They say a cat has nine lives, and I think that possible since I am now living my third life and I’m not even a cat．My father died when I was 15, and we had a hard struggle to make a living．And my mother, who was seriously ill in her last years, died while still in her 60s．My sister married soon after, and I followed her example within the year．

This was when I began to enjoy my first life．I was very happy, in excellent health．I had a good job in San Jose and a beautiful home up the peninsula (半岛) in San Carlos．Life was a pleasant dream．Then the dream ended．I became afflicted (使苦恼) with a slowly progressive disease of the motor nerves, affecting first my right arm and leg, and then my other side．Thus began my second life…．

In spite of my disease I still drove to and from work each day, with the aid of special equipment installed in my car．And I managed to keep my health and optimism (乐观), to a degree, because of 14 steps．Crazy? Not at all．Our home was an affair with 14 steps leading up from the garage to the kitchen door．Those steps were a standard measure of life．They were my yardstick, my challenge to continue living．I felt that if the day arrived when I was unable to lift one foot up one step and then drag the other painfully after it ---repeating the process 14 times, I would be through---I could then admit defeat and lie down and die．

Then on a dark night in August, 1971, I began my third life．It was raining when I started home that night; strong winds and slashing rain beat down on the car as I drove slowly down one of the less-traveled roads．Suddenly the steering wheel jerked (猝然一动)．In the same instant I heard the bang of a blowout．It was impossible for me to change that tire! Utterly impossible!

I started the engine and thumped slowly along, keeping well over on the shoulder until I came to the dirt road, where I turned in and where I found lighted windows welcomed me to a house and pulled into the driveway and honked the horn．

The door opened and a little girl stood there．When she knew what happened to me, she went into the house and a moment later came out, followed by a man who called a cheerful greeting．I sat there comfortable and dry, and felt a bit sorry for the man and the little girl working so hard in the storm．

About an hour later, the man’s voice was heard, “This is a bad night for car trouble, but you’re all set now．” “Thanks,” I said．“How much do I owe you?” He shook his head, “Nothing．Cynthia told me you were a cripple．Glad to be of help．I know you’d do the same for me．There’s no charge, friend．” I held out a five-dollar bill, “No! I like to pay my way．” He made no effort to take it and the little girl stepped closer to the window and said quietly, “Grandpa can’t see it．”

1．“A cat has nine lives” here means ___________．

A．a cat can live nine times longer than any other animal

B．a cat can die ninth

C．a lucky man can not die easily

D．the writer will live nine times

2．What do you think of the man who helped change the tire?

A．Warm-hearted but pitiable

B．Warm-hearted and happy

C．A blind old man that has nothing to do every day．

D．A poor old man that is always ready to help others．

3．How will the story be ended?

A．The writer paid the little girl but the old man did not accept．

B．The writer drove away with tears running down his cheek．

C．The writer stayed there, without knowing what to do and how to do．

D．In the next few frozen seconds the writer felt the shame and astonishment he had never felt before．

4．How do you understand the underlined sentence “I followed my sister’s example?”

A．He listened to his sister carefully．

B．Mother told him that he must get the agreement from his sister for whatever he would do．

C．His sister got married．He, too．

D．His sister was a great woman．．He must learn from her．

5．The best title for this passage perhaps will be _____．

A．The Old Man and His Daughter                    B．Heart Leaping Up

C．Never Lose Heart                                        D．Good Will Be Rewarded Good

He came into the room to shut the windows while we were still in bed and I saw he looked ill. He was shivering, his face was white, and he walked slowly as though it ached to move.

“What’s the matter, Schatz?”

“I’ve got a headache.”

“You’d better go back to bed.”

“No, I am all right.”

“You go to bed. I’ll see you when I’m dressed.”

But when I came downstairs he was dressed, sitting by the fire, looking a very sick and miserable boy of nine years. When I put my hand on his forehead I knew he had a fever.

“You go up to bed,” I said, “You are sick.”

“I’m all right,” he said.

When the doctor came he took the boy’s temperature.

“What is it?” I asked him.

“One hundred and two degree.”

Downstairs, the doctor left three different medicines in different colored capsules with instructions for giving them. The germs of influenza(流感) can only exist in an acid condition, he explained. He seemed to know all about influenza and said there was nothing to worry about if the fever did not go above one hundred and four degrees. This was a light epidemic(传染病) of flu and there was no danger if you avoided pneumonia(肺炎).

Back in the room I wrote the boy’s temperature down and made a note of the time to give the various capsules.

“Do you want me to read to you?”

“All right. If you want to,” said the boy. His face was very white and there were dark areas under his eyes. He lay still in the bed.

I read aloud from Howard Pyle’s Book of Pirates; but I could see he was not following what I was reading.

“How do you feel, Schatz?”

“Just the same, so far,” he said.

