of duty.

    B. In the end Pitt sold the frame of the painting at an even higher price.

    C. In the end the Customs Department had no right to revalue the painting.

    D. In the end Pitt’s wife was regarded as an expert because of her wise suggestion.

For six hours we shot through the landscape of the Karoo desert in South Africa. Just rocks

and sand and baking sun. Knowing our journey was ending, Daniel and I just wanted to remember all we had seen and done. He used a camera. I used words. I had already finished three notebooks and was into the fourth, a beautiful leather notebook I’d bought in a market in Mozambique.

Southern Africa was full of stories. And visions. We were almost drunk on sensations. The roaring of the water at Victoria Falls, the impossible silence of the Okavango Delta in Botswana . And then the other things: dogs in the streets, whole families in Soweto living in one room, a kilometre from clean water.

As we drove towards the setting sun, a quietness fell over us. The road was empty -- we  hadn’t seen another car for hours. And as I drove, something caught my eye, something moving   next to me. I glanced in the mirror of the car; I glanced sideways to the right, and that was when I saw them. Next to us, by the side of the road, thirty, forty wild horses were racing the car, a cloud of dust rising behind them -- brown, muscular horses almost close enough to touch them, to   smell their hot breath. I didn’t know how long they had been there next to us.

I shouted to Dan: “Look!”, but he was in a deep sleep, his camera lying useless by his feet.   They raced the car for a few seconds, then disappeared far behind us, a memory of heroic forms   in the red landscape. When Daniel woke up an hour later I told him what had happened.

“Wild horses?” he said. “Why didn’t you wake me up?”

“I tried. But they were gone after a few seconds.”

“Are you sure you didn’t dream it?”

“You were the one who was sleeping!”

Typical, he said. “The best photos are the ones we never take.”

We checked into a dusty hotel and slept the sleep of the dead.

1. During their journey in Africa, the two travelers______.

A．made friends with local residents

B．complained about the poor living conditions

C．enjoyed the sunset in the Karoo desert most

D．recorded their experiences in different ways

2. What did Daniel think when he woke up and was told what had happened?

A．He always missed out on the best thing.

B．He had already taken beautiful pictures.

C．A sound sleep was more important.

D．The next trip would be better.

3. What is the passage mainly about?

A．How to view wildlife in Africa.

B．Running into wildlife in Africa.

C．Tourist attractions in southern Africa.

D．Possible dangers of travelling in the desert.

 

An old friend from abroad（国外）__16__ I wanted to stay with telephoned me from the airport to tell me that he had arrived. I was still in the __17__, but I had done something to get ready for his coming. After explaining where my new room was, I told him __18__ I had left the key under the doormat（门垫）. __19__ I would be home rather __20_, I asked him to go into the kitchen and __21__ himself to some food and drink.

Two hours later, my friend telephoned me from the __22__. At the moment, he said __23__ was __24__ the radio __25__ having a truly wonderful meal. He had cooked two eggs and helped himself __26__ some __27__ chicken from the refrigerator. Now, he said, he was drinking a glass of milk __28__ he hoped I would __29__ him. When I asked him if he had __30__ the room without __31__, he answered that he had __32_ been able to find the key under the doormat. As the living-room window just __33__ the apple tree had been left _34__, he had climbed in. I listened to all this in __35__. There in no apple tree in front of my living-room. There is one in front of my neighbor’s.

1.A. what      B. as        C. which         D. whom

2.A. room      B. office     C. station        D. airport

3.A. that       B. where     C. why          D. how

4.A. For       B. When     C. So            D. As

5.A. late       B. soon      C. on time        D. early

6.A. eat        B. help      C. cook          D. make

7.A. airport     B. station    C. bus stop       D. living-room

8.A. I          B. he       C. she           D. my boss

9.A. repairing   B. buying    C. listening to     D. hearing

10.A. after      B. before     C. as             D. while

11.A. to        B. with      C. for            D. from

12.A. cold      B. hot       C. new           D. warm

13.A. and       B. but       C. because        D. though

14.A. help      B. see       C. join           D. join in

15.A. got       B. arrived    C. reached        D. came

16.A. joy       B. regret     C. thinking       D. difficulty

17.A. also       B. always   C. not            D. none

18.A. in front of  B. near     C. far away from   D. around

19.A. open      B. dirty     C. closed         D. shut

20.A. silence     B. surprise  C. the room       D. the office