1 . When he was driving home one evening on a country road, he saw an old lady，stranded(抛锚的)on the side of the road. He stopped in front of her car and got out. Even with the smile on his face，she was worried. He looked poor and hungry. He knew how she felt. He said, “I am here to help you, madam. Why don’t you wait in the car where it’s warm? By the way, my name is Joe. ”
She had a flat tire. Joe crawled under the car, changed the tire. But he got dirty and his hands hurt. She could not thank him enough and asked him how much she owed him. He told her that if she really wanted to pay him back, the next time she saw someone who needed help, she could give that person the assistance they needed, and Joe added, “And think of me.”
She drove off. A few miles down the road the lady saw a small restaurant. She went in. The waitress had a sweet smile, and was nearly eight months pregnant(怀孕的). The old lady wondered how someone like her who seemed poor could be so kind to a stranger. Then she remembered Joe. After the lady finished her meal, the waitress went to get her change from a hundred—dollar bill. But she stepped right out the door.
When the waitress came back，she noticed something written on a napkin, “I am helping you because someone once helped me. If you really want to pay me back, here’s what you do—Do not let the chain of love end with you .”
That night when she got home，she was thinking about the money and what the lady had written. She and her husband needed money with the baby due(预期的)next month. She knew how worried her husband was，and as he lay sleeping next to her, she whispered，“Everything’s going to be all right. I love you, Joe. ”
1. When Joe stopped to help the lady, she ________.| A．became excited | B．was afraid to be hurt |
| C．refused his offer | D．thanked him |
| A．received good service | B．had an expensive meal |
| C．told the waitress Joe’s story | D．met another poor guest |
| A．She forgot it. | B．She wanted to help Joe. |
| C．She would get it later. | D．She wanted to give the waitress some help. |
| A．Joe’s boss fired him | B．Joe worked as a driver |
| C．Joe’s wife was the waitress | D．Joe had an unhappy marriage |
| A．helping others is helping oneself |
| B．kindness can be spread |
| C．poverty is not a threat to a happy marriage |
| D．a happy family depends on a happy marriage |
2 . My father was attached to gardening by birth. One of my earliest memories is following Dad barefoot around in the garden with both hands blackened from digging in the soil. The garden was a wonderland full of possibilities.
As Dad grew older, he still loved gardening. Even when he was diagnosed with cancer, he still planted all sorts of plants. Sometimes, I would come over to visit, and we would walk together in the garden. But then, something changed. Like the weeds that took over his garden, the cancer grew rapidly in Dad, and the doctor gave up. I stayed with Dad twenty-four hours a day and I found myself in all kinds of uncomfortable situations with Dad until I promised to care for the garden.
Though I had heard the words of the doctor, what really made me believe that Dad was dying was the state of his garden. That year, he only planted tomatoes. Too tired to weed them, he simply tied them with strong strings to the fence and let them be. It made me sad to see them ignored, so I would come over and water them once in a while, and remove the weeds. I still remember the day I picked the last tomato from the vine(藤). That day was one of the saddest I had ever experienced in my life.
Three years ago, I decided to plant my own garden. I decided I would start out with just a few tomatoes. That morning when I moved to the garden, something caught the corner of my eye and I had to smile. It was my eight-year-old son Nathan, standing barefoot in the soil , happily playing in soil.
1. When the author was a child he liked his father’s garden because it was _________.| A．a field that produced much food |
| B．a piece of land covered with black soil |
| C．a place where he got educated |
| D．a fantastic place with unexpected surprise |
| A．His garden | B．His illness |
| C．His son | D．His grandson |
| A．The words of the doctor. |
| B．The condition of his father. |
| C．His communication with his father. |
| D．That the garden wasn’t taken good care of by his father. |
| A．Water the garden | B．Remove weeds |
| C．Pick a tomato | D．Cut tomato vines. |
| A．Because he remembered his father. |
| B．Because his son showed interest in the garden. |
| C．Because he thought of the food he would get. |
| D．Because he could take care of his own garden. |
I needed to get some money so, after Christmas, I took a job in the clothes department at Graham’s for the first fortnight of the January sale. I can’t say that I enjoyed it, but it was an experience I’ll never forget.
