My parents have certainly had their troubles, and as their child I’ll never know how they made it to 38 years of marriage. They loved each other, but they didn’t seem to like each other very much. Dad was too fond of his beer, and he talked down to Mom a lot. When she tried to stand up to him, a fight would unavoidably follow.

   It was my dad’s disease that began to change things. The year 1998 was the beginning of a remarkable transformation for my family. My father, Jim Dineen, the always healthy, weightlifting, never-missed-a-day-of-work kind of dad, discovered he had kidney (肾)disease.

   The decision to go ahead with a transplant for my father was a long and tough one, mostly because he had liver damage too. One physician’s assistant told him, “According to your file, you’re supposed to be dead.” And for a while, doctors mistakenly thought that he would need not just a kidney transplant, but a liver transplant too. Dad’s future hung in midpoint.

   When the donor testing process finally began in the spring of 2003, numerous people, including me, my uncle Tom, and my mom, came back as matches of varying degree. But Mom was the one who insisted on going further. She decided to donate a kidney to my father. She said she was not scared, and it was the right thing to do. We all stepped back in amazement.

   At last a date was chosen – November 11, 2003. All of a sudden, the only thing that seemed to matter Dad was telling the world what a wonderful thing Mom was doing for him. A month before the surgery, he sent her birthday flowers with a note that read, “I love you and I love your kidney! Thank you!”

   Financially, the disease was upsetting to them. So my sister and I were humbled and surprised when, shortly before his surgery day, Dad handed us a diamond jewelry that we were to give to Mom after the operation. He’d accumulated his spare dollars to buy it.

   At the hospital on the day of the transplant, all our relatives and friends gathered in the waiting room and became involved in a mean euchre (尤克牌游戏) tournament. My family has always handled things with a lot of laughter, and even though we were all tense, everybody was taking bets on how long this “change of conduct” would last in my parents.

   We would inform Dad that if he chose to act like a real pain on any particular day after the operation, he wasn’t allowed to blame it on PMS just because he’d now have a female kidney.

   The surgeries went well, and not long afterward, my sister and I were allowed to go in to visit. Dad was in a great deal of pain but again, all he could talk about was Mom. Was she okay? How was she feeling? Then the nurses let us do something unconventional. As they were wheeling Mom out of recovery room, they rolled her into a separate position to visit Dad. It was strange to see both my parents hooked up to IVs and machines and trying to talk to each other through tears. The nurses allowed us to present the diamond jewelry to Mom so that Dad could watch her open it. Everyone was crying, even the nurses.

  As I stood with digital camera in hand, I tried to keep the presence of mind to document the moment. My dad was having a hard time fighting back emotion, and suddenly my parents unexpectedly reached out to hold each other’s hands.

  In my nearly 35 years of existence, I’d never seen my parents do that, and I was spellbound. I snapped a picture and later rushed home to make sure I’d captured that enormous, life-defining moment. After so many years of disagreement, it was apparent to me that they finally understood how much each loved the other. 65—70

1.From the first paragraph we can learn that ____________.

A. Dad was fond of drinking                        B. My parents got along well

C. Dad often beat Mom                           D. Mom never obeyed Dad

2.The underlined part “Dad’s future hung in midpoint” in Para.3 suggests that ____________.

A. Dad was bound to die

B. Dad came to a serious moment in his life

C. Dad’s future was decided by doctors

D. Dad faced a tough decision in his life

3.Before the surgery, which of the following words can best describe the feeling of the families?

A. Worried and negative.                     B. Anxious and helpless.

C. Nervous but optimistic.                    D. Relaxed and positive.

4.Which of the following is TRUE according the passage?

A. Dad bought a diamond jewelry to Mom for their wedding anniversary.

B. Dad asked the nurse to visit Mom soon after the operation.

C. Despite a lot of pain, Dad was eager to know Mom’s condition soon after the operation.

D. On the day of the transplant, the families involved in a euchre tournament to relax themselves.

5.What’s in the writer’s photo?

A. Everyone was crying, even the nurses.

B. His parents were trying to talk to each other.

C. Dad watched Mom opening the gift.     

D. His parents were holding each other’s hands.

6.What’s the best title for the passage?

