The very wealthy English Baron Fitzgerald had only one child, a son, who understandably was the apple of his eye. His wife died when the child was in his early teens. So Fitzgerald devoted himself to fathering the kid. Unfortunately the son died in his late teens.

Meanwhile, Fitzgerald’s wealth greatly increased. He spent a lot on art works of the masters. Later Fitzgerald himself because seriously ill. Before his death, he had carefully prepared his will as to how his wealth would be settled—to sell his entire collection at an auction (拍卖).

Because of the large quantity and high quality of his collection, a huge crowd of possible buyers gathered for the auction. Many of them were museum directors and private collectors eager to bid (出价).Before the auction, the art works were shown, among which was a painting of Fitzgerald’s son by an unknown artist. Because of its poor quality, it received little attention.

When it was time for the auction, the auctioneer gaveled (敲槌) the crowd to attention. First the lawyer read from Fitzgerald’s will that the first art work to be auctioned was the painting of his son.

The poor-quality painting didn’t receive and bidders...except one—the old servant who had served the son and loved him, and who for emotional reasons offered the only bid.

As soon as the servant bought the painting for less than one English pound, the auctioneer stopped the bidding and asked the lawyer to read again from the will. The crowd became quiet, and the lawyer read from the will:“Whoever buys the painting of my son gets all my collection.”Then the auction was over.

The English Baron Fitzgerald was ______.

A. a museum director      B. a master of art      C. an art collector       D. an art dealer

Why did the old servant bid for the painting of Fitzgerald’s son?

A. He was devoted to the family.          B. He saw that no one bid for it.

C. He knew the content of the will.        D. He found it cheap for him to buy.

Fitzgerald’s will showed ______.

A his desire to fool the bidders                  B. his invaluable love for his son

C. his sadness at the death of his son             D. his regret of having no children to take over his wealth

People often fall ill because of me.   36 , they can hardly blame me; it is largely their own   37 . A tired person may get   38 , especially when he goes to crowded places with polluted air. A sudden change in    39   is another factor. In hot summer, people turn on the air-conditioner upon returning home. They will catch a cold easily.

My latest victim is an energetic student. After school, he played football hard for two hours. Though 40 . He still went to the cinema. Then he got back home and took a cold shower immediately.

I seized this golden chance to    41   him. He reacted, trying to    42   me, but I was already   43   deep in his throat. He kept sneezing(打喷嚏) and his nose was running.   44   he put on some warm clothes, it didn't work, for there were too many of us. Besides, his sore throat kept   45  him, and he developed a cough to force me and my family out, but   46   .

The next day he couldn't go to    47   .He had lost his appetite and was not as    48   as before. His mother made him orange juice every few hours for more vitamin C, which would help his   49   .

For two days he was   50   by his mother. As he rested more, his defense strengthened and I began lo feel the   51   . I knew I had to    52   him before long. But I am not the one who gives up easily, and I made every effort to fight back.   53   , it was my turn to feel   54   now, for his defense system was starting an all-out attack against me. I became    55   and finally my time was over.

Do you know what I am?

