“It is a dreadful thing to be poor a fortnight before Christmas, ” said Clorinda, with the mournful sigh of seventeen years.

Aunt Emmy smiled. Aunt Emmy was sixty, and spent the hours she didn’t spend in a bed, on a sofa or in a wheel chair; but Aunt Emmy was never heard to sigh.

“The gifts which money can purchase are not the only ones we can give,” said Aunt Emmy gently, “nor the best, either.”

“Oh, I know it's nicer to give something of your own work,” agreed Clorinda, “but materials for fancy work cost too. That kind of gift is just as much out of the question for me as any other.”

“That was not what I meant,” said Aunt Emmy.

“What did you mean, then?” asked Clorinda, looking puzzled.

Aunt Emmy smiled.

“Suppose you think out my meaning for yourself,” she said. “That would be better than if I explained it. Besides, I don't think I could explain it. Take the beautiful line of a beautiful poem to help you in your thinking out: 'The gift without the giver is bare.”

“I'd put it the other way and say, 'The giver without the gift is bare,” said Clorinda. “That is my predicament(窘境)exactly. Well, I hope by next Christmas I'll not be quite bankrupt. I'm going into Mr. Callender's store down at Murraybridge in February. He has offered me the place, you know.”

“Won't your aunt miss you terribly?” said Aunt Emmy gravely. “I think she would rather have your companionship than a part of your salary, Clorinda,” said Aunt Emmy. “But of course you must decide for yourself, dear.”

“Well, I must say bye-bye and run home.” Clorinda lived just across the road from Aunt Emmy in a tiny white house behind some huge willows. But Aunt Mary lived there too--the only relative Clorinda had, for Aunt Emmy wasn't really her aunt at all. Clorinda had always lived with Aunt Mary ever since she could remember.

Clorinda puzzled over Aunt Emmy's meaning for days. Then all at once it came to her. On Christmas Day, Clorinda went over to Aunt Emmy's. Aunt Emmy was lying on the sofa before the fire, and Clorinda sat down beside her.

“I've come to tell you all about it,” she said. “Aunt Emmy, I thought for days over your meaning ... And then one evening it just came to me. At first I didn't think I could give some of them, and then I thought how selfish I was. I would have been willing to pay any amount of money for gifts if I had had it, but I wasn't willing to pay what I had. I got over that, though, Aunt Emmy. Now I'm going to tell you what I did give.”

“First, there was old Aunt Kitty. You know she was my nurse when I was a baby. She is always glad when I go to see her, but I've never gone except when I couldn't help it. She is very deaf, and rather dull and stupid, you know. Well, I gave her a whole day. I took my knitting yesterday, and sat with her the whole time and just talked and talked. She was so pleased and proud; she told me when I came away that she hadn't had such a nice time for years. ”

“Then there was ... Florence. You know, Aunt Emmy, we were always intimate friends until last year. Then Florence once told Rose Watson something I had told her in confidence. I found it out and I was so hurt. I couldn't forgive Florence, and I told her plainly I could never be a real friend to her again. Florence felt badly, because she really did love me, and she asked me to forgive her, but it seemed as if I couldn't. Well, Aunt Emmy, that was my Christmas gift to her ... my forgiveness.”

“I gave Aunt Mary her gift this morning. I told her I wasn't going to Murraybridge, that I just meant to stay home with her. She was so glad--and I'm glad, too, now that I've decided so.”

“Your gifts have been real gifts, Clorinda,” said Aunt Emmy. “Something of you--the best of you--went into each of them.”

“I didn't forget you, Aunt Emmy,” she said, as she unpinned the paper.

There was a rosebush. Aunt Emmy loved flowers. She put her finger under one of the roses and kissed it.

“It's as sweet as yourself, dear child,” she said tenderly. “And it will be a joy to me all through the lonely winter days. You've found out the best meaning of Christmas giving, haven't you, dear?”

“Yes, thanks to you, Aunt Emmy,” said Clorinda softly.

1.Clorinda felt anxious before Christmas because___________.

