Dearest Mom and Dad,

 I'm afraid I have some very bad news for you. I have been very naughty and the school principal is very angry with me. She is going to write to you. You must come and take me away from here. She does not want me in the school any longer.

 The trouble started last night when I was smoking a cigarette in bed. This is against the rules, of course. We are not supposed to smoke at all.

 As I was smoking, I heard footsteps coming towards the room. I did not want a teacher to catch me smoking, so I threw the cigarette away.

 Unfortunately, the cigarette fell into the waste-paper basket, which caught fire. There was a curtain near the waste-paper basket which caught fire, too. Soon the whole room was burning.

The principal phoned for the fire department. The school is a long way from the town and by the time the fire department arrived, the whole school was in flames. Many of the girls are in the hospital.

The principal says the fire was my fault and you must pay for the damage. She will send you a bill for about a million dollars.

I am very sorry about this.

 Much love, Sarah

P.S.

 None of the above is true, but I have failed my exams. I just want you to know how bad things could have been!

Sarah wrote to her parent______

A.    to inform them about an accident

B.    to ask them for money

C.    to them wonderful news

D.    to tell then she had failed her exams

Sarah told her parents the story about the fire because______

 A. she wanted to make them worried

 B. she wanted them to have some fun

 C. she wanted to make them less angry at the real news

 D. she wanted to make them even more angry

The main body of the letter was_____

 A. mostly true          B. partly true

 C. all true             D. completely untrue

Sarah said the principal was angry because____

 A. she had failed her exams

 B. it was her fault that the fire had broken out

 C. she not make the phone call in time

 D. she had caught her smoking in bed

We lived in a very quiet neighborhood. One evening I heard a loud crash in the street. Earlier that evening my wife had asked me to go to the store to get some soft drinks. It seemed like this would be a good time to let my teenage daughter Holly practice her driving, so I sent her to the store in my truck.
At dinner my son talked about how much he liked my truck. I enjoyed having it, but I said: "Guy, my heart is not set on that truck. I like it but it is just metal and won’t last forever. Never set your heart on anything that won’t last."
After hearing the loud noise, the whole family ran outside. My son shouted: "Dad! Dad, Holly crashed your truck."
My heart sank and my mind was flooded with conflicting thoughts. Was anyone hurt? Who else was involved? As I ran to the door, I heard a voice in my heart say: "Here is a chance to show Holly what you really love. She’ll never forget it."
The accident had occurred in my own driveway. Holly had crashed my truck into our other vehicle, the family van (搬运车). In her inexperience, she had confused the brakes and the gas pedal. Holly was unhurt physically, but when I reached her, she was crying and saying: "Oh, Dad, I’m sorry. I know how much you love this truck." I held her in my arms as she cried.
Later that week a friend stopped by and asked what had happened to my truck. I told her the whole story. Her eyes moistened (湿润) and she said: "That happened to me when I was a girl. I borrowed my dad’s car and ran into a log that had fallen across the road. I ruined the car. When I got home my Dad knocked me to the ground and began to kick me."
Over 40 years later, she still felt the pain of that night.
I remember how sad Holly was and how I comforted her. One day, when Holly thinks back on her life, I want her to know what really matters in my life.
【小题1】How did the crash happen?

Family traditions were important in our house, and none was more appreciated than the perfect Christmas tree.

“Dad, can we watch when you trim(修剪) the tree?” My eldest son, Dan, nine, and his seven-year-old brother John, asked.

“I won’t be cutting this year,” my husband Bob said. “Dan, you and John are old enough to measure things. Do it all by yourselves. Think you boys can handle it?”

Dan and John seemed to grow six inches in their chairs at the thought of such an amazing responsibility. “We can handle it,” Dan promised. “We won’t let you down.”

A few days before Christmas, Dan and John rushed in after school. They gathered the tools they’d need and brought them out to the yard, where the tree waited. I was cooking when I heard the happy sounds as the boys carried the tree into the living room. Then I heard the sound that every mother knows is trouble: dead silence. I hurried out to them. The tree was cut too short. John crossed his arms tight across his chest. His eyes filled with angry tears.

I felt worried. The tree was central to our holiday. I didn’t want the boys to feel ashamed every time they looked at it. I couldn’t lower the ceiling, and I couldn’t raise the floor either. There was no way to undo the damage done. Suddenly, a thought came to my mind, which turned the problem into the solution.

“We can’t make the tree taller,” I said. “But we can put it on a higher position.”

Dan nodded his head sideways. “We could put it on the coffee table. It just might work! Let’s try it!”

When Bob got home and looked at the big tree on top of the coffee table, Dan and John held their breath.

“What a good idea!” he declared. “Why didn’t I ever think of such a thing?”

John broke into a grin. Dan’s chest swelled with pride.

1.The underlined part “grow six inches” (Para. 4) implies the brothers felt         .

