【推荐1】阅读下面短文并根据短文内容完成下列各题。

The Christmas of my 16th, when decorating the Christmas tree with Mum, I accidentally dropped and broke an old glass ball. It had been on our tree for as long as I could remember.

Regretfully, I knelt to pick up the pieces and was surprised to find a small piece of paper among them. Unfolding the tiny note, I recognized my father’s penciled writing. Lifting my eyes, I saw my mothers smile.

“Your Daddy wrote that and put it in that blue ball during our first Christmas together, just before you were born,” she said.

I wouldn’t have believed it, if there hadn’t been the note in my hands. Daddy always regarded getting the tree decorated as an important task. And yet this bit of yellowed paper proved that long ago my Daddy had done something romantic at Christmas.

Carefully putting the note aside, I cleaned up the pieces, wishing I could reassemble them. “You needn’t fit the parts of the old glass ball together again. Pick out another one and put the note back inside.” Mum said.

Now, as I celebrate the holidays without Mum, who died of cancer years ago, I feel really sad. Each year as I decorate Christmas tree. I recall the moment I shared with her that winter afternoon and blink away my tears.

As I carefully handle those old glass balls. I love knowing that one of them holds a secret between Daddy and Mum — a secret that was obvious to all who knew them.

The note inside one of those old glass balls on Christmas tree holds the heart of my parents’ marriage in three warm words: “I love you.”

1. What happened when the author was decorating the Christmas tree? (no more than 10 words)
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2. When was the paper put in the glass ball? (no more than 10 words)
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3. What can we know about the author’s father from the yellowed paper? (no more than 7 words)
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4. What does the underlined word “reassemble” mean in English? (no more than 10 words)
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5. Do you often express your love to your parents? And how? (no more than 20 words)
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【推荐3】Growing up, I remember my father as a silent, serious man — not the sort of person around whom one could laugh. As a teenager arriving in America, knowing nothing, I wanted a father who could explain the human journey. In college, when friends called home for advice, I would sink into deep depression for what I did not have.

Today, at twenty-seven, I have come to rediscover them in ways that my teenage mind would not allow — as adults and as friends with their own faults and weaknesses.

One night after my move back home, I overheard my father on the telephone. There was some trouble. Later, Dad shared the problem with me. Apparently my legal training had earned me some privileges(特权) in his eyes. I talked through the problem with Dad, analyzing the purposes of the people involved and offering several negotiation skills. He listened patiently before finally admitting, “I can’t think like that. I am a simple man.”

Dad is a brilliant scientist who can deconstruct(解构)the building blocks of nature. Yet human nature is a mystery to him. That night I realized that he was simply not skilled at dealing with people, much less the trouble of a conflicted teenager. It’s not in his nature to understand human desires.

And so, there it was — it was no one’s fault that my father held no interest in human lives while I placed great importance on them. We are at times born more sensitive, wide-eyed, and dreamy than our parents and become more curious and idealistic than them. Dad perhaps never expected me for a child. And I, who knew Dad as an intelligent man, had never understood that his intelligence did not cover all of my feelings.

It has saved me years of questioning and confusion. I now see my parents as people who have other relationships than just Father and Mother. I now ignore their many faults and weaknesses, which once annoyed me.

I now know my parents as friends: people who ask me for advice; people who need my support and understanding. And I’ve come to see my past clearly.

1. What was the author’s impression of her father when she was a teenager?

A．Friendly but irresponsible.	B．Intelligent but severe.
C．Cold and forceful.	D．Caring and communicative.

2. Why did the author feel depressed when her friends called home?

A．She did not have a phone to call home.

B．Her father did not care about her human journey.

C．Her father was too busy to answer her phone.

D．Her father couldn’t give her proper advice.

3. After the author overheard her father on the telephone, ______.

A．he blamed her for impoliteness

B．he rediscovered human nature

C．he consulted with her about his problem

D．he changed his attitude towards the author

4. The author realized that ______.

A．her father had too many faults and weaknesses

B．her father was not as intelligent as she had thought

C．her father was not good at interpersonal relationships

D．her father placed too much importance on social activities

【推荐1】Linda Evans was my best friend—like the sister I never had. We did everything together: piano lessons, movies, swimming, horseback riding.

When I was 13, my family moved away. Linda and I kept in touch through letters, and we saw each other on special time—like my wedding (婚礼) and Linda’s. Soon we were busy with children and moving to new homes, and we wrote less often. One day a card that I sent came back, stamped “Address (地址) Unknown. ” I had no idea how to find Linda.

