Each spring brings a new blossom of wildflowers in the ditches along the highway I travel daily to work.

There are some particular blue flowers that have always caught my eye. I’ve noticed that they bloom only in the morning hours and the afternoon sun is too warm for them. Every day for about two weeks, I see those beautiful flowers.

This spring, I started a wildflower garden in our yard. I can look out of the kitchen window while doing the dishes and see the flowers. I’ve often thought that those lovely blue flowers from the ditch would look great in that bed alongside other wildflowers. Every day I drove past the flowers thinking, “I’ll stop on my way home and dig them.” “Gee, I don’t want to get my good clothes dirty…” Whatever the reason, I never stopped to dig them. My husband even gave me a folding shovel（鏟子）one year in my car to be used for that expressed purpose.

One day on my way home from work, I was shocked to see that the highway department had destroyed the ditches and the pretty blue flowers were gone. I thought to myself, “Way to go, you waited too long. You should have done it when you first saw them blooming this spring.” A week ago we were shocked and saddened to learn that my oldest sister has a terminal brain tumor（腫瘤）. She is 20 years older than me and unfortunately, because of age and distance, we haven’t been as close as we all would have liked. I couldn’t help but see the connection between the pretty blue flowers and the relationship between my sister and us. I do believe that God has given us some time left to plant some wonderful memories that will bloom every year for us. 

And yes, if I see the blue flowers again, you can bet I’ll stop and transplant them to my wildflower garden.

1.Why did those flowers the writer saw only bloom in the morning?

A．Because it was hot in the afternoon.

B．Because someone picked them away.

C．Because someone took them into houses.

D．Because the writer passed them in the morning.

2.Which of the following statements is right according to the passage?

A．The writer’s sister died of lung tumor.

B．The writer was regretful when she heard her sister’s death.

C．The writer planned to dig the flowers to give them to her husband.

D．The writer’s husband planned to plant some flowers in the garden.

3.The writer wrote the passage to tell us ________.

A．to enjoy what we have now

B．to value now and not to lose chances

C．to protect the beautiful flowers we see

D．to love those who are your close relatives

Dear grandma,
How’s it going? I hope that grandpa is well now. I was sorry to hear that he had a    21  last week. I hope you are in    22  health.
Things are fine here. I finished my end-of-year  23  last week, and got my report card today. I always    24  nervous when I see the envelope   25  school in the mail, but luckily I did OK this time. I   26  a really hard time with science this semester , and I wasn’t surprised to find that my    27  report was from my science teacher. She said I was lazy, which isn’t true .It’s just that I find   28  really difficult. Another disappointing result was in history. My history teacher said I could do better. The good news is that  29  math teacher said I was hard-working. And my Spanish teacher said my listening was good. Well, that’s about all the news I have for now. Mom and Dad    30  their love.
Love,
Alan
【小題1】A. cold    B. lesson   C. picnic
【小題2】A. pity    B. good C. bad
【小題3】A. exercise    B. homework C. exams
【小題4】A. get B. do   C. take
【小題5】A. on  B. from C. about
【小題6】A. made    B. had  C. put
【小題7】A. longest B. easiest  C. worst
【小題8】A. Chinese B. science  C. P.E
【小題9】A. his B. your C. my
【小題10】A. send   B. bring    C. start

We were doing the best to control the fire of the burning garage (車庫). Outside, I heard the sounds of cats crying. I couldn’t stop—I would have to look for the cats after the fire was put out.

    It took a long time to finally bring the big fire under control. No one inside was hurt. At that point I was free to find out where the cat noises were from. There was still a lot of smoke and heat coming from the building. I followed the meowing to the sidewalk in front of the garage. There, crying and huddled (擠作一團(tuán)) together, were five frightened kittens (小貓). They must have been inside the building, as their fur was badly hurt.

    I wanted to find the mother cat. It was clear that she had gone into the burning garage and carried out all her babies, one by one—unbelievable.

    We finally found her. Her paws and face were blackened, and her fur was burned all over. You could even see her reddened skin under the burned fur. She could hardly move. I picked her up, and she relaxed in my arms as much as her pain would allow. I decided to save this brave little cat and her family.