A. Dad’s disease      B. Mom’s decision       C. The Gift of Life       D. The photo of hands

My parents have certainly had their troubles, and as their child I’ll never know how they made it to 38 years of marriage. They loved each other, but they didn’t seem to like each other very much. Dad was too fond of his beer, and he talked down to Mom a lot. When she tried to stand up to him, a fight would unavoidably follow.

   It was my dad’s disease that began to change things. The year 1998 was the beginning of a remarkable transformation for my family. My father, Jim Dineen, the always healthy, weightlifting, never-missed-a-day-of-work kind of dad, discovered he had kidney (肾)disease.

   The decision to go ahead with a transplant for my father was a long and tough one, mostly because he had liver damage too. One physician’s assistant told him, “According to your file, you’re supposed to be dead.” And for a while, doctors mistakenly thought that he would need not just a kidney transplant, but a liver transplant too. Dad’s future hung in midpoint.

   When the donor testing process finally began in the spring of 2003, numerous people, including me, my uncle Tom, and my mom, came back as matches of varying degree. But Mom was the one who insisted on going further. She decided to donate a kidney to my father. She said she was not scared, and it was the right thing to do. We all stepped back in amazement.

   At last a date was chosen – November 11, 2003. All of a sudden, the only thing that seemed to matter Dad was telling the world what a wonderful thing Mom was doing for him. A month before the surgery, he sent her birthday flowers with a note that read, “I love you and I love your kidney! Thank you!”

   Financially, the disease was upsetting to them. So my sister and I were humbled and surprised when, shortly before his surgery day, Dad handed us a diamond jewelry that we were to give to Mom after the operation. He’d accumulated his spare dollars to buy it.

   At the hospital on the day of the transplant, all our relatives and friends gathered in the waiting room and became involved in a mean euchre (尤克牌游戏) tournament. My family has always handled things with a lot of laughter, and even though we were all tense, everybody was taking bets on how long this “change of conduct” would last in my parents.

   We would inform Dad that if he chose to act like a real pain on any particular day after the operation, he wasn’t allowed to blame it on PMS just because he’d now have a female kidney.

   The surgeries went well, and not long afterward, my sister and I were allowed to go in to visit. Dad was in a great deal of pain but again, all he could talk about was Mom. Was she okay? How was she feeling? Then the nurses let us do something unconventional. As they were wheeling Mom out of recovery room, they rolled her into a separate position to visit Dad. It was strange to see both my parents hooked up to IVs and machines and trying to talk to each other through tears. The nurses allowed us to present the diamond jewelry to Mom so that Dad could watch her open it. Everyone was crying, even the nurses.

  As I stood with digital camera in hand, I tried to keep the presence of mind to document the moment. My dad was having a hard time fighting back emotion, and suddenly my parents unexpectedly reached out to hold each other’s hands.

  In my nearly 35 years of existence, I’d never seen my parents do that, and I was spellbound. I snapped a picture and later rushed home to make sure I’d captured that enormous, life-defining moment. After so many years of disagreement, it was apparent to me that they finally understood how much each loved the other.

65. From the first paragraph we can learn that ____________.

A. Dad was fond of drinking                   B. My parents got along well

C. Dad often beat Mom                       D. Mom never obeyed Dad

66. The underlined part “Dad’s future hung in midpoint” in Para.3 suggests that ____________.

A. Dad was bound to die                      B. Dad came to a serious moment in his life

C. Dad’s future was decided by doctors          D. Dad faced a tough decision in his life

67. Before the surgery, which of the following words can best describe the feeling of the families?

    A. Worried and negative.                     B. Anxious and helpless.   

    C. Nervous but optimistic.                    D. Relaxed and positive.

68. Which of the following is TRUE according the passage?

    A. Dad bought a diamond jewelry to Mom for their wedding anniversary.

    B. Dad asked the nurse to visit Mom soon after the operation.

C. Despite a lot of pain, Dad was eager to know Mom’s condition soon after the operation.

    D. On the day of the transplant, the families involved in a euchre tournament to relax themselves.

69. What’s in the writer’s photo?

    A. Everyone was crying, even the nurses.          B. His parents were trying to talk to each other.

    C. Dad watched Mom opening the gift.                D. His parents were holding each other’s hands.

70. What’s the best title for the passage?

A. Dad’s disease        B. Mom’s decision       C. The Gift of Life       D. The photo of hands

American news experts at the Associated Press have chosen the top stories of 2003. Almost all the news directors named the war in Iraq as the most important event of the year.

