There was a king who gave his daughter a beautiful diamond necklace. The necklace was stolen and his people in the kingdom searched everywhere but could not find it. So the king asked to search for it and put a reward for＄50,000 for anyone who found it.
One day, a clerk was walking home along a river when he saw something shinning in the river and when he looked, he saw the diamond necklace. He decided to try and catch it to get the ＄50,000 reward.
He put his hand in the river and tried to catch the necklace, but somehow missed it and didn’t catch it. He took his hand out and looked again and the necklace was still there. He tried again.
But strangely, he still missed the necklace! He came out and started walking away, feeling sad. Just then, an old man walking by saw him, and asked him what was the matter. The clerk didn’t want to share the secret with him, thinking he might take the necklace for himself, so he refused to tell him anything.
The old man could see this man was troubled. He again asked the clerk to tell him the problem and promised that he would not tell anyone about it. The clerk told him about the necklace and how he tried and tried to catch it, but kept failing.
The old man then told him that perhaps he should try looking upward, toward the branches of the tree, instead of in the river. The clerk looked up and true enough, the necklace was hanging on the branch of a tree. He had been trying to take a reflection of the real necklace all this time.
1.The clerk tried to get the diamond necklace to __________.
A. make the king happy. B. keep it for himself.
C. get the big reward. D. sell it at a high price.
2. Before the old man asked the clerk what was the matter, the clerk .
A. was searching in the water B. was trying to find help
C. felt rather tired D. was not feeling good
3.Where did the clerk find the necklace at last?
A. On the tree B. On the bank C. In the river D. In the sand
4. What might be the best title for the passage?
A. A beautiful diamond necklace B. A king’s promise
C.A lucky young clerk D. Changing the way of thinking
I remember a day when I was a little kid. I was making a sandwich in the kitchen when I noticed the date on one of the wine bottles.
“ Dad, dad!” I cried. “This wine is too old to drink.”
“ Son, hold on,” he said.
“ No, you can’t drink this tonight! This bottle of wine was made 10 years ago.”
“ Wait, let me tell you…”
“ Would you like me to throw it away from you?” I asked.
“ Son, wait a second,” he said. “Son, some wines get better over time. The longer you wait to drink it, the better it will be. Although this may seem strange, it is true.”
When I was young, I didn’t have any understanding of what this meant, but now, this would have been very helpful to remember as I went through my teenage years.
In our society, we forget this simple rule: The longer you want for certain things, the better they will be. But we want the best job as quickly as possible; we want to graduate from college in as few years as possible; we even speed through our homework just to chat with friends. When we do this, we lose something of great importance.
We all want to get to the next step so quickly that perhaps we don’t get ready enough to get there. This has a negative effect on our society. When trying to go to the right college, we will do anything to get in and when we rush through our class-work, we may not study enough for the test, and end up failing. We need to be ready for whatever comes, ready for the unexpected. Wine gets better over time, so do the things in our paths of life.
1.Why did the author tell his father not to drink the bottle of wine?
A. Because it smelt terrible.
B. Because it was mixed with something else.
C. Because his father drank too much that night.
D. Because it had been kept for years.
2.What the author’s father said __________.
A. made the author puzzled when he was a little child.
B. was too simple a rule to be meaningful to the author.
C. threw the author into deep thought then.
D. was an excuse to drink the wine.
3. In the author’s opinion, if we do things too quickly, we will __________.
A. do it better B. save much time
C. graduate from college more quickly D. miss something useful to us in life
4. Which of the following best reflects the main idea of the passage?
A. Well begun is half done. B. More haste（匆忙）, less speed.
C. Failure is the mother of success. D.Nothing is impossible to a willing heart.
I’ve spent most of my career as a traveling salesman, and so I know that 1 is an occupational disease. But one year, my 2 gave me the cure for my homesickness.
It had black bright eyes, a red bow tie and orange feet--- a stuffed penguin (企鹅) that 3 about five inches tall. Attached to its left wing 4 a little sign with the hand-painted declaration “ I Love My Dad!”. I immediately 5 the penguin on my table.
On my next trip, I put the 6 in my suitcase. That night when I called home, my daughter Jeanine was 7 because the penguin had disappeared. “Honey, he’s here with me,” I explained, “ I brought him 8 ”.
9 , the penguin came with me --- as necessary as my briefcase. And we 10 along the way. In Albuquerque, I checked into a 11 , dropped my bag and ran to a meeting. When I returned, the maid had 12 the bed and stood the penguin on the pillow.
One night, I discovered the penguin 13 , and after a mad phone call, I learned I’d 14 it in my previous hotel room, 15 it had been rescued by a maid. I 16 a hundred miles to get it, and when I arrived at midnight, the penguin was waiting at the front desk. In the hotel lobby (大厅), other tired business travelers were 17 at the reunion of my penguin and me --- I think with a touch of 18 .
Jeanine is in college now, and I don’t travel 19 . The penguin sits on my table, a reminder that love is a wonderful traveling companion. All those years on 20 , it was the one thing I never left home without.
1.A. cold B. hunger C. loneliness D. fever
2.. A. boy B. daughter C. friend D. mother
3.A. stood B. lay C. jumped D. climbed
4. A. wrote B. turned C. was D. had
5.. A. threw B. lost C. gave D. placed
6.. A. bear B. penguin C. dog D. rabbit
7. A. upset B. happy C. glad D. excited
8. A. up B. off C. along D. down
9. A. From now on B. In the future C. In future D. From then on
10. A. had friends B. had friend C. made friends D. made friend
11.A. school B. hotel C. shop D. supermarket
12. A. given B. turned C. made D. carried
13.A. sleeping B. going C. living D. missing
14.A. forget B. left C. ordered D. sent
15.A. there B. when C. where D. how
16. A. ran B. walked C. hurried D. drove
17.A. surprised B. frightened C. looked D. laughed
18. A. anger B. envy C. sadness D. illness
19.A. as many B. as seldom C. so little D. as much
20.A. the hotel B. the meeting C. the road D. the house
After great efforts, he finally achieved his goal, _________.
A. being pleased but excited B. pleasant and excited
C. pleasantly but excitedly D. pleased and excited
Tom worked hard, but _________ didn’t please the boss.
A. it B. one C. what D. which
---- Do you think he has improved his English much enough?
---- Yes. You couldn’t hope for _________ at this time.
A. a good result B. the better result C. a better result D. the best result
