On the day of a big event, many people came to Big Bend Mountain to watch. John Henry and the salesman stood side by side. Even early in the day, the sun was burning hot.

The competition began. John Henry kissed his hammer and started working. At first, the steam-powered drill worked two times faster than he did. Then, he started working with a hammer in each hand. He worked faster and faster. In the mountain, the heat and dust were so thick that most men would have had trouble breathing. The crowd shouted as clouds of dust came from inside the mountain.

The salesman was afraid when he heard what sounded like the mountain breaking. However, it was only the sound of John Henry at work. Polly Ann and her son cheered when the machine was pulled from the tunnel of the mountain. It had broken down. Polly Ann urged John Henry to come out. But he kept working, faster and faster. He dug deep into the darkness, hitting the steel so hard that his body began to fail him. He became weak, and his heart burst.

John Henry fell to the ground. There was a terrible silence. Polly Ann did not move because she knew what had happened. John Henry’s blood spilled over the ground. But he still held one of the hammers. “I beat them,” he said. His wife cried out, “Don’t go, John Henry.”“Bring me a cool drink of water,”he said. Then he took his last breath.

His friends carried his body from the mountain. They buried him near the house where he was born. Crowds went there after they heard about John Henry’s death.

Soon, the steam drill and other machines replaced the steel-drivers. Many laborers left their families to look for work. They took the only jobs they could find. As they worked, some sang about John Henry.

What does the big event mentioned in Paragraph 1 refer to?

A.John Henry’s work on a machine.

B.A competition between John Henry and a salesman.

C.John Henry’s work with his hammer and the steel.

D.A competition between John Henry and a drill.

The underlined word “tunnel ”in Paragraph 3 probably means “           ”.

A.flat ground                B.big rock             C.underground passage         D.hard metal

What happened to John Henry when he fell to the ground?

A.He was tired and had to have a rest.

B.He had heart trouble and was dying.

C.He was thirsty and wanted to drink some water.

D.He was injured slightly and was bleeding.

What do we know about John Henry?

A.He won the competition finally.        B.He was buried under the mountain.

C.He loved his work very much.          D.He said nothing before his death.

What can we infer from the passage?

A.Humans can never beat machines.            B.John Henry was regarded as a hero.

C.Laborers hated machines very much.        D.It was easy for laborers to find work.

If I raised the question, “What would be the last thing you would expect to happen while watching your son’s flag football game?” you probably still couldn’t come up with what happened to me and my family.

As we were sitting on the sidelines enjoying the game, a low-flying bird came swooping in attempting to land on my daughter’s head! It honestly came out of nowhere. We were seated by ourselves on the tree lined side of the field. I was able to calm my daughter’s shock and fear once I showed her that the bird was not some wild animal, it was in fact, somebody’s pet!

Now, we’re sitting at the outdoor fields of the Pontiac Silverdome, far from any populated area, wondering where this very social cockatiel, an Australian parrot (澳洲鹦鹉) could have come from. I walked up to the bird and put out my hand. Immediately, it hopped on and chirped in a friendly way. We looked around us and knew that we could not just leave and suppose that the bird would return to where it came from. This was a very domesticated bird that needed help or it would not survive.

The flag football game had ended so we walked the bird over to other groups of adults and asked if they knew of anyone who had lost a bird. All the kids were excited about the bird and fed it with some post game snacks. The bird’s nails were getting long and he was looking pretty dirty, so we knew it had been out here for a long time and was hungry. Since its wings were clipped, it could fly a little but probably not more than 100 yards or so at a try. We all just scratched our heads as a group wondering what to do with the lost bird.

We explained to the kids that this bird needed our help since it was someone’s pet and would not know how to get its own food, and it could not fly well since its wings were clipped. The kids understood, and all of them wanted to take the bird home! The parents however, knew this was not a good choice as one had a large dog, another two cats, etc. We explained to the kids that one of us could take the bird home for the night and then bring it to the Humane Society in the morning in hopes to connect it to its owners. We couldn’t keep the bird. It wasn’t ours. This was tough for the kids to understand at first. We couldn’t just leave the bird either. There was no way it could attend itself. The group of us sat around the Silverdome practice fields for quite a while trying to determine the best course of choice for the lost bird. It was getting dark out but no one was willing to leave that parking lot until we had a game plan for how to help the bird.