A. She had to leave Aunt Mary

B. She didn’t know what kind of Christmas gifts she should buy

C. She had not enough money to buy Christmas gifts

D. She had no time to make a proper decision

2. Which of the following sentences can best explain the line “The gift without the giver is bare.”？

A. A gift is valued by the mind of the giver.

B. Forgiveness is a gift for the giver and the receiver.

C. You cannot buy love or respect with expensive gifts.

D. Think twice before you give gifts to somebody

3.What is the gift that Clorinda gave to old Aunt Kitty?

A. Passion?? ????????????? ????????????? B. Sympathy?? ????????????? ????????????? C. Kindness?? ????????????? ????????????? D. Company

4.What does the underlined phrase “in confidence” mean?

A. respectfully??? ????????????? B. confidently??? ????????????? ????????????? C. secretly??? ????????????? ????????????? D. willingly

5. Which two words can best describe Aunt Emmy?

A. cute and joyful??????????????????? ????????????? B. kind-hearted and emotional

C. optimistic and wise???????????????? ????????????? D. gentle and timid (羞怯的)

6.Which of the following is the best title?

A. A Special Christmas?????????????????? B. Clorinda’s Gifts

C. Aunt Emmy????????????????????????? D. Clorinda’s Choice

When John Weston awoke that morning, he remembered that his mother was going into hospital. He hadn’t worked out quite what was wrong with her. He knew, though that she hadn’t been well for some time now, and it had become almost familiar to him to see her eyes narrowed in a sudden attack of pain, and her hand pressing against her heart. Their own doctor, who she had finally gone to for advice, had sent her to an expert who knew all about these things. He had told her that just as soon as there was a bed for her, she would have to come into his hospital where he could look after her himself.

During the weeks since then the pains had come even more frequently, and the narrowed eyes became an almost permanent part of her expression. Always rather sharp, she began losing her temper over little things so that John’s father kept his thoughts to himself more and more. John, as ready as possible to make allowances, tried to think what it would be like to have toothache all the time and how bad-tempered that would make you.

So his mother would go into hospital for a few days. He was going to stay with his Aunt Daisy till she came back, and his father would stay on at home by himself. John’s cousin, Mona, was to come in and make the bed and wash the pots and dust round now and again. That was the arrangement, and John didn’t care much for it. Apart from missing his mother(and he was glad she was going away because they would make her better), he wasn’t very fond of his Aunt Daisy because she was even more bad-tempered than his mother.

1.Mrs Weston went to see her doctor_________.

A.as soon as she realized that something was wrong

B.only after her husband advised her to

C.a long time after the trouble began

D.when John asked what was wrong with her

2.what did Mrs Weston’s own doctor decide to do?

A.he decided to send her to hospital

B.he decided to get an expert to examine her

C.He decided to treat her himself

D.He advised her to wait for a few weeks.

3.how did John react to his mother’s bad temper?

A.he tried to imagine himself in her place.

B.He tried not to notice it.

C.He pretended that he had toothache.

D.He behaved himself as well as possible.

4.John regarded ______as most bad-tempered.

A. his father   B. his mother    C. his cousin Mona   D. his aunt Daisy

On the night of May, 7,1942, a plane took off from an Air Force base in England to stop German fighters over the English Channel. The pilot of the plane was Captain Thomas Nash. Looking eastward, Nash saw twelve orange lights in a row, moving at an extremely high speed. As an experienced flyer, he had never seen anything like them. Thinking that they might be a new German weapon, he decided to follow them. But when he swung the plane around and headed directly for the lights, they disappeared.
Captain Nash may have been the first to see such orange lights but he wasn’t the last. His experience was repeated several times by pilots during World War Ⅱ in Europe and the Far East. What were they? No one knows for sure, but there is an interesting theory to explain them. According to this theory, the orange lights are space animals – animals specially adapted to life in the upper atmosphere just as some creatures are adapted to life at the bottom of the sea. These space animals, the theory says, live so far up in the atmosphere that they are invisible from the earth. They feed in part on the air and partly on energy from sunlight. Being almost pure energy themselves, they can give light at night. During the day they become invisible.
Before World WarⅡ, continues the theory, there was little radiated (輻射) energy available on the earth’s surface. Then came the development of rockets, atomic reactor (核反應(yīng)堆), and hydroelectric (水力發(fā)電的) plants. The space creatures are attracted by these sources of energy. At night when no energy is sent from sunlight, they go down into the lower levels to search a meal. They may even come into the scope of human eyesight. This explains the fact that they have been sighted now and then from the earth since 1942.
54．Which of the following best states the main idea of the passage?
A．The secret of nature can be completely explained.
B．Captain Nash may have been the first to see the lights in space.
C．Captain Nash saw twelve orange lights moving at a high speed.
D．According to an interesting theory, the orange lights are space animals.
55．The strange orange lights were first seen         .
A．from the ground                                  B．from a rocket ship
C．during World War I                             D．during World WarⅡ
56．The theory says that during the daytime the space animals        .
A．can’t be seen                                       B．shine brightly in the sky
C．can be seen from the earth                    D．visit the earth’s surface
57．If the space theory is true, the creatures go down to the lower places in order to         .
A．make connection with man                   B．search for man – made energy
C．a(chǎn)ttract curiosity                                   D．escape detection

