1 . “Tomorrow we will see the Golden Gate Bridge,” said Peter. “I have never seen a golden bridge before.”

Peter's father smiled, but said nothing.

The next morning, his father took Peter to the bridge. Peter first saw it from far away. How big it looked! But then he saw the bridge was red!

“The bridge isn't golden!” he said. “Why is it called the Golden Gate Bridge?”

“It isn't named for its color,” said his father. “It is named for the Golden Gate.”

“What is the Golden Gate?” asked Peter.

“A gate is either an opening, or the thing that closes the opening,” said his father.

“ The Golden Gate is an opening in the land. Water from the sea comes through this opening into San Francisco Bay.”

“Oh,” said Peter. “And the bridge goes over the opening. But why is the opening called the Golden Gate?”

“Years ago men came to California to look for gold,” his father said. “Many came by ship. They came into the bay through that opening. For them it was a gate to gold. They named it the Golden Gate.”

“Well,” said Peter, “I still think the bridge should look golden.”

When getting home, he sent a letter to a California paper. he said:” Red is not the right color for the Golden Gate Bridge. The bridge should look golden, the way most people think it does.”

Peter sent $14.78 with his letter. “The money is to help paint the bridge gold, ” he wrote.

Many people read Peter's letter in the newspaper and things began to happen! Some people sent money. A big company gave real gold to make gold paint. A paint company made the paint.

But some people still wanted the bridge to be red!

Will the Golden Gate Bridge ever be golden? It will, if enough people feel as Peter does. How do you feel about it?

1. Why did father smile when hearing his son’s words?

A．His son had never seen a red bridge before.

B．His son was too delighted to visit the bridge.

C．His son was about to see the bridge tomorrow.

D．His son misunderstood the color of the bridge.

2. What is the Golden Gate Bridge named for?

A．The color of the bridge.

B．The shape of the bridge.

C．The location of the bridge.

D．The function of the bridge.

3. According to the passage, what did Peter feel when his father told him the origin of the Golden Gate Bridge?

A．Astonished.	B．Puzzled.
C．Determined.	D．Frustrated.

4. What did people do after reading Peter’s letter？

A．A firm made a gold paint by using real gold.

B．The government painted the bridge golden.

C．Some people were against the change of the color.

D．Some people raised money for the golden bridge.

2 . A fine-looking gentleman sat down in the main dining room of an expensive hotel. He ordered grand meal and spent two hours enjoying himself very much. After the bill came, the man sent for the head waiter. “Ah, my friend,” he said. “That was a wonderful meal. Perhaps you remember that I was a guest at this hotel, at this very same table just about a year ago. And at that time just because I couldn't pay the bill, you, sir, had me thrown out of this dining room in full view of all the other guests!”

“My deepest apologies, sir,” said the head waiter. “You understand...” “Oh, it's all right!” said the gentleman, lighting his cigar, “But I'm afraid I'll have to trouble you again.”

1. The man went to the hotel because ______ .

A．he was good-looking.

B．he was a gentleman.

C．he had lots of money.

D．he just wanted to eat something good.

2. He called the head waiter _______ .

A．to say he had no money.	B．to praise him.
C．to pay for the last meal.	D．to enjoy the meal together.

3. When he was told what had happened last year, the waiter felt rather ______.

A．strange

B．sorry

C．anxious

D．angry

4. What do you suppose was the result of the story ?

A．The man paid for the bill.

B．The waiter apologized for the rough deeds.

C．The man once again was thrown out of the hotel.

D．The head waiter paid for the bill for him.

3 . Dear Olivia,

First. I think you have a beautiful name. Of course, I' d say the same to Olivia L., Olivia R..， and Olivia S. Come to think of it; maybe “Dear Olivias” would have been a better header.

I too, was given one of my birth year’s most popular names. I was one of many Erins in 1980.

I wonder if our parents considered how many of us, both Erins and Olivias, there would be. Growing up, I babysat （照看孩子）an Erin whose house was across our backyard, knew an Erin who lived around the corner and who also happened to be my best friend's older sister, knew an Erin who lived just down the street. Not to mention the Erin population at school.

Mostly. I felt like the Erins around me weren’t much like me. 1 thought it was strange that we all had the same name. Then, around Grade 9, as my brother was changing his name from Stacey James to S.J., I wanted to change my name, too.

I experimented （尝 试）a bit with how I might respell my middle name Megan and decided on Maygen, and hyphenated （用连接号连接）it with Erin. I kept using this name until a couple of years later when I said goodbye to Erin all together.

