His eyes nearly in tears from the crush of fellow travelers at Guangzhou's train station, Hong Tao said things were much better on Sunday, after days of waiting for a train to his home in Hubei province.

"I think it's fine today, and everything is going smoothly," the 28-year-old said. "I thought it would be really crowded but it has turned out to be OK."

Chinese authorities say they expect 1.3 million people to travel out of Guangzhou's train station over the next few days, as they rush to get home by Wednesday, the eve of Lunar New Year.

Hong's optimism may have been helped by the blue skies that emerged over Guangzhou on Sunday for the first time in a week.

Last week, a rare winter storm paralyzed China's transportation system as millions tried to get home to celebrate the holiday — the only chance for many migrant workers to see their families all year.

China's state-run Xinhua news agency said Friday that 95 percent of rail traffic had "returned to normal." But Guangzhou's train station remained packed with a backlog of hundreds of thousands of travelers hoping to get home for the holiday.

A young woman was stepped on in a stampede (人群蜂擁) at the train station Friday, and later died of her injuries, according to Xinhua. Video of the situation on Friday showed crowds of people screaming, elbowing each other, in some cases sobbing and collapsing in the rush to get a slot (狹縫，窄孔) on a train.

China Sunday announced it has organized over 300,000 People's Liberation Army forces to southern China in what it described as a "war on winter weather".

The government also announced a $700 million plan to help farmers whose crops have been destroyed.

6. How many days is it from the day this article was made to the Lunar New Year?

A. Two days.         B. Three days.               C. Four days.         D. Five days.

7. What can we know about the weather condition of last week in Guangzhou?

A. Sunny with blue sky.               B. Rainy for a whole week.

C. Heavily snowy.                       D. Rainy first and snowy now.

8. Why are there so many passengers in Guangzhou’s train station?

A. Because the heavy snow stopped the passengers from leaving the station.

B. Because the passengers didn’t hope to leave the station right now.

C. Because the passengers hoped to leave for their hometown.

D. Because the holiday was coming near.

9. Where is Hong Tao from?

A. Shandong province.                B. Hubei province.

C. Guandong province.                      D. Not mentioned.

10. What can we infer from the passage?

A. On Friday, a young man was dead because of crowds’ elbowing, screaming.

B. China’s Government have arranged the PLA forces to help.

C. The government of China have offered money to help farmers enjoy the new year.

D. Many crops have been destroyed by the crowds of people.

The end of my sophomore year was approaching．Mom called me at the dorm one evening during the last week of May．My summer break would be spent with grandma and grandpa, helping out around their farm．The arrangement made good sense to all the family．I wasn’t fully convinced of that myself but guessed it was just one summer．Next year would be my little brother’s turn．

I arrived late that afternoon．Grandma had fixed more food than the three of us could possibly eat．She loved me entirely too much．The next morning, Grandpa fixed breakfast for the two of us． He told me Grandma had tired herself out yesterday and was going to rest in bed a little longer．I made a mental note to myself to not ask her to do things for me while I was there．I was there to help, not be a burden．

       Weeks passed．I gradually settled into a routine of daily work with Grandpa．In the evenings I usually read or talked with Grandma．She never grew tired of hearing about college or anything I was involved in．She told me stories about her childhood, family and the early years after she and Grandpa had married．

       The last Saturday in June, Grandpa suggested going fishing．We hadn’t expected what we saw when we got to the pond that morning: One of the swans was dead．Grandpa had given the pair of swans to Grandma on their 50th anniversary．“Why don’t we see about buying another one,” I suggested, hoping the situation could somehow be righted．Grandpa thought for a few moments before answering．

       He finally said, “no．．．it’s not that easy, Bruce．You see, swans mate for life．” He raised his finger to point, holding the fishing pole in his other hand．“There’s nothing we can do for the one that’s left．He has to work it out for himself．”

A few days later, we drove by the pond while doing our morning check on the cows．We found the other swan lying near the same spot we had found the first one．It, too, was dead．

       The month of July started with me and Grandpa putting up a new stretch of fence．Then July 12 came．That was the day Grandma passed away．Grandma had died suddenly that morning of a stroke．By the afternoon, my parents were there．The old house was soon crowded with relatives and Grandpa’s friends．

       The funeral was held the next day．Grandpa had insisted on having it as soon as possible．On the second day after the funeral, Grandpa announced at the breakfast table, “This is a working farm． We have a lot of things to do．The rest of you should get back to your own lives．” Most of the family had already left, but this was Grandpa’s way of telling the rest it was time for them to go home．My parents were the last to leave after lunch．

       Grandpa was not a man who could outwardly express his grief around others, and we all worried about him．The rest of the summer flowed by．We stayed busy working．I thought there was something different about Grandpa but couldn’t quite put my finger on it．

