sent to a hospital. It had a fever. For several days, I heard Mum and Dad whispering such words as “hopeless”, “pitiful”, and “dying”, which sounded ominous.

Christmas was coming. “Don’t expect any presents this year,” Dad said, pointing at the socks I hung in the living room. “If your baby brother lives, that’ll be Christmas gift enough.” As he spoke, his eyes filled with tears. I’d never seen him cry before.

The phone rang early on Christmas morning. Dad jumped out of bed to answer it. From my bedroom I heard him say, “What? He’s all right?” He hung up and shouted upstairs. “The hospital said we can bring Richard home!”

“Thank God!” I heard Mum cry.

From the upstairs window, I watched my parents rush to the car. I had never seen them so happy. And I was also full of joy. What a wonderful day! My baby doll would be home. I ran downstairs. My socks still hung there flat. But I knew they were not empty; they were filled with love. 56. What happened to the author on September 11th, 1958? A. He got a baby brother.

B. He got a Christmas gift. C. He became four years old.

D. He received a doll.

57. What does the underlined word “ominous” in paragraph 3 probably mean?

A. Impossible

B. Boring

C. difficult

D. Fearful

58. Which word can best describe the feelings of the father when Christmas was coming? A. Excitement

B. Happiness C. Sadness

D. Disappointment

59. What is the passage mainly about? A. A sad Christmas day .

B. Life with a lovely baby.

C. A special Christmas gift. D. Memories of a happy

family

60. Why was the author’s doll gone? A. Because it was stolen.

B. Because it was broken. C. Because the baby doll was ill.

D. Because the author

threw the doll. B

Laughing at life

Comedian(喜剧演员), mom, author, and high school dropout Paula Poundstone has a new memoir(回忆录) out.

You seem pretty busy. Are you afraid of being idle (闲散的) or something?

I’m much better when I am tasking. I have 11 cats and three kids. There is really no time for sitting around thinking about my place in the world. We have this ant farm. They make these huge tunnels (洞穴通道), and I wonder, do they know when they wake up in the morning they’re going to move the same old sand? I’m inspired by an ant. I get up in the morning, and I move my sand.

You wrote a series of math books together with Faye Ruopp, one of your former teachers at Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School. Was math your

favorite subject then?

Math was in no way my favorite. That’s the great thing about remaining friends with your high school math teacher — you can call

them when your kids need help with their homework. One night when I was on the road, I called home and my middle daughter was crying because

of her math homework. I said, “Call Faye.”

After adopting three kids, do you feel as if you know all the tricks of parenting? Or has the world changed too much since you were a teenager?

I think I know a lot of them. For good or for bad, I’m still fairly close to high school behavior.

Where did the title of your new memoir, There’s Nothing in This Book That I Meant to Say, come from?

I have a big problem with digressing. I start out talking about one thing and end up miles away. What I actually meant to say in the book probably never even made it to the page. 61. The passage is mainly about _______. A. an interview with Paula Poundstone B. funny stories about Paula

Poundstone

C. Paula Poundstone’ way to success D. Paula Poundstone’s life as a writer

62. According to the passage, it can be learned that Paula ______. A. gave birth to three children

B. is afraid of losing her job C. ran a big ant farm for money

D. is busy like an ant 63. When Paula studied at Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School, she _____. A. like math best

B. began to write math books

C. got along well with her math teacher D. wanted her math

teacher to help her later

64. The underlined word “them” refers to ________. A. kids

B. tricks of parenting

C. high school teenagers

D. things learned from high school

65. According to the passage, what do you think of Paula Poundstone? A. serious B. pessimistic (悲观的) C. stubborn

D.

enthusiastic

C Fair Way

The Westborough High School golf team had taken the official photos with the state prize. The other teams, disappointed, were on the bus heading home. And then Westborough instructor Greg Rota noticed something wrong on one of the score cards. A 9 had been recorded as a 7. They were not the state prize winner; Wobum High had won. “No one would have known,” said Wobum’s instructor, Bob Doran. For Rota, it wasn’t difficult decision, “The prize wasn’t ours to take.” Coin Stars

“College students are lazy, but they also want to help,” says University of Pennsylvania graduate Dana Hork. So she made it easy, placing cups in rooms where students could leave their spare coins, and handing out cups to first-year students to keep in their rooms. Her “Change for Change” effort has collected $40, 000 for charities(慈善机构), which were decided upon by students. Never Forgotten

A school in Massachusetts received a $9.5 million check from Jacques LeBermuth. But it took officials several days of digging to discover his connection to the school. Records showed that on hard times, he was offered free room and board. LeBermuth became a trader, owned shares of AT&T and lived off the earnings until he died, at the age of 89.