I sat at the foot of the bed and read to myself while I waited for it to be time to give another capsule. It would have been natural for him to go to sleep, but when I looked up he was looking at the foot of the bed, looking very strangely.

“Why don’t you try to sleep? I’ll wake you up for the medicine.”

“I’d rather stay awake.”

After a while he said to me, “you don’ t have to stay here with me, Papa, if it bothers you.”

“It doesn’t bother me.”

“No, I mean you don’t have to stay if it’s going to bother you.”

I thought perhaps he was a little lightheaded and after giving him the prescribed capsules at eleven o’clock I went out with my gun and the young hunting dog… I killed two quail(鹌鹑), and missed five, and started back pleased to have found a covey of quail close to the house and happy there were so many left to find on another day.

At the house they said the boy had refused to let anyone come into the room.

“You can’t come in,” he said. “ you mustn’t get what I have.”

I went up to him and found him in exactly the position I had left him, white-faced, but with the tops of his cheeks flushed(发红) by the fever, staring still, as he had stared, at the foot of the bed.

I took his temperature.

“What is it?”

“Something like a hundred,” I said. It was one hundred and two and four tenths.

“It was a hundred and two,” he said.

“Who said so?”

“The doctor.”

“Your temperature is all right,” I said, “It’s nothing to worry about.’

“I don’t worry,” he said, “but I can’t keep from thinking.”

“Don’t think,” I said. “Just take it easy.”

“I am taking it easy,” he said and looked straight ahead. He was evidently holding tight onto himself about something.

“Take this with water.”

“Do you think it will do any good?”

“Of course it will.”

I sat down and opened the Pirate book and began to read, but I could see he was not following, so I stopped.

“About what time do you think I am going to die?” he asked.

“What?”

“About how long will it be before I die?”

“You aren’t going to die. What’s the matter with you?”

“People don’t die with a fever of one hundred and two. That’s a silly way to talk.”

“I know they do. At school in France the boys told me you can’t live with forty-four degrees. I’ve got a hundred and two.”

He had been waiting to die all day, ever since nine o’clock in the morning.

“You poor Schatz,” I said. “Poor old Schatz. It’s like miles and kilometers. You aren’t going to die. That’s different thermometer. One that thermometer thirty-seven is normal. One this kind it’s ninety-eight.”

“Are you sure?”

“Absolutely,” I said, “It’s like miles and kilometers. You know, like how many kilometers we make when we do seventy miles in the car?”

“Oh,” he said.

But his gaze at the foot of the bed relaxed slowly. The hold over himself relaxed too, finally, and the next day it was very slack(松弛的) and he cried very easily at little things that were of no importance.

56. The author writes about the doctor’s visit in order to _____________.

A.show the doctor’s knowledge about influenza and its treatment.

B.Show the boy’s illness was quite serious.

C.Create a situation of misunderstanding around which to build a story.

D.Show the father was very much concerned about the boy’s illness.

57. The word “It” in “Papa, if it bothers you.” refer to ___________.

　　　 A. the boy’s high temperature B. the father giving the medicine to the boy

　　　 C. the father staying with the boy D. the boy’s death

58. It can be inferred from the story that by the time the father gets home from hunting, it is___.

　　　 A. early in the afternoon　　　　　　　　　　　　　 B. close to evening

　　　 C. at noon　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 D. late in the morning

59. From the story we know that the boy kept tight control over himself because___________.

　　　 A. he did not want to be a bother to others

　　　 B. he wanted to recover quickly so that he could go hunting with his father.

　　　 C. he was afraid that he would die if he lost control over himself

　　　 D. he thought he was going to die and he must show courage in the face of death

60. That the boy cried very easily at little things of no importance the next day suggests that___.

　　　 A. he couldn’t control his emotions when he finally relaxed

　　　 B. his father would go out hunting without him if he didn’t cry

　　　 C. something went wrong with his brain after the fever

　　　 D. he often complained about unimportant things as a spoiled boy

By my third day in the hospital, I realized Tom didn’t visit. I couldn’t understand  36 my best friend wouldn’t come to see me. Struggling against the   37 , I phoned his __38 . His mother answered, and when I asked for Tom, she got   39  . “He’s not here right now,” she said. I thought it was  40 that she didn’t tell me where he was or  41  to have him call me. But I was so weak, I just let it  42 . I found out later that Tom’s mother called my parents right after we rang   43 . My phone call really made her   44 , and she   45 they talk to me. Later that night, my mom   46 . Did I remember drinking? Did I remember in a car？I had   47  what she was talking about, so she finally told me the news: I’d hit a tree. Tom, in the   48  seat, was thrown from the car and killed instantly. The only reason I’d lived was because of my   49 .
My first   50  was of shock. I’d been drink-driving? Hit a tree? Killed Tom? I felt like the   51  person in the world. Even after I was able to   52 several weeks later, I didn’t want to eat, I didn’t want to talk. I just   53  at the wall in my  54  and cried. The only person I wanted to see was Tom. I didn’t feel like   55  with any of my old friends.