    The vet told me they would watch the kittens and their mother for the night, but they weren’t confident about the mother’s chances.

    About a week later, I found out she was going to live. We named her Scarlet because of her reddened skin.

    I was happy to see Scarlet get together with the kittens again. She touched each of them, nose to nose. She had been in danger for five times and it had paid off. All of her babies had survived.

    As a fireman, I see heroic acts every day. But what Scarlet showed me that day was the kind of bravery that can only come from a mother’s love.

1.Which of the following is TRUE according to the story?

A. The writer went to look for the cats as soon as he heard them crying.

B. The firefighters put out the fire quickly and no one was hurt.

C. The writer didn’t find the cats until the smoke and heat were gone.

D. The mother cat moved all her babies out of the fire to a safe place.

2.Why did the writer decide to save the cats?

A. Because he was amazed at the mother cat’s courage.

B. Because the cats attracted many people’s attention.

C. Because he didn’t want to see any living things die.

D. Because it had taken him much time and effort to save them.

3.The writer talks about the cat’s story to show that ________________.

A. animals should be taken good care of

B. mother’s love can be great and brave

C. it is meaningful to help others

D. a cat always has nine lives

 閱讀下面的短文，然后根據(jù)漢語或英語首字母提示寫出所缺英語單詞的正確形式。（共10個(gè)小題，每小題1分）

Dear grandma，

    How's it going? I hope that grandpa is well now, I was sorry to 1.h   that he had a cold last week I hope you are in good  2.h   .

    Things are fine here, I3. f   my end-of-year exams last week and got my report 4.c   today. I always get 5. 緊張  when I see me envelope from school in the mail. put luckily I did OK this time. I had a hard time with science this semester and I wasn't surprised to find that my worst report was from my science teacher She said I was 6. 懶惰. which isn't true it's just that I find science really difficult. 7. 另一個(gè)disappointing result was in history. My history teacher said I could do 8. 更好 The good news is that my 9.數(shù)學(xué)   teacher said I was hard-working. And my Spanish teacher said my listening was good

    Well, that's about all the news I have for now. Mom and I  10. D    send their love

                                                 Love

                                                     Alan

We were doing the best to control the fire of the burning garage. Outside, I heard the sounds of cats crying. I couldn’t stop- I would have to look for the cats after the fire was put out.

It took a long time to finally bring the big fire under control. No one inside was hurt. At that point I was free to find out where the cat noises were from. There was still a lot of smoke and heat coming from the building. I followed the meowing to the sidewalk in front of the garage. There, crying and huddled together, were five frightened kittens . They must have been inside the building, as their fur was badly hurt.

I wanted to find the mother cat. It was obviously that she had gone into the burning garage and carried out all her babies, one by one----unbelievable.

We finally found her. Her paws and face were blackened, and her fur was burned all over. You could even see her reddened skin under the burned fur. She could hardly move. I picked her up, and she relaxed in my arms as much as her pain would allow. I was determined to save this brave little cat and her family.

The veterinarian told me they would watch the kittens and their mother for the night, but they weren’t confident about the about the mother’s chances.

About a week later, I found out she was going to live. We named her Scarlet because of her reddened skin.

I was happy to see Scarlet get together with the kittens again. She touched each of them, nose to nose. She had risked her life five times-and it had paid off. All of her babies had survived.

As a firefighter, I see heroic acts every day. But what Scarlet showed me that day was the kind of bravery that can only come from a mother’s love.

1.Which f the following is TRUE according to the story?

A .The writer went to look for the cats as soon as he heard them crying

B .The firefighters put out the fire quickly and no one was hurt.

C. The writer didn’t find the cats until the smoke and heat were gone.

D. The mother cat moved all her babes out of the fire to a safe place.

2.Why was the writer determined to save the cats?

A .Because he was amazed at the mother cat’s courage.

B .Because the cats attracted many people’s attention.

C .Because he didn’t want to see any living things die .

D. Because it had taken him much time and effort to save them.

3.The writer talks about the cat’s story to show that____.

A. animals should be taken good care of.

B. mother’s love can be great and brave.

C. it is meaningful to help others .

D. a cat always has nine lives.