1 . When I was at university, I studied very hard. But a lot of my friends did very little work. Some did just enough to pass exams. Others didn't do quite enough. Fred Baines was one of them. He spent more time drinking in the Students' Union than working in the library.

Once at the end of the term, we had to take an important test in chemistry. The test had a hundred questions. In my room the night before the test, Fred was watching TV. Fred usually worried a lot the night before a test. But on that night he looked perfectly calm. Then he told me of his plan. "It's very simple. There are a hundred questions and I have to get fifty correct to pass the test. I’ll take a coin into the examination room. I haven't studied a chemistry book for months, so I’ll just toss the coin. That way, I'm sure I'll get half the questions right. "

The next day, Fred came happily into the exam room. As he sat tossing a coin for half an hour he marked down his answers. Then he left, half an hour before the rest of us.

The next day, he saw the chemistry professor in the corridor (走廊). "Oh, good, "he said, "Have you got the result of the test?" The professor looked at him and smiled, "Ah, it's you, Baines. Just a minute. "Then he reached into his pocket and took out a coin. He threw it into the air, caught it in his hand and looked at it.

"I’m terribly sorry, Baines, " he said, "You failed!"

1. This story mainly wants to tell us ________.

A．chemistry is really hard to learn

B．there were too many questions for students to prepare for

C．good exam results needs hard study

D．tossing a coin can not always decide the result

2. Fred Baines was one of those who ________.

A．did just enough to pass the exam

B．did not work hard enough for their studies

C．had too much other work for the Students' Union

D．were quite good at passing exams

3. Fred came happily into the exam room because ________.

A．he had got ready for the exam

B．he knew the answers already

C．the other students would be behind him

D．he had his way to finish the exam

4. The professor tossed the coin to tell Baines that ________.

A．he was satisfied with his way for the exam

B．he wanted to make friends with him

C．his way for the exam would never work

D．the exam result depended on the coin

2 . There is a wonderful story about a young girl who had no family and no one to love her.

One day, feeling very sad and lonely, she was walking through a grassland when she noticed a small butterfly caught in a thorn (荆棘) bush. The young girl carefully released the butterfly. Instead of flying away, the little butterfly changed into a beautiful fairy. The young girl rubbed her eyes in disbelief.

“For your wonderful kindness, ” the good fairy said to the girl，“I will give you any wish you would like.” The little girl thought for a moment and then replied, “I want to be happy.”       The fairy leaned toward her and whispered in her ear. Then the fairy disappeared.

As the little girl grew up，there was no one in the land as happy as she. Everyone asked her secret of happiness . She would only smile and answer，“The secret of my happiness is that I listened to a good fairy when I was a little girl.”

When she was very old and on her deathbed, the neighbors all gathered around her, and       feared that her unbelievable secret of happiness would die with her. “ tell us，please, ” they begged，“ tell us what the good fairy said. ” The lovely old woman simply smiled and said，“ She told me that everyone，no matter how safe they seemed，no matter how old or young，how rich or poor, had need of me.”

1. ________the girl felt sad and lonely.

A．There were many friends but	B．There was nobody to love her so
C．There was nothing to do	D．Seeing the butterfly was caught

2. Noticing the butterfly was caught by the thorn, the orphan girl ________.

A．helped the butterfly escaped from the thorn

B．felt sorrow，but she didn’t go up to help it

C．fell down on it too

D．failed to help it release from the thorn

3. The butterfly ________after was saved by the little girl.

A．flied away	B．still died
C．changed into a fairy	D．was more beautiful than before

4. The only thing that the little girl wanted was ________.

A．to be rich	B．to have her own parents
C．to have a lot of friends	D．happiness

5 . Lizzy Brown, a 42-year-old mother of three from East Riding, Yorkshire, was diagnosed with cancer when she was 14 years old. Ms Brown received the diagnosis having woken up frightened on her 14th birthday. She was admitted to a hospital in Cambridge in 1989, where she was told that she shouldn’t expect to survive into adulthood.

While being monitored (监护) at the hospital, Ms Brown was looked after by a kind nurse called Debbie Bye. Ms Brown has never forgotten the good care that Ms Bye provided during her time of need. “My prognosis (预断) was very poor,”' Ms Brown said. “I wasn’t expected to live more than five years, but now I’m 42 with three children and there’s not a wheelchair in sight. She might have thought she was doing her job but it went above and beyond that. I remember watching Debbie work and being so inspired by the way that she did things. She showed me that children are children no matter what is wrong with them and she treated us all the same.”

