1、Now the present of her desk told, as shed never been able to, that she was pleased that writing was my chosen work. I cleaned the desk carefully and found some papers inside a photo of my father and a one-page letter, folded and refolded many times. Give me an answer, my letter asks, in any way you
2、choose. Mother, you always chose the act that speaks louder than words. 1. The passage shows that _. A. mother was cold on the surface but kind in her heart to her daughterB. mother was too serious about everything her daughter had doneC. mother cared much about her daughter in wordsD. mother wrote
3、to her daughter in careful words2. The word “gulf” in the passage means _. A. deep understanding between the old and the youngB. different ideas between the mother and the daughterC. free talks between mother and daughterD. part of the sea going far in land3. What did mother do with her daughters le
4、tter asking forgiveness?A. She had never received the letter. B. For years, she often talked about the letter. C. She didnt forgive her daughter at all in all her life. D. She read the letter again and again till she died. 4. Whats the best title of the passage?A. My letter to Mother B. Mother and C
5、hildrenC. My mothers Desk D. Talks between Mother and MePassage 2An abandoned car in Chicago worth about $600 has been issued more than $100, 000 in parking tickets （罚单） over the past three years. Now Jennifer Fitzgerald, 31, is stuck with the bill but says the 1999 Chevy Monte Carlo actually belong
6、s to an ex-boyfriend who registered （登记注册） the car in her name without informing her. The Expired Meter （ 停车计时器） reports that from May 23, 2009 to April 30, 2012, the Chicago Department of Finance （DOF） issued 678 tickets against the car, totaling $105, 761. 80. It set a Chicago record both for the
7、total number and amount of parking fines issued. In fact, it blew past the previous record holder, which was $65,000 from about 400 tickets. But Fitzgerald says she doesnt owe the city a dime （10 分硬币） and has filed a lawsuit （诉讼 ） in Cook County Circuit Court against the city of Chicago, United Airl
8、ines and the ex-boyfriend. Fitzgerald has two main arguments in her case. First, she says her ex-boyfriend, Brandon Preveau, is the actual owner of the car, having bought it from her uncle for $600 in 2002. In fact, Brandon paid for the cars title （所有权）, registration and insurance, but it was regist
9、ered in Fitzgeralds name. “Brandon used his 2007 income tax refund （ 退 款 ） to pay Patrick $600 for the car,” reads Fitzgeralds complaint. “For reasons not recalled by Patrick, however, Patrick signed the title to the car over to Fitzgerald.”Second, Fitzgeralds lawyer is arguing that the city should
10、have simply towed （拖走） the car after 30 days from OHare Airport, where it was parked and where Brandon worked at the time. According to Fitzgeralds complaint, on or before November 17, 2009, Brandon drove the car into the parking lot and never drove it out again. And as the Expired Meter reports, Ch
11、icago law does state exactly that an abandoned vehicle is to be towed 30 days after being illegally parked. 1. After the Chicago Department of Finance noticed the car, it _. A. wanted to break a recordB. tried its best to find its ownerC. kept issuing tickets against the carD. decided to play a joke
12、 on its owner2. From Paragraph 3, we know that Jennifer Fitzgerald _. A. sold the car to her ex-boyfriend long agoB. received the car from her ex-boyfriendC. didnt know anything about the carD. wasnt the real owner of the car3. Jennifer Fitzgerald filed a lawsuit against the city of Chicago because
13、the city _. A. didnt inform her as soon as it found the missing carB. didnt tow the vehicle after 30 days from OHare AirportC. didnt state exactly that an abandoned vehicle was to be towedD. didnt help her find the car when it was missing in the beginning4. After reading the passage we learn that Je
14、nnifer Fitzgerald _. A. doesnt want to pay any moneyB. thinks Patrick should pay the finesC. isnt trying to find her ex-boyfriendD. has never been to OHare AirportPassage 3For years I wanted a flower garden. Id spend hours thinking of different things I could plant that would look nice together. But
15、 then we had Matthew. And Marvin. And the twins, Alisa and Alan. And then Helen. Five children. I was too busy raising them to grow a garden. Money was tight, as well as time. Often when my children were little, one of them would want something that cost too much, and Id have to say, Do you see a mo
16、ney tree outside? Money doesnt grow on trees, you know. Finally, all five got through high school and college and were off on their own. I started thinking again about having a garden. I wasnt sure, though. I mean, gardens do cost money, and after all these years I was used to living on a pretty lea
17、n tight budget （财政紧张）. Then, one spring morning, on Mothers Day, I was working in my kitchen. Suddenly, I realized that cars were tooting their horns （按喇叭） as they drove by. I looked out of the window and there was a new tree, planted right in my yard. I thought it must be a weeping willow （垂柳）, bec
18、ause I saw things blowing around on all its branches. Then I put my glasses onand I couldnt believe what I saw. There was a money tree in my yard! I went outside to look. It was true! There were dollar bills, one hundred of them, taped all over that tree. Think of all the garden flowers I could buy
19、with one hundred dollars! There was also a note attached: I owe you eight hours of digging time. Love, Marvin. Marvin, my first son, kept his promise. He dug up a nice ten-by-fifteen-foot bed （花坛, 花圃） for me. My other children bought me tools, a sunflower stepping stone （踏脚石） and gardening books. We
20、 built a garden together. That was three years ago. My gardens now very pretty, just like what I wanted. When I go out and weed or tend my flowers, I dont seem to miss my children as much as I once did. It feels like theyre right there with me. When I think about what my children have done for me, I
21、 get tears in my eyes every time. Im still not sure whether money grows on trees. But I know love does!1. Why had the writer never had a flower garden before? _ A. Because she had five children to take care of. B. Because she didnt have enough time and money. C. Because her children wanted expensive
22、 things. D. Because her children were going to high school and college. 2. Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?A. The writer put one hundred dollar bills on the tree to decorate it. B. The writer was wearing her glasses when she saw the weeping willow. C. The children
23、bought their mother a new garden and some gardening books. D. The flowers in the garden make the writer feel that her children are with her. 3. The best title for the passage would probably be _ . A. My flower gardenB. Marvin helps to realize my dreamC. Love in MichiganD. Money grows on treesPassage
24、 4 Human beings have used tools for a very long time. In some parts of the world you can still find tools that people used more than two million years ago. They made these tools by hitting one stone against another. In this way, they broke off pieces from one of the stones. These chips of stone were
25、 usually sharp on one side. People used them for cutting meat and skin from dead animals, and also for making other tools out of wood. Human beings needed to use tools because they did not have sharp teeth like other meat eating animals, such as lions and tigers. Tools helped people to get food more
26、 easily. Working with tools also helped to develop human intelligence. The human brain grew bigger, and human beings began to invent more and more tools and machines. The stone chip was one of the first tools that people used, and perhaps it is the most important. Some scientists say that it was the
27、 key to success of mankind. Since 1960, a new kind of tool has appeared. This is the silicon （硅） chipa little chip of silicon crystal. It is smaller than a finger nail, but it can store more than a million bits of information. It is an electronic brain. Every year these chips get cleverer, but their
28、 size gets smaller, and their cost gets less. They are used in watches, calculators and intelligent machines that we can use in many ways. In the future we will not need to work with tools in the old way. Machines will do everything for us. They will even talk and play games with us. People will have plenty of spare time. But what will they do with it?