Now, having spent most of my life as Maygen, I've learned that although there were no Megans in my neighbourhood, it turns out I had changed my name to an even more popular name of the 1980s.

But you know what? Common or not, 1 love my name. In my life, I've befriended Erin after Erin, none of whom remind （使想起）me of the kid I babysat or my friend's sister.

I’m not sure why names become popular, but one thing is certain, Olivia: your name is loved by many. May you love it as well.

1. Why does the author say" Dear Olivias' would have been a better header”？

A．The letter could have been written to all Olivias.

B．She is not sure which Olivia will read the letter.

C．She knows a lot of girls called Olivia.

D．Olivia is not a one-of-a-kind name.

2. When did the author decide to change her name?

A．After her brother changed his name.

B．After she had some trouble at school.

C．When she found more Erins around her.

D．When she noticed other Erins were different.

3. Which of the following may be the author's name now?

A．Megan Kardash.

B．Maygen Kardash.

C．Erin-Megan Kardash.

D．Erin-Maygen Kardash.

4. What’s the author's purpose of writing the text?

A．To compare Erins and Olivias.

B．To introduce some popular names.

C．To talk Olivia into loving her name.

D．To express her love for her own name.

4 . It was “Disabilities Day at the Capitol ” and I was there, along with hundreds of Georgians, hoping to get the attention of our legislators (立法者). My thoughts ran back to the days when I was struggling to deal with my hearing loss learning, often dependent on others to help me hear. Now I stood under the gold dome of the Georgia Capitol, a member of the disabled community claiming the rights of people with disabilities.

After the rally (集会) I followed the crowd across the street to a free lunch. Although the crowd was huge, I managed to find a place to sit. I introduced myself to the young woman on my right, Kendall. However, with my hearing loss and her serious speech disorder, a conversation with her was next to impossible.

After a few moments, I realized that Kendall’s personal attendant (护工) was not present. I asked if anyone knew where she was and found out there had been a family situation and the attendant had to leave. “But,” I said, “who’s going to feed Kendall?” My thoughts were racing: someone had to help Kendall. In admitting her need I had to at once declare my responsibility to help.

Surprisingly, Kendall spoke clearly with her eyes. It was those eyes that spoke to me that day as we were waiting for lunch. I asked if I might serve her lunch. She nodded “Yes!” and her eyes said “Thank you!”

Helping Kendall that day shows an important belief of my life: We need each other. With or without a disability, it is our need for each other that makes us have a good life.

1. What’s the author’s purpose in attending “Disabilities Day at the Capitol”?

A．To defend the rights of the disabled.	B．To have a free lunch with friends.
C．To deal with his hearing problem.	D．To give support to the legislators.

2. Why couldn’t the author make a conversation with Kendall?

A．Because they were in a noisy crowd.	B．Because they didn’t know each other.
C．Because they spoke different languages.	D．Because they both had certain disabilities.

3. How did the author help Kendall?

A．By calling her family.	B．By feeding her lunch.
C．By admitting her need.	D．By finding her attendant.

4. What does the author intend to tell us through the text?

A．We need each other to live a good life.

B．We should support people with disabilities.

C．People with disabilities should help each other.

D．People with disabilities should learn to be independent.

5 . My name is Matthew. I'm not someone who has many secrets，because I'm a terrible liar. But there is one huge secret that I kept for years- -I failed my driving test. I had never failed a test before, and had never even come close. Driving made me anxious , but my parents told me I had to. They signed me up for driving lessons. I had gotten a perfect score for my written permit exam , but getting behind the wheel was a different story.

But when October 30th rolled around ,my pride set in. I wanted to be like everyone else at my school , showing off the brand new license they'd gotten. Looking back on that special day,I can't remember if I was nervous. What I do remember is starting the test , pausing at a stop sign after a few seconds , and being asked by the instructor to pull over. I had received an auto-fail since my pause was indeed a pause and not a real stop. I wasn't upset that I was leaving without a license, but I was scared everyone would know that I had failed. So when I got to class, I told everyone I didn't want to take the test on my birthday.

One Friday a month later, I went to the test spot again and passed. Later that night I drove for the first time by myself, which brought to me an amazing feeling I've never experienced——but sill, I couldn't imagine ever telling anyone the truth. So I didn't. It wasn't until midway through college that I came clean. It turned out plenty of my college friends had failed too! And I gathered enough courage to speak the fact out. Yes ,I had also failed.

Now I realize failure and imperfection are two things everyone has to experience , without which one couldn't make a true man.

1. What can we learn about Matthew?

A．He was a slow learner of driving.	B．He relied heavily on his parents.
C．He was afraid of taking exams.	D．He was bored with telling lies.