Over the years, I missed Linda very much. I wanted to share happiness of my children and then grandchildren. And I needed to share my sadness when my brother and then mother died. There was an empty place in my heart that only a friend like Linda could fill.

One day I was reading a newspaper when I noticed a photo of a young woman who looked very much like Linda and whose last name was Wagman — Linda’s married name. “There must be thousands of Wagmans,” I thought, but I still wrote to her.

She called as soon as she got my letter. “Mrs Tobin!” she said excitedly, “Linda Evans Wagman is my mother. ”

Minutes later I heard a voice that I knew very much, even after 40 years, laughed and cried and caught up on each other’s lives. Now the empty place in my heart is filled. And there’s one thing that Linda and I know for sure: We won’t lose each other again!

1. The writer went to piano lessons with Linda Evans _______.

A．at the age of 13

B．before she got married

C．after they moved to new homes

D．before the writer’s family moved away

2. They didn’t often write to each other because they _______.

A．got married

B．had little time to do so

C．didn’t like writing letters

D．could see each other on special time

3. There was an empty place in the writer’s heart be­cause she _______.

A．was in trouble

B．didn’t know Linda’s address

C．received the card that she sent

D．didn’t have a friend like Linda to share her happi­ness or sadness

4. The writer was happy when she _______.

A．read the newspaper

B．heard Linda’s voice on the phone

C．met a young woman who looked a lot like Linda

D．wrote to the woman whose last name was Wagman

5. They haven’t kept in touch _______.

A．for about 40 years

B．for about 27 years

C．since they got married

D．since the writer’s family moved away

【推荐3】Mr. Utterson was a lawyer who was good-natured to his friends. His companions were usually distant relations from his own family, or friends that he had known for a long time.

One friend in particular was Mr. Richard Enfield, a distant relative, and a well-known man in London. The two men were very different, but they always went for a long Sunday walk together. People who saw them out on their walk reported that they rarely spoke. However, they would even cancel other appointments in order to go and enjoy their walks without interruption.

One day, while they were out on their walk together, they were strolling (漫步) along a small quiet street. It was all clean and attractive except for one building two storeys high.

As they passed, Mr. Enfield asked Mr. Utterson if he had ever noticed the dirty door, because it reminded him of a very strange story.

“No,” said Mr. Utterson. “What story was that?”

“Well,” replied Mr. Enfield. “Once, I was coming home this way at about 3 am on a dark winter’s night, and the whole area was very quiet and deserted. But then suddenly I saw two people. One was a small unpleasant-looking man walking along this street at a good speed. The second was a small girl, about eight or nine years old, running as fast as she could. Well, the two met at the corner and ran into each other. The unusual thing was that instead of stopping and apologizing, the little man, quite on purpose, stamped (踩) hard on the girl as she lay on the ground, screaming with pain.”

“It was a terrible thing to see. I shouted out and chased the man, caught him and brought him back to where he had knocked down the girl. The noise had attracted a small crowd of people, including some of the girl’s family, who were very angry with the man. He did not apologize, nor was he sorry for what had happened. We all told him that we would make a lot of trouble for him if he did not pay for his actions.”

“The man agreed to pay one hundred pounds to the family. As he did not have that amount of money with him, he said he had to go and get a cheque. He went to the house with the door we are looking at now, and came out with another man’s cheque for almost one hundred pounds at four o'clock in the morning. Therefore w made him stay at my house until the banks opened. Then we went to cash the cheque. I handed it over myself and was sure that it would be a forgery, but to my surprise, it was real”

1. What can learn about Mr. Utterson and Mr. Enfield?

A．They often canceled their appointments.	B．They attached importance to their walks.
C．They became friends a long time ago.	D．They were often followed by reporters.

2. What happened to the little man and the girl at the street corner?

A．He knocked into the girl on purpose.	B．He chased the girl and shouted at her.
C．He attacked the small girl violently.	D．He stopped and apologized to the girl.

3. Why did he finally agree to pay one hundred pounds?

A．Because he had a feeling of guilt.	B．Because he was afraid to lose face.
C．Because he made a lot of trouble.	D．Because he was under great pressure.

4. What does the underlined word “forgery” in the last paragraph probably mean?

A．Something mistaken.	B．Something unbelievable.
C．Something illegally copied.	D．Something poorly organized.