1. A. Therefore     B. Besides          C. However      D. Then

2. A. business          B. responsibility       C. excuse        D. fault

3. A. punished          B. blamed           C. caught         D. killed

4. A. temperature       B. season           C. place              D. condition

5. A. excited           B. hurt             C. late           D. tired

6. A. injure            B. bother           C. attack         D. destroy

7. A. get on with       B. get rid of           C. put up with    D. take hold of

8. A. reproducing       B. waiting          C. hiding         D. disappearing

9. A. Since             B. Once             C. Whether        D. Although

10. A. reminding        B. upsetting            C. comforting     D. influencing

11. A. escaped          B. succeeded        C. regretted          D. failed

12. A. bed              B. work             C. school          D. hospital

13. A. peaceful         B. afraid               C. active          D. happy

14. A. recovery         B. development      C. study               D. growth

15. A. protected            B. nursed           C. scolded         D. affected

16. A. loss             B. operation            C. pressure        D. movement

17. A. leave            B. catch                C. forget          D. beat

18. A. Uncertainly      B. Unsuccessfully   C. Unusually       D. Unfortunately

19. A. painful          B. disappointed     C. nervous         D. ashamed

 A. bigger          B. weaker           C. smaller         D. stronger

It’s a Christmas tradition that’s more than half a century old. And it happened completely by accident.
It started in 1955, when a local Sears store in Colorado Springs, Colorado printed an ad, which included a spedial phone mumber kids could call to know where Santa’s sleigh was at any given moment. Unfortunately, someone made a mistake in printing the phone mumber and kids were calling the wrong line.
A Colonel(上校) named Henry Shoup began answering his phong at what would become NORAD, the North American Aerospace Defence Command. At first, he thought it was a simple error of one caller.
But as the phone ketp ringing and tiny voices kept asking about Santa, Shoup realized he couldn’t disappoint them. So he told the staff to issue updates to any one asking about the location of Santa.
The wrong turned into a custom of the holiday and kept growing in popularity, and NORAD finally decided to make it permanent.
It’s become a holiday favourite ever since, adapting to whatever new technology has come along since. In the early days, it was a phone line. Then in the 60s, NORAD put out a special series of “reports” that was played on hundreds of radio stations across North America, broadcasting the Jolly Old Elf’s exact position on Christmas Eve.
Think of it as kind of an early GPS without the computer gear.
Finally ,came the Internet and NORAD has now transferred its annual watch onto the Web, with a site devoted to keeping tabs on the most famous journey in the world—what you might call the real amazing race, an around-the-world mission that has to be finished within 24hours.
This year’s entry allows kids to track Santa in 3Dusing Google Earth and play games at the North Pole using the Kids Countdown Section, and it even offers Santa Cams which are only operational on the night before Christmas.
36.Why did children keep calling Henry Shoup?
A.Because they wanted to play a joke on him.
B. Because they wanted to amuse him.
C.Because he knew where Santa exactly was.
D.Because they wanted to know where Santa’s sleigh was.
37.What did Colonel Henry Shoup do when more and more children kept calling?
A.He became annoyed and decided to tell them the truth.
B.He became excited and jioned them in searching Santa.
C.He thought quickly and took it seriously to satisfy their needs.
D.He laughed at them and took no notice of their calls.
38.What does “Jolly Old Elf” in Paragraph 6 most probably refer to?
A.Santa Claus.
B.Colonel Henry Shoup.
C.NOARD.
D.The staff in Henry Shoup’s charge.
39.According to the passage, how did people learn about the Jolly Old Elf’s exact position in the 1960s?
A.By calling a special phone mumber.
B.By listening to a special series of reports over the radio.
C.With the help of a kind of early GPS.
D.By scanning the spedial column in the newspaper.
40.The passage mainly tells us       .
A.an old favorite holiday that develops along with new technology
B.50-year-old tracking Santa tradition that started by accident
C.a real amazing race, an around-the-world mission within 24 hours
D.a Colonel and the North American Aerospace Defence Command