Three boys and three girls boarded the bus to Fort Lauderdale, dreaming of golden beaches as the gray cold of New York disappeared behind them. They noticed an old man, who sat in front of them, dressed in a plain, ill-fitting suit, never? ? ? , and his dusty face? ? ? his age.?

He was ? ? in his seat like a stone, and the young people began to? ?? about him, trying to? ? his life and his age. Deep into the night, outside Washington, one of the girls went up to him and introduced herself. “Want some wine?” He took ?? the glass and drank.

Slowly and ? ? ? he told his story. His name was Vingo, he had been in? ? ? in New York for the past four years, and now he was going home. “When I was in prison I wrote to my wife,” he said. “I told her that I was going to be away for a long time, and that if she couldn't? ? ? it, if the kids kept asking questions, if it? ? ? too much, she could just forget me, I'd understand.”

“Last week, knowing I would be? ? ? , I wrote her again. We used to live in Brunswick and there's a big oak tree just as you come into town. I told her that if she would? ? ? me back, she should put a yellow handkerchief on the tree, and I'd? ? ? and come home with her. If she didn't ? ? ? me, forget it, no handkerchief, and I'd go on through.”

　　“Wow,” the girl exclaimed. She told the others, and soon all of them put their faces against the window, waiting for the ? ? ? of Brunswick.

Then Brunswick was ten miles, and then five. Then, suddenly, all of the young people were up out of their seats, screaming ? ? ? , all except Vingo. Vingo sat there? ? ? , looking at the oak tree. It was almost ? ? ? with yellow handkerchiefs, 20 of them, 30 of them, maybe hundreds, a tree that stood like a huge flag of ? ? , blowing in the wind. As the young people shouted, the old man rose and? ? ? his way to the front of the bus to go home.

1.A. moving??????? ????????????? B. leaning???????? ????????????? C. stopping???????? ????????????? D. heading

2.A. proved??????? ????????????? B. masked???????? ????????????? C. betrayed??????? ????????????? D. abandoned

3.A. rooted???????? ????????????? B. annoyed?????? ????????????? C. relaxed?????????? ????????????? D. alarmed?

4.A. hear???????? ????????????? B. care????????? ????????????? ????????????? C. wonder????????? ????????????? D. speak

5.A. bother???????? ????????????? B. describe???????? ????????????? C. imagine????????? ????????????? D. know

6.A. away????????? ????????????? B. in???????????? ????????????? C. out???????????? ????????????? D. over

7.A. terribly??????? ????????????? B. eagerly?????????? ????????????? C. painfully???????? ????????????? D. casually

8.A. hospital??????? ????????????? B. prison???????? ????????????? C. company???????? ????????????? D. work

9.A. support??????? ????????????? B. believe???????? ????????????? C. stand??????????? ????????????? D. ignore

10.A. lasted???????? ????????????? B. influenced???????? ????????????? C. cost??????????? ????????????? D. hurt

11.A. hopeless???? ? ????????????? B. convenient????????????? ????????????? ????????????? C. successful?? ????????????? ????????????? D. free

12.A. take????????? ????????????? B. refuse??????????? ????????????? C. call??????????? ????????????? D. write

13.A. get out??????? ????????????? B. get off????????? ????????????? C. get on?????????? ????????????? D. get in

14.A. remember????? ????????????? B. believe?????? ????????????? ????????????? C. miss???????? ?? ????????????? D. accept

