It was at least two months before Christmas when nine-year-old Almie Rose told her father and me that
she wanted a new bicycle. As Christmas drew nearer, her desire for a bicycle seemed to fade (消退), or so
we thought. We bought her a lovely doll, and a doll house. Then, much to our surprise, on December 23rd,
she said that she "really wanted a bike more than anything else." But it was just too late. With such a lot of
preparations to do for the Christmas dinner we did not have the time to buy our little girl a bike. So, here we
were Christmas Eve around 9:00 p.m., with Almie and her six-year-old brother, Dylan, sleeping in their beds.
Now we could only think of the bicycle and the disappointment of our child. "What if I make a little bicycle
out of clay (泥) and write a note that she could trade (交易, 交换) the clay bike in for a real bike?" her dad
asked. So he spent the next four hours making a tiny clay bike. On Christmas morning, we were excited for
Almie to open the little gift box with the beautiful red and white clay bike and the note. Finally, she opened it
and read the note aloud. "Does this mean that I can trade in this bike that Daddy made me for a real one?" I
said, "Yes." Almie had tears in her eyes when she replied, "I could never trade in this beautiful bicycle that
Daddy made me. I"d rather keep this than get a real bike." At that moment, we would have moved heaven and
earth to buy her every bicycle in the world!
( )1. A. always ( )2. A. Before ( )3. A. Without ( )4. A. knife ( )5. A. hurt ( )6. A. happy ( )7. A. watching ( )8. A. something ( )9. A. balcony ( )10. A. when ( )11. A. laughed ( )12. A. stay ( )13. A. none ( )14. A. can ( )15. A. forgive | B. never B. After B. With B. gun B. hunted B. excited B. hearing B. nothing B. bedroom B. that B. cried B. play B. both B. can"t B. know | C. usually C. Until C. For C. stone C. killed C. lonely C. listening C. everything C. study C. whether C. smiled C. fish C. all C. couldn"t C. remind | D. ever D. While D. Through D. slingshot D. saved D. sad D. reading D. anything D. kitchen D. why D. shouted D. wash D. neither D. could D. change |
阅读理解。 | |||
Having returned from her round trip, the angry woman stood outside the ticket office of the station."The railway owes me £12," she said to Harry Jenks, the young man working at the office."You sold me a ticket for May 22nd, but there was no ship to Jersey that night. So my daughter and I had to stay in a hotel. It cost me£12." Harry was worried. He remembered selling the woman a return ticket. "come into the office, Madam," he said politely. "I"ll just check the Jersey timetable for May 22nd." The woman and her little girl followed him inside. She was quite right, as Harry soon discovered. There was no sailing on May 22nd. How could he have made such a careless mistake? He shouldn"t have sold her a ticket for that day. Wondering what to do, he smiled at the child."You look sun burnt," he said to her."Did you have a nice holiday in Jersey?" "Yes," she answered, shyly."The beach was lovely. And I can swim too!" "That"s fine," said Harry. "My little girl can swim a bit yet. Of course, she"s only three…" "I"m four," the child said proudly. "I"ll be four and a half." Harry turned to the mother."I remember your ticket, Madam,"he said."But you didn"t get one for your daughter, did you?" "Er, well…" the woman looked at the child. "I mean… she hasn"t started school yet. She"s only four." "A four-year-old child must have a ticket, Madam. A child"s return ticket to Jersey costs… let me see… £13.50. So if the railway pays for you hotel, you will owe £1.50. The law is the law, but since it"s me who made the mistake…" The woman stood up, took the child"s hand and left the office. | |||
1. Harry was worried because ________. | |||
A. the woman was angry with him B. he had not done his work right C. the Jersey timetable was wrong D. the little girl didn"t have a return ticket | |||
2. Harry started talking to the little girl ________. | |||
A. because he was in difficulty and did not know what to do B. because he had a little girl about the same age C. because he wanted to be friendly to the little girl who looked so nice D. when he suddenly realized that he could find a way out from the little girl. | |||
3. When Harry said "The law is the law, but since it"s me who made the mistake…," he meant that ________. | |||
A. they must follow the law without other choice, even though the mistake was his B. he had to be strict with the woman because of the law, although he didn"t want to C. the woman had to pay him£1.50 and the railway would pay her for the hotel D. she should pay£1.50, but he had made a mistake, she should go without paying | |||
4. The woman left the office without saying anything because ________. | |||