The childhood cancer survivor always wondered what had happened to the nurse over the years,which is why she decided to put a call out on Twitter. Ms Brown tweeted an appeal to find Ms Bye, with her tweet being shared more than 1,000 times. Her action proved successful, as the two women were eventually able to make contact (取得联系) thanks to the power of social media.

“To be there when Lizzy was given her prognosis was something I will never forget,’’ said Ms Bye, who has since retired (退休) from hospital work and now works part-time in a school. “She was a teenager in denial and over the years I have often wondered what happened to her and came to the only conclusion I could and thought she had passed away. I am blown away.”

1. What do we know about Ms Bye?

A．She is in poor health now.

B．She still works in the same hospital.

C．She forgot about Lizzy Brown’s situation.

D．She once worked whole-heartedly as a nurse.

2. What did Lizzy Brown do to find Ms Bye?

A．She turned to the Internet.

B．She visited quite a few places.

C．She asked many relatives for help.

D．She made a public appeal in local papers.

3. By saying “I am blown away.”, Ms Bye means that she felt__________.

A．scared

B．excited

C．pitiful

D．nervous

4. What is the purpose of the text?

A．To report a moving reunion.

B．To warn us of the danger of cancer.

C．To show us how to live a healthy life.

D．To give advice on how to treat nurses.

6 . On Thanksgiving weekend, the Heffelmire family gathered for a meal at their home. After dinner, the family went down to the finished basement (地下室)to relax except Charlotte's father, Eric, who was in the garage(车库)to fix his truck.

Around 8 pm, Charlotte decided to check on her dad. She walked through the kitchen. When she opened the side door to the garage, black smoke rose up into the kitchen. She could only make out her father lying on his back, trapped under the truck. He'd removed the front passenger-side tyre(轮胎)and raised the truck on a jack(千斤顶).The truck had slipped off the jack, and now the whole weight of the wheel was on his chest and shoulders.

Charlotte ran to the front of the truck and struggled to lift it. Eric was still conscious (有意识),and he cried, “You got it! One more try!” She tried again and was able to tip the truck backward just enough for her to pull her dad by the shirt with both hands from under the truck.

She pulled him across the garage and 20 feet down the driveway. Then she ran back to the garage, which had been on fire. “I was afraid the car was going to explode(爆炸)says Charlotte, so she climbed into the truck, which faced forward, turned the key, and pressed the gas pedal(油门). The car was slowly driven out of the house.

Safely on the driveway, Charlotte stopped the truck and ran back to the basement. “There's a fire! Everybody get out!” she cried as she picked up her three-month-old niece and ran out. Outside, she handed the baby to her mom, and then ran around to the burning garage. She picked up a garden hose(水管)and sprayed the fire while calling 911.

A few minutes later, firefighters and an ambulance arrived. Charlotte was treated for second-degree burns on both her feet and face. Her dad had injuries on his chest and shoulders, as well as minor burns on his face. The garage and the house were damaged but the family survived.

The Heffelmires are staying in an apartment while their house is rebuilt. "Charlotte is a remarkable kid,“ says her dad. Charlotte, however, simply says, “I was saving my family and my house. I wasn't going to let my dad die.”

1. Where did the fire begin at first?

A．In the kitchen.	B．In the garage.
C．In the basement.	D．In the living room.

2. What happened to Eric?

A．He drove the truck and had an accident.

B．He lifted the truck and get away from the truck.

C．He found the fire and saved the whole family.

D．He was trapped under the truck and couldn't move.

3. What did the family lose in the accident?

A．They lost their house.

B．The truck exploded in the fire.

C．One of the families lost life.

D．The garage and the house were damaged.

4. Which of the following words could be used to describe Charlotte?

A．Brave and smart.	B．Handsome and clever.
C．Popular and lovable.	D．Strong and popular.

7 . James Harrison is called “The Man With the Golden Arm”. The Australian man has saved the lives of more than 2.4 million babies by donating blood nearly every week for 60 years.

At the age of 14, Harrison had an 11-hour operation to remove a lung. “I received 13 units of blood and my life was saved by unknown people,” Harrison said. “When I’m old enough, I’ll become a blood donor.”

