On a hot day, I decide to mow our extremely hilly lawn. It was likely to    21    a jungle（丛林）with weeds growing wildly. I need to mow it at once.

After several false    22      , I had to examine it and finally got our old lawn mower     23      . I was mowing and trying hard to push the machine uphill, which was really a hard job, for the machine was too old to work well. I was so   24  that I complained under my breath, so I decided to take a short break.

At the top of a rise, I   25  to see my 12-year-old John Thomas standing there, with a smile on his face and a glass of    26   in his hand.  "Here, Mom, "he said, "have a drink, Want me to help you? Dad   27  me work on hte flat places."

I  28   the ice water and went to sit in the      29   of a tall tree. As I took my drink, I   30     my son. To my surprise, he didn't seem to be    31    the normal mowing pattern. And he kept smiling at me   32    he worked. I wondered    33  made him so happy? I thought to myself.

After a while, he    34   mowing and looked in my direction. "Hey, Mom. Could you  35  here? "   "He's always　naughty like this, lazy again?" I said to myself    36     .  Then I stood up and walked across the lawn, noticing that he had missed a sizable spot. "John, you didn't..."  My angry words gradually became      37      , for the spot I thought he'd missed had been       38     mowed into the shape of a（an）   39   , suddenly I felt something warm and gentle rising from inside.

"Like it, Mom? It's mine and it's for you."  he asked with a big    40  .

"Now I'll finish the job."

21. A. turn on B. turn into     C. turn down  D. turn up

22. A. starts    B. words C. ends    D. behavior

23. A. work    B. move  C. going  D. flying

24. A. cheerful       B. tired   C. cared  D. boring

25. A. looked through    B. looked over       C. looked after       D. looked up

26. A. hot tea  B. chocolate    C. milk   D. ice water

27. A. asks      B. allows C. lets     D. agrees

28. A. drank   B. heated C. accepted     D. received

29. A. shade    B. leaves C. root    D. top

30. A. saw      B. watched     C. observed    D. noticed

31. A. feeling  B. finding       C. following   D. feeding

32. A. if  B. since   C. whether      D. as

33. A. what     B. that     C. all      D. it

34. A. continued     B. went on      C. stopped      D. finished

35. A. go over B. turn over    C. driver over D. come over

36. A. happily B. angrily       C. eagerly       D. anxiously

37. A. heavier B. thicker       C. louder D. quieter

38. A. carefully      B. carelessly   C. casually      D. comfortably

39. A. heart                  B. apple  C. hand   D. foot

40. A. sign      B. smile  C. surprise      D. sigh

For 52 years my father got up every morning at 5:30 am, except Sunday, and went to work. He returned home at 5:30 pm, for dinner at 6:00 pm. I never remember my father having a night out with his children. All he asked from me as a daughter was to hold his hammer while he repaired something, just so we could have some time to talk to each other.

For 22 years, after I left home for college, my father called me every Sunday. Nine years ago, my father, 67 years old, spent three days painting my house. He asked me to hold the paint brush for him and talk to him. But I was too busy and I could not take the time to hold the paint brush, or talk to my father.

Five years ago, my father spent five hours making a swing（秋千）for my daughter. Again, all he asked me to do was to give him a glass of tea, and talk to him. But again, I had some clothes to wash, and the house to clean.

On January 16, 1996, my father telephoned me as usual, this time from my sister’s home in Florida. I had to get to church, and I cut the conversation short.

The call came at 4:40 pm. That day, my father was in hospital in Florida. I got on an airplane immediately, and on the way, I made up my mind that when I arrived, I would make up for the lost time, and have a nice long talk with him.

I arrived in Florida at 1:00 am, but my father had passed away at 9:12 pm. This time it was he who did not have time to talk, or time to wait for me.

1.

When the author was young, her father ______.

A. was busy with his work               B. disliked his children 

C. often talked to his children         D. never cared about his children

2.

 How old was the author’s father when he made a swing for his granddaughter?

A. 45.   　　　　　　B. 67.   　　　C. 71.    　　　　　　　D. 76.

3.

When painting the house, the father asked the author to hold a paint brush because ______.

A. he wanted to make his work easy        

B. he was too old to work all by himself

C. he just wanted his daughter to help him

D. he wanted to have a talk with his daughter

4.

The underlined phrase “passed away” in the last paragraph probably means “______”.

A. arrived   　　　　B. lost    　　　C. left    　　　　D. died

On a hot day, I decide to mow our extremely hilly lawn. It was likely to    21    a jungle（丛林）with weeds growing wildly. I need to mow it at once.

After several false    22      , I had to examine it and finally got our old lawn mower     23      . I was mowing and trying hard to push the machine uphill, which was really a hard job, for the machine was too old to work well. I was so   24  that I complained under my breath, so I decided to take a short break.

At the top of a rise, I   25  to see my 12-year-old John Thomas standing there, with a smile on his face and a glass of    26   in his hand.  "Here, Mom, "he said, "have a drink, Want me to help you? Dad   27  me work on hte flat places."

I  28   the ice water and went to sit in the      29   of a tall tree. As I took my drink, I   30     my son. To my surprise, he didn't seem to be    31    the normal mowing pattern. And he kept smiling at me   32    he worked. I wondered    33  made him so happy? I thought to myself.