I could never understand why there were so many things in the sales; where did they all come from? Now I know the secret! Firstly, there is the special winter stock (货物) and the stock that people buy all the year round; some of these things are slightly reduced. Secondly, there are the summer clothes they couldn’t sell last year; these are heavily reduced to clear them. Thirdly, there are cheap clothes bought in specially for the sales; these are put out at high prices ten days before the sale begins and then are reduced by 60% in the sale. Clever! Lastly, they buy in “seconds? (clothes not in perfect condition) for the sale and they are sold very cheaply.
When I arrived half an hour before opening on the first day of the sale, there was already a queue around three sides of the building. This made me very nervous.
When the big moment arrived to open the doors, the security guards, looking less confident than usual, came up to them, keys in hand. The moment they had unlocked the doors, they hid behind the doors for protection as the noisy crowd charged in. I couldn’t believe my eyes; this wasn’t shopping, it was a battlefield! One poor lady couldn’t keep her feet and was knocked over by people pushing from behind.
Clothes were flying in all directions as people searched for the sizes, colours and styles they wanted. Quarrels broke out. Mothers were using their small children to crawl(爬行) through people’s legs and get hold of things they couldn’t get near themselves.
Within minutes I had half a dozen people pushing clothes under my nose, each wanting to be the first served. Where had the famous English Queue gone? The whole day continued like that, but I kept my temper(脾气)! I was taking money hand over fist and began to realize why, twice a year, Graham’s were happy to turn their expensive store into a battlefield like this.
In the sale fever, people were spending money like water without thinking whether they needed what they were buying. As long as it was a bargain it was OK.
You won’t believe this but as soon as I got home I crashed out for four hours. Then I had dinner and went back to bed, fearing the sound of the alarm which would tell me to get ready for the second day of the sale.
1. What kind of clothes is likely to be sold 5% cheaper?
| A．Last summer’s clothes. | B．Clothes not in perfect condition. |
| C．Clothes bought in specially for the sales. | D．Clothes for winter. |
| A．The customers gave up the queuing for which the English are famous. |
| B．The customers kept their temper while looking for clothes they wanted. |
| C．Small children enjoyed crawling through people’s legs. |
| D．The security guards were fearless of the crowd. |
| A．There were too many clothes and they wanted to clear them in the sales. |
| B．They were eager to show that they were clever at doing business. |
| C．They could take the chance to raise the prices of all their clothes. |
| D．They wanted to make more money by having sales. |
| A．chatted with her friends | B．slept soundly |
| C．broke down | D．dined out |
| A．The Best Bargain. | B．Hunting for a job. |
| C．Sale Fever. | D．A Pleasant Fortnight. |
4 . My grandma whom we all called Nanny was a solid, first-generation, Italian immigrant. She came to this country with her family on a tiny ship during World War I when she was only 8 years old. During the trip she survived stormy seas, little food, and an attack by German U-boat. After getting here, her large family worked hard to build a new life in America. They never had much money but were rich in love.
One day, when I was about 5 or 6 years old, my parents and brothers went on a trip. It was just me and Nanny in the house for the weekend. Nanny seemed so happy to be taking care of me all by herself. She made me a special breakfast that first morning. However, all I could do was to complain about how the food was not how Mom always made it, Nanny quietly put down the plate and went into the living room. I followed a minute later and saw that she had tears in her eyes. It was the first time I had ever seen my strong and proud grandmother cry and I was the one who had caused it.
I walked over to Nanny, climbed on her lap, and for the first time in my short life I did something else too. I apologized without being told to and asked Nanny to forgive me. She smiled, rubbed my head, and told me I was a good boy even though I didn’t feel like one then.
That memory just like my Nanny’s love will stay in my heart forever. It is a sign of both strength and wisdom, Asking for forgiveness helps us to learn, to grow, and to love.