2. Why did the instructor ask Matthew to pull over?

A．To put an end to his lest.	B．To check his parking skills.
C．To give him a second chance,	D．To show him a better way of driving.

3. W hat made Matthew feel extremely worried after his first attempt?

A．Failing to get a driving license.	B．Missing his birthday celebration.
C．Making his parents disappointed.	D．Losing face before his classmates.

4. W hat did Matthew learn from his own experience?

A．Honesty is the best policy.	B．Failure is a way to grow up.
C．Truth stands the test of time.	D．Imperfection is another form of perfection.

6 . 阅读理解。
阅读短文，从每题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项。
One day, a poor man, who had only one piece of bread to eat, was walking past a restaurant. There was a large pot of soup on the table. The poor man held his bread over the soup, so the steam from the soup went into the bread, and gave it a good smell. Then he ate the bread.
The restaurant owner was very angry at this, and he asked the man for money, in exchange for the steam from the soup. The poor man had no money, so the restaurant owner took him to Nasreddin, who was a judge at that time. Nasreddin thought about the case for a little while.
Then he took some money from his pocket. He held the coins next to the restaurant owner’s ear, and shook them, so that they made a dingling (叮当声) noise.
“What was that?” asked the restaurant owner.
“That was payment for you,” answered Nasreddin.
“What do you mean? That was just the sound of coins!” said angrily the restaurant owner.
“The sound of the coin is payment for the smell of the soup,” answered Nasreddin. “Now go back to your restaurant.”
1. The poor man held his bread over the soup to _______.

A．make it heated

B．warm his cold hands

C．avoid paying the restaurant owner

D．make it smell and taste a little better

2. Why did Nasreddin make a noise with the coins?

A．To make the poor man relaxed.

B．To pay for the smell of the soup.

C．To make the restaurant owner happy.

D．To show that he was a rich person.

3. Nasreddin thought that the smell of the soup ________.

A．was worthless	B．should be paid
C．was pleasant	D．could be sold

4. The writer’s purpose in telling the story is mainly to _________.

A．show the bad restaurant owner

B．describe the poor’s unhappy life

C．show Nasreddin’s cleverness and humor

D．prove the value of the sound of coins

7 . D It was about midday．I’d left work early in the morning to cash a check．I walked along to the bank and found there were only about ten or eleven customers in there, a pretty unusual number for those central banks．
I waited until it was my turn, walked up to the desk and started talking to the bank clerk．He had a really strange expression on his face—just sort of a blank stare．I thought he was looking at me until I realized he was staring over my shoulder．
I began to turn round to see what he was looking at and at the same moment, the outside bank guard, the one with the machine gun, came flying through the door and lay face down on the floor．Following him through the door were three absolutely frightening men wearing those horrible stocking masks．They were carrying guns; at least the one in front was carrying a pistol．
Whether or not they said anything I can’t remember to this day, or whether people just automatically put their hands up I don’t know．I put my hands up but I just didn’t know what to do．For a few moments there was just total silence, suddenly broken by the telephone ringing．I remember wondering who was on the other end of the line．Nobody answered the telephone, so it just kept on ringing and ringing, in this otherwise deathly quiet．
Then two of the masked men went to the counter, jumped over it and got the cashiers and bank clerks to start filling their bags with cash．While the two were getting the money, the one at the door covering us with the gun obviously got a bit of an anxiety attack and started swearing at them, telling them to hurry up and get a move on．
They jumped back over the counter．One of them lost his balance when he landed on the floor and fell over．The other two swore at him again．Then they left through the door, warning us, “Don’t move．Stay like that with your hands up for ten minutes．” Then they just disappeared and there was total silence．
1. What could make the writer sense that something was about to happen?

A．The small number of customers．

B．The total silence in the bank．

C．The bank clerk’s unusual behavior．

D．The constant ringing of the phone．

2. What was the outside bank guard’s reaction to the armed robbers?

A．He was frightened to death by the robbers．

B．He organized the bank clerks to fight back．

C．He shot at the robbers with the machine gun．

D．He flew through the door to catch the robbers．

3. The man covering us with the gun at the door swore at the other two because ________．

A．he was afraid of getting less money

B．he was too anxious to leave the bank

C．one of his fellows slipped on the floor

D．the phone kept ringing at the moment

4. From the passage we can know that ________．

A．there were usually less customers in the midday hour

B．the writer didn’t follow like sheep to put his hands up

C．the bank clerks were too busy to answer the telephone

D．three armed men robbed the central bank in broad daylight