The owner of the football league, Chris Novak, offered to take the bird. It was extremely nice of him and he really stepped in to help while all the rest of us who had kids tugging on our shirts and begging to take it home. We took a box and put a bunch of holes in it and he brought it home for the night. Another mom went online and found a family that had lost a bird that looked just like the one we’d found. She emailed the info to Chris who got in touch with the family and the next day, reunited the bird with the family that lost it almost 3 weeks earlier! When Chris emailed us to let us know, we could not believe that this bird had traveled from The Rochester Tienken area all the way to the Silverdome!

We were so happy to be able to save this bird and get it back to its family. I showed my kids the email about how the other family got their pet back. The family has 3 kids who were so happy to see their bird. My kids realized what a nice ending this story had. Not only had we been able to save this bird’s life, but we were able to bring it back to the family that loves and misses him.

The life lesson in the missing bird story seemed to miss its mark with my kids at first. They were a little bummed out that they couldn’t keep the lost bird. I explained to them that when an animal or someone needs help, you just can’t turn a blind eye and hope everything works out OK. The “lost bird incident” was also a reminder to them that teamwork and the kindness of strangers can make a world of difference and that a group of well-meaning strangers can work together to help someone. It wasn’t a heroic act, but one that I knew had sunk in with my kids when they realized that trying to help was the best and only real course of action. 　

1.What happened when the author watched his son’s football games?

A．A parrot tried to eat their food.

B．His daughter was hurt by a parrot.

C．A parrot flew towards his daughter.

D．A parrot landed on his daughter’s head.

2.The underlined word “domesticated” in the second paragraph probably means_______.

A．having been abandoned                  B．having been used to home life

C．having been used to life in the wild          D．having been week and hungry

3.Who was the first one to find the bird’s owner?

A．The author                            B．Chris Novak

C．The Humane Society                     D．A participant’s mother

4.What can be learned from the “lost bird incident”?

A．Strangers can also work well together.

B．Humane Society helps children in teamwork.

C．Children can keep lost injured pet birds home.

D．Helping others is always regarded as a heroic act.

5.What did the author want to tell in the text?

A．How to help a lost parrot to find home.

B．The experience of watching a football games.

C．The importance of teamwork and helping others.

D．How a parrot can fly a long distance from home.

6.The best title of the text should be________. 

A．What Animals Can Teach Us

B．Complete Care for a Lost Bird

C．Life Lessons When You Least Expect It

D．Love First, Teamwork and Kindness Second

 

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。

I felt encouraged by his words and began to swim more calmly.But my clothes stuck to me like a heavy weight.I could hardly stay above the surface.

Counsel saw this.“Shall I cut them?”he asked.

With a knife he cut my clothes from top to bottom and took them of quickly while I swam for both of us.

Then I did the same for Counsel,and we continued to swim near each other.

 But we were in serious trouble.The crew（船员）might not have noticed our disappearance.

And if they had,they could not return because the rudder（舵）had broken.Counsel thought of all this,and calmly made his plans.We decided to wait for the ship as long as possible,because we had no other hope of safety.I suggested that we save our strength so that both of us would not be tired out at the same time.This was how we did it:While one of us lay on his back,quite still,with arms crossed and legs stretched out（伸直）,the other would swim and push him along.We changed every ten minutes or so.In this way we could swim for hours,perhaps till daylight.The crash（破裂声）of the ship and the whale（鲸）had appeared at about eleven o’clock.We had about eight hours to swim before daylight.This seemed possible,if the sea remained calm.

What happened to the man who told the story?

A.He and his companion got into the water to test their strength.

B.He jumped into the water to save the broken rudder.

C.He was knocked into the water by his enemy.

D.He was thrown into the sea when the ship struck a whale.

Why did the two men cut their clothes?

A.Because no people helped them to take off their clothes.

B.Because they couldn’t take off their clothes on the sea.

C.Because they wanted to get rid of their clothes quickly.

D.Because they wanted to lifebuoys（救生圈）with their clothes.

What does the word “still” in the last paragraph mean?

A.not moving                    B.even                        C.yet                          D.however

n order to save their strength,______.

A.one of them pushed the other while swimming and then they changed

B.they both swam calmly

C.they crossed their arms and stretched their legs on the water

D.they lay on their backs instead of swimming

Which one of the following is true?

A.Neither of the two men was good swimmers.

B.The sea was calm before eleven o’clock that night.

C.The story took place at night.

D.The two men had to swim eight hours to catch up with the ship.

My husband and I are both musicians. I took it  36   granted that one day our daughter Holly would learn to play an instrument.

In 2000 Holly fell  37   and the doctor said she may have been left   38    deaf. “She won’t be able to hear music in any shape or form,” said the doctor. It was a great   39   .

