When my father was getting ready for work, our house was ruled by knocks and words. He used to come
downstairs to breakfast.
     The morning paper lay beside his plate. He always read the'Deaths'first; and then he knocked once on the
table. One of my sisters brought his toast (烤面包片), already buttered for him. Usually he said nothing, but
once I heard him say, "I love you very much, Edith. I would love you more if you buttered my toast on both
sides." He read the paper all through breakfast.
     Two knocks on the table meant 'I am ready for my tea'. If a single knock followed, that meant 'More toast,
please.' After breakfast he said, "Boots." The paper was spread (展開) for him over the back of an armchair.
Yesterday's paper was put on the chair for his feet, and his boots were brought to him, freshly cleaned. He
read standing, at the same time putting on his boots and tying the laces (鞋帶). With one boot finished, he
said, "Bus."
     At that point one of the girls went outside to the garden gate and waited there. Her job was to stop the bus
when it came. It came early sometimes, and it had to wait for my father. "Overcoat, hat." One of my sisters
had already brushed his overcoat. Now she held it open for him and guided his arms into it. Then she pulled
his jacket down under the coat. Another girl came with his hat, nicely brushed. "Handkerchief, pipe." They
were brought and put, with his tobacco, into his pockets. He looked out of the window and said either
'Walking stick' or 'Umbrella'. It was handed to him. Ready now, he was still reading the paper.
     He did not put it down until he heard the shout "Bus coming!" Then he kissed my mother and went out.
The girls breathed freely.
     How lucky a man is to have a wife and five daughters at home!

1. When the author's father wanted more toast, he would _____.

A. knock once on the table
B. knock twice on the table
C. say 'More toast, please'
D. say 'I'm ready for more toast'

2. What does "Edith" in paragraph 2 mean?

A. A kind of bread
B. One of the writer's sisters
C. The writer
D. The writer's mother

3. All the daughters were quite busy in the morning because _____.

A. their father never helped them
B. their father always gave different instructions at the same time
C. each of them had to start and finish her job just on time
D. they were not clever or quick enough to do their jobs

4. From the story we may see that _____.

A. the father was so lazy that he hardly did anything
B. the father was the"center" of the family
C. every girl in the family was afraid to do wrong because they didn't know clearly enough what to do
D. the father was hated by all his daughters

    One day a few years ago, a very funny thing happened to a neighbor of mine. He is a teacher at one of
London's big medical schools. He had finished his teaching for the summer term and was at the airport on
his way to Russia to give a lecture.
    He had put a few clothes and his lecture notes in his shoulder bag, and he had put Rupert, the skeleton
(人體骨架) to be used in his lecture, in a large brown suitcase. At the airport desk, he suddenly thought
that he had forgotten to buy a newspaper. He left his suitcase near the desk and went over to the shop.
    When he got back, he discovered that someone had taken his suitcase by mistake. He often wonders
what they said when they got home and found Rupert.

1. Who wrote the story?

A. Rupert's teacher.
B. The neighbor's teacher.
C. A medical school teacher.
D. The teacher's neighbor.

2. Why did the teacher put a skeleton in his suitcase?

A. He needed it for the summer term in London.
B. He needed it for the lecture he was going to give.
C. He wanted to take it to Russia for medical research.
D. He wanted to take it home as he had finished his teaching.

3. What happened at the airport?

A. The skeleton went missing.
B. The skeleton was stolen.
C. The teacher forgot his suitcase.
D. The teacher took the wrong suitcase.

4. Which of the following best tells the teacher's feeling about the incident?

A. He was angry.
B. He thinks it very funny.
C. He feels helpless without Rupert.
D. He feels good without Rupert.

5. Which of the following might have happened afterwards?

A. The teacher got back the suitcase but not Rupert.
B. The teacher got back neither the suitcase nor Rupert.
C. The teacher got back Rupert but not the suitcase.
D. The teacher got back both the suitcase and Rupert.

