(2013·高考天津卷)While she was in Paris，she developed a ________ for fine art.

A．way 　　　　　　　 B．relation

C．taste 　　　　　D．habit

One day a rabbit ran into an elephant. "Hello," said the rabbit. "Fine day, isn’t it?" The elephant stopped to look down at the tiny(小的) creature and shouted. "Leave me alone. I don’t have the time to waste on someone so small." The rabbit was shocked by the elephant’s words. Then he decided to ask the whale(鲸鱼) what she thought about the elephant’s rudeness. But the whale laughed at this tiny animal. The rabbit said, "You think that I am weak, but in fact, I am strong! I can beat you at Tug-of-War (拔河比赛)." The whale looked at him for a moment before bursting into laughter. "Very well, little one. Go and get a rope," she said. The rabbit ran off to find a strong and thick rope. Then he went to the elephant, "Elephant, I will beat you at a game of Tug-of-War." The elephant laughed loudly, but agreed to challenge the tiny animal. He tied the rope around his huge waist. The rabbit took the other end and ran away. He called back to the elephant, "When I say 'pull’, you start pulling. "The rabbit took the other end of the rope to the whale, "Tie this to your tail and when I say 'pull’，you swim." The whale tied the rope to her tail after laughing at the rabbit’s foolishness. Then the rabbit called out "PULL!" The elephant and the whale began pulling. After a while, they were too tired to continue. The elephant and the whale never knew how such a tiny creature could beat them. But from that day on, they said "hello" to the little rabbit with great respect whenever they met.

1.Why did the rabbit want a game of Tug-of-War?

　  A. He wanted to show he was the best.

  　B. He knew that he could do well in this game.

 　 C. He wanted to get respect from the elephant and the whale.

  　D. He wanted to prove he wasn’t the tiniest animal.

2.What do you think of the rabbit according to the story?

  　A. Smart and brave.              B. Tiny and stupid.

  　C. Pride and naughty.             D. Poor and weak.

3.Why did the elephant and the whale lose the game?

　　A. They didn’t prepare for it.

　　B. They were not as strong as the rabbit.

　　C. They were too impolite to the little rabbit.

　　D. They actually fought with each other but not the rabbit.

4.Which statement is TRUE according to the passage?

　　A. The elephant was pleased to talk to the rabbit at first.

　　B. It was the whale who suggested having a game of Tug-of-War.

　　C. The rabbit was stronger than both the whale and the elephant.

　　D. The whale and the elephant began to respect the rabbit from then on.

There are two types of people in the world. Although they have equal degree of health and wealth and other comforts of life, one becomes happy, the other becomes unhappy. This arises from the different ways in which they consider things, persons, events and the resulting effects upon their minds.

People who are to be happy fix their attention on the convenience of things. The pleasant parts of conversation, the well prepared dishes, the goodness of the wine, the fine weather. They enjoy all the cheerful things. Those who are to be unhappy think and speak only of the opposite things. Therefore, they are continually dissatisfied. By their remarks, they sour the pleasure of society, offend(or hurt) many people, and make themselves disagreeable everywhere. If this turn of mind was founded in nature, such unhappy persons would be the more to be pitied. The intention of criticizing and being disliked is perhaps taken up by imitation. It grows into a habit, unknown to its possessors. The habit may be strong, but it may be cured when those who have it realize its bad effects on their interests and tastes. I hope this little warning may be of service to them, and help them change this habit.

Although in fact it is chiefly an act of the imagination, it has serious results in life since it brings on deep sorrow and bad luck. Those people offend many others; nobody loves them, and no one treats them with more than the most common politeness and respect. This frequently puts them in bad temper and draws them into arguments. If they aim at getting some advantages in social position or fortune, nobody wishes them success. Nor will anyone start a step or speak a word to favor their hopes. If they bring on themselves public objections, no one will defend or excuse them, and many will join to criticize their wrongdoings. These should change this bad habit and be pleased with what is pleasing, without worrying needlessly about themselves and others. If they do not, it will be good for others to avoid any contact with them. Otherwise, it can be disagreeable and sometimes very inconvenient, especially when one becomes mixed up in their quarrels.

1.The phrase“sour the pleasure of society” most nearly means__________.

A.make others unhappy               B. have a good taste with social life　

C. tend to scold others openly       　　   D. enjoy the pleasure of life

2.We can conclude from the passage that__________.

A. such unhappy people are dangerous to social life  B. people can get rid of the habit of unhappiness 

C. we should pity all such unhappy people  

D. unhappy people can not understand happy persons

3.If such unhappy persons insist on keeping the habit, the author suggests that people should ______.

A. show no respect and politeness to them    

B. prevent any communication with them

C. persuade them to recognize the bad effects

D. quarrel with them until they realize the mistakes

4.In this passage, the writer mainly________.

A. describes two types of people　　        B. laughs at the unhappy people

C.tells people how to be happy in life      D. suggests ways to help them unhappy

The telephone rang in the police station at Richmond, California , USA.
“Police station? A train for Santa Fe hit a truck at the McDonald Street Crossing. Please ____21____ there at once. With an ambulance, too. A man is badly ____22_____.” said an anxious voice of a young woman. “ And you know I am the ….”
“Please wait! Hi! Hi!” the policeman kept on ____23____ though the line was cut off. Within a minute , a police car and an ambulance car started off. Before long they got to the crossing, but they ___24____everything was fine. No accident, no wounded man.
“What a dirty trick!” said the policeman ____25____. “ We must find out that bad___26_____ and …..”They were just talking about the _____27___when they heard the whistle of a train which was nearing them quickly. All of a sudden, a truck appeared. It came ___28_____towards them, too. When the truck was passing the crossing, it suddenly ____29___ to move on. Right then and there, before the eyes of all the policemen __30_______, the train hit the truck heavily and ___31____it dozens of meters away.
When Randolph Bruce, the driver, was ___32_____ out of the damaged truck, he was seriously wounded just as the young woman had told on the phone. As he was taken to the ___33______ in time, his life was saved
Later the police did whatever they could to _____34___the woman who had telephoned them. It turned out that the woman was a very excellent police officer working far in the neighboring state, who had got the first-hand ____35_____ of this crime as described above.

The Great Fire of London started in the very early hours of September 2, 1666. In four days it destroyed more than three-quarters of the old city, where most of the houses were wooden and close together. Over one hundred people became homeless, but only a few lost their lives .
　　The fire started on Sunday morning in the house of the King’s baker（面包师）in Pudding Lane. The baker, with his wife and family, was able to get out through a window into the roof. A strong wind blew the fire from the bakery（面包房）into a small hotel next door. Then it spread quickly into Thames Street. That was the beginning.
　　By eight o’clock three hundred houses were on fire. On Monday nearly a kilometer of the city was burning along the River Thames. Tuesday was the worst day. The fire destroyed many well-known buildings, old St Paul’s and the Guildhall among them .
　　Samuel Pepys , the famous writer, writer about the fire, “People threw their things into the river. Many poor people stayed in their houses until the last moment. Birds fell out of the air because of the heat .”
　　The fire stopped only when the King finally ordered people to destroy hundreds of buildings in the path（路径） of the fire.With nothing left to burn, the fire became weak and finally died out.
　　After the fire, Christopher Wren, the architect(建筑师), wanted a city with wider streets and fine new houses of stone．In fact, the streets are still narrow, but he did build more than fifty churches, among which was the new St Paul’s
　　The fire caused great pain and loss, but after it London was a better place: a city for the future and not just of the past.
【小题1】The underlined word‘family’in the second paragraph probably means____.