I moved into a new house in July. Since then I have met a few of my neighbors who are very nice people. For Christmas, I thought I would do something nice for each of the neighbors I know. There were nine neighbors whom I knew by name or spoke with often when I was out in my yard. I knew which houses they lived in.

I decided to add one more to my list. This lady I decided to add lives down the street from me. I meet her every morning walking to work as I drive down the street. She always smiles to me. But I had no idea who she was and which house she lived in.

I planned to make small fruit baskets and leave them on my neighbor's front porches(门廊) on Christmas Eve. I signed the cards: "Happy Holidays from 5104 Northumberland Road."

I saved the last for the friendly lady. I finally decided on a house where I met her each morning and guessed that it was hers.

My neighbors really appreciated the baskets and would tell me as they saw me in the yard or they would call, and a couple even came by to thank me.

This morning I found a small note in the mailbox. It was addressed simply: Resident, 5104 Northumberland Road.

The Thank You card really caught me by surprise. I opened it and read the message, "Thank you for the lovely fruit basket you left on our porch. It was very thoughtful. Richard Kelly passed away last week. He talked a lot about how nice it was that someone remembered him in his time of illness. He really appreciated it."

I had no idea who Richard Kelly was and that he had been seriously ill. I had left that nice lady's basket on his porch by mistake. I wanted to say sorry, but that would be wrong. I believe that Mr. Kelly was meant to have that basket because he was dying. I hate that the nice lady did not get to receive a fruit basket on Christmas, but I believe if she knew what had happened, she would be happy. I feel pleased to have helped Richard Kelly's last days be more cheerful.

1.How many Christmas gifts did the author intend to send?

  A. Nine.         B. Eight.     C. Ten.       D. Eleven.

2.Where did the friendly lady live?

A. She lived at the end of Northumberland Road.

B. Her address was 5104 Northumberland Road.

C. She was thought to share a house with Mr. Kelly.

D. The author was not sure about her address at all.

3.How did the author’s neighbors respond to his gifts?

  A. They liked the gifts very much and were thankful.

  B. They were thankful that they wanted to be friends.

  C. They all made phone calls to say “Thank You”.

  D. They all visited him by person to show gratitude.

4.What does the author mean in the last paragraph?

  A. He was regretful that the nice lady didn’t receive his gift.

  B. He was glad to have made Mr. Kelly's life more pleasant. 

  C. He thought Richard Kelly deserved to receive that basket.

  D. The old lady was happy to sacrifice to make Kelly happy.

 

This is the letter that Mr. White wrote before his death about his three books for children:

Dear Reader:

I receive many letters from children and can't answer them all -- there wouldn't be time enough in a day. That is why I am sending you this printed reply to your letter. I'll try to answer some of the questions that are commonly asked.

Where did I get the idea for Stuart Little and for Charlotte's Web? Well, many years ago I went to bed one night in a railway sleeping car, and during the night I dreamed about a tiny boy who acted rather like a mouse. That's how the story of Stuart Little got started.

As for Charlotte's Web, I like animals and my barn（谷仓） is a very pleasant place to be, at all hours. One day when I was on my way to feed the pig, I began feeling sorry for the pig because, like most pigs, he was doomed to die. This made me sad. So I started thinking of ways to save a pig's life. I had been watching a big grey spider at her work and was impressed by how clever she was at weaving. Gradually I worked the spider into the story that you know, a story of friendship and salvation（拯救） on a farm. Three years after I started writing it, it was published. (I am not a fast worker, as you can see.)

Sometimes I'm asked how old I was when I started to write, and what made me want to write. I started early -- as soon as I could spell. In fact, I can't remember any time in my life when I wasn't busy writing. I don't know what caused me to do it, or why I enjoyed it, but I think children often find pleasure and satisfaction is trying to set their thoughts down on paper, either in words or in pictures. I was no good at drawing, so I used words instead. As I grew older, I found that writing can be a way of earning a living.

Some of my readers want me to visit their school. Some want me to send a picture, or an autograph, or a book. And some ask questions about my family and my animals and my pets. Much as I'd like to, I can't go visiting. I can't send books, either -- you can find them in a bookstore or a library. Many children assume that a writer owns (or even makes) his own books. This is not true -- books are made by the publisher. If a writer wants a copy, he must buy it. That's why I can't send books. And I do not send autographs（亲笔签名，手稿） -- I leave that to the movie stars. I live most of the year in the country, in New England. From our windows we can look out at the sea and the mountains. I live near my married son and three grandchildren.

Are my stories true, you ask? No, they are imaginary tales, containing fantastic characters and events. In real life, a family doesn't have a child who looks like a mouse; in real life, a spider doesn't spin words in her web. In real life, a swan doesn't blow a trumpet（喇叭，小号） . But real life is only one kind of life -- there is also the life of the imagination. And although my stories are imaginary, I like to think that there is some truth in them, too -- truth about the way people and animals feel and think and act.

Yours sincerely,

E.B. White

1.What does the author do?

A． a writer

B．a reporter

C．a doctor

D．a teacher

2.What caused the author start to write?

A．His parents’ encuoragement

B．His talent in writing

C．Not mentioned in the passage

D．A writer in the early time

3.Why does the author think he can’t seng his autographs?