    A traveler hurried down to the hall of an American hotel and went to the cash-desk. He had just 15 minutes
to pay his bill and get to the station. Suddenly he remembered that he had left something in his room. 
    "Look here, boy," he said to the bellboy, "run up to my room and see if I have left a parcel on the table
there. Be quick about it."
    The boy ran upstairs. Five minutes passed. The traveler was walking up and down the hall, looking very
angry. At last the boy appeared.
     "Yes, sir," he reported to the traveler, "you have left the parcel there, it's right on the table in your room."

1. The traveler _____.

A. ran down the street
B. came downstairs hurriedly
C. ran so quickly that he fell down
D. came into the hotel hall very quickly

2. Which statement is true?

A. He had to pay his bill and arrived at the station in 15 minutes.
B. It took him 15 minutes to go to the station from the hotel.
C. He could pay his bill in 15 minutes and then go to the station.
D. He had nothing but 15 minutes.

3. According to the passage, a bellboy is _____.

A. a boy whose work is to ring the bell
B. a boy who plays with a bell
C. a boy whose work in a hotel is to help guests with their bags
D. the hotel owner's boy

4. The traveler asked the boy _____.

A. to go upstairs
B. to look for his parcel
C. to fetch the parcel he had left in his room
D. only to see if the parcel was on the table in his room

5. Five minutes later, the boy _____.

A. ran up to the room
B. came downstairs
C. reported to the traveler in the room
D. came down to the hall but brought nothing back

     Some time ago, I discovered that one of my chairs had a broken leg. I didn't think there would be any
difficulty in getting it mended, as there are a whole lot of antique (古董) shops near my home. So I left home
one morning carrying the chair with me. I went into the first shop expecting a friendly reception (接待). I was
quite wrong. The man wouldn't even look at my chair.
    The second shop, though slightly more polite, was just the same, and the third and the fourth-so I decided
that my approach must be wrong.
    I went into the fifth shop with a plan in my mind. I placed the chair on the floor and said to the shopkeeper, "Would you like to buy a chair?" He looked it over carefully and said, "Yes, not a bad chair. How much do you
want for it, Sir?" "20 pounds," I said, "OK," he said, "I will give you 20 pounds." "It's got a slightly broken leg,"
I said. "Yes, I saw that, it's nothing." 
    Everything was going according to the plan and I was getting excited. "What will you do with it?" I asked.
"Oh, it will be easy to sell once the repair is done." "I will buy it," I said. "What do you mean? You have just
sold it to me," he said. "Yes, I know. But I have changed my mind. I am sorry; I will give you 27 pounds for
it." "You must be crazy," he said. Then, suddenly the penny dropped. "I know what you want. You want me to
repair your chair." "You are right," I said. "And what would you have done if I had walked in and said 'would
you mend this chair for me?'" "I wouldn't have agreed to do it," he said. "We don't do repairs, not enough
money in it and too much trouble. But I will mend this for you, shall we say for a five?" He was a very nice
man and was greatly amused by the whole thing.

1. We can learn from the text that in the first shop the writer _____.

A. was rather impolite
B. was warmly received
C. asked the shopkeeper to buy his chair
D. asked the shopkeeper to repair his chair

2. "Then, suddenly the penny dropped" in the last paragraph means the shopkeeper _____.

A. changed his mind
B. accepted the offer
C. saw the writer's purpose
D. decided to help the writer

3. How much did the writer pay for the mending?

A. ￡5
B. ￡7
C. ￡20
D. ￡27

4. From the text, we can learn that the writer was _____.

A. honest
B. smart
C. careful
D. kind

    Andy was still traveling in Spain when he realized he had to confirm (確認(rèn)) his flight home with the airline
company (航空公司). He was visiting Spain in order to improve his Spanish. When he was speaking to people
face to face, he had no difficulty understanding what they said. However, when he was speaking on the phone,
he still had a problem. Andy called the airline. And the clerk confirmed that his plane was leaving at nine o'clock
three days from that day. She also told Andy to be at the airport two hours earlier in order to check in his
luggage and get a seat.
    Since he was leaving in three days, Andy didn't lose any time. He visited as many places as he could. He
thought that it would probably be a while before he had enough money again. He wished he could come back
and spend a year in Spain.
    Too quickly, the final day arrived. Andy left early for the airport to arrive two hours before take-off. He
hated to rush. He went to the clerk to show his ticket. The clerk looked at the ticket in surprise. "Why, sir, but
your flight was at nine o'clock in the morning, and now it is eight in the evening." "But I confirmed my flight,"
insisted Andy. "Will I have to pay for another ticket?" 
    "No, sir. However, the next flight out will be three days from now." 
    Andy's look of shock turned to pleasure as he realized that now he could continue his vacation.

