That afternoon Molly almost danced along the street, as she walked home with her father from the station. They had seen Mrs. Gibson and Cynthia off to London. She wished her stepmother would take herself off to London much more often.

“Well now, Dad.” she said, “I’m going to have you all to myself for a whole week. You must be very obedient（服从的，听话的）.”

“I hope you aren’t going to boss me, Molly. You’re walking me out of breath already. We mustn’t pass Mrs. Goodmays in our hurry.” They crossed the street to speak to Mrs. Goodmays, one of the doctor’s patients. “We’ve just been seeing my wife and daughter off to London. They’ve gone up for a week.”

“Dear me, to London, and only for a week!” said Mrs. Goodmays, with surprise. “It seems hardly worth the packing. It’ll be lonely for you,  Molly, without your stepsister.”

“Yes,” said Molly, suddenly feeling as if she ought to have taken this view of the case “I’ll miss Cynthia.” 

“And you, Dr. Gibson, I hope you won’t feel like widower(鳏夫) once again. You must come and have supper with me one evening. What about Tuesday?”

Dr. Gibson felt a sharp blow on his leg from the toe of Molly’s shoe, but even so he accepted the invitation, much to the old lady’s satisfaction.

A moment later Molly said to him, “How could you go and waste one of our precious evenings! We’ve only go five now. I’ve been planning all sorts of things for us two tonight.” “What sort of things?”

“Oh, I don’t know. Things you used to like.” She looked at him fearlessly. “Forbidden things now.”

Her father’s eyes lit up, but his face remained serious. “I’m got going to be pulled down, Molly. With hard work and sensible guidance I’ve reached a very height of civilized behavior, and there I’m going to stay.”

“Oh, no, you are not. We’re having bread and cheese for supper tonight, in armchairs in front  of the TV! And you shall wear you dressing-gown at breakfast tomorrow-and every morning for a week! And you shall read the paper at the dining table! That’s only a start. I haven’t finished by a long way yet.”

1．What were Molly’s feelings as they walked home?

A．She wished she had gone to London too.

B．She was pleased to be alone with her father.

C．She was looking forward to meeting Mrs. Goodmays.

D．She hated being apart from Cynthia.

2．From the underlined sentence in the 4th paragraph, we can know that Mrs. Goodmays thought

    _____________.

A．Mr. Gibson should have gone with them

B．Mr. Gibson would be a widower again

C．Mrs. Gibson should stay in London longer

D．Mrs. Gibson should have taken Molly with them

3．From the passage we can be certain that ____________.

A．Mrs. Gibson is strict with her husband and daughters

B．Mrs. Gibson has no children of her own

C．Mrs. Gibson never treated Molly well

D．Mr. Gibson is not satisfied with his present life

4．When Molly kicked her father, ___________.

A．she wanted him to turn down the invitation

B．she meant she didn’t expect the return of Cynthia

C．it seemed to have been a pure accident

D．it showed she was pleased to have been invited

Terry was a middle-aged leather trader whose repeated failure in career made him a depressed man, often  1   that he had been cheated by others．One day he told his wife he was so   2   with the city that he had to leave．

       So his family moved to another city．It was the   3   of a weekend．When Terry and his wife were busily occupied in tidying up their new home, the light suddenly   4  ．Terry was regretful to have forgotten bringing along   5   and had to wait   6   in a low mood．Just then he heard light, hesitant   7   on his door that were clearly audible （听到） in the   8  night．

       “Who’s it?” he wondered．Since Terry was a   9   in this city, and this was the moment he especially hated to be   10  ．So he went to the door and opened it   11  ．At the door was a little girl, shyly asking, “Sir．do you have candles? I’m your neighbor．” “No,” answered Terry in anger and shut the door   12  ．“What a nuisance （讨厌）,” he complained over it with his wife．“No sooner had we settled down than the neighbor came to   13   things．”

       After a while, the door was knocked again．He opened it and found the same girl outside．  14   this time she was   15  two candles, saying, “My grandma told me the new neighbor downstairs might need candles．She   16   me here to give you these．” Terry was struck dumb （目瞪口呆） by what he   17  ．

       At that moment he suddenly realized what caused his   18   in life．It was his   19   and harshness （刻薄） with other people．The person who had cheated him in life was   20   nobody else but himself, for his eyes had been blurred （蒙蔽） by his unsympathetic （无情的） mind．

