I know it is wrong to envy your children. But when I see my son, Tonio and his younger brother Sam going down a slide together, one’s arm around the other, I know I have missed something wonderful.

Not only did I never have a brother, but also I had no friendships like theirs. My sister was old enough to help take care of me, so she was more a mother than a playmate, and I was more a pest than a friend. A brother would have been wonderful, but it was not in the family planning.

Now I finally live with brothers, my sons, Tonio and Sam. I am watching them build the kind of relationship that I once dreamed about. They go to bed together. When one comes into our bed after a nightmare, my wife and I know that before morning his brother will follow.

Sam manages the world with more ease than his elder brother, whose frustrations often bring him to tears. With a sincere “Smile, Tonio,” Sam is the one who comforts him. Tonio, on the other hand, has stopped playing with boys at his age who don’t like playing with Sam. They are always backing each other up.

I don’t know what kind of relationship they will have when they grow up. Parents always want their children to have what they never could. I want them to have each other. So I imagine them going to the same college, marrying sisters and living on the same block.

That’s why I was so worried the day Tonio started kindergarten. I felt that I would lose something too. As we headed for school that morning, both boys seemed relaxed, as if neither had any idea that the day was going to be different, that starting then, Tonio would be leaving behind his brother, his best friend, his right arm.

Tonio’s first day was chaotic, with hundreds of children outside looking for their teachers. Before any of us could say goodbye, Tonio disappeared with his new classmates. He turned to wave and then was gone. It was so sudden. Sam even didn’ t see him go. Although parents had been asked to ease the craziness of the first day by statying out of the school, I lifted Sam up and took him to Tonio’s classroom, looking for a glimpse of Tonio. Sam spotted him first.

My wife and I didn’t head back home immediately, stopping instead at a coffee shop to treat Sam to hot chocolate. We even let him eat ice-cream with his fingers. Sam was still quiet, so I asked him if he missed his brother already.

He didn’t answer. Instead he asked, “Daddy, is Tonio going to be gone forever?”

“No, Sammy,” I said, feeling happy about his sweet question. “Not forever, just until three o’clock.”

I sometimes think that the greatest thing I have ever done is to help create these brothers. And I didn’t stop with them. We had another child, and for the third time in a row, it was a boy. It wasn’t long before his brothers climbed into the crib(婴儿床) to play with him. I am surrounded by brothers.

1.What makes the author envy his sons?

A. He has no friends like Sam and Tonio.

B. He has only one brother in his family.

C. He doesn’t enjoy brotherhood as they do.

D. He doesn’t have a good relation with his sister.

2.What does the underlined word “pest” in paragraph 2 mean?

A. a bad person     B. an annoying person

C. a good companion    D. a lovely brother

3.What can we learn about the two little brothers?

A. Tonio often encouraged Sam when Sam burst into tears.

B. The two brothers went to the same kindergarten.

C. Neither of the brothers played with other children.

D. They supported each other in different ways.

4.The author was worried the day Tonio started his kindergarten, because__________.

A. Tonio might not spend so much time with Sam

B. Tonio might not do well with his study

C. he was afraid he would lose Tonio forever.

D. he wanted Tonio to have what he didn’t have

5.On the first day of the kindergarten, __________.

A. Tonio had a nice day playing with his new classmates

B. Sam was very sad because Tonio was gone forever

C. Sam was allowed to have ice-cream with fingers as usual

D. the father felt happy when he sensed Sam’s love to Tonio

6.What does the title “Surrounded by Brothers” suggest?

A. The author experienced brotherly affection by raising his sons.

B. The author often plays with his sons whenever he has time.

C. Parents want their children to stay at home and play together.

D. The youngest son is always surrounded by his elder brothers.

Sam, a dog, was left behind in Colorado while his owners, Mr. And Mrs. Green moved to Southern California. They did not give the dog up. They found him a very nice home before they moved. They would have let Sam accompany them, but they were afraid the dog’s presence would make it difficult for them to rent a house when they reached their destination.
The Green family lived in Colorado for less than a year. Before that, they had lived in the same neighborhood in California to which they returned. So Sam had been there before, but only for a short time when he was young.
Several months after the Greens left Colorado, after they were comfortably settled back in California, they heard a scratch at the door. They couldn’t imagine who might be there. It never occurred to them that it might be Sam, because they were sure he was happily set up with his new family back in Colorado. When they opened the door, the Greens saw a dirty, tired dog with very hurting feet. The animal looked a little bit like Sam, but no one could believe that Sam could have walked 840 miles on his own. The tired dog spent the night under the family car. The next day, when he was more rested, he performed some of his old tricks. The Greens knew they had their own dog back.
【小题1】The story suggests that _______ .