A. she wanted to go home and get money for the child"s ticket B. she was so angry that she didn"t want to say anything more with the young man C. she was moved by Harry"s kindness D. she knew she would have to pay for her child"s ticket if she held on to her idea | |||
5. What do you think the woman felt when she left the office? | |||
A. Angry B. Peaceful C. Embarrassed D. Nervous | |||
阅读理解。 | |||
On a very cold evening in northern Virginia many yean ago, an old man was waiting for a ride across the river. Anxiously (焦急地), he watched as several horsemen passed by, then another. Finally, the last rider came to the place where the old man sat. As this one drew near, the old man caught the rider"s eyes and said, "Sir, would you mind giving an old man a ride to the other side?" Reining (勒隹缰绳) his horse, the rider replied, "Sure." Seeing the old man was unable to lift his half-frozen (冻得半僵的) body from the ground, the rider got off the horse and helped the old man onto it. He took the old man not only across the river, but also to his house, which was just a few miles away. As they came to his house, the rider"s curiosity (好奇心) caused him to ask the old man, "Sir, I noticed that you let several other riders pass by without asking for help. Then I came up and you immediately asked me for a ride. What would happen if I had refused and left you there?" The old man lowered himself slowly down from the horse, looked the rider straight in the eyes and replied, I"ve been there for some time. I think I know people well. I looked into the eyes of the other riders and immediately saw there was no worry about my situation. It would have been useless even to ask them for a ride. But when I looked into your eyes, I saw kindness and compassion (同情)? I knew you would give me a hand." Those words moved the rider deeply. He said to the old man, "I am very grateful for what you have said. May (但愿) I never get too busy with my own things that I fail to help others with kindness and compassion." | |||
1. The old man found that the last rider was _____. | |||
A. unhelpful B. kind and helpful C. curious and active D. indifferent (漠不关心的) | |||
2. What did the last rider do after the old man asked him to give him a ride? | |||
A. He refused the old man at first. B. He only took the old man across the river. C. He took the old man to his house at last. D. He asked the old man to get on the horse himself. | |||
3. The old man let several other riders pass by without asking for help because _____. | |||
A. he was so frozen that he couldn"t say a word B. he was too nervous to ask them for help C. he couldn"t see kindness and compassion in their eyes D. he didn"t want to accept their help at all | |||
4. By saying "May I never get too busy with my own things that I fail to help others with kindness and compassion.", the last rider means _____. | |||
A. he will try to help others whole-heartedly (全心全意地) from now on even if he is busy B. he will never get too busy in his own things any longer C. he wasn"t willing to help others with kindness and compassion in the past D. he failed to help others in the past because he was not very kind | |||
阅读理解。 | |||
A terrible explosive noise was heard, immediately followed by strong shaking of the classroom building. Mrs Li Lan, a country school teacher in Sichuan, who was giving a class, could hardly keep on her feet, and many of her pupils made panic cries. Mrs Li realized at once that it must be a powerful earthquake hitting the area. Though she herself was scared, she managed (设法) to make the children calm down, opened the door right away and told the children to leave the classroom and get down to the playground as quickly as possible. When all the children had left, she followed them to the first floor. The earth still kept moving violently (巨烈地). Some of the buildings nearby were falling down, and a great number of falling stones were rolling down from the hills behind the school. Suddenly, she found a little boy fell over and was hit by a big stone right on his body. She forgot the danger she was facing and ran over, trying to push the stone away. The stone was so big that it was not easy for her to move it. She kept pushing until the boy was pulled out, carrying him to the center of the playground. The boy was later sent to hospital and saved. | |||
1. What kind of disaster (灾难) happened in the story? ____________________________________________________________ 2. What were the children doing when the disaster happened? ____________________________________________________________ 3. What was Mrs Li"s action when she saw the boy under the stone? ____________________________________________________________ 4. Did Mrs Li fear death in the face of great danger? ____________________________________________________________ 5. What do you want to say after you finish reading the story? ____________________________________________________________ |