I made a promise to myself on the way down to the vacation beach cottage. For two weeks I would try to be a loving husband and father. Totally loving. No ifs, ands or buts.
The idea had come to me as I listened to a talk on my car radio. The speaker was quoting a Biblical passage about husbands and their wives. Then he went on to say, “Love is an act of will. A person can choose to love.” To myself, I had to admit that I had been a selfish husband. Well, for two weeks that would change.
And it did. Right from the moment I kissed Evelyn at the door and said, “That new yellow sweater looks great on you.” “Oh, Tom, you noticed”, she said, surprised and pleased. Maybe a little puzzled. After the long drive, I wanted to sit and read. Evelyn suggested a walk on the beach. I started to refuse, but then I thought, “Evelyn’s been alone here with the kids all week and now she wants to be alone with me.” We walked on the beach while the children flew their kites.
So it went. Two weeks of not calling the Wall Street firm where I am a director; a visit to the shell museum though I usually hate museums. Relaxed and happy, that’s how the whole vacation passed. I made a new promise to keep on remembering to choose love.?
There was one thing that went wrong with my experiment, however. Evelyn and I still laugh about it today. On the last night at our cottage, preparing for bed, Evelyn stared at me with the saddest expression.
“What’s the matter?” I asked her.
“Tom,” she said in a voice filled with distress, “ I don’t?”
“What do you mean?”
“Well…that checkup I had several weeks ago…our doctor…did he tell you something about me? Tom, you’ve been so good to me…am I dying?”
It took a moment for it all to be understood. Then I burst out laughing.
“No, honey,” I said, wrapping her in my arms. “You’re not dying; I’m just starting to live.”
【小题1】In the first paragraph, “No ifs, ands or buts” probably means ______.

A．Unintentionally	B．Independently
C．Impressively	D．Unconditionally

【小题2】From the story we may infer that Tom drove to the beach cottage ______.

A．with his family	B．with Evelyn
C．alone	D．with his children

【小题3】During the two weeks on the beach, Tom showed more love to his wife because ______.

A．he was determined to be a good husband

B．he had made a lot of money in his Wall Street firm

C．she looked lovely in her new clothes

D．the doctor said his wife was seriously ill

【小题4】The author says, “There was one thing that went wrong with my experiment.” What does “one thing” refer to?

A．He praised her sweater, which puzzled her.

B．She insisted on visiting a museum, which he hated.

C．He knew something about her illness but didn’t tell her.

D．He was so good to her that she thought she must be dying.

【小题5】By saying “I’m just starting to live,” Tom means that ______.

A．he is just beginning to understand the real meaning of life

B．he is just beginning to enjoy life as a loving husband

C．he lived an unhappy life before and is now starting to change

D．he is beginning to feel regret for what he did to his wife before

It was a beautiful day at the beach—blue sky, gentle wind, calm sea．I knew these things because a man sitting five feet from me was shouting them into his mobile phone, like a play-by-play announcer （实况解说员）.

“IT’S A BEAUTIFUL DAY,” he shouted．“THE SKY IS BLUE, AND THERE’S A GENTLE WIND, AND THE WATER IS CALM, AND…”

Behind me, a woman, her mobile phone pressed to her ear was walking back and forth.

“She DIDN’T,” she was saying．“No．She DIDN’T．She DID? Really? Are you SERIOUS? She did NOT．She DID? No she…”

And so on．This woman had two children, who were playing in the sea．I found myself watching them, because the woman surely was not．A huge squid could have caught and snatched the children, and this woman would not have noticed．Or, if she had noticed, she’d have said, “Listen．I have to go, because a huge squid just……No! She didn’t ! She DID? No! She……”

And next to me, the play-by-play man would have said: “…AND A HUGE SQUID JUST ATE TWO CHILDREN, AND I’M GETTING A LITTLE SUNBURNED, AND …”

It used to be that the major trouble at the beach was the fellow who brought a boom box （便携式录音机） and turned it up so loud that the bass notes caused seagulls to explode．But at least you knew where these fellows were; you never know which beachgoers have mobile phones．You’ll settle next to what appears to be a sleeping sunbather, or even （you hope） a corpse , and you’ll lie happily on your towel, and you’ll get all the way to the second sentence of your 467-page book before you fall asleep to the hypnotic surge of the surf （催人入梦的潮声）, and …

BREEP! BREEP! The corpse sits up, feels urgently for its mobile phone, and shouts “Hello! I’m at the beach! Yes! It’s nice! Very peaceful! What? She did? No, she didn’t! She DID? No, she…”

Loud mobile-phoners never seem to get urgent calls．Just once, I’d like to hear one of them say, “Hello? Yes, this is Dr．Johnson．Oh, Dr．Smith．You’ve opened the abdominal cavity （腹腔）? Good! Now the appendix should be right under the … What? No, that’s the liver．Don’t take THAT out, ha ha! Oh, you did? My God! OK, now listen carefully…”

From the passage we can know that the writer of the passage _____.