E
Larry Walters is among the relatively few who have actually turned their dreams into reality. His story is true, even though you may find it hard to believe.
Larry was a truck driver, but his lifelong dream was to fly. After graduating from high school, he joined the Air Force in hopes of becoming a pilot. Unfortunately, poor eyesight disqualified him. So, as he sat there in his lawn chair, he dreamed about the magic of flying.
Then one day, Larry Walters got an idea. He went to the local Army-Navy store and bought a tank of helium (氦) and forty-five weather balloons. Back in his yard, Larry used straps to attach the balloons to his lawn chair, the kind you might have in your own back yard.
He fixed the chair to the ground and filled the balloons with helium. Then he packed some sandwiches and drinks and loaded a BB gun, figuring he could pop (打爆) a few of those balloons when it was time to return to earth.
Being ready, Larry sat in his chair and cut the fixing rope. His plan was to lazily float upwards and then lazily back down to land. But, things didn’t quite work out that way.
Instead, he shot up as if fired from a cannon! He climbed until he finally reached eleven THOUSAND feet! At that height, he could hardly risk shooting at any of the balloons, for fear of losing the balance! So, he stayed up there, sailing around for fourteen hours, totally at a loss as to how to get down. Eventually, an airliner pilot radioed the airport about passing a guy in a lawn chair at eleven thousand feet ... with a gun in his lap (腿面).
At nightfall, the winds on the coast made Larry drift out to sea. At that point, the Navy sent a helicopter to rescue him. Eventually they were able to fly over him and drop a rescue line with which they gradually get him back to earth.
On hitting the ground, he was arrested. When led away in handcuffs, a television reporter called out to ask, “Mr. Walters, why did you do it?” Larry stopped, eyed the man for a moment and replied, “A man can’t just sit around. What happens tomorrow depends on what you do today.”
Are you doing something to improve your life ... or just sitting around?
57. It is the fact that Larry _______.
A. was a qualified pilot                    B. was an amazing bus driver         
C. failed to become a pilot                 D. popped a few balloons
58. While pulled by the helium balloon, Larry took off to fly by _______.
A. shooting at the balloons to get the up-pushing power
B. using straps to attach the balloons to his lawn chair
C. fixing the chair to the balloons filled with helium
D. cutting the rope fixing his chair to the ground
59. Larry’s being arrested suggests that _______.
A. he is a wanted criminal by the police        B. it is against law to fly without a license 
C. an air liner pilot found a gun in his lap     D. he intended to steal military information
60. What might the writer think of Larry?
A. He is stupid enough to get arrested.           B. He is wise enough to be a success.
C. He is brave enough to reach his goal.    D. He is violent enough to go against law.

Recently, my class went on a three-day trip from Shanghai to Nanjing with only 200 yuan. It was fun and inspiring. We left for Nanjing early in the morning (4:52 a.m. on March 19) by train. Unfortunately, because the tickets were difficult to get, we took the train without seats. The carriage quickly became crowded with students. We stood on the train for over five hours until we arrived at our destination —Nanjing. By that time we all understood how hard it is for migrant workers to return home from a big city.
We had an educational campaign in front of the Memorial Hall to the Victims of the Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders on the first day. We all felt the heavy weight of history as we walked quietly around the Memorial Hall. Relics of the war on display frightened and shocked us. We could imagine how hard life must have been for the Chinese people at that time.
On the second day we were divided into groups of seven to nine students. We were assigned to do research about the city, so we had to visit local people and talk with them. As we were told not to take taxis, we traveled around the city by bus or subway. At the end of the day, we were so tired that no one touched the remote control of the television in our bedroom. However, we were all happy that we had learned to get around a strange city and that we understood Nanjing more.
On the last day we went to Yuhuatai. Some students handed in applications to join the Communist Party there. We learnt about the martyrs(烈士) stories and most of us were impressed by their noble spirits. They sacrificed their lives but they won great respect.
Our three days soon came to an end. Sitting on the train back to Shanhai, we happily shared our adventures in Nanjing. Though we were tired, it was a really meaningful trip.
64. How did the students find their three-day trip in Nanjing?         .
A. It was funny but difficult        B. It was happy but tiring
C. It was tiring and meaningless     D. It was inspiring and meaningful
65. What description is the best for the fourth paragraphs?         .
A. A happy ending.             B. Noble spirits.    
C. A hard beginning.             D. Tough living.
66. What is the right time order during their three-day trip in Nanjing?          .
A. having an educational campaign→doing research→going to Yuhuatai
B. leaving for Nanjing→doing research→going to Yuhuatai
C. having an educational campaign→doing research→sharing adventures
D. getting tickets for traveling→having an educational campaign→going
to Yuhuatai
67. What can we infer from the trip on the first day in Nanjing?        .
A. China’s history in the thirties is miserable
B. The students were too frightened and shocked to go on visiting
C. What hard lives the Chinese people lived
D. Some great Chinese people should be respected