When John Weston awoke that morning, he remembered that his mother was going into hospital. He hadn’t worked out quite what was wrong with her. He knew, though that she hadn’t been well for some time now, and it had become almost familiar to him to see her eyes narrowed in a sudden attack of pain, and her hand pressing against her heart. Their own doctor, who she had finally gone to for advice, had sent her to an expert who knew all about these things. He had told her that just as soon as there was a bed for her, she would have to come into his hospital where he could look after her himself.

During the weeks since then the pains had come even more frequently, and the narrowed eyes became an almost permanent part of her expression. Always rather sharp, she began losing her temper over little things so that John’s father kept his thoughts to himself more and more. John, as ready as possible to make allowances, tried to think what it would be like to have toothache all the time and how bad-tempered that would make you.

So his mother would go into hospital for a few days. He was going to stay with his Aunt Daisy till she came back, and his father would stay on at home by himself. John’s cousin, Mona, was to come in and make the bed and wash the pots and dust round now and again. That was the arrangement, and John didn’t care much for it. Apart from missing his mother(and he was glad she was going away because they would make her better), he wasn’t very fond of his Aunt Daisy because she was even more bad-tempered than his mother.

1.Mrs Weston went to see her doctor_________.

A.as soon as she realized that something was wrong

B.only after her husband advised her to

C.a long time after the trouble began

D.when John asked what was wrong with her

2.what did Mrs Weston’s own doctor decide to do?

A.he decided to send her to hospital

B.he decided to get an expert to examine her

C.He decided to treat her himself

D.He advised her to wait for a few weeks.

3.how did John react to his mother’s bad temper?

A.he tried to imagine himself in her place.

B.He tried not to notice it.

C.He pretended that he had toothache.

D.He behaved himself as well as possible.

4.John regarded ______as most bad-tempered.

A. his father   B. his mother    C. his cousin Mona   D. his aunt Daisy

 

In this age of Internet chat, videogames and reality television, there is no shortage of mindless activities to keep a child occupied. Yet, despite the competition, my 8-year-old daughter Rebecca wants to spend her leisure time writing short stories. She wants to enter one of her stories into a writing contest, a competition she won last year.

As a writer I know about winning contest, and about losing them. I know what it is like to work hard on a story only to receive a rejection slip from the publisher. I also know the pressures of trying to live up to a reputation created by previous victories. What if she doesn’t win the contest again? That’s the strange thing about being a parent. So many of our own past scars and dashed hopes can surface.

A revelation（启示）came last week when I asked her, “Don’t you want to win again?” “No,” she replied, “I just want to tell the story of an angel going to first grade.”

I had just spent weeks correcting her stories as she spontaneously（自发地）told them. Telling myself that I was merely an experienced writer guiding the young writer across the hall, I offered suggestions for characters, conflicts and endings for her tales. The story about a fearful angel starting first trade was quickly “guided” by me into the tale of a little girl with a wild imagination taking her fist music lesson. I had turned her contest into my contest without even realizing it.

Staying back and giving kids space to grow is not as easy as it looks. Because I know very little about farm animals who use tools or angels who go to first grade, I had to accept the fact that I was co-opting（借用）my daughter’s experience.

While stepping back was difficult for me, it was certainly a good first step that I will quickly follow with more steps, putting myself far enough away to give her room but close enough to help if asked. All the while I will be reminding myself that children need room to experiment, grow and find their own voices.

1.What do we learn from the first paragraph?

A．Many children find lots of fun in mindless activities.

B．Rebecca is much too occupied to enjoy her leisure time.

C．Rebecca collects online materials for her writing.

D．Rebecca is different from any other child of her age.

2.What was the author's writing experience?

A．She did not quite live up to her reputation as a writer.

B．Her way to success was full of pains and frustrations.

C．She was constantly under pressure of writing more.

D．Most of her stories had been rejected by publishers.

3.Why did Rebecca want to enter this year's writing contest?

