clear     whose     rainy     receive     under

Mother wants to know    English is the best in our class.

Many years ago, when I was fresh out of school and working in Denver, I was driving to my parents' home in Missouri for Christmas. I stopped at a gas station about 50 miles from Oklahoma City, where I was planning to stop and visit a friend. While I was standing in line to pay for gas, I said hello to an old couple* in front of me.
      It was dark when I left the gas station hurriedly, but  I had gone only a few miles when black smoke poured from the back of my car. I stopped and didn’t know what I should do. A car slowed down and stopped behind me. It was the couple I had spoken to at the gas station. They said they would take me to my friend's. We chatted on the way into the city, and when I got out of the car, the husband gave me his business card.

I wrote him and his wife a thank-you note for helping me. A few days later, I received a Christmas present from them. Their note that came with it said that helping me had made their holidays meaningful.
    Years later, I drove to a meeting in a nearby city in the morning. In late afternoon I returned to my car and found that I'd left the lights on all day, and the battery* was dead. Then I noticed that the Friendly Ford dealership - a shop selling cars - was right near my car. I went over and found two salesmen in the showroom.
      “Just how friendly is Friendly Ford?” I asked and explained my trouble. They quickly drove a pickup truck to my car and started it. They would accept no payment, so when I got home, I wrote them a note to say thanks. I received a letter back from one of the salesmen. He said that no one had ever taken the time to write him and say “thank you”, and it meant a lot.
      "Thank you" - two powerful words. They're easy to say and mean so much.
1The writer planned to stop at Oklahoma City_________.
   A. to visit a friend                                       B. to see his parents

C. to say hello to the old couple                 D. to have more gas for his car

2What happened when the writer found smoke coming out of his car？

A. He called his friend for help.

B. The couple offered to help him.

C. The couple helped to pull back the car.

D. He went back to the gas station for help.

3 The battery of the writer's car was dead because_______.
A. he forgot to turn off the lights           B. the meeting lasted a whole day
C. he drove the car for a long time          D. something went wrong with the lights

4 What’s the best title for the passage?

A. How to write a thank-you letter              B. How to deal with car problems
C. The kind-heartedness of old people           D. The importance of saying thanks

 The volunteers who brought the nine-year-old to the orphanage* knew little about her. The streets where they found her had been her home for many years. Her parents were unknown. They had left her long ago.

At the orphanage, the girl, like all the children there, was taught to read and write. While she was studying at the orphanage, she learned something else -- to be independent*. At twenty-one, she left the orphanage and began work as a secretary.

And then, in 1975, while she was still working as a common secretary, something very unusual happened. She entered the Miss Hong Kong competition -- and won it. This was the turning point in her life. Now Mary Cheung was very popular in Hong Kong.

Mary entered the competition because she was full of ambitions* and because she wanted to show that orphanage girls could be something. Winning the competition gave her the chance to start a new life. This led her first into television and then to a business manager. When she was working as a manager, she had trouble with her reports. “My English just wasn’t good enough,” she said. Fortunately, she had a boy-friend (who later became her husband) to help her.

Mary studied management at Hong Kong Polytechnic and graduated in 1980. She started her own company in 1995. But she was still working hard to develop herself. She then studied for a Fine Arts degree at the University of Hong Kong. Her ambition was to teach arts in Hong Kong. Since 1987, she has spent a lot of her time on photography. She has held several exhibitions of her work in many places, including China, New Zealand and Paris. She still found time, however, to work on TV and for charity, to write for newspapers and bring up her family.

The girl from street has come a long way, but her journey is not finished yet.

1 Mary ______ when the volunteers found her.

   A. was known well                               B. lived with her parents

   C. had been homeless for many years           D. was at school like all the children

2______ was the turning point in Mary’s life.

A. Being brought to the orphanage                  B. Being taught to read and write

C. Having trouble with her reports               D. Winning the Miss Hong Kong competition

3 The underlined sentence “The girl from street has come a long way” means that ______.

A. Mary has travelled a lot

B. Mary is very tired because she has run a long way

C. Mary is always hard-working and she has made a great success

D. Mary needs to have a rest because she has made a great success

4 From the passage we can learn that ______.

  A. Mary has achieved all her ambitions

  B. Mary never stopped developing herself all the time

  C. Mary’s life as a small child was very happy and comfortable

D. Mary became a secretary after she won the Miss Hong Kong competition

Are people less happy or more happy the older they get? If you answered more happy, then you were right, based on a study in 2008. It found that people usually become happier and experience less worry after age fifty. In fact, it found that by the age of eighty-five, people are happier with their life than they were at eighteen.

The results came from a Gallup survey of more than three hundred forty thousand adults in the United States in 2008. At that time, the people were between the ages of eighteen and eighty-five.

Arthur Stone in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science at Stony Brook University in New York led the study. His team found that levels of stress were highest among adults between the ages of twenty-two and twenty-five. Stress levels dropped suddenly after people reached their fifties.

Happiness was highest among the youngest adults and those in their seventies. But the people least likely to report feeling negative emotions* were those in their seventies and eighties.

The survey also found that men and women have similar emotional changes as they grow older. However, women at all ages reported more stress and worry than men did.

The researchers also considered possible influences like having young children, losing jobs. But they found influences like these did not affect* the levels of happiness related to* age.

So why would happiness increase with age? One reason is that, as people get older, they become more thankful for what they have and have better controlled of their emotions. They also spend less time thinking about bad experiences.