A. proud   B. nervous         C. embarrassed          D. Scared

2.What happened after the brothers moved the Christmas tree into the living room?

A. They rushed to school.

B. They began to decorate the tree.

C. They got angry with each other.    

D. They found the tree was cut short.

3.How could the short tree be turned into a perfect one?

A. By making the tree taller.

B. By lowering the ceiling.

C. By placing it on a coffee table.

D. By raising the floor.

4.What Bob said in the last but one paragraph showed         .

A. he was a little disappointed

B. he was too stupid to think of the idea

C. he appreciated what the brothers had done

D. he should not have given them the task

At 8:30 on a busy morning of one day，an elderly gentleman in his 80s came to the hospital . I heard him saying to the nurse that he was in a hurry for an appointment at 9:30.

The nurse had him take a  36 in the waiting area,  37 him it would be at least 40 minutes  38 someone would be able to see him. I saw him  39 his watch and decided, since I was  40  busy—my patient didn’t  41 at the appointed hour, I would examine his wound. While taking care of his wound, I asked him if he had another doctor’s appointment.

The gentleman said no and told me that he   42  to go to the nursing home to eat breakfast with his   43 . He told me that she had been   44  for a while and that she had a special disease. I asked if she would be   45 if he was a bit late. He replied that she   46 knew who he was, that she had not been able to   47  him for five years now. I was   48 , and asked him, “And you  49 go every morning, even though she doesn’t know who you are?”

He smiled and said, “She doesn’t know me, but I know who she is.” I had to hold back  50  as he left.

Now I  51  that in marriages, true love is  52 of all that is. The happiest people don’t   53 have the best of everything; they just  54 the best of everything they have.   55 isn’t about how to live through the storm, but how to dance in the rain.

4.A.. looking at      B. fixing        C taking off      D. glaring at

What is it that you love to do but never feel that you get it quite right? Perhaps you don't even try any more because you think what you do is not ? ? ? enough．

Discouragement seems to follow us a good part of the time, ? ? ? however hard we work, it seems that there is ? ? ? someone else who can do it much better．

I have always enjoyed music and it is? ? ? ? to me that every musician has a ? ? ? of their own．My father _ ? ? several instruments and when he played with other people, it was not difficult to ? ? ? his sound in a group．Whether it was guitar or another instrument, he had his own ? ? ? sound．

I ? ? ? heard of a music teacher who commented to a discouraged student, " ? ? ? else can make the sound that you make．" The sound that you make may not be the same as someone else's, but who is to say which is ? ? ．It is said that, " ? ? ? is in the eye of the beholder .” . Perhaps it could be said that a delightful sound is in the ear of the ? ? ? ．

Every person has a different tone of voice that ? ? ? only to them, ? ? ? we all know people with an unforgettable laugh or a way of ? ? ? that is unique to them．It might not be the sound of your music or your voice at all．It ? ? ? be the way you whistle or the sound of your footsteps．

Each person has a（an） ? ? ? on the world in some way．Someone else can do what you do, but they cannot do it ? ? ? in the same way that you do it．The next time you feel ? ? ? , remember nobody else can make the sound that you make．

1.A．easy ????????????? B．good ????????????? C．simple ????????????? D．hard

2.A．because ????????????? B．although ????????????? C．when ????????????? D．if

3.A．seldom ????????????? B．always ????????????? C．never ????????????? D．sometimes

4.A．satisfying ????????????? B．convincing ????????????? C．inspiring ????????????? D．interesting

5.A．gift ????????????? B．sound ????????????? C．life ????????????? D．song

6.A．played ????????????? B．designed ????????????? C．created ????????????? D．checked

7.A．turn down ????????????? B．call up ????????????? C．pick out ????????????? D．give off

8.A．loud ????????????? B．powerful ????????????? C．perfect ????????????? D．special

9.A．once ????????????? B．yet ????????????? C．even ????????????? D．still

10.A．Anybody ????????????? B．Somebody ????????????? C．Nobody ????????????? D．Everybody

11.A．bigger ????????????? B．better ????????????? C．deeper ????????????? D．lower

12.A．Beauty ????????????? B．Interest ????????????? C．Patience ????????????? D．Honesty

13.A．speaker ????????????? B．receiver ????????????? C．listener ????????????? D．looker

14.A．devotes ????????????? B．adds ????????????? C．adapts ????????????? D．belongs

15.A．but ????????????? B．yet ????????????? C．and? ????????????? D．for

16.A．running ????????????? B．walking ????????????? C．jumping ????????????? D．speaking

17.A．must ????????????? B．might ????????????? C．would ????????????? D．should

18.A．choice ????????????? B．opinion ????????????? C．duty ????????????? D．effect

19.A．exactly ????????????? B．carefully ????????????? C．cautiously ????????????? D．seriously

20.A．annoyed ????????????? B．puzzled????????????? C．discouraged????????????? D．bothered