       A．had a wonderful holiday at the beach

       B．must have suffered a lot because of the terrible weather

       C．is only interested in talks by doctors about operation

       D．experienced an unhappy holiday at the beach

According to the passage, which of the following is NOT true?

       A．The writer often spends his holidays at the beach.

       B．A huge squid ate two children while their mother was not watching.

       C．Some people used to play boom box while spending their holidays at the beach.

       D．Some people often make loud mobile phone calls without caring for others.

The underlined word“ corpse”in this passage has the closest meaning to________.

       A．a dead body           B．a loud mobile phone        

       C．a sound sleeper        D．a sleep lover

In the past the fellow who brought a boom box_________.

       A．turned it up to make the seagulls happy

       B．turned it up to cause the seagulls to explode

       C．might cause less trouble than the beachgoers with mobile phones

       D．might cause more trouble than the beachgoers with mobile phones

We can infer from the passage that _______.

     A．the writer is interested in mobile phone.

     B．the writer hates people using mobile phone

     C．the writer hates to be disturbed while enjoying holidays on the beach.

     D．the writer seldom finishes reading a book before going to sleep.

It was a beautiful day at the beach—blue sky, gentle wind, calm sea．I knew these things because a man sitting five feet from me was shouting them into his mobile phone, like a play-by-play announcer （实况解说员）.

“IT’S A BEAUTIFUL DAY,” he shouted．“THE SKY IS BLUE, AND THERE’S A GENTLE WIND, AND THE WATER IS CALM, AND…”

Behind me, a woman, her mobile phone pressed to her ear was walking back and forth.

“She DIDN’T,” she was saying．“No．She DIDN’T．She DID? Really? Are you SERIOUS? She did NOT．She DID? No she…”

And so on．This woman had two children, who were playing in the sea．I found myself watching them, because the woman surely was not．A huge squid could have caught and snatched the children, and this woman would not have noticed．Or, if she had noticed, she’d have said, “Listen．I have to go, because a huge squid just……No! She didn’t ! She DID? No! She……”

And next to me, the play-by-play man would have said: “…AND A HUGE SQUID JUST ATE TWO CHILDREN, AND I’M GETTING A LITTLE SUNBURNED, AND …”

It used to be that the major trouble at the beach was the fellow who brought a boom box （便携式录音机） and turned it up so loud that the bass notes caused seagulls to explode．But at least you knew where these fellows were; you never know which beachgoers have mobile phones．You’ll settle next to what appears to be a sleeping sunbather, or even （you hope） a corpse , and you’ll lie happily on your towel, and you’ll get all the way to the second sentence of your 467-page book before you fall asleep to the hypnotic surge of the surf （催人入梦的潮声）, and …

BREEP! BREEP! The corpse sits up, feels urgently for its mobile phone, and shouts “Hello! I’m at the beach! Yes! It’s nice! Very peaceful! What? She did? No, she didn’t! She DID? No, she…”

Loud mobile-phoners never seem to get urgent calls．Just once, I’d like to hear one of them say, “Hello? Yes, this is Dr．Johnson．Oh, Dr．Smith．You’ve opened the abdominal cavity （腹腔）? Good! Now the appendix should be right under the … What? No, that’s the liver．Don’t take THAT out, ha ha! Oh, you did? My God! OK, now listen carefully…”

1．From the passage we can know that the writer of the passage _____.

       A．had a wonderful holiday at the beach

       B．must have suffered a lot because of the terrible weather

       C．is only interested in talks by doctors about operation

       D．experienced an unhappy holiday at the beach

2．According to the passage, which of the following is NOT true?

       A．The writer often spends his holidays at the beach.

       B．A huge squid ate two children while their mother was not watching.

       C．Some people used to play boom box while spending their holidays at the beach.

       D．Some people often make loud mobile phone calls without caring for others.

3．The underlined word “corpse” in this passage has the closest meaning to________.

       A．a dead body                                       B．a loud mobile phone  

       C．a sound sleeper                                    D．a sleep lover

4．In the past the fellow who brought a boom box_________.

       A．turned it up to make the seagulls happy

       B．turned it up to cause the seagulls to explode

       C．might cause less trouble than the beachgoers with mobile phones

       D．might cause more trouble than the beachgoers with mobile phones

5．We can infer from the passage that _______.

     A．the writer is interested in mobile phone.

     B．the writer hates people using mobile phone

     C．the writer hates to be disturbed while enjoying holidays on the beach.

     D．the writer seldom finishes reading a book before going to sleep.