Mr. Smith is well known in Washington because of his many social blunders. He always likes to attend the various so??cial functions because he wants to expand his circle of friends. Whenever he is invited, he goes, unless he is ill.

Recently he received an invitation to a fashionable ban??quet. Although he did not know the hostess, he accepted the invitation. He was secretly very pleased, because he felt that his reputation as a desirable guest was growing.

When he arrived at the banquet hall, he found that about one hundred people had been invited. He began to move a-round the hall. He spoke to other guests whether he knew them or not. He soon realized that he had never met any of the other people present, although they seemed to know each other.

At dinner he was seated beside a very dignified woman. The woman tried to be friendly even though she had never met Mr. Smith before. She spoke politely whenever he spoke to her. Between the first and the second course of the meal, she, turned to Mr. Smith and said, “Do you see that gray-haired man at the end of the table? The one with glasses.”

“Ah, yes. Who is he?”

“He’s the Secretary of the Interior!” she replied.

Mr. Smith said, “So that’s the secretary of the Interior! I’ m afraid that I find very little to admire about him, although he is the Secretary.”

The woman stiffened and did not reply. Mr. Smith contin??ued in spite of her coldness. “I really can’t see how he re??ceived his appointment unless he is perhaps a relative of the President.”

“It hardly matters whether you like the Secretary or not,” she said. “He was chosen because the President thought he was the man for the job. If he does the job well, you should have no complaint.”

“That’s just it,” persisted Mr. Smith. “No one does the things he does, unless he is a complete fool!”

“Sir!” said the woman in all her dignity. “Do you know who I am?” “No,” replied Mr. Smith.

“I am the Secretary’s wife,” she said coldly. Mr. Smith was shocked, but he went on in spite of his embarrassment. “Madam, do you know who I am?”

“No, I don’t,” the woman replied.

“Thank goodness!” exclaimed Mr. Smith, as he quickly left the table.

Why is Mr. Smith well known in Washington?

A. He’s the Secretary of the Interior.

B. He has more friends than other people.

C. He always makes foolish mistakes on social occasions.

D. He likes to go to all kinds of parties.

At dinner he was seated beside a very dignified woman. The underlined part means ________.

A. beautiful          B. serious             C. noble                D. kind-hearted

When Mr. Smith learned that the woman didn’t know who he was, he felt ________.

A. shocked            B. worried          C. embarrassed   D. relieved

Hercule Poirot looked over the small gate which gave admission to Pine Crest. It was a modern nicely-built house. It was on a hill top, and the hill top was planted with a few sparse pines. It had a small neat garden and a large elderly man was watering with a big tin.

Spence’s hair was now grey all over. He had not shrunk much in girth（圍長(zhǎng)）, though. He stopped watering and looked at the visitor at the gate. Hercule Poirot stood there without moving.

“God bless my soul,” said Spence. “It must be. It can’t be but it is. Yes, it must be Hercule Poirot!”

“Aha,” said Poirot, “you remember me. I’m grateful.”

Spence abandoned the watering can and came down to the gate.

“What brings you down here?”

“What has brought me to many places in my time,” said Poirot, “and what once a good many years ago brought you to see me. Murder, Spence.”

“I’m done with murder since I retired,” said Spence, “except in the case of weeds. Killing weeds is never easy as you think, something’s always wrong. How did you know where to find me?” he asked as he opened the gate and Poirot passed through.

“You sent me a Christmas card. It had your new address on it.”

“Ah yes, so I did. I’m old-fashioned, you know, I like to send round cards at Christmas time to a few old friends. I’m an old man now.”

“We both are.”

“Not much grey in your hair,” said Spence.

“I take care of my hair with a bottle,” said Poirot. “There is no need to appear in public with grey hair unless you wish to do so. By the way, why have you come to live in Woodleigh Common?”

“As a matter of fact, I came here to join forces with a sister of mine. She lost her husband, her children are married and living abroad. So I moved in here. Pensions（退休金）don’t go far nowadays, but we do comfortably living together.”

1.From their dialogue, we can learn about _______.

A. their common friends?? ????????????? ????????????? ????????????? B. Spence’s sister’s characters

C. their relationship?? ????????????? ????????????? ????????????? ????????????? D. Poirot’s recent life

2.Which statement is TRUE according to the passage?

A. Spence used to deal with murder.??

B. Poirot didn’t care about his appearance.

C. Spence moved to join his sister for lack of money.

D. Poirot came specially to reunite with his old friend.

3.From the passage we can infer that they might _______ next.

