On a sunny day last August, Tim heard some shouting. Looking out to the sea carefully, he saw a couple of kids in a rowboat were being pulled out to sea.

Two 2-year-old boys, Christian and Jack, rowed out a boat to search for a football. Once they’d rowed beyond the calm waters, a bleach umbrella tied to the boat caught the wind and pulled the boat into open water. The pair panicked and tried to row back to shore. But they were no match for it and the boat was out of control.

Tim knew it would soon be swallowed by the waves.

“Everything went quiet in my head,” Tim recalls(回忆). “I was trying to figure out how to swim to the boys in a straight line.”

Tim took off his clothes and jumped into the water. Every 500 yards or so, he raised his head to judge his progress. “At one point, I considered turning back,” he says. “I wondered if I was putting my life at risk.” After 30 minutes of struggling, he was close to yell to the boys, “Take down the umbrella!”

Christian made much effort to take down the umbrella. Then Tim was able to catch up and climb aboard the boat. He took over rowing, but the waves were almost too strong for him.

“Let’s aim for the pier(码头),” Jack said. Tim turned the boat toward it. Soon afterward, waves crashed over the boat, and it began to sink. “Can you guys swim?” he cried. “A little bit,” the boys said.

Once they were in the water, Tim decided it would be safer and faster for him to pull the boys toward the pier. Christian and Jack were wearing life jackets and floated on their backs. Tim swam toward land as water washed over the boys’ faces.

“Are we almost there?” they asked again and again. “Yes,” Tim told them each time.

After 30 minutes, they reached the pier.

35. Why did the two boys go to the sea?

A. To go boat rowing.

B. To get back their football.

C. To swim in the open water.

D. To test the umbrella as a sail.

36. What does “it” in Paragraph 2 refer to?

A. The beach                      B. The water.

C. The boat.                        D. The wind

37. Why did Tim raise his head regularly?

A. To take in enough fresh air. 

B. To consider turning back or not.

C. To check his distance from the boys. 

D. To ask the boys to take down the umbrella.

38. How did the two boys finally reach the pier?

A. They were dragged to the pier by Tim.

B. They swam to the pier all by themselves.

C. They were washed to the pier by the waves.

D. They were carried to the pier by Tim on his back.

On the border, a pack of wild dogs circled the soldiers for food． The leader of the pack was a gray- and-white dog called Nubs． He was   11  and hardly able to stand． Marine major Brian Dennis looked   12  and saw that there was a knife wound in his chest．
Dennis couldn't stand seeing the dog   13_．He and his men immediately treated the wound, and  gave Nubs medicine．Nubs pulled through but was still in   14 ．The next day, the team had to  15  . Ten days later, Dennis' unit was back, and so was Nubs． He was still   16 ，but the men fed him and  played with him．
Before long the unit once again left for the front 70 miles away． Nubs, slowly but 17  , followed them far into the trackless wasteland _ 18  the men lost sight of him．Two days later, beyond Dennis'   19  , he saw Nubs just outside the outpost（前哨）．The dog had  20  him across 70 miles of frozen desert to meet with the friend who had   21 his life．From then on Nubs and the men   22 in the same place, and ran around in the same ruins（废墟）．                          
Until an order came that they were not   23_ to have pets, Dennis decided to make sure the dog would  24 _ to live the good life．So he quickly raised $4,000 from his family and friends to 25 Nubs to America．
A year later, when Dennis and the dog were   26  in California, at first Nubs didn't   27  the guy．But within minutes, the dog jumped into Dennis' arms, jumping   28   again and again to lick his friend's face．
A little love and concern in the middle of   29 will not save a violent world． But small stories, like the story of a soldier and a clog, hold a  30  of a harmonious（和谐的）world．

