This writer’s book sells ______.

1. A.
   nice
2. B.
   well
3. C.
   smooth
4. D.
   wonderful

   We expected our first child to be perfect. ”How many parents have said. or at least thought. those words? Most likely every single one.

    I know that’s what I  36  with our oldest son，Joe. He was always a  37  kid. He wasn’t the kind of boy who  38  snowballs at passing cars on a cold winter day or who  39  water balloons on the mail carrier from an upstairs window during hot August.   40  he wasn’t perfect. From the day Joe started kindergarten. he  41   －with maths. Always maths. While he passed each grade，it was never with flying colors，and he was  42  at the top of his class. How I  43   friends who had children with the. ”maths gene”. I don’t know how many times I  44  while listening to another mom telling me that her daughter was doing high school algebra while in sixth grade.

    After hearing one of these stories―and there were so  45  of them over the years  46   hang up the telephone and took over at Joe―who would be happily playing a video game，drawing a picture. or simply  47   a warm spring day－ and  48  why we didn’t raise a maths genius. How is he ever going to get into college if he doesn’t get  49  at maths?

       Needless to say, my worries never really amounted to much. Moms 50   to worry and worry, while whatever they are worrying about usually disappears on its own or is quickly replaced by another  51 

    During high school，Joe slowly improved at maths. He  52  algebra  l， geometry and algebra l , our state requirements for maths. One day he said to me：“I would be taking pre-calculus(學(xué)習(xí)微積分前必修課程)in my last year of high school. 1 want to do really well in college. Morn，I know it will be hard but I  think it’s a 53  that I try to do my best. ”

    No，my oldest son wasn’t perfect. He ash’s a maths genius，either. But he knew what was important：he Was focusing on his future while I was worrying over his  54 . Joe was trying to do his best even when he knew how hard that was going to be. And that, to me. is even better than being  55

Clarissa looked out of the taxi window at the wet road. It was still raining. She was looking forward to getting home after a busy and tiring week in Italy.

The taxi stopped outside the terminal and Clarissa got out. While she was finding some money in her purse, the driver took out her luggage. She picked up her suitcase and entered the terminal building. The British airways check—in desk was near the entrance. After checking in her luggage, she went to buy some magazines. Then she went through passport control and the security check.

After waiting in line with other passengers, Clarissa walked down the corridor and onto the plane. Her seat was next to the window. While the plane was taking off, she closed her eyes, but when the plane was in the air, she began to relax. She pressed the button at the side of the seat, lay back and opened her eyes again.

Pin! The sound of the bell woke Clarissa from her dreams. “Ladies and gentlemen, we are now approaching Heathrow. Will you fasten your seatbelts and extinguish all your cigarettes.”

When the plane landed and came to a standstill, Clarissa saw that outside the sun was shining and the sky was clear. It was going to be a perfect day.

When in Italy Clarissa was ______.

A. airsick      B. sick       C. seasick      D. homesick

Choose the right order when Clarissa went back home.

a. She waited in line for a while.   b. She passed through the airport control.

c. She took a taxi to catch her plane.

d. She bought some magazines to read in the plane.

e. She went through the check - in desk. 

   f. she went through the security-check door.  g. She went aboard the plane.

A. c,e,d,b,f,a,g    B. c,f,d,e,a,b,g      C. d,e,f,b,g,e,a      D. a,c,d,e,b,f,g

When the plane took off or before the plane was in the air, Clarissa was probably __   .

A. glad          Ｂ. anxious         C. nervous         D. relaxed

We know from the text ______.

A. before the plane took off, smoking was not allowed.

B. just before landing, people were asked not to smoke.

C. when the plane took off and landed, smoking was not allowed.

D. smoking was not allowed all the way to Heathrow.

O. Henry was a pen name used by an American writer of short stories. His real name was William Sydney Porter. He was born in North Carolina in 1862. As a young boy he lived an exciting life. He did not go to school for very long, but he managed to teach himself everything he needed to know. When he was about 20 years old, O. Henry went to Texas, where he tried different jobs. He first worked on a newspaper, and then had a job in a bank, when some money went missing from the bank. O. Henry was believed to have stolen it. Because of that, he was sent to prison. During the three years in prison, he learned to write short stories. After he got out of prison, he went to New York and continued writing. He wrote mostly about New York and the life of the poor there. People liked his stories, because simple as the tales were, they would finish with a sudden change at the end, to the reader’s surprise.
【小題1】 In which order did O. Henry do the following things?
a. Lived in New York.   b. Worked in a bank.       c. Travelled to Texas.
d. Was put in prison.    e. Had a newspaper Job.     f. Learned to write stories.

O. Henry was a pen name used by an American writer of short stories. His real name was William Sydney Porter. He was born in North Carolina in 1862. As a young boy he lived an exciting life. He did not go to school for very long, but he managed to teach himself everything he needed to know. When he was about 20 years old, O. Henry went to Texas, where he tried different jobs. He first worked on a newspaper, and then had a job in a bank. When some money went missing from the bank, O. Henry was believed to have stolen it. Because of that, he was sent to prison. During the three years in prison, he learned to write short stories. After he got out of prison, he went to New York and continued writing. He wrote mostly about New York and the life of the poor there. People liked his stories, because simple as the tales were, they would finish with a sudden change at the end, to the reader’s surprise.
【小題1】In which order did O. Henry do the following things?
a. Lived in New York.   b. Worked in a bank.      c. Travelled to Texas.
d. Was put in prison.    e. Had a newspaper Job.    f. Learned to write stories.