E
Are you worried by the rising crime rate? If you are, then you probably know that your house, possessions and person are increasingly in danger of suffering from the great rise in the cases of burglary(入室行窃) and attack.
Figures indicate an ever- increasing crime rate but it is only too easy to imagine “it will never happen to me”. Unfortunately, numbers show that it really can happen to you and, if you live in a large city, you run twice the risk of being a victim(受害者).
Fortunately, there is something which you can do. Protect Alarms can help to protect your house with a burglar alarm system which is effective, simple to operate and easy to buy.
You must remember that possessing a burglar alarm is no indication that your house is filled with valuable possessions. It quite simply indicates to unwelcome visitors that yours is one house they will not break into easily so they carry on to an unprotected house where their job is made a lot easier.
Send now for our free leaflet(小册) telling you how we can Protect Alarm your house quickly, easily and cheaply. Complete and tear off the slip below and post it to us. Postage is free. Or telephone us on 327 6721 where we have a round-the-clock answering service, through which you can get the information any time you want. It costs nothing to find out about Protect Alarms.
72. It seems that people who live in large cities are ________.
A.more often sufferers than those living in other areas
B.of the opinion that numbers are wrong
C.twice as rich as people living in other areas
D.too poor to afford the protect system
73. The writers of this text want to give the impression that the PROTECT ALARMS system is _________.
A. free of charge      B. easy to use       C. complex       D. lasting
74. The article shows that having an alarm system will _______.
A.show burglars that you have something worth stealing
B.persuade burglars not to break into your house
C.make the burglar’s job less difficult
D.persuade burglars to try again another time.
75. In order to find out more information about this alarm system, one can _______.
A. buy a leaflet              B. write enclosing a stamped, addressed envelope
C. sign an agreement          D. phone at any time of day or night

In the dining room of my grandfather’s house stood a massive grandfather clock. Meals in that dining room were a   1 for four generations to become one. The table was always   2 with food from wonderful family recipes（食谱）all containing   3 as the main ingredient（成分）. And always that grandfather clock stood like a trusted old family   4 , sharing our happiness.

As I was a child, the old clock  5 me. I watched and listened to it during meals. I   6 how at different times of the day, that clock would strike with a wonderful   7 . Year after year, the clock struck a part of my   8  , a part of my heart.

Even more wonderful to me was what my grandfather did each day. He  9 wound that clock with a special and magic key, which   10 the clock ticking and striking. He never let that clock wind down and   11 . When we grandkids got a little older, he showed us how to   12 the clock.

Several days after my grandfather died, I entered the dining room, with tears flowing   13 . The clock stood desertedly  14 , seeming smaller and not as magnificent as before. I couldn’t   15 to look at it.

Years later, my grandmother gave me the clock and the key. The old house was quiet. I opened the clock door with my shaking hand. Then   16 , reverently（虔诚地）, I entered the key and wound the clock. It sprang to  17 . Tick – tock , tick – tock, life and chimes were  18 into the dining room, into house and into my  19 . In the movement of the hands of the clock, my grandfather  20 again.

C

One Sunday, my family had gathered at my parents’ house to feast upon Mom’s wonderful cooking. During the normal dinner chatter (闲聊), I noticed that my father was slurring (说话含混) his words. No one mentioned this during dinner, but I felt compelled to discuss it with my mother afterward.

We decided that there was something seriously wrong and that Dad needed to see the doctor.

Mom phoned me two days later. “The doctor found a brain tumor (肿瘤). It’s too large at this point to operate. Maybe they can do something then, but the odds are long.”

Even with the treatment, my father’s condition worsened, and the doctor finally informed us that this condition was terminal (晚期的). During one of his stays in the hospital, we brought our baby daughter Chelsey with us when we visited him. By this time he had great difficulty speaking. I finally figured out that he wanted Chelsey to sit on his stomach so he could make faces at her.

Watching the two of them together, I realized I was living an experience that would stay with me forever. Though grateful for the times they could share, I couldn’t shake the feeling of a clock ticking in the background.?

On the visit to my parents’ home during what we all know was my father’s last days, my mother took Chelsey from my arms and announced, “Your father would like to see you alone for a minute.”

I entered the bedroom where my father lay on a rented hospital bed. He appeared even weaker than the day before.

“How are you feeling, Dad?” I asked. “Can I do anything for you?”

