Some people were eating and drinking in a coffee house. A young woman was sitting alone at a table. She was wearing a beautiful diamond necklace. There was an ugly man at a table not far from her. He was looking at her necklace all the time.

Suddenly the lights went out. The coffee house was in darkness. The woman started to shout. She was very frightened. A few minutes later the lights came on again. The woman was crying. Her necklace was missing.

The manager quickly closed all the doors. He telephoned the police. No one could get out of the coffee house. The policemen soon came. The police inspector told his men to search everyone. The necklace was not on anyone. They then searched the whole coffee house. The necklace couldn’t be found.

The police inspector then looked at the faces of all the people in the coffee house. He saw the ugly man and looked at the man carefully. He went up to the man and picked up the bowl of soup that was on his table. He then poured the soup into a glass. The necklace fell out. The policemen caught hold of the man and took him away. The young woman was happy to get back her necklace.

1. A young woman lost her necklace in ______________.

A. a hospital      B. a shop    C. a coffee house    D. a restaurant

2.The manager closed all the doors and _______________.

A. searched everyone in the coffee house

B. searched the whole coffee house

C. telephoned the police

D. looked at all the people in the coffee house

3.The police inspector found the necklace in __________.

A. a cup of coffee                   B. a bowl of rice

C. a glass of milk                   D. a bowl of soup

4.The necklace was stolen by ___________.

A. a beautiful girl                   B. an old woman

C. a young student                 D. an ugly man

My mind went blank when I saw the gun pointing against the car window as we pulled out of the garage. This can’t be happening to me. Then I felt the gun, cold, against my head, and I heard my friend Jeremy saying, “What do you want? Take my wallet,” but at the time I thought of nothing.

I remember being a little annoyed when the gunman pulled me from the car by the hair. I remember the walk to the house --- Jeremy, me, the two men with two guns. I remember the fear and anger in the gunmen’s voices because Jeremy was being slow, and I remember wondering why he was being slow. I did not realize that Jeremy had thrown the keys into the bush. But I remember that sound of the gun hitting Jeremy’s head and the feeling as the man who had hold of my hair released me. And I remember the split second when I realized he was looking at Jeremy, and I remember wondering how far I could run before he pulled the trigger. But I was already running, and upon reaching the car across the street, I didn’t crouch(蹲伏) behind it but screamed instead.

I remember thinking there was something ridiculous and illogical about screaming “Help, help!” at eight o’clock on a Tuesday evening in December and changing my plea(恳求) to the more specific “Help, let me in, please let me in!” But the houses were cold, closed, unfriendly, and I ran on until I heard Jeremy’s screams behind me announcing that our attackers had fled.

The neighbors who had not opened their doors to us came out with baseball bats and helped Jeremy find his glasses and keys. In a group they were very brave. We waited for the police to come until someone said to someone else that the noodles were getting cold, and I said politely, “Please go and eat. We’re O.K.”

I was happy to see them go. They had been talking of stricter sentences for criminals, of bringing back the death penalty(处罚) and how the President is going to clean up the country. I was thinking, they could be saying all of this over my dead body, and I still feel that stiffer sentences wouldn’t change a thing. In a rush all the anger I should have felt for my attackers was directed against these contented people standing in front of their warm, comfortable homes talking about all the guns they were going to buy. What good would guns have been to Jeremy and me?

People all over the neighborhood had called to report our screams, and the police turned out in force twenty minutes later. They were ill-tempered about what was, to them, much trouble about nothing. After all, Jeremy was hardly hurt, and we were hopeless when it came to describing the gunmen. “Typical,” said one policeman when we couldn’t even agree on how tall the men were. Both of us were able to describe the guns in horrifying detail, but the two policemen who stayed to make the report didn’t think that would be much help.

The policemen were matter-of-fact about the whole thing. The thin one said, “That was a stupid thing to do, throwing away the keys. When a man has a gun against your head you do what you’re told.” Jeremy looked properly embarrassed.

Then the fat policeman came up and the thin one went to look around the outside of the house. “That was the best thing you could have done, throwing away the keys,” he said. “If you had gone into the house with them…” His voice became weaker. “They would have hurt her” --- he twisted his head toward me – “and killed you both.” Jeremy looked happier. “Look,” said the fat policeman kindly, “there’s no right or wrong in the situation. There’s just luck.”