1．A．complaining           B．reflecting             C．praying               D．pretending

2．A．inspired                B．disappointed         C．thrilled                D．encouraged

3．A．morning                B．moment            C．afternoon            D．evening

4．A．went on               B．went down       C．went out             D．went through

5．A．candles                 B．matches              C．lights                  D．flashlights

6．A．happily                  B．patiently              C．willingly              D．helplessly

7．A．steps                    B．words               C．knocks                D．screams

8．A．dark                     B．quiet                   C．noisy                  D．crowded

9．A．newcomer             B．guest                   C．neighbor              D．settler

10．A．offered                B．disturbed             C．embarrassed        D．surprised

11．A．cheerfully            B．confidently          C．impatiently        D．absurdly

12．A．gently                 B．deliberately       C．slightly                D．heavily

13．A．lend                    B．sell                      C．purchase             D．borrow

14．A．And                    B．But                     C．So                      D．For

15．A．holding                B．hiding               C．fetching              D．seeking

16．A．suggested            B．forbad              C．sent                    D．forced

17．A．felt                  B．smelt                 C．heard               D．saw

18．A．failure                 B．success               C．attempt               D．determination

19．A．warmth               B．coldness              C．kindness              D．influence

20．A．probably         B．hardly           C．actually           D．especially

Bill Javis took over our village news-agency at a time of life when most of us only want to relax. He just thought he would like something but not too much to do, and the news-agency was ready-made. The business produced little enough for him, but Bill was a man who only wanted the simplicity and order and regularity of the job. He had been a long-serving sailor, and all his life had done everything by the clock.

Every day he opened his shop at six a.m. to catch the early trade; the papers arrived on his door-step before that. Many of Bill’s customers were city workers, and the shop was convenient for the station. Business was tailing off by 10 o’clock, so at eleven sharp Bill closed for lunch. It was hard luck on anybody who wanted a paper or magazine in the afternoon, for most likely Bill would be down on the river bank, fishing, and his nearest competitor was five kilometers away. Sometime in the afternoon, the evening paper landed on the doormat, and at 4 o’clock Bill reopened. The evening rush lasted till seven, and it was worthwhile.

He lived in a flat above the shop, alone. Except in the very bad weather, you always knew where to find him in the afternoon, as I have said. Once, on a sunny afternoon, I walked home along the river bank from a shopping trip to the village. By my watch it was three minutes past four, so I was astonished to see Bill sitting there on his little chair with a line in the water. He had had no luck, I could see, but he was making no effort to move.

“What’s wrong, Bill?” I called out from the path.

For answer, he put a hand in his jacket and took out a big, golden object. For a moment I had no idea what it could be, and then it suddenly went off with a noise like a fire engine. Stopping the bell, Bill held the thing up and called back, “Ten to four, you see, and this is dead right.”

I had never known anyone carrying a brass alarm clock round with him before.

1．Bill opened the shop so early in the day because ___________.

A．he liked to do as much as possible before he went to work

B．the shop had to be open when the morning papers came

C．he was never sure of the time

D．it was then that he did a lot of business

2．You might say “hard luck” to someone who __________.

A．has just heard some very good news

B．is less fortunate than he or she ought to be

C．puts great effort into whatever he or she tries

D．fails through his or her own fault entirely

3．On that sunny afternoon, the writer was surprised when he saw Bill because ________.

A．he thought it was late for Bill to be still fishing

B．he thought Bill was ill, since he was not moving at all

C．Bill had not caught anything, and that seemed strange

D．Bill stayed in his flat

4．From the information given in the passage, who or what do you think was wrong?

A．The bell was; it must have gone off at the wrong time.

B．Bill was; he had dropped off to sleep.

C．The writer’s watch was fast.

D．Bill’s clock was wrong; it was very old.

Bill Javis took over our village’s news-agency at a time of life when most of us only wanted to relax. He just thought he would like something but not too much to do, and the news-a??gency was ready-made. The business produced little enough for him, but Bill was a man who only wanted the simplicity and order and regularity of the job. He had been a long-serving sailor, and all his life had done everything by the clock.