请阅读下列应用文及相关信息，并按照要求匹配信息。

BAIDU (www.baidu.com) is a daily miracle to millions of people. It is one of the most popular search engines on the web, a challenging competitor to Google! Type words, names of pictures or videos into the space given and in a second it can comp up with hundreds of related resources. Baidu leads to the entrance to the entrance to vast information.

A.  In 1993, “the father of NetEase” ( www.163.com )—Ding Lei wanted to make Internet-surfing easy for Chinese. At that time, most websites are run in English and only few in Chinese at a low speed but high price. To enable Chinese people remember this new website name, instead of English letter, he chose Arabia Number---“163.com”, which provides users with the largest e-mail and network hard disk.

B.  YAHOO( www.yahoo.com) was the first wonder of the web. It started in January 1994 by two students, but before the end of the year, it had become famous as Yahoo we know today.

C.  Taobao(www.taobao.com), which deals with companies online trading services, is one of the largest Internet companies where people buy and sell goods and services worldwide. It has opened up a global marker=place where the online service allows sellers or buyers to bargain.

D.  Gamedom(www.7k7k.com) started out as a fun world, offering a variety of games which suits people in different ages. It also does some business like selling popular computer games. Software. Or download hot music at a certain price.

E.  To meet the wordwide common belief-saving energy, news provided in electronic form is becoming necessary. News center (www.chinaenglish.com) can update the latest news daily and store old news. Pictures, comments, videos are offered as well.

1. Zhang Lin is always proud of being a Chinese and he never buys anything made in foreign countries. The net world set up by Chinese certainly is his favorite choice. Can you guess what will be his “e-mail address”?

2.Everybody knows that “Rome is not built in one day”, but what surprised Sam is that a famous website is setup by two students and become world=known within one year. Which web will he really admired most?

3.Li Lei has got an assignment from his teacher to write an essay. He’d like to surf the Internet to search for rich information. A search engine with fast speed and various resources will be of great help to him. Which web will he refer to?

4. Safeguard TianJun is lying in bed because of his brave fighting against several robbers. Being bored of reading books or sleeping, he borrowed a laptop to play computer games to relax himself and kill time. Which website suits his taste?

5.As a busy white-collar girl, Susan hardly has much time to go window shopping. But it no longer upsets her because during her working break, she can search for different goods online and even bargain. Where can she do this?

请阅读下列应用文及相关信息，并按照要求匹配信息。
BAIDU (www.baidu.com) is a daily miracle to millions of people. It is one of the most popular search engines on the web, a challenging competitor to Google! Type words, names of pictures or videos into the space given and in a second it can comp up with hundreds of related resources. Baidu leads to the entrance to the entrance to vast information.
A. In 1993, “the father of NetEase” ( www.163.com )—Ding Lei wanted to make Internet-surfing easy for Chinese. At that time, most websites are run in English and only few in Chinese at a low speed but high price. To enable Chinese people remember this new website name, instead of English letter, he chose Arabia Number---“163.com”, which provides users with the largest e-mail and network hard disk.
B. YAHOO( www.yahoo.com) was the first wonder of the web. It started in January 1994 by two students, but before the end of the year, it had become famous as Yahoo we know today.
C. Taobao(www.taobao.com), which deals with companies online trading services, is one of the largest Internet companies where people buy and sell goods and services worldwide. It has opened up a global marker="place" where the online service allows sellers or buyers to bargain.
D. Gamedom(www.7k7k.com) started out as a fun world, offering a variety of games which suits people in different ages. It also does some business like selling popular computer games. Software. Or download hot music at a certain price.
E. To meet the wordwide common belief-saving energy, news provided in electronic form is becoming necessary. News center (www.chinaenglish.com) can update the latest news daily and store old news. Pictures, comments, videos are offered as well.
【小题1】 Zhang Lin is always proud of being a Chinese and he never buys anything made in foreign countries. The net world set up by Chinese certainly is his favorite choice. Can you guess what will be his “e-mail address”?
【小题2】Everybody knows that “Rome is not built in one day”, but what surprised Sam is that a famous website is setup by two students and become world="known" within one year. Which web will he really admired most?
【小题3】Li Lei has got an assignment from his teacher to write an essay. He’d like to surf the Internet to search for rich information. A search engine with fast speed and various resources will be of great help to him. Which web will he refer to?
【小题4】 Safeguard TianJun is lying in bed because of his brave fighting against several robbers. Being bored of reading books or sleeping, he borrowed a laptop to play computer games to relax himself and kill time. Which website suits his taste?
【小题5】As a busy white-collar girl, Susan hardly has much time to go window shopping. But it no longer upsets her because during her working break, she can search for different goods online and even bargain. Where can she do this?