All that sleepless night I replayed the moment those black gloves came up to the car window. How long did the whole thing last? Three minutes, five, eight? No matter how many hours of my life I may spend reliving it, I know there is no way to prepare for the next time --- no intelligent response to a gun. The fat cop was right. There’s only luck. The next time I might end up dead.

And I’m sure there will be a next time. It can happen anywhere, anytime, to anyone. Security is an illusion(幻觉); there is no safety in locks or in guns. Guns make some people feel safe and some people feel strong, but they’re fooling themselves.

1. When the writer saw the gun pointing against the car window, ______.

A. she felt very annoyed              B. she lost consciousness

C. she felt very much nervous          D. she lost the power of thinking

2.What most possibly drove the two gunmen away?

A. Jeremy’s fighting                B. The author’s screaming

C. Their neighbour’s brave action      D. The police’s arrival

3.When the author called for help, the neighbors didn’t come out immediately because ______

A. they were much too frightened

B. they were busy preparing dinners

C. they needed time to find baseball bats

D. they thought someone was playing a trick

4.The author was happy to see the neighbors go because ______.

A. she hated to listen to their empty talk

B. she did not want to become an object of pity

C. she was angered by their being late to come to her help

D. she wanted to be left alone with Jeremy to get over the shock

5.The police were rather angry because ______.

A. the author was not hurt and gave a false alarm

B. they thought it was a case of little importance

C. the author and Jeremy could not tell the police anything

D. the gunmen had already fled when they arrived on the scene

6.What the author wants to tell us is that______.

A. neighbors are not helpful in moments of difficulty

B. the police are not reliable when one is in trouble

C. security is impossible as long as people can have guns

D. preventing robbers entering your house is the best choice

The policemen are searching _____ every house _____ the thief.

One night Mr. Lee was driving his wife home from work. She was a staff nurse in a hospital. It was almost midnight and she was quite tired out. She soon fell asleep. Mr Lee looked at her and smiled.

Mr. Lee was a cautious and experienced driver. He knew it was safer to drive slowly on a dark night. After some time he noticed a car following him. It was traveling very fast. Suddenly it overtook his car.

The driver of the car was in a hurry. He did not see the approaching lorry(货车). To avoid hitting it, he swerved his car. It skidded off the road and hit a big tree. The driver and his passenger were injured. They were badly cut by glass splinter from the broken windscreen.

Mr. Lee quickly stopped his car by the side of the road. His wife got out of the car to help the injured men. The lorry driver also stopped to lend a helping hand. Mr. Lee immediately drove off to telephone the police.

About twenty- five minutes later, a police car and an ambulance arrived. The injured men were carried into the ambulance and taken to hospital.

The policemen took down details of the accident. Mr. Lee and the lorry driver told them all that they could remember. The policemen thanked them for their help. Mr. and Mrs. Lee then got into their car and continued their journey home.

1.Mrs. Lee fell asleep in the car because_____.

A. she was very tired

B. her husband was driving very slowly

C. it was too late

D. both A and C

2. When the accident happened, the other car was _____.

A. in front of Lee’s car              B. behind Lee’s car

C. on the right side of Lee’s car       D. on the left side of Lee’s car

3.To avoid hitting it, the driver swerved his car. "Swerved" means_____.

A stopped suddenly                B. turned to one side

C. drove faster                      D. turned around

I have only once been in trouble with the law. The whole process of being arrested and taken to court was a rather unpleasant experience at the time, but it makes a good story now. What makes it rather disturbing was the arbitrary circumstances both of my arrest and my subsequent? fate in court.

It happened in February about twelve years ago. I had left school a couple of months before that and was not due to go to university until the following October. I was still living at home at the time.

One morning I was in Richmond, a suburb of London near where I lived. I was looking for a temporary job so that I could save up some money to go traveling. As it was a fine day and I was in no hurry, I was taking my time, looking in shop windows, strolling in the park, and sometimes just stopping and looking around me. It must have been this obvious aimlessness that led to my downfall.