A. meet Spence’s family??? ????????????? ????????????? ????????????? B. discuss about a murder

C. visit Spence’s new home????????????? ????????????? ????????????? D. water the garden together?

---I heard that Bill was scolded by the teacher last week.

   ---Ah, yes. The teacher wanted to check his exercises, but ___ was finished at all.

A. nothing       B. either        C. neither       D. none

第二卷（非選擇題 35分）

第四部分：寫(xiě)作（共兩節(jié)，滿(mǎn)分35分）

第一節(jié)：對(duì)話(huà)填空（共10小題；每小題1分，滿(mǎn)分10分）

　　　閱讀下面對(duì)話(huà)，掌握其大意，并根據(jù)所給字母的提示，在標(biāo)有題號(hào)的右邊橫線上寫(xiě)出一個(gè)英語(yǔ)單詞的完整、正確形式，使對(duì)話(huà)通順。

M: Miss Dermott, let me ask you straight away. Do you think, within a few years, many people could be working at home instead of working in o   76   ?

W: Oh, yes. It’s h   77    now. You see, the communication industry has made much progress in the last ten years.

M: And how do these people manage to work? I mean, what e    78   do they have at home?

W: Well, they have a television set, a computer, a printer, and a telephone c   79    with other computers.

M: Oh, I see. But surely there’re some a___80____ in being able to work at home.

W: Yes. Working at home, people don’t have to spend a lot of time g__81___ to and back from their work places. The rush hours are the time of day with the s____82_____ traffic. Millions of people have to get up early to a___83____ the rush hours.

M: Ah, yes, I see. What do you think about the conditions of home workers?

W: Oh, let me tell you what might b__84______ of them. In the future a British firm in, for example, London, might e____85____ clerks in Belfast, or a Paris company could had their secretaries in spain, and then they just use a telephone to call around for the labor.

Mr. Smith is well known in Washington because of his many social blunders. He always likes to attend the various so­cial functions because he wants to expand his circle of friends. Whenever he is invited, he goes, unless he is ill.
Recently he received an invitation to a fashionable ban­quet. Although he did not know the hostess, he accepted the invitation. He was secretly very pleased, because he felt that his reputation as a desirable guest was growing.
When he arrived at the banquet hall, he found that about one hundred people had been invited. He began to move a-round the hall. He spoke to other guests whether he knew them or not. He soon realized that he had never met any of the other people present, although they seemed to know each other.
At dinner he was seated beside a very dignified woman. The woman tried to be friendly even though she had never met Mr. Smith before. She spoke politely whenever he spoke to her. Between the first and the second course of the meal, she, turned to Mr. Smith and said, “Do you see that gray-haired man at the end of the table? The one with glasses.”
“Ah, yes. Who is he?”
“He’s the Secretary of the Interior!” she replied.
Mr. Smith said, “So that’s the secretary of the Interior! I’ m afraid that I find very little to admire about him, although he is the Secretary.”
The woman stiffened and did not reply. Mr. Smith contin­ued in spite of her coldness. “I really can’t see how he re­ceived his appointment unless he is perhaps a relative of the President.”
“It hardly matters whether you like the Secretary or not,” she said. “He was chosen because the President thought he was the man for the job. If he does the job well, you should have no complaint.”
“That’s just it,” persisted Mr. Smith. “No one does the things he does, unless he is a complete fool!”
“Sir!” said the woman in all her dignity. “Do you know who I am?” “No,” replied Mr. Smith.
“I am the Secretary’s wife,” she said coldly. Mr. Smith was shocked, but he went on in spite of his embarrassment. “Madam, do you know who I am?”
“No, I don’t,” the woman replied.
“Thank goodness!” exclaimed Mr. Smith, as he quickly left the table.

1. 1.

   Why is Mr. Smith well known in Washington?

   1. A.
      He’s the Secretary of the Interior.
   2. B.
      He has more friends than other people.
   3. C.
      He always makes foolish mistakes on social occasions.
   4. D.
      He likes to go to all kinds of parties.
2. 2.

   At dinner he was seated beside a very dignified woman. The underlined part means ________.

   1. A.
      beautiful
   2. B.
      serious
   3. C.
      noble
   4. D.
      kind-hearted
3. 3.

   When Mr. Smith learned that the woman didn’t know who he was, he felt ________.

   1. A.
      shocked
   2. B.
      worried
   3. C.
      embarrassed
   4. D.
      relieved