1. Nanny’s family immigrated to America mainly because______.| A．they suffered starvation in their homeland |
| B．they wanted to start a rich life in the new land |
| C．they tried to get away from the terrible climate |
| D．their country was in war and they needed peace |
| A．wasn’t cooked the way his mom did |
| B．was served a bit later than usual |
| C．was prepared in a special way |
| D．was just to his parents taste |
| A．surprised | B．ashamed |
| C．shocked | D．annoyed |
| A．forgiveness can be beneficial to people asking for it |
| B．hardships can make children more indifferent |
| C．grandparents are more tolerant than their grandchildren |
| D．family ties can sometimes be misused |
| A．Hardworking and careful. | B．Joyous and jealous. |
| C．Strong-willed and generous. | D．Kind and sensitive. |
5 . Mom was a teacher most of her life. When she wasn’t in the classroom, she was educating her children or grandchildren; correcting our grammar; starting us on collections of butterflies, flowers or rocks; or inspiring a discussion on her most recent “Book of the Month Club” topic. Mom made learning fun.
It was sad for my three brothers and me to see her suffering in her later years. At eighty- five, she suffered a stroke and she went steadily downhill after that.
Two days before she died, my brothers and I met at her nursing home and took her for a short ride in a wheelchair. While we waited for the staff to lift her limp body back into bed, Mom fell asleep. Not wanting to wake her, we moved to the far end of the room and spoke softly.
After several minutes our conversation was interrupted by a muffled sound coming from across the room. We stopped talking and looked at Mom. Her eyes were closed, but she was clearly trying to communicate with us. We went to her side.
“Whrr,” she said weakly. “Where?” I asked. “Mom, is there something you want?” “Whrr,” she repeated a bit stronger. My brothers and I looked at each other and shook our heads sadly. Mom opened her eyes, sighed, and with all the energy she could gather said, “ Not ...was. Say were!” We suddenly realized that Mom was correcting Brother Jim’s last sentence. “If it was up to me…”
Jim leaned down and kissed her cheek. “Thanks, Mom,” he whispered. We smiled at each other and once again shook our heads.
1. What do the underlined words “went steadily downhill” mean in the 2nd paragraph?| A．went lower and lower | B．went worse and worse |
| C．went down the hill | D．went downstairs |
| A．She wanted to tell her sons her will. |
| B．She wanted to have something to eat before she died. |
| C．She wanted to correct the mistakes Jim made while talking. |
| D．She wanted to give her sons something before she died. |
| A．Mom was a good teacher and never gave up her teaching. |
| B．Mom was always making her teaching fun. |
| C．Mom didn’t forget her teaching until she died. |
| D．Mom stopped teaching when she was at home. |
| A．He loved her but was tired of his mother’s teaching. |
| B．His mother should have forgotten her teaching and enjoyed the rest of her life. |
| C．His mother was great because she devoted herself to teaching. |
| D．His mother was an excellent teacher before she was retired. |
6 . A Frenchman had arrived at a small Italian town and was staying with his wife at the best hotel there. One night he went out for a walk alone. He was late and the small street was dark and lonely. Suddenly he heard footsteps behind him. He turned his head and saw an Italian young man who quickly walked past him. The man was nearly out of sight when the Frenchman suddenly found that his watch was gone. He thought that it was the Italian who had taken his watch. He decided to follow him and force him to return the watch.
Soon the Frenchman caught up with the Italian. Neither of them understood the other’s language. The Frenchman showed his fist to the Italian and pointed to his watch-pocket. The Italian thought that the Frenchman was demanding his own watch. In the end the Italian gave up his watch to the Frenchman.
When he returned to the hotel the Frenchman told his wife what had happened. He was greatly surprised when his wife pointed to the watch on the table. Now he realized that by mistake he had robbed the Italian of his watch.
1. When did the Frenchman find his watch missing?| A．When he returned to the hotel. |
| B．After the Italian went by. |
| C．When he was staying at the hotel with his wife. |
| D．As soon as he arrived at the small Italian town. |
| A．Because he thought that the Italian had stolen his watch. |
| B．Because he found that the Italian’s watch was the same with his. |
| C．Because the Italian was a thief. |
| D．Because the Italian was walking too fast. |
| A．His wife had hidden the watch. |
| B．He had left the watch in the hotel. |
| C．The Italian had stolen his watch. |
| D．His wife gave the watch to the Italian. |
7 . The old man walked slowly into the restaurant. His poor jacket, patched (打补丁的) trousers, and worn-out shoes made him stand out from the usual Saturday morning breakfast crowd. Unforgettable were his pale blue eyes that sparkled (闪耀) like diamonds, large rosy cheeks, and thin lips held in a steady smile.