A．She possessed real talent for writing.

B．She wanted to win.

C．She wanted to share her stories with readers.

D．She had won a prize already.

 

Aggressive pedestrians are in fact as dangerous as careless drivers. They cause traffic accidents, injury and death. These dangerous walkers can be seen in any big city all over the world. About 69% of last year’s pedestrian deaths in the US occurred in urban areas. They cross streets ignoring “DON’T WALK” signals, suddenly appear without warning from behind parked vehicles, walk slowly at crossroads with cell phones attached to heads, blocking traffic.

These pedestrians and drivers share a common disregard for the rules of the road, both for selfish reasons. The drivers believe in the power of their machines. If their machines can go faster, they believe they have the right to go faster. If their machines are bigger, they believe they have the right to push smaller vehicles aside. Aggressive pedestrians, on the other hand, believe in the primacy(首位) of the individual, the idea that they are first in any environment, under any circumstances, even when they are on foot in a roaring tide of steel and rubber.

Last year, an estimated 5,220 pedestrians died in traffic accidents. Some 69,000 pedestrians were injured. On average, that worked out to one pedestrian killed in a traffic crash every 101 minutes, and one injured every eight minutes.

The good news is that the accident rate is dropping. For example, the number of pedestrians killed last year was 24 percent less than the number killed in traffic accidents a decade earlier. The bad news is that the basic causes of pedestrian deaths remain pretty much the same----disregard for traffic signals, inattention and crossing roads under the influence of alcohol and drugs. Alcohol, in fact, was involved in 46 percent of the traffic accidents that resulted in pedestrian deaths. Of those, 31 percent of the pedestrians were found to be drunk.

The bottom line is that the pedestrians must do more to protect their lives as well as the lives of other road users. They can start by obeying traffic signals, using marked cross-walks and calling a cab when they’ve had too much to drink.

1.The passage is mainly about _____.

A. what the traffic rules of the road about pedestrians were

B. why so many Americans were killed on roads last year

C. how aggressive pedestrians cause traffic accidents

D. who are to blame for pedestrian deaths, drunk drivers or the aggressive pedestrians

2.What is the pedestrians’ selfish reason for traffic jams?

A. They believe individuals are always first.

B. They know all drivers are skilled and with great care.

C. They think traffic rules have nothing to do with them.

D. They guess all vehicles will slow down at crossroads.

3.What was NOT the basic cause of pedestrian deaths in the US a decade ago?

A. Disregard for traffic signals

B. Paying no attention to surroundings.

C. Overspeeding driving.

D. Crossing roads drunk.

4.What word can best describe the author’s attitude to the traffic accidents caused by pedestrians?

A. Excited.                            B. Cold.                                 C. Unconnected.            D. Concerned    

 

“Now,” Mrs. Virginia DeView said, smiling, “we are going to discover our professions.” The class seemed to be greatly surprised. Our professions? We were only 13 and 14 years old! The teacher must be        36  . “Yes, you will all be searching for your future  37 . Each of you will have to  38  someone in your field, and give an oral (口头的) report.”

         Each day in her class, Virginia DeView reminded us about this. Finally, I  39  print journalism. This meant I had to go to interview a newspaper reporter. I was extremely nervous. I sat down in front of him  40  able to speak. He looked at me and said, “Did you bring a pencil or pen?” I shook my head. “How about some  41 ?” I shook my head again.

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         Finally, I thought he realized I was too 42 , and I got my first big tip as a  43 . “Never, never go anywhere without a pen or paper. You never know what you’ll  44  into.” After a few days, I gave my oral report totally from memory in class. I got an A on the entire project.

         Years later, I was in college looking around for a new career, but with no success. Then I  45  Virginia DeView and my desire at 13 to be a journalist. And I called my parents. They didn't  46  me. They just reminded me how  47  the field was and how I had run away from competition all my life. This was true. But journalism did something to me; it was in my  48 . And it gave me the freedom to go up to total strangers and ask what was  49 .

