The road is being repaired. It won't be open until _____.

Frank told us of his childhood. “My dad was a fisherman, and he 36   the sea. It was    37  making a living on the sea. He worked hard and would stay out    38   he caught enough to feed the family.”
“He was a big man, and was   39   from pulling the nets and fighting the seas. When you got close to him, he smelled like the    40  . No matter how much my mother    41   his clothes, they would    42   smell of fish.”
“Every day he drove me to school. When the old truck rattled (嘎嘎作響) down the road, I would shrink down into the seat hoping to    43  . When we reached school, he would give me a kiss on the cheek and    44  me to be a good boy. It was so embarrassing for me. I was    45   twelve years old!”
“I    46   the day I decided I was too old for a goodbye kiss. When he started to lean toward me, I put my hand up and said, ‘No, Dad.’ It was the first time I had ever talked to him in that   47  , and he had this    48   look on his face. I said, ‘Dad, I’m too old for a goodbye kiss.’ My dad looked at me and his eyes were filled with tears. I had never seen him    49  . ‘You’re right,’ he said. ‘You are a big boy...a man. I won’t    50   you any more.’”
   51   began to well up in Frank’s eyes, “It wasn’t long after that when my dad went to sea and never came back.    52   of the boats stayed in that day because of a coming storm, but not dad. He had a big family to    53  .”
“Guys, you don’t know what I would like is to have my dad give me just one more kiss on the cheek, to feel his    54  old face, to smell the ocean on him. I wish I had been a man then.   55   I had been a man, I would never have told my dad I was too old for a goodbye kiss.”

Once again, I had run away and really did not know why. I walked out of the gate to go to school and then kept walking, and walking, and walking. I was 11years old. It was almost dark; I was tired, cold, and all alone. I had not eaten all day and was afraid to turn myself over the police. I knew I would receive another beating once I returned to the Children’s Home Society. There was nothing for me to do, except keep on walking.

As darkness fell, I entered the darkened area in a city park sat down on a wooden bench hoping to avoid the police cars. It was cold and I began to tremble uncontrollably. All was quiet except for the passing cars in the distance.

“Well, hello young man.” A voice came from behind me. I jumped, almost falling off the park bench. My heart was beating ninety miles per hour. I gasped and I could hardly catch my breath. I looked up and saw a woman standing behind me in the shadows.

“You look cold and hungry,” she said. She took off her scarf, wrapped it around my shoulders and asked me to follow her. We walked about twenty feet, and then stopped under one of the park streetlights.

She held out her hand and said, “Here, you take this letter.” Seeing nothing in her hand., I stood still.

“Reach out and take the letter from my hand,” she insisted. Slowly I reached out, acting as though I was taking something from her hand. “Now hold the paper tightly and take it to any store owner,” she instructed.

I closed my thumb and finger as though I were grasping the letter and began walking toward Five Points. Several blocks down the road, I came to a store with a woman sitting behind a counter. I opened the door, walked in, and stopped directly in front of her. Very slowly I held out my hand toward her. I watched her face to see if she might think I was crazy or something.

She reached out and as her hand touched mine, I opened my tightly closed fingers and stood there waiting. She pulled back, smiled, and looked down at her hands.

She immediately turned and walked to the back of the store. After a while, the woman returned holding a paper plate.

“Here is something for you to eat.” She smiled and signaled to me to eat. Within two or three minutes, I downed the entire plate of food and several Coca Colas.

Before I left, she held out her hand and asked me to take the letter. Again seeing nothing, I held out my hand and closed my thumb and finger as though I were taking something from her. Tightly grasping nothing more than air, I walked out into the street and headed back to the park. The old woman was still there.

“It is really magic. Can I have the letter so I can be magic too?” I asked her.

She reached out, took my hand, and opened my tightly closed fingers. Whatever was being held between my fingers, she took and placed into her apron pocket. “Would you help someone if they were hungry?” she asked me.

“Yes Ma’am.”

“Would you help someone if they were hurt, cold or scared?”

“Yes Ma’am. I would be their friend.”        

“You are a very lucky little boy. You will never need the magic letter,” she responded.

1.What can we learn about the boy?

A. Though lost in the city, he didn’t feel worried or lonely.

B. He had nowhere to go and wandered aimlessly in the street.

C. He avoided the police for the fear that he would be sent to prison.

D. He had to run away because of his bad performance at school.

2.What can we infer from paragraph 3?

A. The boy was out of breath as he did some exercises.

B. The boy felt excited at the appearance of the woman.

C. The boy was scared by the sudden voice of the woman.

D. The boy held his breath, waiting for the woman to come.

3.Why does the store owner offer the boy a good dinner?

A. Because she had great sympathy for him.

B. Because she knew the boy and his parents.

C. Because he was a kind boy who deserved it.

D. Because the woman in the park had paid for it.

4.What does the writer want to tell us through the story?

A. It's better to give than to take.

B. Kindness is a universal language.

C. Don't cry even if life cheats you.

D. Life is full of the getting over of suffering.

5.What’s the best title of the passage?

A. A Kind Woman.     B. A Sleepless Night.    C. A Magic Letter.      D. A Lucky Boy.

I woke up this morning. There is an empty feeling that I have had so many times before and it seems to be coming back into my mind. What is it? I can’t figure it out.

I got ready for work. On the way I decide to stop and get a cheese from the little shop just down the road. I have never been there before but I was hungry and it would be 5 hours before I got off work.

    The owner of the store took my order. He asked me what I wanted and I told him I heard he made a great cheese. He seemed pleased to hear that.

