To son, Cecil,

Just a quick note before I start in earnest. When I wrote this, you were 8, still a little boy. In 2002, I was called to active duty in the Marine Corps in the war on Terrorism (恐怖主義). On the 11th of September 2001 when America was attacked, I knew that I would eventually(最終) have to go and I was filled with a deep sense of sadness. That night as you and Keiko were asleep, I looked at your little faces and couldn’t help but fight the tears. I knew it would be hard for you because I had a similar experience. When I was a little boy aged 6, my dad, your Grandpa Cawley, was sent to Vietnam during the war there. I remember how much I missed him, too. But now unfortunately I have come to realize just how difficult it must have been for Grandpa to be away from his children for a year. Thinking about this, I wanted to put my thoughts and feelings down for you and your sister. I am so sorry that I had to leave for such a long time. There is no place I would rather be than with you and Keiko. You two are the lights of my life. I have known no greater joy than in the few years since you two were born. I hope to have many more years with you. If this doesn’t happen, then know that I love you more than words can express. If for some reason I don’t make it home, I will need you to take care of your little sister and your Mom. You will be the man of the Cawley family. Be good my son and God will watch over you as he has me. I will be waiting impatiently for the time when we can all be together again.

1.The writer of the letter may be ______.

A．a(chǎn)n American policeman

B．a(chǎn)n American soldier in the battle field

C．a(chǎn) soldier in the Vietnam War

D．a(chǎn) postman working far away from home

2.Keiko is the ______ of the writer.

A．wife

B．son

C．daughter

D．sister

3.One of the experiences the writer and his son had in common is that ______.

A．they both experienced the Vietnam War

B．their fathers had to leave them and fight abroad.

C．they used to study in the same school

D．they were both eight when the fathers had to leave them

4.We can infer(推斷) that ______.

A．the writer was a devoted son

B．the writer was a brave soldier

C．the writer realized he might die in the battle field

D．the writer’s wife was suffering from a terrible illness.

 

After the earthquake, the rescuers arrived at the disaster area as soon as possible. In a(n)  36  house, they found a woman. She was dead when the rescuers found her. Through the ruins, they could see her last   37 . Being on her knees, the upper part of her body was   38  , with her hands on the ground to  39 her body. It looked strange because she was bent out of   40 .

The leader came to the body, reached outhis hands under the woman, feeling and touching, and then he shouted loudly, “There is someone, a   41  , still living.”

Through some effort, rescuers  42 up the bricks covering her body. Under her body was her baby, who was   43  in a small red quiltwith yellow flowers. He was about 3 or 4 months old. Because he was well protected by the mother’s body, he was   44  safe. He was sleeping when the rescuers carried him out, and his lovely and peaceful face   45  everyone around him. The doctor, along with the rescue team, opened the   46  to check if the baby was all right, and he found there was a mobile phone in the quilt. The doctor looked at the screen. A written message was there, “My dear baby, if you live, don’t  47 how much I love you.” The mobile phone was passed on to the other people; every person who saw this message was close to tears.

1.                A．destroyed       B．old            C．nice D．new

 

2.                A．debate         B．a(chǎn)ction          C．guide    D．quarrel

 

3.                A．forward        B．western        C．up   D．straight

 

4.                A．lower          B．rise            C．support   D．carry

 

5.                A．sight           B．question        C．job  D．shape

 

6.                A．teenager       B．citizen          C．baby D．fellow

 

7.                A．cleaned        B．a(chǎn)dded          C．looked   D．called

 

8.                A．gathered       B．packed         C．locked   D．dressed

 

9.                A．totally          B．differently       C．widely    D．narrowly

 

10.               A．encouraged     B．delighted       C．warned   D．warmed

 

11.               A．blanket         B．brick           C．overcoat  D．quilt

 

12.               A．remember      B．know          C．forget D．keep

 

 

My grandparents were married for over half a century, and played their own special game from the time they met each other. The goal of their game was to write the word “shmily” in a surprise place for the other to find.
“Shmily” was written in the steam left on the mirror after a hot shower, where it would reappear bath after bath. At one point, my grandmother even opened an entire roll of toilet paper to leave “shmily” on the very last sheet. Little notes with “shmily” scribbled (潦草地寫) hurriedly were found on dashboards (儀表板) and car seats, or taped to steering wheels.
It took me a long time before I was able to fully appreciate my grandparents’ game. Skepticism (懷疑態(tài)度) had kept me from believing in true love — one that is pure and lasting. However, I never doubted my grandparents’ relationship. They had love down pat. It was more than their flirtatious (愛調(diào)戲的) little games; it was a way of life. Their relationship was based on devotion and passionate love.
Grandma and Grandpa held hands every chance they could. They stole kisses as they bumped into each other in their tiny kitchen. They finished each other’s sentences and shared the daily crossword puzzle and word jumble. My grandma whispered to me about how cute my grandpa was, how handsome and old he had grown to be. She claimed that she really knew “how to pick ‘em.”
But there came a dark cloud into my grandparents’ life: when my grandmother got breast cancer. Gradually it took over the whole of her body. One day, what we all dreaded finally happened. Grandma was gone.
“Shmily.” It was scrawled in yellow on the pink ribbons of my grandmother’s funeral bouquet (花束). The family came forward and gathered around Grandma one last time. Grandpa stepped up to my grandmother’s casket (棺) and, taking a shaky breath, he began to sing to her. Through his tears and sadness, the song came, a deep and throaty lullaby (催眠曲,). Shaking with my own sorrow, I would never forget that moment.
S-h-m-i-l-y: See How Much I Love You.
【小題1】The point of the article is to ________.