A．Because he thinks it should be dong by movie stars.

B．Because he thinks his writing is not good enough

C．Because he has no much time

D．Because he hates writing

4.How long had the author been writing the story of Chariotte’s web?

A．3 minths

B．2 years

C．3 years

D．5 years

 

Last week, I was invited to a doctor’s meeting at the Ruth Hospital. In one of the rooms a patient, an old man, got up from his bed and moved slowly towards me. I could see that he hadn’t long to live, but he came up to me and placed his right foot close to mine on the floor.

“Frank!” I cried in surprise. He couldn’t answer, as I knew, but he tried to smile, all the time keeping his foot close to mine.

My thoughts raced back more than thirty years － to the dark days of 1941, when I was a student in London. The scene was an air-raid shelter (防空洞), in which I and about a hundred other people slept every night. Among them were Mrs West and her son Frank, who lived nearby. Sharing wartime problems, we got to know each other very well. Frank interested me because he was not normal. He had never been normal, ever since he was born. His mother told me he was 37 then, but he had less of a mind than a baby has. Mrs West, then about 75, was a strong, able woman, as she had to be, of course, because Frank depended on her completely. He needed all the attention of a baby.

One night a policeman came into our shelter and told Mrs West that her house had been all destroyed. That wasn’t quite true, because the Wests went on living there for quite some time. But they certainly lost nearly everything they owned.

When that kind of thing happened, the rest of us helped the unlucky ones. So before we separated that morning, I stood beside Frank and measured my right foot against his.

They were about the same size. That night, then, I took a spare pair of shoes to the shelter for Frank. As soon as he saw me, he came running － and paced his right foot against mine. After that, he always greeted me in the same way.

1. How did the writer know that the patient was Frank?

A. He was told that Frank was in the hospital.  B. He was invited to study Frank’s illness.

C. Frank’s name was written on the door.      D. Frank greeted him in a special way.

2. When and where did the writer first meet Frank?

A. In Mrs West’s house in 1941.

B. In an air-raid shelter during the war.

C. At the Ruth Hospital about ten years ago.

D. In London after he Wests’ house was destroyed.

3. The unlucky ones mentioned by the doctor were ______.

A. those who suffered from illness       B. those who slept in the air-raid shelter

C. those who were killed during the war   D. those whose homes were destroyed in air-raids

4.The writer placed his foot against Frank’s before he left the shelter ______.

A. to be friendly towards Frank

B. to see if Frank’s feet were normal

C. to find out if Frank could put on his shoes

D. to teach Frank to greet people in a special way

 

I moved into a new house in July. Since then I have met a few of my neighbors who are very nice people. For Christmas, I thought I would do something nice for each of the neighbors I know. There were nine neighbors whom I knew by name or spoke with often when I was out in my yard. I knew which houses they lived in.

I decided to add one more to my list. This lady I decided to add lives down the street from me. I meet her every morning walking to work as I drive down the street. She always smiles to me. But I had no idea who she was and which house she lived in.

I planned to make small fruit baskets and leave them on my neighbor's front porches (门廊) on Christmas Eve. I signed the cards: “Happy Holidays from 5104 Northumberland Road.”

I saved the last for the friendly lady. I finally decided on a house where I met her each morning and guessed that it was hers.

My neighbors really appreciated the baskets and would tell me as they saw me in the yard or they would call, and a couple even came by to thank me.

This morning I found a small note in the mailbox. It was addressed simply: Resident, 5104 Northumberland Road.

The Thank You card really caught me by surprise. I opened it and read the message, “Thank you for the lovely fruit basket you left on our porch. It was very thoughtful. Richard Kelly passed away last week. He talked a lot about how nice it was that someone remembered him in his time of illness. He really appreciated it.”

I had no idea who Richard Kelly was and that he had been seriously ill. I had left that nice lady’s basket on his porch by mistake. I wanted to say sorry, but that would be wrong. I believe that Mr. Kelly was meant to have that basket because he was dying. I hate that the nice lady did not get to receive a fruit basket on Christmas, but I believe if she knew what had happened, she would be happy. I feel pleased to have helped Richard Kelly's last days be more cheerful.

1.How many Christmas gifts did the author intend to send?

   A. 9.         B. 8           C. 10               D. 11

2.Where did the friendly lady live?

A. She lived at the end of Northumberland Road.

B. Her address was 5104 Northumberland Road.

C. She was thought to share a house with Mr. Kelly.

D. The author was not sure about her address at all.

3.How did the author’s neighbors respond to his gifts?

   A. They liked the gifts very much and were thankful.

   B. They were thankful that they wanted to be friends.

   C. They all made phone calls to say “Thank You”.

   D. They all visited him by person to show gratitude.

4.What does the author mean in the last paragraph?

   A. He was regretful that the nice lady didn’t receive his gift.

   B. He was glad to have made Mr. Kelly's life more pleasant. 

   C. He thought Richard Kelly deserved to receive that basket.

   D. The old lady was happy to sacrifice to make Kelly happy.

 

 

．—Where did you go last weekend?

   —ChenDu, we got to the station almost half an hour earlier than the bus.

   —So you _______ in such hurry.

A. needn’t have been                                       B. couldn’t have been

C. shouldn’t have been                            D. mustn’t have been