I          here earlier. I never thought the ear would break down halfway.   

A. could come                                                     B. should come  

C. would have come                                            D. may have come  

阅读理解

　　He lived his whole life as a poor man. His art and talent were recognized by almost no one. He suffered from a mental illness that led him to cut off part of his left ear in 1888 and to shoot himself two years later.

　　But after his death, he got world fame.

　　Today, Dutch artist Vincent Yan Gogh is regarded as one of the leading artists of all time. Postcards and posters of his paintings and drawings continue to sell like hot cakes.

　　Yan Gogh was the son of a pastor. He left school when he was just 15By the age of 27, ht had already tried many jobs including an art gallery salesman and a French teacher. Finally in 1880, he decided to begin his studies in art.

　　His masterpieces including portraits, sunflowers and landscapes were produced in just 10 years.

　　Yan Gogh was well-known for his ability to put his own emotions into his paintings and show his feelings about a scene. His style is marked by short, broad brushstrokes(笔画).

　　“Instead of trying to reproduce exactly what I have before my eyes, I use colour more freely, in order to express myself more forcibly,” he wrote in a letter to his brother, Theo, in 1888.

　　Van Gogh sold only one painting during his short life. He relied heavily on support from Theo, an art dealer who lived in Paris.

　　But now his works are sold for millions of dollars. His Portrait of Dr. Cachet sold for US $ 89.5 million in 1990It is the highest price ever paid for a painting.

　　“I thins his paintings are powerful and the brilliant colors in them are attractive to people,” said Molly Anderson, a Van Gogh fan.

1．The underlined words “hot cakes” here mean ________.

[　　]

A．cakes that are cooking

B．cakes that taste hot

C．things that are popular

D．things that cost less

2．Which of the following is NOT true?

[　　]

A．Gogh killed himself in 1890

B．Gogh's painting styles are unique(独特)

C．Gogh's art was well received at his times

D．Theo, an art dealer got on well with Gogh

3．The passage suggests that ________.

[　　]

A．the author thinks highly of Gogh's painting

B．Molly Anderson knew little about Gogh's work

C．Gogh was not pleased with his work so that only sold one painting in his life

D．Gogh's interest in drawing formed at school

4．Why did the writer cite(引用) a part of a letter written by Van Gogh?

[　　]

A．To show Van Gogh's skill.

B．To show his style.

C．To show that he was an emotional person.

D．To show he was an unusual man.

5．The best title for the passage is ________.

[　　]

A．Gogh-A great artist

B．Artist's life is not easy

C．Owning Gogh's works means wealth

D．Artist's dream comes true after death

A policeman was questioning 3 blondes who were training to become detectives． To test their skills in recognizing a suspect, he shows the first blonde a picture for5 seconds and then hides it．

“This is your suspect, how would you recognize him?"

The first blonde answers, "That's easy, we'll catch him fast because he only has one eye!" The policeman says, "Well．．．uh．．．that's because the picture shows his profile．"

Slightly confused by this ridiculous response, he flashes the picture for 5 seconds at the second blonde and asks her, "This is your suspect, how would you recognize him?"

The second blonde giggles, flips her hair and says, "Ha! He'd be too easy to catch because he only has one ear!"

The policeman angrily responds, "What's the matter with you two? Of course only one eye and one ear are SHOWING because it's a picture of his profile!! Is that the best answer you can come up with?"

Extremely frustrated at this point, he shows the picture to the third blonde and in a very testy voice asks "This is your suspect, how would you recognize him?" He quickly adds, "Think hard before giving me a stupid answer．"

The blonde looks at the picture intently for a moment and says, "Hmmmm…the suspect wears contact lenses．"

The policeman is surprised and speechless because he really doesn't know himself if the suspect wears contacts or not． "Well, that's an interesting answer．．．wait here for a few minutes while I check his file and I’ll get back to you on that．" He leaves the room and goes to his ．office, checks the suspect's file in his computer, and comes back with a beaming smile on his face． "Wow!  I can't believe it．．．it's TRUE! The suspect does in fact wear contact lenses． Good work! How were you able to make such an acute observation?"

"That's easy," the blonde replied． "He can't wear regular glasses because he only has one eye and one ear．"

1.Why did the policeman show a picture to the three blondes?