After a while, he    34   mowing and looked in my direction. "Hey, Mom. Could you  35  here? "   "He's always　naughty like this, lazy again?" I said to myself    36     .  Then I stood up and walked across the lawn, noticing that he had missed a sizable spot. "John, you didn't..."  My angry words gradually became      37      , for the spot I thought he'd missed had been       38     mowed into the shape of a（an）   39   , suddenly I felt something warm and gentle rising from inside.

"Like it, Mom? It's mine and it's for you."  he asked with a big    40  .

"Now I'll finish the job."

For 52 years my father got up every morning at 5:30 am, except Sunday, and went to work. He returned home at 5:30 pm, for dinner at 6:00 pm. I never remember my father having a night out with his children. All he asked from me as a daughter was to hold his hammer while he repaired something, just so we could have some time to talk to each other.

For 22 years, after I left home for college, my father called me every Sunday. Nine years ago, my father, 67 years old, spent three days painting my house. He asked me to hold the paint brush for him and talk to him. But I was too busy and I could not take the time to hold the paint brush, or talk to my father.

Five years ago, my father spent five hours making a swing（秋千）for my daughter. Again, all he asked me to do was to give him a glass of tea, and talk to him. But again, I had some clothes to wash, and the house to clean.

On January 16, 1996, my father telephoned me as usual, this time from my sister’s home in Florida. I had to get to church, and I cut the conversation short.

The call came at 4:40 pm. That day, my father was in hospital in Florida. I got on an airplane immediately, and on the way, I made up my mind that when I arrived, I would make up for the lost time, and have a nice long talk with him.

I arrived in Florida at 1:00 am, but my father had passed away at 9:12 pm. This time it was he who did not have time to talk, or time to wait for me.

51. When the author was young, her father ______.

A. was busy with his work                      B. disliked his children 

C. often talked to his children                  D. never cared about his children

52. How old was the author’s father when he made a swing for his granddaughter?

A. 45.   　　　　　　B. 67.   　　　　　　C. 71.    　　　　　　　D. 76.

53. When painting the house, the father asked the author to hold a paint brush because ______.

A. he wanted to make his work easy     B. he was too old to work all by himself

C. he just wanted his daughter to help him   D. he wanted to have a talk with his daughter

54. The underlined phrase “passed away” in the last paragraph probably means “______”.

A. arrived   　　　　B. lost    　　　　　C. left    　　　　　　　D. died

Prolonging human life has increased the size of the human population. Many people alive today would have died of childhood diseases if they had been born 100 years ago. Because more people live longer, there are more people around at any given time. In fact, it is a decrease in death rates, not an increase in birthrates, that has led to the population explosion.

Prolonging human life has also increased the dependency load. In all societies, people who are disabled or too young or too old to work are dependent on the rest of society to provide for them. In hunting and gathering cultures, old people who could not keep up might be left behind to die. In times of famine, infants might be allowed to die because they could not survive if their parents starved, where as if the parents survived they could have another child. In most contemporary(当代的) societies, people feel a moral obligation to keep people alive whether they can work or not. We have a great many people today who live past the age at which they want to work or are able to work; we also have rules which require people to retire at a certain age. Unless these people were able to save money for their retirement, somebody else must support them. In the United States many retired people live on social security checks which are so little that they must live in near poverty. Older people have more illnesses than young or middle-aged people; unless they have wealth or private or government insurance, they must often “go on welfare” if they have a serious illness.

When older people become senile (衰老的) or too weak and ill to care for themselves, they create grave problems for their families. In the past and in some traditional cultures, they would be cared for at home until they died. Today, with most members of a household working or in school, there is often no one at home who can care for a sick or weak person. To meet this need, a great many nursing homes and convalescent (疗养的) hospitals have been built. These are often profit making organizations, although some are sponsored by religious and other nonprofit groups. While a few of these institutions are good, most of them are simply “dumping (倒垃圾的) grounds” for the dying in which “care” is given by poorly paid, overworked, and under skilled personnel.

It can be inferred from the passage that in hunting and gathering cultures _______.

A. it was a moral responsibility for the families to keep alive the aged people who could    not work

B. the survival of infants was less important than that of their parents in times of starvation

C. old people were given the task of imparting the cultural wisdom of the tribe to new generations

D. death was celebrated as a time of rejoicing for an individual freed of the hardships of life

According to the passage, which of the following statements about the old people in the United States is true?

A. Many of them live on social security money which is hardly enough.

B. Minority of them remain in a state of near poverty after their retirement.

C. When they reach a certain age, compulsory retirement is necessary and beneficial.

D. With the growing inflation, they must suffer more from unbearable burdens than ever.

The phrase “this need” in paragraph 3 refers to ________.

A. prolonging the dying old people’s lives

B. reducing the problems caused by the retired people

C. making profits through caring for the sick or weak people

D. taking care of the sick or weak people

Which of the following best describes the author’s attitude toward most of the nursing homes and convalescent hospitals?

A. Sympathetic.        B. Approving.         C. Optimistic.        D. Critical.