66. What did Greg Rota probably do in the end?

A. Took photos of Doran B. Had meeting with Doran

C. Returned the prize to the organizer D. Apologized to

Wobum High school

67. Greg Rota’s decision shows that he was ______. A. honest B. polite C. careful D. friendly

68. The underlined word “change” in the second paragraph means _______. A. Idea B. Decision C. Cups D. Coins

69. What did the school officials do after receiving the check from Mr. LeBermuth?

A. They tried to find out why he gave them the money. B. They went to Belgium to pay their respects to him. C. They dug out the records that were buried underground. D. They decided to offer their students free room and board.

70. Jacques LeBermuth gave the money to the school because __________. A. the school asked for it

B. He had no need for that much money C. the school had helped him in the past D. He wanted to be remembered by the students D

San Francisco has its cable cars. Seattle has its Space Needle. And, Longview has its squirrel bridge. The bridge, which has attracted international attention, is now a local landmark.

The Nutty Narrows Bridge was built in 1963 by a local builder, Amos Peters, to give squirrels a way to cross the busy road without getting flattened by passing cars.

The original bridge was built over Olympia Way on the west edge of the library grounds. Before the bridge was built, squirrels had to avoid

traffic to and from the Park Plaza office building where office staff put out a nutty feast for the squirrels. Many times, Peters and others who worked in and near Park Plaza witnessed squirrels being run over.

One day Peters found a dead squirrel with a nut still in its mouth, and that day’s coffee break discussion turned into squirrel safety. The group of businessmen cooked up the squirrel bridge idea and formed a committee to ask the blessing of the City Council(市政会).The Council approved, and Councilwoman Bess LaRiviere named the bridge “Nutty Narrows.”

After architects designed the bridge, Amos Peters and Bill Hutch started Construction, They built the 60-foot bridge from aluminum and lengths of fire hose(消防水带). It cost 1,000.

It didn’t take long before reports of squirrels using the bridge started. Squirrels were even seen guiding their young and teaching them the ropes. The story was picked up by the media, and Nutty Narrows became known in newspapers all over the world.

In 1983, after 20 years of use, Peters took down the worn-out bridge. Repairs were made and crosspieces were replaced. The faded sign was repainted and in July 1983, hundreds of animal lovers attended the completion ceremony of the new bridge.

Peters died in 1984, and a ten-foot wooden squirrel sculpture was placed near the bridge in memory of its builder and his devotion to the project.

71. The Nutty Narrows Bridge was built in order to ________. A. offer squirrels a place to eat nuts

B. set up a local

landmark

C. help improve traffic

D. protect squirrels

72. What happened over the coffee break discussion? A. The committee got the Council’s blessing. B. The squirrel bridge idea was born C. A councilwoman named the bridge D. A squirrel was found dead.

73. What does the underlined phrase “teaching them the ropes” probably means in the text? A. Passing them a rope

B. Directing them to store food

for winter

C. Teaching them a lesson

D. Showing them how to use the

bridge.

74. Which of the following is true of the squirrel bridge? A. It was replaced by a longer one.

B. It was built from wood and

metal

C. it was rebuilt after years of use

D. It was designed by Bill Hutch.

75. What can we learn about Amos Peters? A. He is remembered for his love of animals. B. He donated $1,000 to build the bridge C. He was a member of the City Council

D. He was awarded a medal for building the bridge.

第二卷（非选择题）

第四部分：写作（共三节，满分45分）

第一节：阅读表达（共5小题，每小题2分，满分10分）

阅读下面短文，并根据短文后的要求答题（请注意问题后的字数要求）。 This year 2,300 teenagers from all over the world will spend about ten

months in U.S. homes. They will attend U.S. schools, meet U.S. teenagers, and form impressions of the real American teenagers. American teenagers will go to other countries to learn languages and have a new understanding of the rest of the world.

Here is a two-way student exchange in action. Fred, nineteen, spent last year in Germany with George’s family. In return, George’s son, Mike, spent a year in Fred’s home in America.

Fred, a lively young man, knew little German when he arrived, but after two month’s study, the language began to come to him. School was completely different from what he had expected—much harder. Students rose respectfully when the teacher entered the room. They took fourteen subjects instead of the six that are usual in the United States. There were almost no outside activities.

Family life too, was different. The family’s word was law, and all activities were around the family rather than the individual. Fred found the food too simple at first. Also, he missed having a car. “Back home, you pick up some friends in a car and go out and have a good time. In Germany, you walk, but you soon learn to like it.” At the same time, in America, Mike, a friendly German boy, was also forming his idea. “I suppose I should criticize American schools,” he says. “It is far too easy by our level. But I have to say that I like it very much. In Germany we do nothing but study. Here we take part in many outside activities. I think that maybe your schools are better in training for citizens. There ought to be some middle ground between the two.”

76. What is this text mainly about? (within 6 words)

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