It was about half past eleven when it happened. I was just walking out of the local library, having unsuccessfully sought employment there, when I saw a man walking across the road with the obvious intention of talking to me. I thought he was going to ask me the time. Instead, he said he was a police officer and he was arresting me. At first I thought it was some kind of joke.

But then another policeman appeared, this time in uniform, and I was left in no doubt.

“But what for?” I asked.

“Wandering with intent to commit an arrestable offence.” he said.

“What offence?” I asked.

“Theft.” he said.

“Theft of what?” I asked.

“Milk bottles,” he said, and with a perfectly straight face too!

“Oh,” I said.

It turned out there had been a lot of petty thefts in the area, particularly that of stealing milk bottles from doorsteps.

Then I made my big mistake. At the time I was nineteen, had long untidy hair, and regarded myself as part of the sixties’ “youth counterculture”. As a result, I wanted to appear cool and unconcerned with the incident, so I said, “How long have you been following me?” in the most casual and conversational tone I could manage. I thus appeared to them to be quite familiar with this sort of situation, and it confirmed them in their belief that I was a thoroughly disreputable （品行不端的）character.

????????????? A few minutes later a police car arrived.

????????????? “Get in the back,” they said. “Put your hands on the back of the front seat and don’t move them.”

????????????? They got in on either side of me. It wasn’t funny any more.

????????????? At the police station they questioned me for several hours. I continued to try to look worldly and familiar with the situation. When they asked me what I had been doing, I told them I’d been looking for a job. “Aha,” I could see them thinking, “unemployed”.

Eventually, I was officially charged and told to report to Richmond Magistrates’ Court the following Monday. Then they let me go.

I wanted to conduct my own defense in court, but as soon as my father found out what had happened, he hired a very good lawyer. We went along that Monday armed with all kinds of witnesses, including my English teacher from school as a character witness. But he was never called on to give evidence. My “trial” didn’t get that far. The magistrate （法官） dismissed the case after fifteen minutes. I was free. The poor police had never stood a chance. The lawyer even succeeded in getting costs awarded against the police.

And so I do not have a criminal record. But what was most shocking at the time was the things my release from the charge so clearly depended on. I had the “right” accent, respectable middle-class parents in court, reliable witnesses, and I could obviously afford a very good lawyer. Given the obscure nature of the charge, I feel sure that if I had come from a different background, and had really been unemployed, there is every chance that I would have been found guilty. While asking for costs to be awarded, my lawyer’s case quite obviously revolved （回转） around the fact that I had a “brilliant academic record”.

Meanwhile, just outside the courtroom, one of the policemen who had arrested me was gloomily complaining to my mother that another youngster had been turned against the police. “You could have been a bit more helpful when we arrested you,” he said to me reproachfully （责备地）.

What did he mean? Probably that I should have looked outraged and said something like, “Look here, do you know who you’re talking to? I am a highly successful student with a brilliant academic record. How dare you arrest me!” Then they, probably, would have apologized perhaps even taken off their caps, and let me on my way.

1.Judging from the first paragraph, the writer’s attitude towards his story is _______.

A. angry????? ????????????? ????????????? ????????????? ????????????? B. sad?????? ?????????????

C. amused?????? ????????????? ????????????? ????????????? ????????????? D. more than just one of the above

2.The first man who came up to him was ______.

A. a uniformed policeman???????????????? ????????????? B. a policeman in plainclothes

C. not a policeman?????????????????????? ????????????? D. a good joker

3.The court never asked the author’s English teacher to give evidence because _______.

A. the time for the trial was limited to fifteen minutes only

B. the author wanted to conduct his own defense in court

C. the case was dismissed before the trial reached that stage

D. he was found to be unqualified as a character witness

4.The author believes that he would most probably have been declared guilty if _______.

A. the magistrate had been less gentle?????? ?????????????

B. he had really been out of work

C. he had been born in a lower— class family ?????????????

D. both B and C

5. In the opinion of one of the policeman who had arrested the author, the whole thing might not have occurred if ______.

A. he had protested strongly at the time???? ?????????????

B. he had begged to be allowed to go home

C. he hadn’t wandered aimlessly?????????? ?????????????

D. he had tried to look cool

6.We can see from the passage that the author ______.

A. has broken the law only once

B. has never broken the law

C. has broken the law on more than one occasion

D. once broke the law without knowing it