—How long have you been working as an assistant here?

—__________I finished middle school.

In 1883, an imaginative engineer named John Roebling decided to build a spectacular bridge connecting New York with Long Island. However bridge building experts throughout the world thought that this was a pipe dream. It was not practical. It had never been done before.

       But Roebling refused to listen to them. He thought about the bridge day and night and he knew deep in his heart that it could be done. After much discussion and persuasion he convinced his son Washington, who was a promising engineer himself, that the bridge in fact could be built.

      Working together for the first time, the father and son developed concepts of how it could be accomplished. With great excitement, they hired their crew and began to build their dream bridge.

       The project started well, but several months after it began, a tragic accident on the site took the life of John Roebling. Washington was so seriously injured that he was never able to walk, talk or even move again.

       "We told them so", "Crazy men and their crazy dreams", "It's foolish to chase wild visions", the critics said and most thought the project should be scrapped since the Roeblings were the only ones who knew how the bridge could be built. In spite of his handicap Washington still had a burning desire to complete the bridge and his mind was still as sharp as ever.

       Washington's wife tried to inspire and pass on her husband's enthusiasm to some of his friends, but they were too daunted by the task. As he lay in his hospital room, an idea suddenly hit him. All he could do was move one finger and he decided to make the best use of it. By moving this finger and tapping it on his wife's arm, he slowly developed a code to communicate with her. Then he used this method to tell his wife what the engineers should do. It seemed crazy but the project was under way again. For 13 years Washington tapped out his instructions with his finger on his wife's arm, until the bridge was finally completed.

Today the spectacular Brooklyn Bridge stands in all its glory as a tribute to the triumph of one man's spirit and his determination not to be defeated by circumstances.

1．What did most people think about Roebling's idea to build the bridge?

     A．It would never become a reality.

      B．Washington was not experienced enough.

     C．It would take a lot of time.

     D．Finding the money would be impossible.

2．The underlined word `daunted' (para. 6) is closest in meaning to ‘ ______’.

     A．unpleasant        B．scared            C．amazed              D．determined

3．Which of the following shows the correct order of the events that happened in the story?

     a．Roebling convinced his son.

     b．Washington found a new way to communicate.

     c．They hired the crew.

     d．The bridge was completed.

     e. Roebling wanted to build a bridge.

     f. There was a tragic accident.

      A．e, a, c, f, d, b                                 B．e, a, f, b, c, d    C．e, f, a, b, c, d    D．e, a, c, f, b, d

4．What can we learn about Washington's wife?

     A．She knew sign language very well.

     B．She was devoted to her husband.

     C．She developed a code to communicate with her husband.

     D．She helped her husband design the plan.

5．What does the story tell us?

     A．Success will come with the passing of time.

     B．Struggles are exactly what we need in our lives.

     C．Even the most distant dream can be realized with a never-say-die attitude.

     D．The people who make a difference in our life should be remembered forever.

阅读理解

It was a very hot summer Sunday. Most of the neighbors were indoors with air-conditioners and color TVs going on. Suddenly, there was a power failure. After about half an hour, most houses had lost their pleasing coolness and people began to come outdoors in search for a gentle breeze. Before long, everyone was sharing all kinds of soft drinks and iced tea or coffee. Food began to appear, someone brought some small tables, and a natural block party developed. All around me, people were talking and laughing, and no one seemed to care that the power is still off. Nor did the spirit of the party die with the end of the evening. We since have organized a block football team and a number of clubs. Ever since that power failure, our neighborhood had been a more pleasant place to live in.

1．On that particular day people came out in order to ________.

[　　]

2．From this passage we can infer that people in this neighborhood ________.

[　　]

A．like to have block parties on Sundays

B．often have power failures on Sundays

C．are all close friends

D．get on better than before

3．Which of the following statements is TRUE?

[　　]

A．The air-conditioners and color TVs were broken one night.

B．It is the power failure that brought people in the neighborhood together.

C．The block party didn't stop until the next morning.

D．The power failure lasted for about half an hour.

4．The best title of this passage should be ________.

[　　]

A．The Pleasure of the Power Failure

B．The Trouble of the Power Failure

C．The Harm of the Power Failure

D．The Unexpected Gains of the Power Failure

Our house was directly across the street from the clinic entrance of John Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore. We lived downstairs and rented the upstairs rooms to the patients at the clinic.
One evening as I was fixing supper, there was a knock at the door. I opened it to see a truly awful looking man. He’s hardly taller than my eight-year-old son. “Good evening. I’ve come to see if you’ve a room. I came for a treatment this morning from the eastern shore, and there’s no bus till morning.” He told me he’d been hunting for a room since noon but with no success. “I guess it’s my face... I know it looks terrible, but my doctor says with a few more treatments...” For a moment I hesitated, but his next words convinced me: “I could sleep in this chair on the porch. My bus leaves early in the morning.”
I told him we would find him a bed. When I had finished the dishes, I talked with him. He told me he fished for a living to support his five children, and his wife, who was hopelessly crippled（残疾的）from a back injury. He didn’t tell it by way of complaint. Next morning, just before he left, as if asking a great favor, he said, “Could I come back and stay the next time?” He added, “Your children made me feel at home. ”
On his next trip he arrived a little after seven in the morning. As a gift, he brought a big fish and the largest oysters（牡蛎）I had ever seen. I knew his bus left at 4:00 a. m. and I wondered what time he had to get up in order to do this for us.
In the years he came to stay overnight with us and there was never a time that he did not bring us vegetables from his garden. I know our family always will be grateful to have known him; from him we learned how to accept the bad without complaint when facing the misfortune

1. 1.

   Why did the author agree to let the man spend the night in his house at last?

   1. A.
      Because the man said others refused to accommodate him
   2. B.
      Because the man said he would not cause much inconvenience
   3. C.
      Because the man said he had come from the eastern shore
   4. D.
      Because the man said he had been hunting for a room since noon
2. 2.

   How long would it take the man to travel from his home to Baltimore by bus?

   1. A.
      About 1 hour．
   2. B.
      About 2 hours．
   3. C.
      About 3 hours．
   4. D.
      About 4 hours．
3. 3.

   From the text we can know that_____________．

   1. A.
      the author’s children were kind and friendly to the man
   2. B.
      the man was fed up with his hard-work and his family
   3. C.
      John Hopkins Hospital provided rooms-for the patients to live in
   4. D.
      the author and his family were thought highly of by his neighbors
4. 4.

   The author’s family were grateful to know the man because__________．

   1. A.
      he often brought them fish and vegetables from his garden
   2. B.
      he paid them money for his staying
   3. C.
      he taught them how to accept the bad without complaint
   4. D.
      he stayed only overnight with the writer’s family