I began working in journalism when I was eight. It was my mother’s idea. She wanted me to “make something” of myself, and decided I had better start young if I was to have any chance of keeping up with the competition.

With my load of magazines I headed toward Belleville Avenue. The crowds were there. There were two gas stations on the corner of Belleville and Union. For several hours I made myself highly visible, making sure everyone could see me and the heavy black letters on the bag that said THE SATURDAY EVENING POST. When it was suppertime, I walked back home.

“How many did you sell, my boy?” my mother asked.

“None.”

“Where did you go?”

“The corner of Belleville and Union Avenues.”

“What did you do?”

“Stood on the corner waiting for somebody to buy a Saturday Evening Post.”

“You just stood there?”

“Didn’t sell a single one.”

“My God, Russell!”

Uncle Allen put in, “Well, I’ve decided to take the Post.” I handed him a copy and he paid me a nickel. It was the first nickel I earned.

Afterwards my mother taught me how to be a salesman. I would have to ring doorbells, address adults with self-confidence, and persuade them by saying that no one, no matter how poor, could afford to be without the Saturday Evening Post in the home.

One day, I told my mother I’d changed my mind. I didn’t want to make a success in the magazine business.

“If you think you can change your mind like this,” she replied, “you’ll become a good-for-nothing.” She insisted that, as soon as school was over, I should start ringing doorbells, selling magazines. Whenever I said no, she would scold me.

My mother and I had fought this battle almost as long as I could remember. My mother, dissatisfied with my father’s plain workman’s life, determined that I would not grow up like him and his people. But never did she expect that, forty years later, such a successful journalist as me would go back to her husband’s people for true life and love.

1.Why did the boy start his job young?

A．He wanted to be famous in the future.

B．The job was quite easy for him.

C．His mother had high hopes for him.

D．The competition for the job was fierce.

2.From the dialogue between the boy and his mother, we learn that the mother was _______.

A．excited           B．interested         C．ashamed          D．disappointed

3.What did the mother do when the boy wanted to give up?

A．She forced him to continue.               B．She punished him.

C．She gave him some money.                D．She changed her plan.

4.What does the underlined word “nickel” most possibly mean?

A．a note that is worth ten dollars

B．a bill signed in acknowledgement of debt

C．a list showing how much you have to pay

D．a coin that is worth five cents

5.What is the text mainly about?

A．The early life of a journalist.

B．The early success of a journalist.

C．The happy childhood of the writer.

D．The important role of the writer in his family.

London Underground

    The world’s first subway was built in London in 1863. At the time, the government was looking for a way to reduce traffic problems in the city of London. The poor areas of the city were so crowded with people that it was almost impossible for horse carriages to get through. The city officials were interested in trying to make it possible for workers to live outside of London and travel easily to work each day. If people had a cheap and convenient way that they could depend on to go to and from work, they would relocate their homes outside of the city. This would help ease(减轻) the pressure of too many people living in the poor parts of London. From these problems, the idea of the London Underground, the first subway system was born.

    The plans for building the Underground met with several problems and delays, but the fast track was finally opened in January 1863. A steam train pulled the cars along the fast underground track which was 6 kilometers (3. 7 miles) long. About 30,000 people got on the subway the first day.  Riders were treated to comfortable seats (standing up while the train was moving was not allowed), and pleasant decorations inside each of the cars. However, the smoke from the engine soon filled the air in the tunnels with ash and soot(煤灰), as well as chemical gases. Fans had to be put in the tunnels later to keep the air clean enough for people to breathe. Even with its problems, riding in the Underground did catch on. It carried 9 million riders in its first year.

40. What led the British government to build the London Underground？

    A.  Traffic jams and pollution.

    B.  Population and pollution.

    C.  Overcrowding and traffic jams.

    D.  The poverty and subway problems. 

41. How did the London Underground solve the smoke problem？

    A.  It made the tunnels larger.

    B.  It put fans in the tunnels.

    C.  It cleaned the chemical gases in the tunnels. 

D.  It reduced the number of passengers riding in the train.

42. The underlined phrase “catch on” most probably means “______”.

    A.  be troublesome         

    B.  become popular and fashionable

    C.  keep up with           

    D.  seize

43. Which of the following is TRUE？

    A.  To relocate the workers’ homes outside London，the government built the subway.

    B.  There were so many problems and delays that in 18th century the first subway opened.

    C.  The subway greatly eased the pressure of traffic.

D.  There were not enough seats for the passengers the first day the subway opened.

Elizabeth Clay decided to go home and spend the holiday with her parents. The next day she drove her old car home along the road.    21  she found she got a flat. The 22-year-old student   22   to stop her car by the side of the road in the winter night and opened the trunk. No   23    tire.

