I was walking along the deserted main street of a small seaside town in the north of England looking somewhere to make a phone call. My car had broken down outside the town and I wanted to get in touch with the Automobile Association .Low gray clouds were drifting across the sky and there was a cold damp wind blowing off the sea. It had rained in the night and water was dripping from the bare trees that lined the street. I was glad that I was wearing a thick coat.

There was no sign of a call box, nor was there anyone at that early hour I could ask. I had thought I might find a shop selling the Sunday papers or a milkman doing his job, but the town was completely dead.

Then suddenly I found what I was looking for. There was a small post office, and almost hidden from sight in a dark narrow street next to it was the town's only public call box, which badly needed a coat of paint, I hurried forward but stopped in astonishment when I saw through the dirty glass that there was a man inside. He was very fat, and was wearing a cheap blue plastic raincoat and rubber boots. I could not see his face - he was bending forward over the phone with his back pressed against the glass and didn't even raise his head at the sound of my coming nearer and nearer. Carefully and surprisedly, I remained standing a few feet away and lit a cigarette to wait my turn. It was when I threw the dead match on the ground that I noticed something bright red trickling from under the call box door.

1.The author was walking through the small seaside town__________.

A．late morning	B．early morning
C．before midnight	D．late evening

2.The weather of the day was ____, when the story happened.

A．windy, cold and cloudy	B．stormy, damp and clear
C．rainy, cold and clear	D．rainy, windy and cold

3. Why was the author astonished when he saw that there was a man in the call box? Because____.

A．the man inside was still wearing a raincoat

B．he didn't expect it to be taken up

C．the man had his back with him

D．the man did not seem to be moving

4.The author waited, standing a few feet away from the box because____.

A．it was not safe to be close to the box

B．the man didn't notice his coming

C．he wanted to have a cigarette to calm himself down

D．it was bad manners to overhear other's phone calls

5. What do you suppose happened to the man in the call box?

A．He slept.

B．He had most probably been killed.

C．He was lost in his important phone call.

D．He was too fat to move around.

 

   Linda was more of a best friend than a cousin．We  1  nearly everything—except that she was 2  on collecting porcelain（瓷）dolls．I never understand her hobby，she displayed them so beautifully and   3   them all so clean．Still，I was surprised how much those dolls  4  to me after Linda  5  her battle with cancer．Her mother donated（捐贈(zèng)）the doll s，as had been   6  ，to the local historical society．I agreed it was   7  that Linda's collection stayed together but it really   8  me to see the dolls go．In fact，I wished I could have kept just one to remember her by．

    Losing Linda was still fresh in my mind   9  one day my mother asked me to drive her to the country fair．On the way home my mother was a bit hungry，so I   10  the highway and we went into a fast—food restaurant．Next door was a   11  shop．I only had twenty dollars in my pocket，but I figured I would look   12  while I waited．Inside were cards，snow globes…and one whole wall full of shelves and shelves of porcelain dolls，just like Linda's．For some reason，I felt   13  to one doll in the middle of the second shelf——with deep brown eyes．wearing a shiny pink and white dress．“Isn’t that the   14  doll you ever saw？”I said to my mother．“I want it．”

       15  ，I thought．These dolls cost more than a hundred，l bet．Then I   16  at the doll’s price tag（標(biāo)簽）：$14．99 !

    A  sale man   17  that the price wasn't a mistake．What a luck! I took the doll off the shelf and    18  it to the cashier．Then, casually, I   19  the doll's price tag over．There，printed on the Other side，was the doll’s   20 ：Linda．

1．A．enjoyed                 B．a(chǎn)ttained                C．shared                   D．held

2．A．keen                      B．interested             C．eager                     D．fancy

3．A．made                     B．polished               C．helped                    D．kept

4．A．cost                      B．meant                  C．recalled                  D．cared

5．A．lost                       B．won                    C．fought                   D．stopped

6．A．deserved                B．maintained    C．sold                       D．intended

7．A．best                      B．worst                         C．precious                 D．wrong

8．A．seized                    B．surprised              C．upset                     D．declined

9．A．until                      B．before                  C．once                      D．when

10．A．stopped on           B．pulled off             C．got onto                 D．went along

11．A．book                    B．fruit                     C．gift                        D．dolls

12．A．a(chǎn)round                 B．inside            C．outside                   D．down

13．A．fastened               B．a(chǎn)pproached          C．touched                 D．drawn

14．A．cheapest              B．prettiest               C．biggest                D．funniest

15．A．Clever                 B．Sure                    C．Fantastic              D．Silly

16．A．doubted               B．wondered             C．glanced                  D．checked

17．A．confirmed            B．talked                  C．a(chǎn)dvocated              D．proposed

18．A．brought               B．gave                    C．paid                     D．carried

19．A．1ooked                B．turned                  C．pushed                   D．knocked

20．A．collector              B．price                    C．owner                    D．name

Lightning flashed through the darkness over Donald Lubeck’s bedroom skylight. The 80-year-old retired worker was shaken by a blast of thunder. It was 11 p.m. The storm had moved directly over his two-story wood home in the rural town of Belchertown, Massachusetts. Then he heard the smoke alarm beeping. Lubeck padded down the stairs barefoot and opened the door to the basement, and flames exploded out.
Lubeck fled back upstairs to call 911 from his bedroom, but the phone didn’t work. Lubeck realized he was trapped. “I started panicking,” he says.
His daughter and young granddaughters, who lived with him, were away for the night. No one will even know I’m home, he thought. His house was three miles off the main road and so well hidden by pines that Lubeck knew calling for help would be fruitless.
Up a hill about a third of a mile away lived Lubeck’s closest neighbors, Jeremie Wentworth and his wife. Wentworth had been lying down, listening to the radio when it occurred to him that the sound was more like a smoke detector. He jumped out of bed, grabbed a cordless phone and a flashlight, and headed down the hillside toward the noise.
He dialed 911. “Is anyone there?” he called out as he approached the house. Wentworth knew that Lubeck lived in the house.
Then he heard, “Help me! I’m trapped!” coming from the balcony off Lubeck’s bedroom.
“I ran in and yelled,‘Don, where are you?’ Then I had to run outside to catch my breath.”
After one more attempt inside the house, he gave up and circled around back. But there was no way to get to him. “I shined the flashlight into the woods next to an old shed and noticed a ladder,” says Wentworth. He dragged it over to the balcony and pulled Lubeck down just as the second floor of the house collapsed.
Wentworth and Lubeck don’t run into each other regularly, but Lubeck now knows that if he ever needs help, Wentworth will be there.
Lubeck still chokes up when he tells the story. “I was alone,” he says. “Then I heard the most beautiful sound in my life. It was Jeremie.”
【小題1】According to the text, Lubeck___________.

A．stayed calm in the fire	B．couldn’t find a safe way out
C．lived on the first floor	D．called for help in the fire

【小題2】How did Wentworth help Lubeck escape?

A．He called 911.

B．He went upstairs and took Lubeck out.

C．He put out the fire.

D．He used a ladder and pulled Lubeck down.

【小題3】Which of the following factors was not mentioned in the text that almost cost Lubeck’s life?

A．He was living in his wood home alone that night.

B．The storm was too heavy and the fire was too fierce.

C．He lived far from the main road and was surrounded by pines.

D．He was too frightened to escape from the danger.

【小題4】What does the text mainly talk about?

A．A near neighbour is better than a distant cousin.

B．A good way to get a narrow escape.

C．God helps those who help themselves.

D．Blood is thicker than water.