1We can probably read this passage in a ______.

A. story book                 B. guide book           C. sports newspaper      D. science magazine

2The study in 2008 found that ______.

A. people became happier after age fifty

B. men have more worry than women at all ages

   C. levels of stress were highest by the age of seventy

   D. happiness was highest among the adults between 22 and 25

3 People become happier as they get older because they ______.

   A. have more worry and stress

   B. can control their emotions better

   C. are influenced by having children

D. spend more time thinking about bad experiences

4 The passage is mainly about _________________ .

   A. the ideas to keep happy                      

B. the importance of having a happy life

C. the ways to make a survey on happiness

D. the results of a survey on happiness related to age  

 If you are going to Europe, you might consider taking some time to visit Provence. Provence is in the southeast of France. You will be attracted by its green hills, olive trees, and old streets with pretty houses. Whether you are interested in beautiful places, ancient history, good food, or music and theater, Provence has something to offer to you.

The Flowers: Provence is a city full of lavenders* and sunflowers. Lavender means “waiting for love”. It also means beautiful. The mountains of Lubero is the most beautiful area across France. And there are many kinds of lavenders there. Compared with the fantastic flowers Lavender, sunflower is a lot warmer. Under the sunlight, thousands of yellow sunflowers are smiling at the sun.

 The Food: The people there are well-known for keeping their traditional lifestyles. And in the restaurant, you will have the experience of eating the food that has much use of olive oil. The food is fresh and healthy. All the things make Provence become the heaven to those who like delicious food.

 The Other Activities: Provence is a happy and inviting city. They hold many parties, dances, and festivals. You can even enjoy great shows with some famous stars.

  May to July are the best tourist months. Not only the red sky, the sweet smell of olive, but the beautiful lavenders, make Provence send out the breath of romantic.

1 Provence lies ___________.

A. in the southeast of France               B. in the northeast of France

C. in the southwest of France               D. in the northwest of France

2If you want to enjoy the beautiful lavenders, you’d better visit Provence in  ___________.

A. January                        B. March          C. June          D. October

3 According to the passage, which of the following is TRUE?

A. Lavender is warmer than sunflower.

B. People in Provence like eating food without olive oil.

C. Provence has green hills and new streets with pretty houses.

D. People in Provence can meet famous stars on some great shows .

I was going down the road one day when my cell phone rang. A child’s voice on the other end spoke to me, “Dad, please    1   soon. I miss you so much!” I thought that it was a wrong number. A short while later, the call came once again, so I   2  angrily, “You’ve dialed the wrong number!” and then hung up.

During the following days, I often got the   3  call. But I didn’t care much about it.

    Then one day she kept calling me,    4  I didn’t answer. Finally I answered the phone and heard a weak    5  , “Dad, please come back. I miss you so much! Dad, I’m in so much pain! Mom said you were so busy that you had no time to take care of me. But, dad, please   6  me again, OK?” It was   7   to refuse the innocent* ask. I made a    8    kiss on the phone and heard the weak voice say, “Thank you…Dad, I am so…h(huán)appy, so…h(huán)appy…”

    Shortly after this, I became surprised about    9 had been on the other end of my phone. So I called   10  , and a woman answered, “Sorry, sir. I am really sorry to have   11   you. My daughter has had bone cancer since she was born. And her father…died in a car   12   a month ago. I didn’t want to tell her the news. Poor baby. When she couldn’t   13   the painful chemotherapy*, she would cry for her dad because her dad always   14   her. I really don’t know what to do, so I gave her a random* phone number.”

    “How is your daughter now?” I couldn’t wait to ask.

“She has died. You must have kissed her on the phone, because she died   15  a smile, tightly holding the cell phone….” Tears full of my eyes….

1 A．come in               B．come back                     C．come out                D．come down

2 A．spoke                 B．told                       C．a(chǎn)sked                       D．replied

3 A．different            B．same             C．funny             D．right

4A．so                              B．a(chǎn)nd                   C．because              D．though

5A．decision               B．a(chǎn)nswer                   C．voice               D．hello

6A．hug                     B．kiss                        C．help                  D．call

7A．easy                   B．terrible                 C．happy                 D．difficult

8A．soft                    B．sweet                        C．low                    D．high

9A．that                   B．what                    C．who                   D．how

10A．back                        B．in                        C．on                    D．up

11A．troubled                    B．a(chǎn)sked                    C．stopped             D．reached

12A．experiment          B．event                  C．a(chǎn)ccident               D．a(chǎn)ctivity

13A．receive                B．fight                       C．stand                   D．face

14A．encouraged         B．a(chǎn)mused                   C．caught                    D．missed

15A．with                           B．to                           C．a(chǎn)t                           D．without

— If you have any trouble, be sure to call me.

— _______.

A. I am sorry to hear that                            B. I will think it over

  C. I have no trouble                                    D. I will. Thank you very much

— Do you know ______?                 

— To meet her friends from America.

A. where Anna is going                            B. who is Anna’s best friend

C. how Anna goes to the airport                     D. why Anna is going to the airport

— Darling, how many flights are leaving for Beijing on Sunday morning?

— Wait a minute. Let me __________ in the schedule(時刻表).

    A. look it up                 B. look for it            C. look it down          D. look at it

— Will Mary go to the movie with me?

— No, I don’t think so. She ___________ to go shopping with her friends.

A. decides                  B. has decided               C. will decide             D. decided