At this time, a car    24   . Paul and Diane told Clay to   25   them to a service station near their   26   .They arrived to see that it had no suitable tires to   27   with her car. “Follow us home,” said Paul. The couple called around to find a tire. No     28  . They decided to let her use their own car. “Here,” Paul said, handing Clay a   29   of keys, “Take our car. We   30   be using it over the holiday.”

Clay was   31   .“But I’m going all the way to South Carolina, and I’ll be gone for two weeks,” she   32   them.

“We know,” Paul said. “We’ll be   33   when you get back. Here’s our number if you need to   34  us.”

Unable to believe her eyes, Clay watched as the   35   put her luggage into their car and then   36   her off. Two weeks later she   37   to find her old car cleaned inside and outside with three new tires and the radio     38  .

“Thank you so much,” she said. “How much do I   39   you?” “Oh, no,” Paul said, “we don’t want any money. It’s our   40   . ” Clay realized that while it might have been their pleasure, it was now her duty to help others who need help.

A. Suddenly          B. Finally        C. Immediately          D. Fortunately

A. afforded               B. wanted          C. allowed               D. managed

A. spare                B. free             C. full                 D. empty

A. passed               B. stopped          C. paused                  D. started

A. help                 B. push             C. take                   D. follow

A. garage                B. house            C. shop                   D. hotel

A. agree                B. match           C. go                  D. deal

A. way                 B. message          C. success                D. luck

A. set                  B. number          C. pair                   D. chain

A. can’t                 B. shouldn’t        C. mustn’t                   D. won’t

A. satisfied                B. worried          C. astonished               D. disturbed

A. persuaded           B. advised          C. reminded            D. promised

A. happy                 B. here             C. away                 D. busy

A. get in touch with   B. keep in touch with

         C. be in touch with    D. put in touch with

A. repairmen          B. cleaners          C. friends                 D. couple

A. sent                   B. shook             C. watched                D. drove

A. shocked              B. happened      C. returned             D. came

A. loaded                 B. fixed              C. tied                  D. rebuilt

A. owe                   B. lend            C. give                        D. offer

A. wish                     B. job                  C. duty                   D. pleasure

Watching some children trying to catch butterflies one hot August afternoon, I was reminded of an incident in my own childhood．When I was a boy of 12 in South Carolina, something happened to me that cured me forever of wanting to put any wild creature in a cage.We lived on the edge of a wood, and every evening at dusk the mockingbirds would come and rest in the trees and sing. There isn’t a musical instrument made by man that can produce a more beautiful sound than the song of the mockingbird.

I decided that I would catch a young bird and keep it in a cage and in that way would have my own private musician.

I finally succeeded in catching one and put it in a cage. At first, in its fright at being captured, the bird fluttered about the cage, but eventually it settled down in its new home. I felt very pleased with myself and looked forward to some beautiful singing from my tiny musician.

I had left the cage out on our back porch, and on the second day of the bird’s captivity my new pet’s mother flew to the cage with food in her mouth. The baby bird ate everything she brought to it. I was pleased to see this. Certainly the mother knew better than I how to feed her baby.

The following morning when I went to see how my captive was doing, I discovered it on the floor of the cage, dead. I was shocked! What had happened! I had taken excellent care of my little bird, or so I thought.

Arthur Wayne, the famous ornithologist, happened to be visiting my father at the time, hearing me crying over the death of my bird, explained what had occurred. “A mother mockingbird, finding her young in a cage, will sometimes bring it poison berries. She thinks it better for her young to die than to live in captivity.”

Never since then have I caught any living creature and put it in a cage. All living creatures have a right to live free.

1.Why did the writer catch a mockingbird when he was a boy of 12?

A．He had just got a new cage.                B．He liked its beautiful feather.

C．He wanted it to sing for him.               D．He wanted a pet for a companion.

2.The mockingbird died because it ______.

A．was frightened to death                  B．ate the poisonous food its mother gave it

C．refused to eat anything                   D．drank the poisonous water by mistake

3.An ornithologist probably means ______.

A．a religious person                       B．a kind person

C．a schoolmaster                         D．an expert in birds

4.What is the most important lesson the writer learned from the incident?

A．Freedom is very valuable to all creatures.

B．All birds put in a cage won’t live long.

C．You should keep the birds from their mother.

D．Be careful about food you give to baby birds.

The melon the Smiths served at dinner would have tasted   if it had been put in the fridge for a little while.

   A. good        B. better       C. best     D. well