He tried to speak, but he couldn’t make out a word.

“I’m sorry, but I can’t understand you,” I said.

With great difficulty he said, “I love you.”

We don’t learn courage from heroes on the evening news. We learn true courage from watching ordinary people rise above hopeless situations. In many ways my father was a strict, uncommunicative man. He found it difficult to show emotion. The bravest thing I ever saw him do was overcome that barrier to open his heart to his son and family at the end of his life.

1.Which of the following statements is TRUE?

A．The writer accompanied his father to a medical examination.

B．The writer’s father got worse after the removal of the brain tumor.

C．The writer was quick to notice the strange condition of his father.

D．The writer’s father had known about his illness before the writer discovered it.

2. What does the underlined sentence “the odds are long” mean?

A．There’s little possibility for Father to recover.

B．It takes a long time for Father to recover.

C．Father needs love and care from his family.

D．They need a proper time to operate on Father.

3.The father had never said “I love you” to the writer before because ________.

A．he believed in strictness and punishment

B．he was not so attached to the writer

C．he thought there was no need to tell the writer

D．he was not used to openly showing his emotions

4.What does the writer attempt to tell us?

A．We don’t often value health until we lose it.

B．Don’t wait to see a doctor till it is too late.

C．Life is short, so live your life to the fullest.

D．Bravely express your love for your family.

Mary was seven years old. Her parents recently moved to a new town, and so Mary was going to a 36   school, which was a few kilometers from the house they lived in now. A school bus going around picked up 37 every morning and brought them back to their  38  every afternoon, and as both of Mary’s parents  39 to go to work, she always went on this bus.

Mary’s parents always 40  their alarm clock for seven o’clock so that none of them would be 41   . But one morning the alarm  42  to go off, and it was not until a quarter past eight that Mary’s mother suddenly 43  , looked at the clock and said, “What’s ever happened to that clock?” and then 44   into Mary’s room to wake her up.

“I’m sorry, dear,” she said, “ 45 you’ll have to wash and dress very quickly, have an even  46 breakfast and then I’ll  47  you to school on my way to the office.”

“But how can you find the   48, Mum?” Mary said, “You’ve been to school only once.”

“Yes,” her mother answered, “but you’ve done the   49   several times now on the bus, so you can be my guide to get there, can’t you?”

“Oh, yes,” said Mary, “I suppose so.” She washed, and  50  and had a quick breakfast, and then they set off. Mary told her mother to turn each time they came to a place she 51  .In this way she made her mother drive round most of the town   52  they got to her school. When they arrived, her mother saw that it was not really very far from her house.

“Why ever did you make me go such a long way round, Mary, instead of the most    53    way?” her mother asked her.

“Well, Mum,” answered Mary, “it was because I didn’t know   54  else to get here. That’s the way our bus always goes to   55   the other children to school.

A mouse looked through a hole in the wall to see the farmer and his wife opening a package. What food might it contain? He was astonished to discover that it was a mouse trap!
　　Running to the farmyard, the mouse shouted, warning, “There is a mouse trap in the house; there is a mouse trap in the house.” The chicken with her head high, said, “Shut up, Little Ugly. This is a great concern to you, but it has nothing to do with me; I cannot be bothered by it.”
The mouse turned to the pig and told him, “There is a mouse trap in the house.” “I am so very sorry, Mr. Mouse,” said the pig, “but there is nothing I can do about it but pray; you are always  in my prayers.”
　　The mouse turned to the cow, who said, “A mouse trap; am I in great danger, huh?”
So the mouse had to face the farmer’s mouse trap alone.
　　That very night a sound was heard through the house, like the sound of a mouse trap catching its prey. The farmer’s wife rushed to see what was caught. In the darkness, she did not see that it was a poisonous snake whose tail the trap had caught. The snake bit the farmer’s wife. The farmer rushed her to the hospital.
She returned home with a fever. It is said that drinking fresh chicken soup will help treat fever, so the farmer took his sharp knife to the farmyard for the soup’s main ingredient. His wife’s sickness continued so that friends and neighbors came to sit with her around the clock. To feed them, the farmer killed the pig. 　　The farmer’s wife did not get well, in fact, she died, and so many people came for her funeral. The farmer had the cow killed to provide meat for all of them to eat.
So next time someone is facing a problem, don’t say that has nothing to do with you.
【小题1】We could see from the passage that the mouse was______.