The United States led a military coalition(联军) against Iraq beginning March nineteenth. The military action began after President Bush repeatedly warned Iraq to report about its weapons of mass destruction. By April seventh, much of Baghdad was under control of the coalition. Mister Bush declared major combat operations over on May first.

Many Iraqis said they were happy that Saddam Hussein's rule was over. But Iraqi resisters have continued to attack and kill coalition fighters and Iraqi civilians.

American troops captured Saddam Hussein on December thirteenth. But so far the coalition has found no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.

The news expert named the loss of the American space shuttle Columbia as the second most important story of the year. Columbia broke apart on February first as it returned to Earth after a sixteen-day research flight. Seven astronauts died in the explosion.

The Associated Press experts said a special recall vote by citizens in the state of California was the third most important story of the year. On October seventh, California voters removed Democrat Gray Davis as governor. They chose actor Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican, to replace him. Under Governor Davis, California had suffered severe financial problems.

The news experts said the disease SARS was another top story. In February, health experts in Asia reported the first cases of a new disease later named Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome. Over time, about eight thousand people around the world became sick with the disease. Almost eight hundred people reportedly died.

The news agency experts identified a power loss in North America as the next most important event. On August fourteenth, a power company computer failed in the American state of Ohio. This caused a loss of electricity in eight American states and part of Canada.

Next, the experts noted America's improving economy. The nation's growth rate from July through September was the best in nineteen years. But estimates said the federal debt increased to five hundred thousand million dollars.

Another top story was the deadly wildfires in California in October and November. The news experts said the tax cut of three-hundred-thirty-thousand-million dollars for American taxpayers was also an important story.

The safe return of a kidnapped fifteen-year-old girl was voted the ninth biggest story. Finally, the news experts chose the campaign for the Democratic Party's nomination for president in the two-thousand-four election. Former Vermont governor Howard Dean now appears to lead eight other competitors.

1. How many top stories are mentioned in the passage?

A. 9. B. 10. C. 11. D. 12.

2. Which is the eighth most important story according to the passage?

A. The Deadly Wildfire in California.

B. The Tax Cut for American Taxpayers.

C. America's Improving Economy.

D. A Power Loss in North America.

3. According to the passage, which of the following statements is TRUE?

A. Mister Bush declared major combat operation over on May first.

B. All Iraqis were happy that Saddam Hussein's rule was over.

C. Saddam Hussein was captured by the coalition.

D. The coalition has found weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.

4. All the months are mentioned in the passage except ________.

A. July and September

B. March and April

C. January and June

D. October and December

Today was a big day for my eldest son, Kevin. He had his first big boy haircut. Before today, we have always stood by his side, told the hairdresser what to do and watched over the whole thing. We’ve been working on the rewards (奖赏) of responsibility with my son for quite some time. Today, he got one of those rewards by having his own haircut.
When they arrived at the shop, his father showed him a book with lots of styles of haircuts for boys. After he made his choice, he waited patiently for his turn. My husband decided he would get his own hair cut at the same time.
When their names were called, Kevin showed the hairdresser the picture of his chosen haircut, which, thankfully, was not a strange haircut. The hairdresser looked to my husband for approval (批准) and he told her his son was in charge.
During his haircut, Kevin talked happily with the hairdresser. My husband, who was getting his haircut in the next chair, kept silent. When all was said and done, Kevin looked quite handsome.
When it was time to pay, he reached into his pocket and took out the cash my husband gave him. He handed it to her and said, “Thanks, it’s all yours.” I guess that’s the six-year-old equivalent (对应的语句) of “keep the change.”
I have to admit I was a little nervous about the whole thing before, but I’m a believer now. My son is growing up and ready for new big boy experiences.
【小题1】When Kevin got his haircut, the author used to      .