That is exactly what Harrison did Soon afterward, the doctor told him that his blood contains the rare antibody that can help mothers who have rhesus disease, a condition where a pregnant woman’s blood attacks the blood cells of her fetus(胎儿). In the worst case, it can result in brain damage or death of the baby. And until about 1967, thousands of babies died each year in Australia.

Before long, researchers had developed an injection(注射剂), called Anti-D, using Harrison’s donated blood. Because about 17 percent of pregnant women in Australia require the Anti-D injections, the blood service estimates Harrison has helped about 2.4 million babies in the county. At the age of 81, he had already passed the age limit allowed for donors, and the blood service had suggested Harrison should stop donating to ensure his health.

Harrison was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia in recognition of his extraordinary efforts and generosity, but he doesn’t consider himself a hero. He has donated his blood 1,173 times, which breaks the Guinness World Records. But in all those times of donating blood, he has never once watched. “I look at the celling or the nurses and maybe talk with them. I feel faint at the sight of blood, and I can’t stand the pain.”

1. What contributed to Harrison’s becoming a blood donor?

A．The rare antibody in his blood.	B．His gratitude to the blood donors.
C．The request from the blood service.	D．His pain during the removal of his lung.

2. What’s Anti-D used to do?

A．Save babies by giving them injections.	B．Protect babies from common illnesses.
C．Cure pregnant mothers of rhesus disease.	D．Prevent women’s blood from being attacked.

3. For what does Harrison break the Guinness World Records?

A．The age among blood donors.

B．The amount of blood he donated.

C．The number of donations he made.

D．The number of babies he saved by donating.

4. What does the author think of Harrison?

A．He is kind and curious.	B．He is generous and modest
C．He is selfless and shy.	D．He is sympathetic and cautious.

8 . My six-year-old granddaughter stared at me as if she was seeing me for the first time. “Grandma, you are an antique (古董),” she said. “You are old. Antiques are old. You are my antique.”

I was not satisfied to let the matter rest there. I took out the Webster’s Dictionary and read the definition to Jenny. I explained, “An antique is not only old, it’s an object existing since or belonging to earlier times...a work of art... a piece of furniture. Antiques are treasured,” I told Jenny as I put away the dictionary. “They have to be handled carefully because they sometimes are very valuable. In order to qualify as an antique, the object has to be at least 100 years old.”

“I’m only 67,” I reminded Jenny.

We looked around the house for other antiques, besides me. There was a desk that was handed down from Rone aunt to another and finally to our family. “It’s very old,” I told Jenny. “I try to keep it polished and I show it off whenever I can. You do that with antiques."

There was a picture on the wall bought at a garage sale. It was dated 1867. “Now that’s an antique,” I said with pride. “Over 100 years old.” Of course it was marked up and scratched (刮坏) and not in very good condition. “Sometimes age does that,” I told Jenny. “But the marks are good marks. They show living, or being around. That’s something to display with pride. In fact, sometimes, the more an object shows age, the more valuable it can become.” I believed this was important for my own self-worth.

Our tour of antiques continued. There was a vase on the floor. It had been in my house for a long time. I was not certain where it came from but I didn’t buy it new. One thing about antiques, I explained to Jenny, was that they usually had a story. They’d been in one home and then another, handed down from one family to another, traveling all over the place. They’d lasted through years and years. They could have been thrown away, or ignored, or destroyed, or lost. But instead, they survived.

For a moment, Jenny looked thoughtful. “l don’t have any antiques but you,” she said. Then her face brightened,“Could I take you to school for show and tell?”

“Only if I fit into your backpack,” I answered. And then Jenny’s antique lifted her up and embraced her in a hug that would last through the years.

1. Why did Grandma read the definition of “antique” to Jenny?

A．To change Jenny’s shallow understanding of antiques.

B．To list all the important characteristics of antiques.

C．To express her disappointment at being called “antique”.

D．To tell Jenny the importance of protecting antiques.

2. Which of the following information did grandma express to Jenny?

A．The desk reminded her of her dear relatives.

B．The marks on the picture showed its age and value.

C．There was usually a sad story behind each antique.

D．She planned to buy a new vase to replace the old one.

3. What can be inferred from the last paragraph?

A．Jenny had a strong desire for grandma’s love.