1. Why was Andy in Spain?

A. He was there on a business trip.
B. He hoped to learn Spanish better.
C. He liked to visit places of interest in Spain.
D. He was visiting friends there

2. Andy missed his flight because _____.

A. he forgot his flight time
B. the clerk gave him the wrong time of his flight
C. the clerk misunderstood him
D. he misunderstood the clerk

3. Which word can best describe the feeling of Andy when he came to know that his stay in Spain would
    be longer?

A. happy
B. shocked
C. upset
D. angry

4. What can we infer from the passage?

A. Travellers always have to confirm the time of flight with airline companies by phone call.
B. It's more difficult for Andy to understand others in Spanish face to face than on the phone.
C. Andy was enjoying himself when visiting places in Spain.
D. Andy would spend the next three days at the airport.

     An old friend from California called from the airport to tell me that he had arrived. I was not able to leave
the office, but I had made plans for his arrival. After explaining where my new house was, I told him that I
had left the key under the doormat (門前的擦鞋墊). Since I knew it would be quite late before I could get
back, I suggested that he make himself at home and help himself to anything that was kept in the refrigerator
(冰箱).
     Two hours later my friend phoned me from the house. At the moment, he said, he was listening to some
of my records after having had a nice meal. He had found the pan and meat in the refrigerator. Now, he was
drinking a cup of tea and hoped that I would join him soon. When I asked him if he had any difficulty finding
the house,he answered that the only problem was that he had not been able to find the key under the doormat,
but luckily, the living room window by the apple tree had been left open and he had climbed in through the
window. I listened to all this in great surprise. There is no apple tree outside my window, but there is one by
the living room window of my next-door neighbor's house!

1. When my friend arrived,I could not go to meet him because _____.

A. we were not good friends
B. I was busy at work
C. he had not told me that he would come
D. I did not want to see him

2. I listened to my friend's phone call in great surprise because _____.

A. he had not waited for me to eat together
B. he had eaten too much of the food
C. he mistook my neighbor's house for mine
D. he had left the house with the window open

3. In fact my friend _____.

A. did not enter my house
B. entered my house after he opened the door
C. entered my house by climbing through the window
D. entered my house with the help of my neighbor

4. The writer left the key under the doormat so that _____.

A. nobody would find it
B. he might not lose it
C. his family could use the same key
D. his friend could easily get it

     Mr Brown was going away for a week. Before he left, he said to his son, "if anyone asks for me, you can
tell him that your father has been out for doing something, and will be back in a week, then be sure to ask him
to sit down for a cup of tea."
     "OK, Dad," said his son. But he was afraid his son couldn't remember this, he wrote these words down on
a piece of paper and gave it to him. His son put it into his small pocket, took it out and looked at it every now
and then.
     Four days passed, but no one came to see his father. The boy thought that there was no man to come and
that the piece of paper was of no more use for him, so he burnt it that evening.
     The next afternoon, someone knocked at the door. The boy opened it. A man was standing at the door and
said, "Where is your father?" The boy put his hand into his pocket at once and looked for the piece of paper.
He could not find it. He suddenly remembered he had burnt it, so he shouted, "No more."
     The man was very surprised. He asked, "No more? I met your father last week. When did it happen?"
     "Burnt yesterday evening."

1. Mr Brown told his son that _____.

A. he would be away from home for four days
B. he would be back in seven days
C. he would be back in a month
D. he liked a cup of tea

2. Mr Brown wrote the words down on _____.

A. the wall
B. the door
C. a piece of paper
D. his son's pocket

3. A man came to visit the boy's father on _____.

A. the second day
B. the third day
C. the fourth day
D. the fifth day

4. The man was very surprised because _____.

A. he thought the child's father was dead
B. the child didn't ask him to sit down
C. the child gave him a cup of tea
D. he couldn't find that piece of paper