       September was nearing, and part of me did not want to leave．I thought of skipping the fall semester and staying around a few more months．When I mentioned it, grandpa quickly told me that my place was back at college．

The day finally came for me to pack my car and leave. I shock his hand and chanced a hug. As Idrove down the driveway, I saw him in the rearview mirror．He waved to me and then walked to the pasture gate to start the morning livestock check．

       Mom called me at school on a stormy October day to tell me Grandpa had died．A neighbor had stopped by that morning for coffee and found him in the kitchen．He died of a stroke, the same as Grandma．At that moment, I understood what he’d clumsily tried to explain to me about the swan on that morning we fished together by the pond．

55．We can learn from Paragraph 1 that            ．

       A．Bruce regarded working on the farm as a rare chance

       B．Bruce longed to enjoy himself freely on the farm

       C．the brothers took turns to attend their grandparents

       D．Bruce was not happy with his parents’ arrangement

56．What did the writer think at the sight of the first dead swan?

       A．Another swan should be bought in place of the dead one．

       B．The other was bound to die since swans mate for life．

       C．Grandma would be in deep sorrow over its death．

       D．The living can do nothing for the dead．

57．Grandpa quickly dismissed the family after the funeral because            ．

       A．he wanted to carry on with his farm work

       B．he tended to deal with grief in life by himself

       C．he didn’t want his normal life disturbed

       D．he took for granted the matter of life and death

58．By “I couldn’t put my fingers on it”, the writer means that            ．

       A．I could do nothing to help him out of grief

       B．I was so busy that I couldn’t give a hand to Grandpa

       C．I couldn’t tell exactly what was different about my Grandpa

       D．I stayed busy working and couldn’t keep Grandpa’s company

59．Which of the following best describes Grandpa’s character?

       A．Outgoing, clumsy and considerate．             B．Loyal, considerate and independent．

       C．Talkative, clumsy and independent．            D．Romantic, outgoing and loyal．

60．Which of the following can be the best title for the passage?

       A．Mate For Life         B．Unforgettable Summer Break

       C．Death of Swans      D．Everlasting Love Story

      

In my hometown there lived a sixty-year-old man. He was very   1  and never got ill. He liked   2  poisonous(有毒的) snakes since he was a boy. Nearly   3  week, he climbed up a hill nearby to catch snakes. He did not know how many times he had been bitten  4   snakes. He usually took some medicine with him while he was bitten by a snake. But once he had no medicine with him and did not take   5 , yet there was nothing wrong with him. From then on he had taken no medicine when he was hurt by snakes. People did not believe that   6 an interesting story took place.

One day last spring, when the old man   7  a walk in the street, a wild(野生的) dog   8  him and hurt him   9  the left leg with its mouth. The old man was too angry. He picked up a big stone and ran after the dog. But 10  the old man caught up with(追趕上) it, the dog lay down and died after running about   11  long. Then the old man took the dead dog   12  and cooked the meat food. A  13  came to visit him and had a piece of the meat, too. But soon after the neighbor ate the meat, he had a stomachache(胃痛) and had   14  in breathing. The neighbor  15 to a hospital nearby.

The doctor was a man with   16  experience and he knew the old man very well who liked eating poisonous snakes. After asking   17  questions and giving a general examination(常規(guī)檢查), the doctor let the old man’s neighbor   18  some medicine for snake poison. Happily for them, half an hour later, the patient(病人) got well.

It was said 19  the snake poison in the strange old man’s body was   20  poisonous than in a big poisonous snake. So this story had happened.

1. A. healthy           B. excellent           C. kind               D. good

2. A. hitting             B. beating             C. eating            D. raising

3. A. one               B. a                       C. every              D. each

4. A. with              B. at                      C. by                 D. in

5. A. some            B. any                    C. one              D. many

6. A. after            B. until                    C. when             D. while

7. A. was having    B. was getting        C. made              D. wanted

8. A. ran at           B. knock into           C. knock on         D. run with

9. A. by             B. at                       C. in                 D. with

10. A. As soon as　 B. When　　 　 C. Before　　 D. Till

11. A. one hundred meter                         B. one-hundred-meters

C. one-hundred-meter                         D. one hundred meters

12. A. home             B. to house        　 C. to home           D. to the family

13. A. student     　 B. neighbor            C. farmer               D. worker

14. A. fun              B. time          　　 C. difficulty         D. question

15. A. is taken          　　　　　　　    B. was sent      

   C. has been taken     　　　　　　 D. had been sent

16. A. many         B. a few                   C. much                D. little

17. A. few              B. no                      C. the                   D. several

18. A. took         B. taking                C. take            　 D. to take

19. A. if               B. that                    C. which              D. how

20. A. less            B. much more           C. much         　 D. no more