Every day he opened his shop at 6:00 a. m. to catch the early trade; the papers arrived on his doorstep before that. Many of Bill’s customers were city workers, and the shop was convenient for the station. Business was tailing off by 10 o’clock, so at eleven sharp Bill closed for lunch. It was hard luck on anybody who wanted a paper or magazine in the after??noon, for most likely Bill would be down on the river bank, fishing, and his neatest competitor was five kilometers away. Sometimes in the afternoon-, the evening paper landed on the doorway, and at 4 o’ clock Bill reopened his shop. The evening rush lasted till seven, and it was worthwhile.

He lived in a flat above the ship, alone. Except in the very bad weather, you always knew where to find him in the af??ternoon, as I have said. Once, on a sunny afternoon, I walked home along the river bank from a shopping trip to the village. By my watch it was three minutes past four, so I was aston??ished to see Bill sitting there on his little chair with a line in the, water. He had no luck, I could, see, but he was making no effort to move. “What’s wrong, Bill?” I called out from the path.

For answer, he put a hand in his jacket and took out a big, golden object. For a moment I had no idea what it could be, and then it suddenly went off with a noise like a fire en??gine. Stopping the bell, Bill held the thing up and called back, "Ten to four, you see, and this is dead right. "

I had never known anyone carrying a brass alarm clock round with him before.

5. Bill Javis became a news-agent when ________.

A. he need the money.                         B. he decided to take things easy

C. he was quite an old man                 D. he gave up clock-repairing

6. Bill opened the shop so early in the day because ________.

A. he liked to do as much as possible before he went to work

B. the shop had to be open when the morning papers came

C. he was never sure of time

D. it was then that he did a lot of business

7. On that sunny afternoon, the writer was surprised when he saw Bill because ________.

A. he thought it was late for Bill to be still fishing

B. he thought Bill was ill, since he was not moving at all

C. Bill had not caught anything, and that seemed strange

D. Bill stayed in his flat

8. From the information given in the passage, who or what do you think was wrong?

A. The bell was; it must have gone off at the wrong time.

B. Bill was; he had dropped off to sleep.

C. The writer’s watch was fast.

D. Bill’s clock was wrong; it was old.

Bill Javis took over our village’s news-agency at a time of life when most of us only wanted to relax. He just thought he would like something but not too much to do, and the news-a??gency was ready-made. The business produced little enough for him, but Bill was a man who only wanted the simplicity and order and regularity of the job. He had been a long-serving sailor, and all his life had done everything by the clock.

Every day he opened his shop at 6:00 a. m. to catch the early trade; the papers arrived on his doorstep before that. Many of Bill’s customers were city workers, and the shop was convenient for the station. Business was tailing off by 10 o’clock, so at eleven sharp Bill closed for lunch. It was hard luck on anybody who wanted a paper or magazine in the after??noon, for most likely Bill would be down on the river bank, fishing, and his nearest competitor was five kilometers away. Sometimes in the afternoon, the evening paper landed on the doorway, and at 4 o’clock Bill reopened his shop. The evening rush lasted till seven, and it was worthwhile.

He lived in a flat above the shop, alone. Except in the very bad weather, you always knew where to find him in the af??ternoon, as I have said. Once, on a sunny afternoon, I walked home along the river bank from a shopping trip to the village. By my watch it was three minutes past four, so I was aston??ished to see Bill sitting there on his little chair with a line in the water. He had no luck, I could see, but he was making no effort to move.

“What’s wrong, Bill?” I called out from the path.

For answer, he put a hand in his jacket and took out a big, golden object. For a moment I had no idea what it could be, and then it suddenly went off with a noise like a fire en??gine. Stopping the bell, Bill held the thing up and called back, “Ten to four, you see, and this is dead right.”

I had never known anyone carrying a brass alarm clock round with him before.

Bill Javis became a news-agent when _______.

A. he needed the money      

B. he was quite an old man

C. he decided to take up fishing  

D. he gave up clock-repairing

Bill opened the shop so early in the day because _______.

A. he liked to do as much as possible before he went to work

B. the shop had to be open when the morning papers came

C. he was never sure of time

D. it was then that he did a lot of business

From the information given in the passage, who or what do you think was wrong?

A. The bell was－it must have gone off at the wrong time.

B. Bill was－he had dropped off to sleep.

C. The writer’s watch was－it was fast.

D. Bill’s clock was－it was old.