A．To inquire about their relationship with the suspect．

B．To test their potential of being detectives．

C．To train them as qualified police officers．

D．To show the skills in recognizing a suspect．

2.What's the policeman's attitude towards the first blonde's answer?

A．Angry．          B．Puzzled．         C．Embarrassed．     D．Satisfied．

3.What did the second blonde think of the task?

A．Demanding．      B．Easy．            C．Ridiculous．       D．Confusing．

4.How did the third blonde know that the suspect wore contact lenses?

A．By coincidence．

B．By random guess．

C．By logical and reasonable analysis．

D．By checking the file in the computer．

Idioms are phrases and sentences that do not mean exactly what they say. Even if you know the meaning of each word you see or hear, you may not understand the idiom because you don't understand the culture behind it.
　　 For example, if an American boy asks his mother what's for dinner tomorrow, she may say "I'll play it by ear", that means she doesn't have plans for dinner and she will decide later. "Play by ear" used to mean playing music using the sheet music, but now people often use it when they're not talking about music.
　　 There're many idioms in English. If you learn to use them, your English will be more vivid and colorful. English idioms are more common in spoken English. They can be difficult to remember sometimes. Next time when you hear somebody saying to you, "Give me a hand", you don't necessarily stretch out your hand to him/her, but you do need to be helpful. And when the situation is out of hand, you usually can do very little to manage all that. What about a green hand? It's not about the color of your hand! You're a green hand when you are very new at your work and don't have much experience. If you and your partner always work together hand in glove, you two definitely work together very well.
　　 Can you guess the meanings of some common English idioms to do with parts of your body?
【小题1】An idiom is _______.

Idioms are phrases and sentences that do not mean exactly what they say. Even if you know the meaning of each word you see or hear, you may not understand the idiom because you don't understand the culture behind it.
For example, if an American boy asks his mother what's for dinner tomorrow, she may say "I'll play it by ear", that means she doesn't have plans for dinner and she will decide later. "Play by ear" used to mean playing music using the sheet music, but now people often use it when they're not talking about music.
There're many idioms in English. If you learn to use them, your English will be more vivid and colorful. English idioms are more common in spoken English. They can be difficult to remember sometimes. Next time when you hear somebody saying to you, "Give me a hand", you don't necessarily stretch out your hand to him/her, but you do need to be helpful. And when the situation is out of hand, you usually can do very little to manage all that. What about a green hand? It's not about the color of your hand! You're a green hand when you are very new at your work and don't have much experience. If you and your partner always work together hand in glove, you two definitely work together very well.
Can you guess the meanings of some common English idioms to do with parts of your body?

1. 1.

   An idiom is _______.

   1. A.
      a phrase or a sentence that means exactly what the words say
   2. B.
      a phrase or a sentence that doesn't mean exactly what every word says
   3. C.
      so difficult that nobody can understand
   4. D.
      something to do with parts of your body
2. 2.

   If a mother says "I'll play it by ear" to talk about the dinner, she means _______.

   1. A.
      she will cook dinner while listening to music at the same time
   2. B.
      she doesn't hear what others are talking about.
   3. C.
      she will play music using the sheet music instead of cooking dinner
   4. D.
      She doesn't have plans for dinner and will decide later
3. 3.

   When one says "Can you give me a hand?", he means _______.

   1. A.
      he needs to hold your hand.
   2. B.
      he works well with you
   3. C.
      he needs your help
   4. D.
      he is a new comer and can't help with the situation
4. 4.

   Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?

   1. A.
      People use English idioms more in spoken English than in written English.
   2. B.
      To understand the culture behind an idiom is important in understanding the idiom.
   3. C.
      Idioms make your English more vivid and colorful so they are easy to remember.
   4. D.
      You may not understand an idiom even though you know the meaning of each word.
5. 5.

   Here are 4 common English idioms to do with parts of your body and their meanings. Can you match them?
   1) to learn something by heart a. to depend on oneself
   2) to have sticky fingers b. to know something very well
   3) to stand on one's own feet c. to do something secretly
   4) to go behind someone's back d. to have the habit of stealing

   1. A.
      badc
   2. B.
      bdac
   3. C.
      cbad
   4. D.
      cdba