With the help of his trusty cane (拐杖), he walked toward a table by the window. A young waitress named Mary watched him and ran over to him, and said, “Here, Sir. Let me give you a hand with that chair.”
Without a word, he smiled and nodded a thank you. She pulled the chair away from the table. Steadying him with one arm, she helped him move in front of the chair, and get comfortably seated. Then she pushed the table up close to him, and leaned his cane against the table where he could reach it.
In a soft, clear voice he said, “Thank you, Miss.”
“You are welcome, Sir.” She replied. “My name is Mary. I’ll be back in a moment. If you need anything, just wave at me!”
After he had finished a hearty meal of pancakes, bacon, and hot lemon tea, Mary brought him the change, helping him up from his chair and out from behind the table. She handed him his cane, and walked with him to the front door. Holding the door open for him, she said, “Come back and see us, Sir!”
He nodded a thank you and said softly with a smile, “You are very kind!”
When Mary went to clean his table, she was surprised. Under his plate she found a business card and a note written on the napkin, under which was a $ 100 bill.
The note on the napkin read...
“Dear Mary, I respect you very much, and you respect yourself, too. It shows by the way you treat others. You have found the secret of happiness. Your kind gestures will shine through those who meet you.”
The man she had served was the owner of the restaurant. This was the first time that she, or any of his employees, had seen him in person.
1. Who helped the old man in the restaurant? (No more than 8 words)2. Please explain the underlined phrase “stand out” in English. (No more than 5 words)
3. How much did the old man leave on the table? (No more than 2 words)
4. Who do you think the old man was? (No more than 10 words)
5. According to the passage, how do you understand the meaning of “Happiness”？ (No more than 20 words)
8 . It’s a Christmas tradition that’s more than half a century old. And it happened completely by accident.
It started in 1955, when a local Sears store in Colorado Springs, Colorado printed an ad, which included a spedial phone number kids could call to know where Santa’s sleigh was at any given moment. Unfortunately, someone made a mistake in printing the phone number and kids were calling the wrong line.
A Colonel(上校) named Henry Shoup began answering his phone at what would become NORAD, the North American Aerospace Defence Command. At first, he thought it was a simple error of one caller.
But as the phone kept ringing and tiny voices kept asking about Santa, Shoup realized he couldn’t disappoint them. So he told the staff to issue updates to any one asking about the location of Santa.
The wrong turned into a custom of the holiday and kept growing in popularity, and NORAD finally decided to make it permanent.
It’s become a holiday favourite ever since, adapting to whatever new technology has come along since. In the early days, it was a phone line. Then in the 60s, NORAD put out a special series of “reports” that was played on hundreds of radio stations across North America, broadcasting the Jolly Old Elf’s exact position on Christmas Eve.
Think of it as kind of an early GPS without the computer gear.
Finally, came the Internet and NORAD has now transferred its annual watch onto the Web, with a site devoted to keeping tabs on the most famous journey in the world—what you might call the real amazing race, an around-the-world mission that has to be finished within 24 hours.
This year’s entry allows kids to track Santa in 3Dusing Google Earth and play games at the North Pole using the Kids Countdown Section, and it even offers Santa Cams which are only operational on the night before Christmas.
1. Why did children keep calling Henry Shoup?| A．Because they wanted to play a joke on him. |
| B．Because they wanted to amuse him. |
| C．Because he knew where Santa exactly was. |
| D．Because they wanted to know where Santa’s sleigh was. |
| A．He became annoyed and decided to tell them the truth. |
| B．He became excited and jioned them in searching Santa. |
| C．He thought quickly and took it seriously to satisfy their needs. |
| D．He laughed at them and took no notice of their calls. |
| A．Santa Claus. |
| B．Colonel Henry Shoup. |
| C．NOARD. |
| D．The staff in Henry Shoup’s charge. |
| A．By calling a special phone number. |
| B．By listening to a special series of reports over the radio. |
| C．With the help of a kind of early GPS. |
| D．By scanning the spedial column in the newspaper. |
| A．an old favorite holiday that develops along with new technology |
| B．50-year-old tracking Santa tradition that started by accident |
| C．a real amazing race, an around-the-world mission within 24 hours |
| D．a Colonel and the North American Aerospace Defence Command |
阅读下面短文，并按照题目要求用英语回答问题。
Ashley Power’s mother bought a computer for her when she was eight. When she was thirteen, she was surfing the Internet regularly, but she couldn’t find anywhere for teenagers to meet and talk. And one day she thought, “If I had my own website, I’d make it a really interesting site for teenagers.”