A．give advice on how to keep love fresh

B．explain to readers the meaning of “shmily”

C．show the true love between the writer’s grandparents

D．express how much the writer loved her grandparents

【小題2】What is the function of the second paragraph?

A．To support the first paragraph.	B．To introduce the next paragraph.
C．To give the main idea of the article.	D．To make the article more interesting.

【小題3】The author’s grandmother ________.

A．used to kiss her grandfather in secret

B．died from breast cancer, which spread all over

C．played crossword puzzle daily with her grandfather

D．considered her grandfather old and careless

【小題4】What is the author’s attitude toward her grandparents’ love?

A．She doubts whether it was true love.

B．She finds their way of expressing love strange.

C．She admires their romantic and passionate love.

D．She thinks she will never be able to love like that.

It was a dark and cold night. The car driver didn’t have even one passenger all day. When he went by the railway station, he saw a young man coming out with two bags in his hands. So he quickly opened the door of the car and asked, “Where do you want to go, sir?”

“To the Star Hotel,” the young man answered. When the car driver heard that, he didn’t feel happy. The young man would give him only three dollars because the hotel was not far from the railway station. But suddenly, he had an idea. He took the passenger through many streets of the big city.

After a long time, the car finally arrived at the hotel. “You should pay me fifteen dollars,” the car driver said to the young man. “What! Fifteen dollars? Do you think I’m a fool? Only last week I took a car from the railway station to this same hotel and I only gave the driver thirteen dollars. I know how much I have to pay for the trip. I won’t pay you one dollar more than I paid to the other car driver last week.”

1.Which of the following is true?____________

A．The young man went past the railway station.

B．The young man was working in the railway station

C．The young man had just got off a train.

D．The you man was waiting for his friend there.

2. What do you think of the car driver?__________

A．He was a nice and clever man.	B．He liked to work very hard.
C．He was good at driving	D．He was not an honest person.

3.The driver felt very _________ when he saw the young man coming out of the railway station.

A．sad

B．sorry

C．happy

D．worried

4.From the passage we know that the young man__________.

A．knew clearly how far it was from the station to the hotel.

B．Had been to the hotel several times.

C．Didn’t want to stay in this city.

D．Must be a stranger and didn’t know the city very well.

 

For most people, graduation is an exciting day – the culmination (頂點) of years of hard work. My graduation day... was not.

I remember that weekend two years ago, Family and friends had traveled far to watch our class walk across the stage. But like everyone else in my graduating class, I had watched the economy go from bad to worse during my senior year. We graduates had degrees, but very limited prospects (前景). I hadn’t secured a job, and I knew that the next day, when my lease (租約) ended, I would no longer have a place to call home.

The weeks ahead weren’t easy. I gathered up everything I couldn’t carry and put it into storage. Then, because I had no opportunities in my small university town, I packed up my car and drove to California to find work. But what I thought would take a week dragged into two, then four, and 100 job applications later, I found myself still jobless. The due date to begin paying back my student loans was creeping even closer.

Have you ever felt utter dread? That feeling became a constant in my life. The most frustrating part was no matter how much I tried, I just couldn’t seem to make any progress.

So what did I do to maintain my sanity? I wrote. Something about putting my words on a page made everything clearer. Something about writing gave me hope.

I channeled my frustration into a children’s book. Beyond the river was the story of an unlikely hero, a little fish who refused to give up.

And then one day, with no writing degree or contacts in the writing world – just hard work and perseverance – I was offered a publishing contract for my first book. After that, things were in place, I was offered a second book deal. Then, a few months later, I got an interview with the Walt Disney Company and was hired shortly after.

The moral of this story is… don’t give up, even if things look bleak now.  Two years ago I was drinking cold soup right out the can. Things change. All we need is the courage to push beyond the river.

1.When it was time to graduate, the author felt _____.

A．Bored            B．Relieved          C．depressed         D．hopeful

2.After the author’s graduation, _____.

A．he went on a short trip with his family to California

B．things turned even worse than he had expected

C．he focused on writing instead of applying for jobs

D．he found his salary was hardly enough to pay back his student loans

3.When did the author’s career life begin to run smoothly according to the article?

A．After he got his first publishing contract.

B．After he began to write his book Beyond the river.

C．After he finished his book Beyond the river.

D．After he got hired by the Walt Disney Company.

4.What is the main message the story intends to convey?

A．Opportunity lies everywhere.

B．Perseverance is essential to success.

C．It’s important to adapt yourself to society.

D．We should devote ourselves to whatever we do.