    As I was sitting in the small space，there was an elderly gentleman finishing his breakfast. He paid the waitress, received this change and made a small joke. As he turned to get up, which was quite a difficult feat for this gentleman, he looked over at me. I gave a small smile.

    He looked again in my direction for a moment and said to me, “Has anyone ever told you, you have the most beautiful brown eyes?”

    Seeing as I have blue eyes, I can’t say I have ever heard that before. I humored him and said, “No, I can’t say anyone has ever told me that before.”

    He smiled, and said,“Well since they are blue you wouldn’t have heard that, but you have beautiful blue eyes.”

    I laughed and said thank you very much. He began to tell me a few one liner jokes so I smiled and laughed at his jokes.

    He tried to get up to leave again and looked at me and said“Your smile really brightens a room, do you know that?”I said,“Thank you very much.”

    He proceeded to get up, which took him quite some time. As he got up he said,“Take care of that smile.”

    I felt a sense of comfort wash over me and I reflected on my morning and that empty feeling I had. For a moment in time it seemed to be filled.

1.Before the writer went to work, he felt________.

A. sleepy          B. energetic           C. sick          D. unhappy

2.From the text, we can infer the old man __________.

A. was optimistic about life                B. liked to play a joke on others

C. was unwilling to leave                  D. had difficulty in hearing

3.By saying“since they are blue”, the old man meant“_____________”.

A. because they feel cold                  B. because they are sad

C. because they have blue eyes             D. because they are hungry

4.What lesson can we learn from the story?

A. We should find comfort from stranger.

B. We should pay attention to our own business.

C. We should laugh off our worries in life

D. We should show respect to the old people.

A strange thing happened to me last Sunday. It was such a beautiful day that I decided to go for a  11  in the country. On the way back home，my car stopped. It was out of  12  on a lonely   road far from a town. I decided to walk until I found someone who could  13  me a gallon（加侖） or two of petrol. I had  14  almost a mile before I finally found a big house near the road. I was           15  to see it because it was starting to get dark. I  16  at the door and a little old lady with long white hair answered. She said, “I have been  17  for you a long time. Come in. Tea is almost ready.”

“But I only came for some petrol.” I answered. I couldn’t  18  what she was talking about.

“Oh, Alfred! Petrol? You used to  19  tea.”

I quickly  20  that I needed some petrol, but she didn’t seem to hear me. She just kept calling me Alfred and talking about how long it had been since she had seen me. She was acting very strangely and I was  21  to leave. As soon as she went to get tea, I went out of the house as fast as I could.  22  , there was another house down the road and I was able to buy several gallons of petrol. When I told the man about my  23 . He said,“Oh, that is Miss Emily. She lives by herself in that big house. She’s  24  but she wouldn’t hurt anyone. She is still waiting for the man she was supposed to marry thirty years ago. The day before their  25  he left home and never came back because of the war.”

1.                A．walk           B．holiday         C．drive D．picnic

2.                A．work           B．petrol          C．order    D．sight

3.                A．buy            B．borrow         C．sell  D．send

4.                A．rested         B．stopped        C．stepped  D．walked

5.                A．a(chǎn)mazed         B．pleased         C．surprised D．tired

6.                A．beat           B．stood          C．knocked  D．struck

7.                A．waiting         B．searching       C．longing   D．looking

8.                A．order          B．hear           C．imagine   D．remember

9.                A．like            B．have           C．drink D．make

10.               A．explained       B．realized        C．noticed   D．discovered

11.               A．excited         B．a(chǎn)nxious         C．worried   D．a(chǎn)mazed

12.               A．Fortunately     B．Lately          C．Immediately    D．Personally

13.               A．expression      B．idea           C．schedule  D．experience

14.               A．kind           B．funny          C．strange    D．a(chǎn)ngry

15.               A．marriage       B．journey        C．plan  D．wedding

I was packed and ready to leave for my two days’ trip. My mind had been filled with work and with so many small things to deal with. As I got into the car to leave, my thoughts turned to my children. I’d been preparing for the trip for the last few days, and now I’d be away for a few days.

How to keep in touch with your kids during busy time is often a father’s problem. Men tend to focus on one thing extremely well for long periods, but this can lead to trouble. Shifting(移開(kāi)) from work to your family life isn't always the easiest thing to do. And if you don’t show your kids that you’re thinking about them, they may think that you are not.

As I started down the road, I suddenly stopped the car and turned around. I drove back to my house, found a couple of cards, and wrote a short message to each of my children. I put each in a “secret” place where I knew they’d find it.

When I called the next night, it was clear that they’d received the cards. “Daddy, I got your card,” they both said excitedly. “When did you do that?”

My heart was warmed when I heard this. It was such a small thing. But it had a big impact(影響) on my kids. It was their “proof” that I was thinking about them. And it was encouragement for me to continue to do the small things that have a big impact.

1. From the passage we can infer that the author thinks a father should ______.

A. care for his kids, no matter how busy he is

B. have a big impact on his kids

C. spend some time playing with his kids

D. stay at home as long as possible

2.Before leaving for the trip the author considered ________.

A. preparing some food for the trip

B. buying some nice gifts for his children

C. doing something to show his concern for his kids

D. telling his children to be careful at home

3.The author’s kids were excited when they answered the phone because _______.

A. their father had thought highly of them

B. they had found the cards from their father

C. they had done something good at home

D. their father told them he would be back soon

4.What does the underlined word “that” in the fourth paragraph refer to?

A. Packing luggage.

B. Reaching the hotel.

C. Writing short messages.

D. Going back home.

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

A. All for the children

B. Play with your children

C. A father and his kids

D. Show love to your kids