B．Jenny was too young to know grandma’s humor.

C．Grandma had a deep long-lasting love for Jenny.

D．Grandma was too old to lift Jenny up.

4. What can be the best title for the passage?

A．Grandma’s Antique	B．A Story of Antiques
C．A Tour of Antiques	D．Jenny’s Antique

9 . Late last year, I needed to transport some furniture from our house to my son’s flat in central London. I should have paid a man to do it, but foolishly confident in my driving ability, I decided to hire a lorry and drive it myself.

Moving the lorry backward in my yard, I crashed into a small shed, causing permanent damage. Fortunately, I owned the shed. I loaded up with the furniture and set out. By now it was rush hour. My nerves broke down, as I drove the huge lorry through the streets nervously.

At last I arrived at Charlotte Street and found an available parking space. I moved the lorry into it only to notice three people at a pavement cafe waving to me. I got out, trembling violently, like one who had just finished a stormy Atlantic crossing. “You’ve hit the car parked behind you,” they said. I examined the car. There were white scratches on its front face. It bore a disabled sign. So, now I was a bad driver and a bad man. Under the severe look of the three, I left an apologetic note on the damaged car’s windscreen, giving my phone number.

I unloaded the furniture, dripping the sweat, wanting only to escape from the monster. I drove it back to its base at Edgware. On arrival, the boss told me I must fill it up with petrol before returning it. “Just charge me,” I cried, still shaking with fear. He stared at me with understanding. No doubt he’d witnessed others in this state before. “How about I drive you to a petrol station, you fill up, and I drive it back?” he asked.

He danced the great lorry through the traffic so carefully that it would have shamed me if I had not been so grateful.

1. The man felt ______ to have delivered the furniture himself.

A．grateful	B．regretful
C．proud	D．confident

2. The man trembled violently because ______.

A．he caused a terrible traffic accident

B．driving the lorry was too difficult for him

C．he was afraid to see the three people

D．the furniture was too heavy for him

3. The man said he was a bad man most probably because ______.

A．he made the traffic accident on purpose

B．he parked the big lorry on the pavement

C．he shouldn’t have driven the lorry himself

D．he shouldn’t have caused trouble for the disabled

4. The writer intended to suggest that ______.

A．it was exciting to drive a lorry	B．it was hard to avoid accidents
C．being too confident is foolish	D．the boss was expert in driving

10 . After the examination, the doctor told my parents my sight (视力) would get worse and that I would lose my sight finally. On the way home from hospital, no one said a word. One day, would I only imagine the scenery（景色）beyond the glass rather than see it?

That September, I entered middle school. Most nights I had homework that included a pile of books to read. To keep up with other children, I took great trouble to finish the task. With my nose a couple of inches from the page, I was tired easily.

However, then I did not have audio books and electronic devices (设备) like kids do now. Instead, Mom volunteered to read out loud. Mom worked part-time, cleaned the house, cooked and spent time with Grandma. In spite of being so busy, she showed up in my room like clockwork. She put on her reading glasses. Mom always thought those glasses made her look old. To me, she looked like a teacher.

In my room, Mom's voice competed with the ticking of the clock. Being forced to focus on (集中) listening, I found a way to keep my marks up and compete with the other kids. When the teacher asked a question, I raised my hand with confidence. Teachers praised me for having a good memory. Reading removed (消除) my fear for my failing sight, reading also made me curious about other people's challenges and how they managed. Though I could not use my eyes to fix on each passage, my mind lit up with every new book.

True to what the doctor said, the worst came, but thanks to Mom, my sense of hearing now allows me to “see”. This was the most precious（珍贵的）gift from a mother to her child.

1. The author and his parents keep silent on their way home from hospital because_________.

A．what the doctor said was worrying

B．the author failed in the exam

C．they were tired

D．they focused on the scenery along the road

2. The author manage to raise his marks in learning by__________.

A．being confident

B．getting help from his teacher

C．listening attentively

D．competing with his classmates

3. What can be inferred from the passage?

A．The author's eyes recovered finally.

B．Reading helped the author a lot.

C．The author's mother quitted her job to look after him.

D．Reading made the author more sensitive.

4. Which of the following could be the title of the text?

A．My eyesight trouble

B．An unforgettable experience

C．My good hearing

D．A precious gift from mother