In 2001, her right ear was fitted with a cochlear implant --- electronic equipment that provides a sense of    40    for people who are completely deaf. Seven years later, another was fitted in her    41    ear. The doctors played us a model of what music would sound like to Holly --- I was horrified    42   it was just white noise.

“Holly will hear music,” I   43    saying to myself. I tried to put what had gone wrong right, so we constantly   44   words and sounds to her. She has been having lessons since she was seven . she’s   45   all the time. I’m always surprised by just how much better she does.

When she   46   a national piano competition, the adjudicator   47   Holly for appearing to listen to the sounds she was making --- her whole body, he said to us, was   48   in the process of making music.

I   49   that the model we originally heard of how music sounds with a cochlear implant isn’t   50   holly hears it. The brain is complex and adapts to many   51   ;in some way, Holly has made   52   of it all. She loves life. She doesn’t think about what happened to her and says   53   , “I don’t want to talk about bad things. Let’s talk about good things.”

I was determined that her life would not be   54   by a miserable event, but never imagined that she could   55   what she has. I can only describe this as a miracle.

A. as              B. like              C. for             D. with

A. asleep           B. ill               C. silent           D. short 

A. partly           B. nearly            C. deeply          D. totally

A. accident         B. disease           C. shock           D. surprise 

A. sound           B. noise             C. music           D. voice

A. right            B. left              C. deaf             D. good

A. although         B. unless           C. because          D. while

A. avoided          B. remembered      C. imagined         D. kept 

A. repeated          B. reflected         C. reacted          D. responded 

A. suffering          B. crying          C. working          D. improving

A. entered           B. quitted          C. lost              D. visited

A. asked             B. cared           C. praised          D. thanked

A. considered         B. contained        C. invited          D. involved

A. remind            B. believe          C. advise          D. forget

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

A. states             B. positions         C. places           D. situations 

A. sense             B. choice           C. use             D. fun

A. exactly            B. finally           C. simply          D. generally 

A. influenced         B. decided          C. remarked        D. introduced 

A. achieve            B. choose          C. take            D. expect 

John Blanchard was studying the crowd making their way through the station. He was looking for the girl with a rose whose heart he knew, but whose face he didn’t.

When reading a book in a Florida library a year before, John became interested not in the contents of the book, but in the notes penciled in the margin. The handwriting reflected a thoughtful soul and beautiful mind. He discovered the former owner's name in the front of the book: Miss Hollis Maynell.

He located her address and wrote a letter introducing himself. The next day he was shipped overseas to serve in the army. During the next year, they grew to know each other through the mail and their friendship developed. John requested a photograph, but she refused, saying if he really cared, it wouldn't matter what she looked like. When the day finally came for him to return home, their first meeting was suggested — 7:00 p.m. at the Grand Central Station in New York.

She wrote, “You’ll recognize me by the red rose I wear on my coat.” So now John was in the station to meet the girl with a rose.                                        

As a pretty and slim girl in green came over, John noticed her blue eyes like flowers in spring. He walked directly towards her, entirely forgetting she was not wearing a rose. As John came closer to her, he saw another woman with a red rose stood nearby. Well past 40, this woman had graying hair done under a worn hat. Seeing the girl in green walk quickly away, John felt as if he were split in two. He desired to follow that girl, but longed for the woman whose spirit had truly companioned and supported him.

The woman looked gentle and sensible. John went to her, saying, “I’m Captain John Blanchard. You must be Miss Maynell. I am glad to meet you here. May I take you to dinner?”

She replied with a smile, “I don’t know what this is about. But the lady in green who just went by, begged me to wear this rose on my coat. She said if you asked me out to dinner, I’d tell you she is waiting for you in the big restaurant across the street. She said it was some kind of test!”

John was eager to know the former owner of the book because he______.

A. was very interested in the contents of the book

B. was impressed by the notes written by its owner

C. wanted to improve his handwriting

D. wanted to discuss the book with her

What happened to John after getting in touch with Miss Hollis Maynell?

   A. He served in the army abroad.

   B. He went overseas for vacation.

   C. He went on a business trip in New York.

   D. He visited Miss Maynell.

What do we know about the woman with a rose?

   A. She was Miss Maynell’s close friend.

   B. She was a waitress in the big restaurant.

   C. She was probably a passerby.

   D. She was paid to meet John at the Station.

Which would be the best title of the text?

A. An Interesting Book                            B. A Woman With a Rose

C. A Brave Soldier                         D. A Love Test