He wishes the holiday season would end already. His back aches, his red suit feels like a spacesuit, his cheeks have gone tight from smiling for 12 hours —and still the kids keep coming and coming, like ants at a picnic. As Christmas becomes more commercialized (商业化) across the U. S. And Canada, so must Santas. As the holiday begins earlier each year, so must its spokesmen.
The questions from children these days are harder than ever. Now, with thousands of children expecting a father or mother serving in Iraq or Afghanistan, the questions are as heart-breaking as they are unanswerable. For example, “Can you please bring Daddy home from the war in time for Christmas morning?”
Santas also have a pretty good chance of getting sued (指控). A professional Santa Claus in Canada told a story: A Santa had a girl on his knee, and he commented, “You have nice eyes and nice hair.” The girl later said it was sexual harassment (骚扰) . When a Santa feels anxious, he often shows it in the same ways ordinary people do: The Santas were always seen to hang around at the dinner table when the show ended. Many of them just sleep in bed for several days and don’t see other children again.
1.In the first paragraph, “spokesmen” refers to .
A．businessmen B．political leaders
C．organisers of the activities D．Santa Clauses
2.The passage implies that the job of Santa Claus is .
A．well-paid B．very hard C．worth doing D．dangerous
3.According to the third paragraph, Santas may sometimes be blamed for .
A．doing something against the law B．hanging around the dinner table
C．being lazy and sleeping in bed for days D．not playing their roles as expected
4.What would be the best title for the passage ?
A．Christmas : Not a Good Festival for Santas
B．Is Santa Claus Really Alive ?
C．A Christmas Story
D．What Does Santa Claus Do for Children ?
阅读下面短文，撑握其大意，然后从各题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
In the summer vacation of 1997, I was fixed with a job. I worked as a(n) 1at Mr. Breen’s fruit shop .The fruit shop did 2business . Most of the trade came from the housewives who lived in the neighborhood, 3he also had regular customers who arrived outside the shop in cars. Mr. Breen 4them all by name and they sometimes even had their order already made up, always 5me to carry it out to their car. They were clearly long-standing customers, and I 6they must have stayed faithful to him 7he had promised to sell good quality 8. He had a way with them —I had to 9that. He called every woman “madam” for a start , 10those who clearly were not, but when he 11it , it did not sound like flattery (奉承). It just sounded 12in an old-fashioned way. He was a great chatter 13. If he did not know them, he would greet them with a few 14about the weather, 15he did , he would ask about their families or make 16, always cutting his cloth 17his customers . Whatever their bills came to , he 18gave them back the few odd pence (零钱), and I am sure they thought he was very generous (慷慨). But I thought he was the opposite. He never 19anything away. He was always looking for 20for nothing.
1.A．operator B．assistant C．waiter D．secretary
2.A．good B．poor C．big D．usual
3.A．so B．when C．therefore D．but
4.A．sold B．knew C．gave D．sent
5.A．making B．letting C．getting D．keeping
6.A．wish B．insist C．declare D．suppose
7.A．when B．if C．because D．though
8.A．food B．fruit C．vegetables D．drink
9.A．admit B．expect C．announce D．promise
10.A．yet B．only C．just D．even
11.A．told B．said C．spoke D．talked
12.A．serious B．strange C．polite D．familiar
13.A．as well B．as usual C．either D．also
14.A．sayings B．questions C．words D．speeches
15.A．and then B．and so C．even if D．but if
16.A．preparations B．jokes C．repairs D．friends
17.A．according to B．due to C．instead of D．up to
18.A．never B．ever C．seldom D．always
19.A．took B．moved C．threw D．turned .
20.A．something B．anything C．somebody D．anybody
—Hurry up! Alice and Sue are waiting for you at the school gate.
—Oh! I thought they without me.
A．went B．are going C．have gone D．had gone
—Must I turn off the gas after cooking?
—Of course. You can never be careful with that.
A．enough B．too C．so D．very
The way he did it was different we were used to .
A．in which B．in what C．from what D．from which
Your uncle seems to be a good driver; ,I wouldn’t dare to travel in his car .
A．even so B．even though C．therefore D．so