So, when Ashley was sixteen, she launched her own website, called GooseHead. Young people got excited when they searched on this website and step by step they introduced the site to others and made more friends. She had no idea how big a success it would be, but three years later, the site was the most successful teen site in the USA! It was getting 100,000 hits every day, and Ashley had about 30 employees.
After a few years, the website closed down. Then Ashley, who lives in Los Angeles, was asked to write a book called GooseHead Guide to Life. It's safe to say that this is a book for teens that they'll enjoy. The book is about how to design a website and start a business. It begins with a section called “All about Ashley,” where Ashley tells readers what it is like to be the boss of a company when you are only sixteen. “I was so happy. But it was crazy in a lot of ways. I was stressed. I mean, I was only sixteen — I didn’t even have a car! If you were sixteen and you had your own company, you’d be stressed, too!”
In an interview Ashley gave advice to teenagers who wanted to start their own business, “Just be strong and have your dreams and work hard at them. And don’t listen when people tell you that you can’t do it, because I heard ‘no’ a lot. Just keep going until you hear ‘yes’!”
1. What does the first paragraph mainly tell us? (within 10 words)2. What does the underlined word “launched” mean in English? (within 2 words)
3. According to Paragraph 3, what did Ashley do after GooseHead closed down?(within 10 words)
4. How did Ashley feel as a young boss of a company? (within 5 words)
5. According to Ashley’s advice to success, what do you think is the most important?Why? (within 15 words)
10 . Many years ago, when I was fresh out of school and working in Denver, I was driving to my parents’ home in Missouri for Christmas. I stopped at a gas station (加油站) about 50 miles from Oklahoma City, where I was planning to stop and visit a friend. While I was standing in line at the cash register (收款台), I said hello to an older couple who were also paying for gas.
I took off , but had gone only a few miles when black smoke poured from the back of my car. I stopped and wondered what I should do. A car pulled up behind me. It was the couple I had spoken to at the gas station. They said they would take me to my friend’s. We chatted on the way into the city, and when I got out of the car, the husband gave me his business card.
I wrote him and his wife a thank-you note for helping me. Soon afterward, I received a Christmas present from them. Their note that came with it said that helping me had made their holidays meaningful.
Years later, I drove to a meeting in a nearby town in the morning. In late afternoon I returned to my car and found that I’d left the lights on all day, and the battery (电池) was dead. Then I noticed that the Friendly Ford dealership — a shop selling cars — was right next door. I walked over and found two salesmen in the showroom.
“Just how friendly is Friendly Ford?” I asked and explained my trouble. They quickly drove a pickup truck to my car and started it. They would accept no payment, so when I got home, I wrote them a note to say thanks. I received a letter back from one of the salesmen. No one had ever taken the time to write him and say thank you, and it meant a lot, he said.
“Thank you” — two powerful words. They’re easy to say and mean so much.
1. The author planned to stop at Oklahoma City ________.| A．to visit a friend |
| B．to see his parents |
| C．to pay at the cash register |
| D．to have more gas for his car |
| A．turned off | B．moved off | C．put up | D．set up |
| A．He had it pulled back to the gas station. |
| B．The couple sent him a business card. |
| C．The couple offered to help him. |
| D．He called his friend for help. |
| A．something went wrong with the lights |
| B．the meeting lasted a whole day |
| C．he forgot to turn off the lights |
| D．he drove too long a distance |
| A．how to write a thank-you letter |
| B．how to deal with car problems |
| C．the kind-heartedness of older people |
| D．the importance of expressing thanks |
