1 . I was wandering around the Albuquerque airport. My flight had been _______ , and I heard a(n) _______ : “If anyone near Gate A-4 _______ Arabic? please come to the gate immediately. ” Gate A-4 was my own gate. I went there.

An older woman was _______ , sitting on the floor. In her _______ Arabic dress, she reminded me of my grandmother.

“ _______ to her,” the flight agent urged. “We told her the flight was going to be late, and she did this.”

I spoke to the woman _______ in Arabic while putting my arm around her. She _______ crying. It turned out that she thought the _______ had been canceled. She planned to be in New York for some medical treatment the next day. I comforted her and suggested __________ her family.

We telephoned her son. In English, I told him that I would __________ with his mother until we got on the plane. Then his son was __________ Next we called my dad. They spoke for a while in Arabic and __________ that they had ten shared friends. After that, I called some Arabic friends I __________ and let them talk to her.

She was in a __________ mood by then and took some homemade __________ — little cakes stuffed with nuts and topped with sugar—from her bag and __________ them to the people near the gate. To my amazement, no one __________ It was like a party. The traveler from Argentina, the mom from California, the lovely woman from Laredo — we were all smiling, enjoying the same __________

I looked around and thought, this is the world I want to live in. One with no __________ Everyone can be happy anywhere.

1.

A．booked

B．bought

C．canceled

D．delayed

2.

A．announcement

B．noise

C．argument

D．dialogue

3.

A．likes

B．accepts

C．understands

D．studies

4.

A．reading

B．weeping

C．thinking

D．begging

5.

A．traditional

B．long

C．strange

D．expensive

6.

A．Write

B．Sing

C．Apologize

D．Explain

7.

A．quickly

B．suddenly

C．softly

D．loudly

8.

A．started

B．stopped

C．kept

D．avoided

9.

A．flight

B．plan

C．performance

D．meeting

10.

A．saving

B．calling

C．showing

D．punishing

11.

A．live

B．work

C．play

D．stay

12.

A．in action

B．in charge

C．in relief

D．in trouble

13.

A．made sure

B．found out

C．agreed with

D．gave up

14.

A．knew

B．missed

C．helped

D．met

15.

A．serious

B．changing

C．confident

D．cheerful

16.

A．chocolates

B．wine

C．bread

D．cookies

17.

A．offered

B．sold

C．lent

D．returned

18.

A．wasted

B．refused

C．ate

D．saw

19.

A．custom

B．language

C．apple

D．sugar

20.

A．war

B．argument

C．worry

D．quarrel

2 . I clearly remember the day when my little brother was born: January 1, 1994. One of my favorite family photos shows me lying with my mother in the hospital bed, happy but unaware of the small, sleeping baby in the background.
I stayed with my grandparents for the weekend of my brother’s birth, excited about my new brother but not yet aware of what having a little brother would mean. I didn’t truly realize what was going on until we were in the hospital room at Duke University----coincidentally (碰巧地), the same room in which I had been born two years earlier.
When I looked at my brother for the first time, I felt a mixture of fear and interest. Little did know that small, pink creature would grow up to be one of my favorite people in the world.
In reality, though I am two years older than my brother, I am more often than not the real baby in the family. I am very lacking when it comes to common sense. Instructions constantly confuse me and I frequently find myself totally puzzled by things like knowing how to start the washing machine or manage the storage settings on my iPhone.
That’s where Gibson comes in. The poor kid has had to guide me through more tasks than I would care to admit, but he never complains. Though I should probably be told to figure it out myself, he always comes through.
I’m envious of his ability to readily answer the ever-present, “What do you want to do with your life?” question at family gatherings. “Be a doctor,” he says----a solid answer, completely opposite to my shaky one, “Well, I’m an English major, so...”
My brother truly is my best friend. No one understands me better, and there isn’t anyone else I would want to be stuck with in our family. I may not have a clear idea of where I’m headed, but he is stuck with me.
1. How did the author feel when he saw his brother for the first time?

A．Angry and sad.

B．Excited and moved.

C．Curious and scared.

D．Happy and interested.

2. What does the underlined sentence in the fourth paragraph mean?

A．My brother is the real baby in the family.

B．In fact, I seem to be less mature than my little brother.

C．My brother gets more love from the family than I do.

D．I am growing more slowly than my brother.

3. What does the brother often help the author do?

A．Help him deal with many daily tasks.

B．Help him with his studies.

C．Give him advice on how to choose a major.

D．Comfort him when he is in a bad mood.

4. What is the best title for this text?

A．My Strange Family Gatherings

B．The Real Baby in the Family

C．Stuck with Me----My Not-So-Little Little Brother

D．The Feeling of Having a Brother

3 . Outside her shabby cottage, old Mrs. Tailor was hanging out laundry on a wire line, unaware that some children lay hidden in the leaves of a nearby tree watching her every move. They were determined to find out if she really was a witch.

They watched as she took a broomstick to clean the dirt from her stone steps. But, much to their disappointment, she did not mount the broomstick and take flight. Suddenly, the old lady's work was interrupted by the cackling of her hen-a signal that an egg had been laid in the warm nest on top of the haystack.

The old broomstick was put aside as she hobbled off towards the haystack followed by Sooty, a black cat she had rescued from a fox trap some time back. With only three legs, it was hard for Sooty to keep up with the old lady. The cat provided proof-the children were sure that only a witch could own a black cat with three legs.

There, standing on a wooden box, was Mrs. Tailor, stretching out to gather her precious egg. Taking the egg in one of her hands, she began to climb down when, without warning, the box broke and the old lady fell.

"We have to got and help her," whispered Amy.

"What if it is a trick?" replied Ben.

"Don't be silly, Ben. If she were a witch, she would have turned us into frogs already," reasoned Meg. "Come on Amy, let's go." The girls climbed down the tree and ran all the way to the haystack.

Approaching carefully, they could see a wound on the old lady's face. She had knocked her head on a stone and her ankle was definitely broken. "Go and get Dad," Amy yelled to her brother. "Tell him about the accident."

The boys did not need another excuse to leave. They ran as fast as they could for help, hoping that Mrs. Tailor would not wake and turn the girls into frogs.

1. Why were the children hiding in the tree?

A．They wanted to watch Mrs. Tailor do her housework closely

B．They were playing a hide-and-seek game

C．They wanted to find out if the story about Mrs. Tailor was true

D．They were pretending to be spies

2. Mrs. Tailor stopped sweeping when     .

A．her front steps were clean

B．she noticed the children in the tree

C．she was ready to take a flight

D．she heard the hen cackling

3. Ben did not rush to help Mrs. Tailor because     .

A．he thought that she could be tricking them

B．he knew that they could not have been in the tree

C．he did not see the old lady fall down

D．he was afraid of the three-legged cat

4. Which of these old sayings best suits the story's lesson for us?

A．Make hay while the sun shines

B．Never judge a book by its cover

C．People in glasshouses should not throw stones

D．A bird in the hands worth two in the bush