After the examination, the doctor told my parents my sight would get worse and that I would lose my sight finally. On the way home from hospital, no one said a word. One day, would I only imagine the scenery beyond the glass rather than see it?
That September, I entered middle school. Most nights I had homework that included an armful of books to read. To keep up with other children, I took great trouble to finish the task. With my nose a couple of inches from the page, I was tired easily. What’s worse, after I had read several pages on my own, the words slipped off the page into inky pools.
However, then I did not have audio books and electronic devices like kids do now. Instead, Mom volunteered to read out loud. Mom worked part-time, cleaned the house, cooked and spent time with Grandma. In spite of being so busy, she showed up in my room like clockwork. She put on her reading glasses. Mom always thought those glasses made her look old. To me, she looked like a teacher.
In my room, Mom’s voice competed with the ticking of the clock. Being forced to focus on listening, I found a way to keep my marks up and compete with the other kids. When the teacher asked a question, I raised my hand with confidence. Teachers praised me for having a good memory. Reading removed my fear for my failing sight, reading also made me curious about other people’s challenges and how they managed. Though I could not use my eyes to fix on each passage, my mind lit up with every new book.
True to what the doctor said, the worst came, but thanks to Mom, my sense of hearing now allows me to “see”. This was the most precious (珍贵的) gift from a mother to her child.
【小题1】Why did the author and his parents keep silent on their way back home from hospital?

A year after graduation, I was offered a position teaching a writing class. Teaching was a profession I had never seriously considered, though several of my stories had been published. I accepted the job without hesitation, as it would allow me to wear a tie and go by the name of Mr. Davis. My father went by the same name, and I liked to imagine people getting the two of us confused. “Wait a minute,” someone might say, “are talking about Mr. Davis the retired man, or Mr. Davis the respectable scholar?”
The position was offered at the last minute, and I was given two week to prepare, a period I spent searching for a briefcase and standing before my full-length mirror, repeating the words, “Hello, class, I’m Mr. Davis.” Sometimes I would give myself an aggressive voice. Sometimes I would sound experienced. But when the day eventually came, my nerves kicked in and the true Mr. Davis was there. I sounded not like a thoughtful professor, but rather a 12-year-old boy.
I arrived in the classroom with paper cards designed in the shape of maple leaves. I had cut them myself out of orange construction paper. I saw nine students along a long table. I handed out the cards, and the students wrote down their names and fastened them to their breast pockets as I required.
“All right then,” I said. “Okay, here we go.” Then I opened my briefcase and realized that I had never thought beyond this moment. I had been thinking that the students would be the first to talk, offering their thoughts and opinions on the events of the day. I had imagined that I would sit on the edge of the desk, overlooking a forest of raised hands. Every student would shout to be heard, and I would knock on something in order to silence them. I would yell, “Calm down, you’ll all get your turn. One at a time, one at a time!”
A terrible silence ruled the room, and seeing no other opinions, I instructed the students to pull out their notebooks and write a brief essay related to the theme of deep disappointment.
【小题1】The author took the job to teach writing because______________.

A year after graduation, I was offered a position teaching a writing class. Teaching was a profession I had never seriously considered, though several of my stories had been published. I accepted the job without hesitation, as it would allow me to wear a tie and go by the name of Mr. Davis. My father went by the same name, and I liked to imagine people getting the two of us confused. “Wait a minute,” someone might say, “are you talking about Mr. Davis the retired man, or Mr. Davis the respectable scholar?”
The position was offered at the last minute, and I was given two weeks to prepare, a period I spent searching for briefcase (公文包) and standing before my full-length mirror, repeating the words, “Hello, class. I’m Mr. Davis.” Sometimes I would give myself an aggressive voice. Sometimes I would sound experienced. But when the day eventually came, my nerves kicked in and the true Mr. Davis was there. I sounded not like a thoughtful professor, but rather a 12-year-old boy.
I arrived in the classroom with paper cards designed in the shape of maple leaves. I had cut them myself out of orange construction paper. I saw nine students along a long table. I handed out the cards, and the students wrote down their names and fastened them to their breast pockets as I required.
“All right then,” I said. “Okay, here we go.” Then I opened my briefcase and realized that I had never thought beyond this moment. I had been thinking that the students would be the first to talk, offering their thoughts and opinions on the events of the day. I had imagined that I would sit at the edge of the desk, overlooking a forests of hands. Every student would yell. “Calm down, you’ll all get your turn. One at a time, one at a time!”
A terrible silence ruled the room, and seeing no other opinions, I inspected the students to pull out their notebooks and write a brief essay related to the theme of deep disappointment.
【小题1】The author took the job to teach writing because ______.