letters. Standing by her chair, looking at the ink bottle, pens and white paper, I decided that the act of writing
must be the most wonderful thing in the world.
Years later, during her final illness, mother kept different things for my sister and brother. "But the desk,"
she said again, "is for Elizabeth."
I never saw her angry, never saw her cry. I knew she loved me; she showed it in action. But as a young
girl, I wanted heart-to-heart talks between mother and daughter.
They never happened. And a gulf opened between us. I was "too emotional (易动感情的)". But she lived
"on the surface".
As years passed and I had my own family. I loved my mother and thanked her for our happy family. I
wrote to her in careful words and asked her to let me know in any way she chose that she did forgive me.
I posted the letter and waited for her answer, none came.
My hope turned to disappointment, then little interest and, finally, peace. It seemed that nothing happened.
I couldn"t be sure that the letter had even got to Mother. I only knew that I had written it, and I could stop
trying to make her into someone she was not.
Now the present of her desk told me that she was pleased that writing was my chosen work though she"d
never been able to. I cleaned the desk carefully and found some papers inside-a photo of my father and a one-
page letter, folded (折叠) and refolded many times.
Give me an answer, my letter asks, in any way you choose, Mother, you always chose the act that speaks
louder than words.
B. before she became a writer
C. when she was a child
D. when mother gave it to her
B. Mother was too serious about everything her daughter had done
C. Mother cared much about her daughter in words
D. Mother wrote to her daughter in careful words.
B. different ideas between the mother and the daughter
C. free talks between mother and daughter
D. part of the sea going far in land
B. For years, she often talked about the letter.
C. She didn"t forgive her daughter at all in all her life.
D. She read the letter again and again till she died.
B. Mother and Children
C. My Mother"s Desk
D. Talks between Mother and me
passage and the required words limit. Write your answers on your answer sheet.
They will, in a lifetime, push the chrome-plated contraptions many miles. But few will know-or even think
to ask-who it was that invented them.
Sylvan N. Goldman invented the shopping cart in 1937. At that time he was in the supermarket business.
Every day he would see shoppers lugging (吃力地携带) groceries around in baskets they had to carry.
One day Goldman suddenly had the idea of putting baskets on wheels. The wheeled baskets would make
shopping much easier for his customers, and would help to attract more business.
On June 4, 1937, Goldman"s first carts were ready for use in his market. He was terribly excited on the
morning of that day as customers began arriving. He couldn"t wait to see them using his invention.
But Goldman was disappointed. Most shoppers gave the carts a long look, but hardly anybody would give
them a try.
After a while, Goldman decided to ask customers why they weren"t using his carts. "Don"t you think this
arm is strong enough to carry a shopping basket?" one shopper replied.
But Goldman wasn"t beaten yet. He knew his carts would be a great success if only he could persuade
people to give them a try. To end this, Goldman hired a group of people to push carts around his market and
pretend they were shopping! Seeing this, the real customers gradually began copying the phony (假冒的) customers.
As Goldman had hoped, the carts were soon attracting larger and larger numbers of customers to his
market. But not only did more people come-those who came bought more. With larger, easier-to-handle
baskets, customers unconsciously bought a greater number of items than before.
Today"s shopping carts are five times larger than Goldman"s original model. Perhaps that"s one reason
Americans today spend more than five times as much money on food each year as they did before 1937-before
the coming of the shopping cart.
_______________________________________________________________________________________
2. What was the purpose of Goldman"s invention? (no more than 8 words)
_______________________________________________________________________________________
3. Why was Goldman disappointed at first? (no more than 6 words)
_______________________________________________________________________________________
4. Why did Goldman hire people to push carts around his market? (no more than 10 words)
_______________________________________________________________________________________
It was the golden season. I could see the yellow leaves 1 on the cool 2 . In such a season, I liked walking
alone in the leaves, listening to the sound of them.
Autumn is a 3 season and life is uninteresting. The free days always get me 4 . But one day, the sound of
a violin 5 into my ears like a stream flowing in the mountains. I was so surprised that I jumped to see what it
was. A young girl, standing in the wind, was 6 in playing her violin.
I had 7 seen her before. The music was so attractive that I listened quietly. Lost in the music, I didn"t realize
that I had been 8 there for so long but my 9 did not seem to disturb her.
Leaves were still falling. Every day she played the violin in the corner of the building 10 I went downstairs to
watch her performance. I was the only audience. The autumn seemed no longer lonely and life became 11 .
12 we didn"t know each other, I thought we were already good friends. I believed she also liked me.
Autumn was nearly over. One day, when I was listening devotedly, the sound suddenly stopped. To my 13 ,
the girl came over to me.
"You must like violin," she said.
"Yes. And you play very well. Why did you stop?" I asked.
Suddenly, a 14 expression appeared on her face and I could feel something unusual.
"I came here to see my grandmother, but now I must leave. I once played very badly. It was your listening
every day that 15 me." she said.