15.A. entrance?????? ????????????? B. beauty????????? ????????????? C. existence??????? ????????????? D. approach

16.A. amazingly????? ????????????? B. joyfully???????? ????????????? C. definitely????????? ????????????? D. desperately

17.A. shocked??????? ????????????? B. puzzled???????? ????????????? C. terrified???????? ????????????? D. depressed

18.A. covered??????? ????????????? B. surrounded????? ????????????? C. spotted????????? ????????????? D. dotted

19.A. wishes???????? ????????????? B. welcome??????? ????????????? C. victory?????? ????????????? ????????????? D. success

20.A. felt??????????? B. forced??????????? ????????????? C. made???????????? D. pushed

Everybody cheats. Whether it’s the taxi driver who tricks a visitor and takes them the long way round, or the shop assistant who doesn’t give the correct change, or the police officer who accepts a bribe (賄賂) – everybody’s at it. Cheats in the nest include the scientist whose research was based on fake data, the game show competitors who worked with a friend in the audience or win a million pounds, and the doctor who made up his qualifications and wasn’t really a doctor at all. Everybody cheats; nobody’s playing the game.

    Is cheating acceptable, a natural way of surviving and being successful? Or is it something that should be frowned on, and young people discouraged from doing? If it’s the latter how can we explain to children why so many bend the rules?

Take sport for example. The Word Cup was filled with cheating. Whether diving, pretending to be hurt or denying a handball, footballers will do anything for a free – kick or a penalty shot. France striker Henry denied cheating to win the free – kick which led to his side’s second goal in their 3 – 1 victory over Spain. Many footballers, however, are often putting it on. Whatever the nationality there’s one common ploy: the player rolls over holding their leg, ankle or head seeming to be in great pain. As a result a yellow card and / or free – kick is given for the foul and then, a few seconds later, the player is up and about as if nothing had happened ! The ref (裁判) may be taken in by it but youngsters watching the game aren’t. they also see their heroes getting away with it.

Of course it’s not just football. In 1998 the Tour de France, the world’s greatest cycling event, was hit by a drug – taking scandal (丑聞). The 40 bottles of forbidden drugs found with the Fustian team caused a massive investigation that almost caused the Tour to be abandoned. One rider, Veronique, was banned for 9 months. He claimed: “You have cheats in sport, just as you do in business – there will always be people trying to take a short cut. At least we’re not turning a blind eye to the problem, which other sports are.”

Is it all unavoidable? There’s huge pressure on all athletes to perform for their fans and for their sponsors. It’s success, money and power that rule professional sport rather than an honest at tempt to do the best one can.

Meanwhile companies around the world are losing billions of dollars to fake products. From cut price CDs and DVDs to sportswear, cheap fake products are everywhere. It has become socially acceptable to buy fake Gucci bags and illegal copies of films. If parents are doing this, their children will follow.

So perhaps it’s not surprising that around the world more pupils than ever are caught cheating during exams. In one case missing exam papers were put up for sale on the Internet. In another, widespread cheating took place by pupils using their mobile phones to receive tested answers. They blame the pressure put on them to do well in exams. It doesn’t help that their role models are also cheats. Surely we can’t complain when we’re setting such a bad example.

1.According to the passage, in which way can a game show player cheat?

A．By taking an indirect way.    B．By gaining aid from a friend.

C．By taking forbidden drugs.  D．By selling fake products.

2.The phrase “be frowned on”(Paragraph 2) most probably means           .

A．to be disapproved of            B．to be pushed forward

C．to be taken the place of       D．to be stuck with

3.The writer’s suppose for writing this passage is to         .

A．explain why people in almost every field cheat

B．complain about cheats in school education

C．persuade young people not to cheat in exams

D．blame the society for tolerating cheats

4.The writer mentions the example of the World Cup in Paragraph 3 in order to           .

A．show cheating is a common phenomenon nowadays

B．discuss the relationship between sport and cheating

C．explore the nature of cheating in important events

D．warn coaches and athletes of the danger of cheating

5.Which of the following is the main idea of the passage?

A．Exams are not a good way of testing children.

B．Children are natural cheats.

C．If adults cheat, children will cheat too.

D．Everyone including children cheats.