As kids, my friends and I spent a lot of time out in the woods． “The woods” was our part-time address, destination, purpose, and excuse． If I went to a friends house and found him not at home, his mother might say, “Oh, he’s out in the woods, ” with a tone（語氣） of airy acceptance． It is similar to the tone people sometimes use nowadays to tell me that someone I’m looking for is on the golf course or at the gym, or even “away from his desk．” For us ten-year-olds, “being out in the woods” was just an excuse to do whatever we feel like for a while．

We sometimes told ourselves that what we were doing in the woods was exploring（探索）． Exploring was a more popular idea back then than it is today． History seemed to be mostly about explorers． Our explorations, though, seemed to have less system than the historic kind: something usually came up along the way． Say we stayed in the woods, throwing rocks, shooting frogs, picking blackberries, digging in what we were briefly persuaded was an Indian burial mound．

Often we got “l(fā)ost” and had to climb a tree to find out where we were． If you read a story in which someone does that successfully, be skeptical: the topmost branches are usually too skinny to hold weight, and we could never climb high enough to see anything except other trees． There were four or five trees that we visited regularly—tall beeches, easy to climb and comfortable to sit in．

It was in a tree, too, that our days of fooling around in the woods came to an end． By then some of us had reached seventh grade and had begun the rough ride of adolescence（青春期）． In March, the month when we usually took to the woods again after winter, two friends and I set out to go exploring． We climbed a tree, and all of a sudden it occurred to all three of us at the same time that we really were rather big to be up in a tree． Soon there would be the spring dances on Friday evenings in the high school cafeteria．

1． The author and his friends were often out in the woods to _______．

　 A． spend their free time　　　　 B． play golf and other sports

　 C． avoid doing their schoolwork　 D． keep away from their parents

2． What can we infer from Paragraph 2 ?

　 A． The activities in the woods were well planned．

　 B． Human history is not the result of exploration．

　 C． Exploration should be a systematic activity．

　 D． The author explored in the woods aimlessly．

3． The underlined word “skeptical” in Paragraph 3 is closest in meaning to ______．

　 A． calm　　　　 　　　 　　　　　 B． doubtful　　 　 　

　 C． serious　　　 　 　　　　　　 D． optimistic

4． How does the author feel about his childhood?

　 A． Happy but short．　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 B． Lonely but memorable．

　 C． Boring and meaningless．　　　 D． Long and unforgettable．

閱讀理解

閱讀下面短文，從每題所給的四個(gè)選項(xiàng)（A，B，C和D）中選出最佳選項(xiàng)。

　　Some people take lots of exercise. Others keep to strict diets. But according to recent research, the best way to live a long and happy life is simple. Get a dog.

　　“We have known for many years that the company(陪伴) of a pet can increase well-being(幸福) in a number of ways,”says Dr. Bonnie Beaver, animal behavior(表現(xiàn)) specialist (專家) at Texas University.“For example, the survival (生存) rates of heart attack victims (受害者) with pets are much greater than those of people without pets.”

　　According to Dr. Beaver, pet owners are lees likely to need a doctor. They recover more quickly when they do get ill. They have lower blood pressure, take more exercise and are more socially active.

　　Above all, they are happier. Seventy percent of the families Dr. Beaver surveyed said that their family environment (環(huán)境) was happier after they got a pet. And this is what Dr. Beaver and other researchers are trying to achieve. They want to find a scientific link between human happiness and a long life.

　　There is no final answer to this question yet, but it seems to be something to do with emotional(情感的) ties. People with someone or something to love live longer.“There are many forms of animal-human relationship and some are very helpful,”says Dr. Beaver. It seems that the more lovely an animal is, the more it benefits our health. As the saying goes,“If you want to be loved, get a dog.”

　　Pet ownership benefits men and women equally. Other life experiences divide the sexes (性別).“Women are more sensitive to bad marriages then their husbands because they work harder at their relationships,”says Dr. Janice Glaser of Ohio State University.

　　The message seems to be that a woman is better off with a good dog than a bad husband. Yet in some ways, men are similar to dogs. They like getting dirty and making a mess. They forget birthdays. They can disappear for days on end. How can they be better trained?

1．According to the writer, the company of a pet does good to a person in the following ways EXCEPT ________.

[　　]

A．having their family environment improved

B．being better off than others

C．being more active in society

D．having less chance of dying from heart attacks

2．It can be learned from the passage that ________.

[　　]

A．a(chǎn)ll life experiences have different effect on men and women

B．women can benefit more from owning a pet than men can

C．a(chǎn) woman may prefer to have the company of a good dog more than that of a bad husband

D．scientists are sure about the relationship between happiness and a long life.

3．The whole passage is mainly about ________.