"In fact, it was your playing 16 gave me a meaningful autumn." I answered. "Let us be friends."
The girl smiled and I smiled.
I never heard her play again in my life. I no longer went downstairs to listen like before. Only thick leaves
were left behind. But I will always remember the fine figure of the girl. She is like a 17 ; so short, so bright, like
a shooting star giving off so much light that it makes the autumn beautiful.
There are many kinds of friends. Some are always 18 you, but don"t understand you. Some say only a few
words to you, but are close to you. Many people will step in your life, but only 19 friends leave footprints.
I shall always recall the autumn and the girl with the 20 . She will always bring back the friendship between
us. I know she will always be my best friend.
| ( )1. A. shaking ( )2. A. wind ( )3. A. lively ( )4. A. up ( )5. A. flowed ( )6. A. lost ( )7. A. ever ( )8. A. waiting ( )9. A. existence ( )10. A. where ( )11. A. interesting ( )12. A. But ( )13. A. astonishment ( )14. A. happy ( )15. A. surprised ( )16. A. that ( )17. A. song ( )18. A. with ( )19. A. good ( )20. A. sound | B. hanging B. snow B. lovely B. off B. grew B. active B. never B. stopping B. thought B. so B. moving B. However B. delight B. sad B. excited B. which B. dream B. for B. true B. song | C. falling C. air C. harvest C. down C. entered C. busy C. often C. standing C. steps C. when C. encouraging C. Even C. pride C. strange C. encouraged C. it C. fire C. against C. new C. play | D. floating | ||||||||
| 阅读理解。 | |||||||||||
| My family lived in Baltimore. One summer evening as I was fixing supper, there was a knock at the door. I opened it to see a truly terrible-looking man."Why, he"s hardly taller than my eight-year-old," I thought as I stared at the stooped (弯腰屈背的) body. Yet his voice was pleasant as he said,"Good evening. I"ve come to see if you"ve a room for just one night. I came here for a treatment this morning form the eastern shore, and there"s no bus till morning." He told me he"d been hunting for a room since noon but with no success. No one seemed to have a room."I guess it"s my face. I know it looks terrible, but my doctor says with a few more treatments…" I told him I would find him a bed. I went inside and finished getting supper. When I was ready, I asked the old man if he would join me. "No, thank you. I have plenty." And he help up a brown paper bag. When I had finished the dishes, I went out on the porch (走廊) to talk with him for a few minutes. It didn"t take a long time to see that this old man had an oversized heart crowded into that tiny body. He told me he fished for a living to support his daughter, her five children, and her husband, who lost his legs in a car accident. At bedtime, I put a bed in the children"s room for him. When I got up in the morning,the bed linens (床单) were neatly folded and the little man was out on the porch. He refused breakfast, but just before he left for his bus, haltingly (犹豫不决地), as if asking a great favor, he said,"Could I come back and stay the next time I have a treatment? I can sleep fine in a chair." I told him he was welcome to come again. | |||||||||||
| 1. The man came to Baltimore to ______. | |||||||||||
| A. visit his son. B. see a doctor C. find a job D. hunt for a room | |||||||||||
| 2. Nobody would take the man in because ______. | |||||||||||
| A. he was very poor B. he was from the eastern shore C. he was a man of strange appearance D. there was no extra room | |||||||||||
| 3. Which of the following is TRUE about the man? | |||||||||||
| A. He was one of the author"s close friends. B. He had trouble finding the author"s home. C. He wore an oversized coat. D. He was a great father. | |||||||||||
| 4. From this passage we know that the author is ______. | |||||||||||
| A. brave B. kind C. clever D. rich | |||||||||||
| 完型填空。 | |||||||||||
| In a class I teach adults, I recently did something "unpardonable (不可饶恕的)" I gave the class homework! The 1 was to "go to someone you love within the next week and tell them you love them". It has to be someone you have never said those words to before or at least haven"t 2 those words with for a long time. Now that doesn"t sound like a very 3 assignment until you realize that most of the men were over 35 and were 4 in the generation of men that were taught that 5 emotion is not macho (阳刚的). Showing feelings or crying was just not done. So this was a very 6 assignment for them. At the beginning of our next class, I asked if someone wanted to share 7 happened when they told someone the loved them I 8 expected one of the women to 9 , as was usually the ease, but on this evening one of the men raised his hand first He appeared quite 10 and a bit shaken. As he 11 out of his chair (all 6feet and 2 inches of him), he began by saying, "Dennis, I was quite 12 with you last week when you gave us this assignment. I didn"t feel that I had anyone to say those words to and besides who were you to tell me to do something 13 personal?" "But as I began driving home, my 14 started talking to me It was telling me that I knew 15 who I needed to say I love you too." "You see, five years ago, my father and I had a severe 16 and really never solve it since that time. We 17 seeing each other 18 we absolutely had to at Christmas or other family gatherings. 19 even then, we hardly spoke to each other." "So last Tuesday by the time I got home, I had 20 myself was going to tell my father I love him." | |||||||||||
|