         For the past fifty years, I’ve had the most satisfying reporting career,  50  stories from murders to airplane  51  and finally choosing my strongest area. When I went to pick up my phone one day, an incredible wave of memories  52  me and I realized that had it not been  53  Virginia DeView, I would not be sitting at that desk.

         I get  54  all the time : “How did you pick journalism?”

         “Well, you see, there was this teacher…” I always start out. I just wish I could 55  her.

1.A．cautious   B．mad     C．optimistic       D．enthusiastic

2.A．universities B．families   C．professions        D．lives

3.A．interview B．describe   C．admire          D．face

4.A．considered       B．rejected   C．expected      D．picked

5.A．hardly           B．nearly            C．naturally             D．eagerly

6.A．preparationsB．newspapers C．drink             D．paper

7.A．reliable    B．grateful         C．tense               D．amazed

8.A．student        B．journalist C．candidate             D．writer

9.A．look     B．turn            C．break                D．run

10.A．called         B．remembered C．recognized            D．evaluated

11.A．answer      B．urge           C．stop          D．persuade

12.A．funny         B．competitiveC．ordinary           D．mysterious

13.A．blood         B．body             C．life          D．opinion

14.A．coming in       B．coming out C．going up          D．going on

15.A．creating B．recalling  C．covering            D．writing

16.A．flights     B．crashes          C．budgets       D．schedules

17.A．hit     B．caught   C．impressed            D．seized

18.A．for     B．with            C．of                  D．to

19.A．hurt            B．realized          C．adjusted      D．asked

20.A．respect  B．support         C．thank               D．envy

 

Directions：For each blank in the following passage there are four words or phrases marked A., B, C and D. Fill in each blank with a word or phrase that best fits the context.

Girls are born to imagine, particularly those at the age of seventeen or eighteen.   1.  , I was one of them and sometimes I would go to extremes. I mean I tended to imagine too much. That was exactly what happened this time,    2.   me great embarrassment.

I was waiting for my train home at the station when a boy  3.  at my side. His beautifully-curved face, his fashionable clothing and everything else about him, was so  4.  that I just couldn’t help looking at him.  What was more exciting was that , he was also stealing some  5.   at me, which made me blush(脸红) to the ends of my ears! Still, I tried to be calm and    6.  that nothing had happened. However, once again when our eyes met, I could hear my heart beating. I lowered my head to escape his eyes, but my thoroughly red face had made   7.   known .

To my pleasant surprise, my imagination came true this time, as the handsome guy was drawing near! “Oh, please! Don’t   8.   .” Look at me. I am so sweaty and sloppy(不整洁的). Please don’t ask for my telephone number. You know I will give it to you without  9.   , and that is so unladylike.

I was still struggling when he stood right in front of me. “Excuse me…” he said with a slight hesitation. His voice was so nice, but I wish I had not   10.  it. “I am sorry, but could you please give me my   11.  back? Yours is over there.” Oh my God! Nothing could have been more   12.   when I handed his bag back to him, as shame almost brought me to tears.

From that , I drew a big lesson: never imagine too much if someone just gives you a few glances.

13.               A．Generally       B．Finally          C．Undoubtedly   D．Recently

 

14.               A．causing         B．leading         C．taking D．helping

 

15.               A．made up        B．grew up        C．turned up  D．rose up

 

16.               A．attractive       B．gentle          C．ugly  D．rude

 

17.               A．opinions        B．sounds         C．smiles D．glances

 

18.               A．knew          B．pretende       C．performed D．acted

 

19.               A．nothing        B．everything      C．anything   D．none

 

20.               A．arrive          B．shout          C．approach  D．stand

 

21.               A．hesitation       B．concern        C．words D．enthusiasm

 

22.               A．heard          B．seen           C．smelt D．found

 

23.               A．luggage        B．bag            C．cup  D．glasses

 

24.               A．embarrassing    B．wonderful      C．sorrowful  D．disappointing