[　　]

A．pets and a happy life

B．dogs and husbands

C．relationships between humans and pets

D．pets and family life

4．In what kind of a tone (語氣) do you think the author writes the passage?

[　　]

A．Delighted and hopeful.

B．Angry and pitiful (憐憫的).

C．Realistic and serious.

D．Light and humorous.

I’m a pig, and my son is a rabbit. I have snakes for daughters, and my wife, believe it or not, is a dragon! Do I live in a zoo? No, of course not! I am talking about Chinese zodiac signs. Depending on the year of your birth, each person has an animal for a sign. That’s why I am a pig and my wife is a dragon. If you, like me, were born in the year of the pig, then you are brave, thoughtful and loyal. The year of the pig is filled with good fortune.
　　Now let’s take a closer look at this interesting animal.
　　Pigs were first raised by man about 9,000 years ago, and are still a very common farm animal in many parts of the world. We don’t just use pigs for their meat — almost every part of the animal is used. The hair is used for artists’ brushes. The fat is used to make floor wax, rubber and plastics.
　　Pigs have also been important in the world of entertainment. In 1995 the film ‘Babe’ starred a loveable talking pig as its main character. The film won an Oscar and was nominated for 6 more. In England you can even go to watch pig racing. A farmer, Rob Shepherd, has been raising money for charity by holding pig races on his farm. The events have been very successful. People don’t just want to eat pigs, it seems!
　　Pigs also play an important role in the English language. For example, if someone says that he will travel to the sun one day, you can say “pigs might fly!” to him. Hungry? Well then, you can “pig out” and eat lots of food. And what if someone rescues you? Well, you can say that they “saved your bacon”.

56. The writer wrote the first paragraph in a _______tone (語氣).
　　A. sad　　　　　　B. confused　　             C. serious　　　　 D. humorous
57. We may know from the passage that ______.
　　A. people in England like pigs more than other animals
　　B. pigs are more useful than ordinary people imagine
　　C. pigs are the first animals raised by man
　　D. more people don’t want to eat pigs now
58. The underlined sentence “pigs might fly!” in the fifth paragraph means “______”.
　　A. What you have just said is impossible
　　B. Pigs are great animals
　　C. I don’t understand your words
　　D. I can’t agree with you more
59. Which diagram shows the structure of the passage?
　　　　　　　　

閱讀理解

閱讀下列短文，從每題所給的四個(gè)選項(xiàng)（A，B，C和D）中，選出最佳選項(xiàng)．

　　Marianne, a schoolgirl, was learning to play the piano, and day after day her father stood behind as she practised. How patient and loving her father was, and how cleverly he showed Marianne how to play some particularly (特別地) difficult pieces! She was making progress (進(jìn)步), very good progress, and that was very good. And there, almost lost in the big chair, sat Wolfgang, her four-year-old brother, who never had to be told to keep quiet when Merianne was practising. One evening at sundown the father patted(拍) Marianne's shoulder, saying she had done very well. All the moment Wolfgang climbed on his father's knee and begged to be allowed to play the pretty piece.

　　What a joke that was. Picking up his baby son, the father laughed, tapped his tiny nose and said, “Look at your small hands. why, you can't span(夠得著)the note yet. You must wait, little man. You must wait.”

　　There was no end of fun during tea, and Marianne had to tell her mother about Wolfgang wanting to play one of the classics. After dinner Marianne helped wash the dishes when the father lit his pipe(煙斗).

　　But the pipe went out. He was on his feet. “Listen,” he said in a awed tone(感嘆語氣).“Listen, Marianne is playing that piece better than ever.”

　　But Marianne was washing pots in the kitchen.

　　His wife following, he went upstairs, the lamp in one hand, his pipe in the other. he pushed open the door, and found little Wolfgang playing in the darkness. “I love it so,” said the child.

　　It was the beginning of Mozart's life of music.

1．Mozart was ________.

[　　]

A．the little brother of Marianne

B．the pupil of Marianne

C．the son of Marianne

D．the daughter of Marianne

2．Mozart learned how to play the piano ________.

[　　]

A．a(chǎn)t school

B．when his father taught his sister

C．a(chǎn)fter his father taught him

D．a(chǎn)fter his sister taught him music lessons

3．One evening when Wolfgang wanted to play one of the classics his father ________.

[　　]

A．a(chǎn)llowed him to do so once

B．persuaded(說服) him not to do so

C．a(chǎn)sked him to wait for a moment

D．a(chǎn)sked him to wait for a few years

4．His father refused to let him play one of the classics because he thought ________.

[　　]

A．he was too young to play

B．he was too stupid to play

C．he was not good at playing

D．he didn't work hard at music