1 . Some city people think country life is lonely because you’re cut off from the outside world. They don’t know how peaceful it is to be away from crowded streets and busy shopping centres. They also don’t know how friendly people in country towns and villages can be. If anything, people are more likely to be lonely in a big city. I made more friends in a week in the country than I made during my first three months in London!
So which is better — the city or the country? It’s hard to say. I think it isn’t about where you live — it’s about how you live. I live in a city for now, but thanks to our island holiday, I’m sure I could be just as happy living in the country.
What might the author agree about city life and country life?| A．City life is better. | B．Country life is better. |
| C．Making friends is easier in the city. | D．Making friends is easier in the country. |
We live in Bedford, a town near London. My father is a hard-working pilot, so he doesn’t have much time to look after us.
When I was a kid, my mum liked to make breakfast food for dinner every now and then. And I remember one night in particular, when she had made breakfast food after a long, hard day at hospital.
On that evening so long ago, my mum placed a plate of eggs, sausage and terribly burnt biscuits in front of my dad. I remember waiting to see if anyone noticed. Yet all my dad did was reach for a biscuit, smile at my mum and ask my brother and me how we had been doing at school. I don’t remember what I told him that night, but I do remember watching him put butter and jelly (果酱) on that biscuit and eat every bite!
When I got up from the table that evening, I remember hearing my mum apologize (道歉) to my dad for burning the biscuits. And I will never forget what he said, “Honey, I love burnt biscuits.”
Later that night, I went to kiss my dad good night and I asked him if he really liked his biscuits burnt. He wrapped me in his arms and said, “Your mum is really tired after a hard day’s work. Besides, a little burnt biscuit could never hurt anyone. We have been married for 17 years. She always cooks for me. Don’t put the key to your happiness in someone else’s pocket but into your own. ”
1. What is the father?2. Where does the mother work?
3. How many people are there in the family?
4. How long have the mother and father been married?
5. Why did the father eat the burnt biscuits?
3 . It was not turning out to be the great fishing trip we had imagined. It certainly was not the one Father had promised. All day the rain beat against the roof of our cabin.
Father sat at the window, looking out over the lake. My older brother Jeremy, who had recently turned sixteen years old, lay on the bed, looking up at the ceiling. I paced the room, occasionally glancing toward Father to see if there was any sign that the rain would let up.
“I wish we’d never come out to this boring place,” Jeremy said.
I stopped pacing and looked at Father. He gave no sign that he had heard, and I hoped he hadn’t. This trip meant a lot to him. He used to come out here with own father.
I started pacing again.
“I mean, if we’d stayed home, at least I could watch TV, go out with my friends or play my guitar,” Jeremy continued.
Silence continued for some time. I kept pacing, imagining the trip I had dreamed of before the bad weather had set in. I saw us in the boat, anchor dropped in a calm bay casting our lines toward shore, the way Father had described it when he was trying to convince Jeremy to come along.
Father stood up and turned to face us. He smiled at me. “Come on, get up, Jeremy,” he said. “Let’s go fishing, boys.” He picked up his fishing rod and the tool box, opened the door, and walked out into the rain.
Jeremy and I watched Father walk down the pathway toward the dock (码头)，the wind whipping (打) at his hair,the rain wetting his clothes. Jeremy shook his head. “He's crazy if he thinks I’m going with him,” he said. “Maybe I would have when I was a little kid, but not now,” he said.
I waited for a while, unsure of what to do, looking out the open door at Father, who was walking onto the dock, facing against the storm. Jeremy couldn’t believe I picked up my rod and walked out into the storm after Father. I couldn’t quite hear what Jeremy said because of the wind in my ears, but I heard his footsteps behind me as he began to follow me out to the boat.
1. What does the underlined phrase “let up” in Paragraph 2 mean?| A．Stop. | B．Continue. | C．Hit. | D．Arrive. |
| A．He had never fished in the rain. |
| B．It’s his son Jeremy’s first fishing trip. |
| C．He and his own father usually went fishing there. |
| D．He wanted to have a better relationship with his sons. |
| A．He doesn’t enjoy fishing. |
| B．He dislikes outdoor activities. |
| C．He is addicted to playing the guitar. |
| D．He showed no interest in the fishing trip. |
| A．To express the fondness for a particular day. |
| B．To describe a fishing experience in the rain. |
| C．To reflect on the old family tradition of fishing. |
| D．To recall the generation gap between father and brother. |
阅读下面短文，掌握其大意，然后从21 - 30各题所给的四个选项中，选出最佳选项。
Small moments sometimes last a very long time. And a few words---though they mean ___21___ at the time to the people who say them --- can have great power.
I recently heard a story from Malcolm Dalkoff, who has been a professional ___22___ for the last twenty-four years, mostly in advertising.
As a boy, Dalkoff was terribly shy and ___23___. He had few friends and no self-confidence. Then one day, his high school English teacher, Ruth Brauch, asked the class to write their own chapter that would ___24___ the last chapter of the novel since they had been reading To Kill a Mockingbird. Dalkoff wrote his chapter and turned it in. Today he cannot recall anything special about the chapter he wrote, or what ___25___ Mrs. Brauch gave him. ___26___, what he does remember is the four words in the paper: “This is good writing.” Thanks to the four words, his life has been ___27___ greatly.
“ Until I read those words, I had no idea of who I was or what I was or what I was going to be,” he said, “ After reading her ___28___, I went home and wrote a short story, ___29___ I had always dreamed of doing but never believed I could do.”
Over the rest of that year in school, he wrote many short stories, and always brought them to Mrs. Brauch for instruction. “She was ___30___, helpful and honest. She was just what I needed,” Dalkoff said.1.
| A．much | B．little | C．well | D．ill |
| A．report | B．designer | C．writer | D．teacher |
| A．weak | B．independent | C．troublesome | D．helpless |
| A．follow | B．change | C．connect | D．explain |
| A．help | B．encouragement | C．grade | D．words |
| A．Therefore | B．However | C．Meanwhile | D．Besides |
| A．improved | B．developed | C．changed | D．enriched |
| A．chapter | B．novel | C．note | D．explanation |
| A．everything | B．something | C．nothing | D．anything |
| A．encouraging | B．careful | C．strict | D．effective |