It was early in the morning, on a lonely road. It's 1  heavily. A 9-year-old boy was in the car with his mother, who was 2  him to school. Suddenly, the car went off the road, rolled  several times, and came to rest upside down in a ditch (沟渠) filled with water.

Luckily, both the mother and son were 3  seatbelts. The mother suffered a blow to her head and was unable to move. The boy was frightened but 4 . As water came through broken windows in the car, he 5  unbuckled (解开) himself, climbed out of the  passenger  window, made his way around to the driver's side, and reached inside the 6  to free his trapped mother. With great effort, he managed to 7  her, pull her through the window and up to the road, where they were soon 8  .

His mother later recalled her experience of the 9  . Being unable to move or even  speak   to offer instructions (指导) or encouragement to her son, she was  10  by her little son's action. She recalled hearing  her boy saying out loud as he pulled her through the water, “I think I can, I think I can!”

It seemed clear    that this little boy's act of courage was from one of his favorite books: The Little Engine that Could. In that  11  , when everyone else had  12  hope, the Little Engine carried the heavy load of toys and good things to eat over the hill to the children waiting on the other side. He had 13  and took action. Obviously this book had left a 14  impression before the accident that rainy 15  and motivated (激励) the son to take action if the terrifying moments.

1.                A．snowing        B．smoking        C．blowing   D．raining

2.                A．ordering        B．driving         C．pushing   D．flying

3.                A．making         B．watching        C．wearing  D．missing

4.                A．afraid          B．dead           C．tired D．unhurt

5.                A．quickly         B．carefully        C．nearly    D．happily

6.                A．box            B．room           C．car  D．ditch

7.                A．respect         B．introduce       C．recognize D．free

8.                A．accepted       B．rescued        C．welcomed D．fed

9.                A．accident        B．experiment      C．travel    D．fire

10.               A．excited         B．frightened      C．wounded  D．amazed

11.               A．poem          B．notice          C．story D．dream

12.               A．realized        B．waken         C．kept up   D．given up

13.               A．courage        B．food           C．space D．time

14.               A．bad           B．deep          C．false  D．general

15.               A．afternoon       B．night           C．morning   D．evening

It was early in the morning, on a lonely road. It's 36  heavily. A 9-year-old boy was in the car with his mother, who was 37  him to school. Suddenly, the car went off the road, 38  several times, and came to rest upside down in a ditch (沟渠) filled with water.

Luckily, both the mother and son were 39  seatbelts. The mother suffered a blow to her head and was unable to move. The boy was frightened but 40 . As water came through broken windows in the car, he 41  unbuckled (解开) himself, climbed out of the 42  window, made his way around to the driver's side, and reached inside the 43  to free his trapped mother. With great effort, he managed to 44  her, pull her through the window and up to the road, where they were soon 45  .

His mother later recalled her experience of the 46  . Being unable to move or even 47  to offer instructions (指导) or encouragement to her son, she was  48  by her little son's action. She recalled  49 her boy saying out loud as he pulled her through the water, “I think I can, I think I can!”

It seemed 50  that this little boy's act of courage was from one of his favourite books: The Little Engine that Could. In that  51  , when everyone else had  52  hope, the Little Engine carried the heavy load of toys and good things to eat over the hill to the children waiting on the other side. He had 53  and took action. Obviously this book had left a 54  impression before the accident that rainy 55  and motivated (激励) the son to take action if the terrifying moments.

1.                A．snowing        B．smoking        C．raining   D．blowing

2.                A．ordering        B．flying           C．pushing   D．driving

3.                A．moved         B．fell            C．rolled    D．stopped

4.                A．wearing        B．watching        C．making   D．missing

5.                A．afraid          B．dead           C．tired D．unhurt

6.                A．nearly          B．carefully        C．quickly   D．happily

7.                A．student         B．worker         C．family    D．passenger

8.                A．box            B．room           C．car  D．ditch

9.                A．respect         B．free            C．recognize D．introduce

10.               A．accepted       B．rescued        C．welcomed D．fed

11.               A．travel          B．experiment     C．accident   D．fire

12.               A．speak          B．sleep          C．listen D．look

13.               A．excited         B．amazed         C．wounded  D．frightened

14.               A．seeing         B．hearing         C．smelling   D．feeling

15.               A．clear          B．sorry          C．useful D．necessary

16.               A．poem          B．notice          C．story D．dream

17.               A．realized        B．waken         C．kept up   D．given up

18.               A．courage        B．food           C．space D．time

19.               A．bad           B．deep          C．false  D．general

20.               A．afternoon       B．night           C．morning   D．evening