At two o’clock a bank robber stole in.“This is a holdup,” the man said loudly. He took a gun from under his jacket, pointing to George.“Hand it over!” George reached into his money-box and took all the bills from the top part-close to six thousand dollars. The robber took them and turned to leave.

　　Then, while everyone watched the robber, George calmly lifted the top part of the money-box, took bills from the bottom part and put them into his own pocket secretly.

　　The door was shut and the bank robber was gone. George fainted（暈倒）.

　　As soon as he was safely behind his bedroom door, George counted the money. He had eight thousand dollars. He was very happy.

　　The next morning, while the others were examining the bank's records, George was called into Mr Burrow's office and was introduced to Mr. Carruthers, who used to be president of the bank.

　　“Good morning, George, I was sorry to give you a hard time yesterday, but with all the banks being robbed these days I thought it would be a good idea to prove that our little bank can be robbed too. I have retired（退休）, but I’m always thinking of our bank. That's why I played my little game yesterday, just to keep everyone on his toes（趾）. Now, I have put the money back in your money-box all six thousand.”

This passage tells us ______.

A. a serious case            B. one part of a play

C. a humorous story          D. a meaningful story

Which of the following do you think is true?

A. George wanted to protect the money for the bank.

B. George had been thinking of taking money away.

C. This bank had been robbed several times.

D. Nobody knew the bank would be robbed that day.

Why was George called into Mr. Burrow’s office?

A. His stealing money was disclosed.

B. Mr. Burrow wanted to say sorry to him.

C. Mr. Carruthers wanted to explain the whole thing to him.

D. Mr. Burrow wanted to tell him the money had been put back.

In this article “to keep everyone on his toes” means “______”.

A. to make everyone work hard

B. to keep everyone standing straight

C. to make everyone do a kind of exercise

D. to keep everyone paying attention to the coming danger

Which sentence can be used to end the story?

A. George turned cold with fear.          B. George turned red with anger.

C. George was pleased with the end.       D. George was disappointed with the end.

The officers narrowly escaped ___________  in the hot battle.

A. have killed  B. to kill    C. to be killed    D. being killed

She is usually __________ to be one of our best artists.

  A. regarded    B. acknowledged     C. received     D. attempted

Bob’s salary is three times ______, so John admires Bob very much.

A. as high as that of John         B. as bigger as that of John

C. as high as John               D. as much as John

 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 lot of antique (古董)shops near my home. So I left my 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 entered 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 at it over carefully and said, "Yes, not a bad chair. How much do you want for it?" "Twenty pounds." I said. "OK," he said, "I will give you twenty pounds." "It’s got a slightly broken leg," I said. "Yes, I saw that, it is nothing. "the shopkeeper answered.

Everything was going according to my plan and I was getting excited. "What will you do with it?" I asked. "It will be easy to sell once the repair is done." "I will buy it." I said. "What do you mean? You just sold it to me." "Yes, I know, but I have just changed my mind, I am sorry. I will give you twenty - seven pounds for it." "You must be crazy." he said. Suddenly the penny dropped. "I know what you want. You want me to repair your chair." " You are right," I said, "What would you have done if I had walked in and asked you to mend the chair?" "I would not have agreed to do that. We don’t do repairs, not enough money in it, and too much trouble. But! will mend this for you. Will you pay it for five? ". He was a very nice person and was greatly amused (感到有趣)by the whole thing.

We can learn from the passage 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.

The expression" 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

How much did the writer pay for the repair?

   A. 5.             B. 7.               C. 20.               D. 27.

From the text, we can learn that the writer was___________.

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

It was getting dark and snow was coming down. Joe was driving home. He’d been unemployed since the factory closed. Most of his friends had left, but he stayed on. After all, he was born here.

Suddenly he saw a lady standing on the side of the road and pulled up. She was worried. No one had stopped to help her. Was he going to hurt her? He looked poor and hungry. Joe knew how she felt and said, “My name is Joe and I’m here to help you.” All she had was a flat tire, but for an old lady, that was bad enough. Joe changed the tire, but he got dirty and his hands were hurt. She wanted to pay Joe and said any amount would have been all right. Joe never thought twice about the money and there were plenty who had given him a hand in the past. He had lived his whole life that way. He told her that if she really wanted to pay him back, the next time she saw someone who needed help, she could give that person the assistance that they needed.

Later the lady went in a dingy-looking restaurant to grab a bite to eat. The cash register was like the telephone of an out-of-work actor----it didn’t ring much. The waitress, who was nearly eight months pregnant, brought a clean towel to her with a sweet smile. The old lady remembered Joe. After the waitress brought the change from a 100-dollar bill, she found the lady gone and something written on a piece of paper, “Someone once helped me out----the way I’m helping you. If you really want to pay me back, don’t let the chain of love end with you.”

That night the waitress gave her sleeping husband a soft kiss and whispered, “Everything’s going to be all right. I love you, Joe.”

What do we know about Joe from this passage?

A. On his way home after work, he helped an old lady.

B. He had worked in a factory in his hometown before.

C. He would move away to fulfill his dream soon.

D. Though he was poor, he didn’t care about money at all.

The saying “she wanted to pay Joe and said any amount would have been all right” in Paragraph 2

suggests that _____.

A. the old lady was very grateful to Joe’s timely aid

B. the old lady was much worried to be hurt by Joe

C. the old lady wanted to show off her fortune to Joe  

D. the old lady’s car was very difficult to repair for Joe

Which of the following is TRUE according to Paragraph 3?

A. The restaurant was not only light but also clean.

B. The old lady did have a big meal in the small restaurant.

C. The waitress was more than eight months pregnant.

D. The old lady left the remaining money to the waitress.

Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?

A. Acts of luck                               B.A warm-hearted man

C. The chain of love                       D.A generous lady

______ the help of an American teacher, we can learn real English.

A. With                             B. By

C. In                               D. For

I insist that he _______ medicine instead of law.

A. has studied        B. studies              C. should study      D. studied  

Owen wouldn’t eat anything ________ he cooked it himself.

A. until          B. since        C. unless     D. while

Gun control is a subject __________ Americans have argued for a long time.

   A. of which      B. with which      C. about which       D. into which