Surrounded by Brothers

    I know it is wrong to envy your children. But when I see my son, Tonio and his younger brother Sam going down a slide together, one’s arm around the other, I know I have missed something wonderful.

Not only did I never have a brother, but also I had no friendships like theirs. My sister was old enough to help take care of me, so she was more a mother than a playmate, and I was more a pest than a friend. A brother would have been wonderful, but it was not in the family planning.

Now I finally live with brothers, my sons, Tonio and Sam. I am watching them build the kind of relationship that I once dreamed about. They go to bed together. When one comes into our bed after a nightmare, my wife and I know that before morning his brother will follow.

Sam manages the world with more ease than his elder brother, whose frustrations often bring him to tears. With a sincere “Smile, Tonio,” Sam is the one who comforts him. Tonio, on the other hand, has stopped playing with boys at his age who don’t like playing with Sam. They are always backing each other up.

I don’t know what kind of relationship they will have when they grow up. Parents always want their children to have what they never could. I want them to have each other. So I imagine them going to the same college, marrying sisters and living on the same block.

That’s why I was so worried the day Tonio started kindergarten. I felt that I would lose something too. As we headed for school that morning, both boys seemed relaxed, as if neither had any idea that the day was going to be different, that starting then, Tonio would be leaving behind his brother, his best friend, his right arm.

Tonio’s first day was chaotic, with hundreds of children outside looking for their teachers. Before any of us could say goodbye, Tonio disappeared with his new classmates. He turned to wave and then was gone. It was so sudden. Sam even didn’ t see him go. Although parents had been asked to ease the craziness of the first day by statying out of the school, I lifted Sam up and took him to Tonio’s classroom, looking for a glimpse of Tonio. Sam spotted him first.

My wife and I didn’t head back home immediately, stopping instead at a coffee shop to treat Sam to hot chocolate. We even let him eat ice-cream with his fingers. Sam was still quiet, so I asked him if he missed his brother already.

He didn’t answer. Instead he asked, “Daddy, is Tonio going to be gone forever?”

“No, Sammy,” I said, feeling happy about his sweet question. “Not forever, just until three o’clock.”

I sometimes think that the greatest thing I have ever done is to help create these brothers. And I didn’t stop with them. We had another child, and for the third time in a row, it was a boy. It wasn’t long before his brothers climbed into the crib(婴儿床) to play with him. I am surrounded by brothers.

55. What makes the author envy his sons?

   A. He has no friends like Sam and Tonio.

   B. He has only one brother in his family.

   C. He doesn’t enjoy brotherhood as they do.

   D. He doesn’t have a good relation with his sister.

56. What does the underlined word “pest” in paragraph 2 mean?

   A. a bad person     B. an annoying person      C. a good companion    D. a lovely brother

57. What can we learn about the two little brothers?

   A. Tonio often encouraged Sam when Sam burst into tears.

   B. The two brothers went to the same kindergarten.

   C. Neither of the brothers played with other children.

   D. They supported each other in different ways.

58. The author was worried the day Tonio started his kindergarten, because__________.

   A. Tonio might not spend so much time with Sam

   B. Tonio might not do well with his study

   C. he was afraid he would lose Tonio forever.

   D. he wanted Tonio to have what he didn’t have

59. On the first day of the kindergarten, __________.

   A. Tonio had a nice day playing with his new classmates

   B. Sam was very sad because Tonio was gone forever

   C. Sam was allowed to have ice-cream with fingers as usual

   D. the father felt happy when he sensed Sam’s love to Tonio

60. What does the title “Surrounded by Brothers” suggest?

   A. The author experienced brotherly affection by raising his sons.

   B. The author often plays with his sons whenever he has time.

   C. Parents want their children to stay at home and play together.

   D. The youngest son is always surrounded by his elder brothers.