A mouse looked through a crack in the wall to see the farmer and his wife opening a package: What food might it contain? He was astonished to discover that it was a mouse trap!
Retreating（撤退） to the farmyard, the mouse declared the warning, “There is a mouse trap in the house, there is a mouse trap in the house.”
The chicken clucked and scratched, raised her head and said, “Mr Mouse, I can tell you this is a grave concern to you, but it is of no consequence to me, I cannot be bothered by it.”
The mouse turned to the pig and told him, “There is a mouse trap in the house.” “I am so sorry, Mr Mouse,” sympathized the pig, “but there is nothing I can do about it but pray; be assured that you are in my prayers.”
The mouse turned to the cow, who replied, “A mouse trap, am I in grave danger, huh?”
So the mouse returned to the house, head down and depressed to face the farmer’s mouse trap alone.
That very night a sound was heard throughout the house, like the sound of a mouse trap catching its prey. The farmer’s wife rushed to see what was caught. In the darkness, she did not see that it was an evil snake whose tail the trap had caught. The snake bit the farmer’s wife. The farmer rushed her to the hospital. She returned home with a fever. Now everyone knew to treat a fever with fresh chicken soup, so the farmer took his hatchet to the farmyard for the soup’s main ingredient. His wife’s sickness continued so that friends and neighbors came to sit with her around the clock. To feed them, the farmer butchered the pig. The farmer’s wife did not get well, in fact, she died, and so many people came for her funeral. The farmer had the cow slaughtered to provide meat for all of them to eat.
So the next time you hear that someone is facing a problem and think that it does not concern you, remember that when the least of us is threatened, we are all at risk.
1.We may infer that the passage is most probably a ______.
A. fairy tale B. fable
C. science fiction D. news report
2.We could see from the passage that the mouse was ______.
A. kind and warm-hearted B. well-informed
C. good at cheating others D. foolish and rude
3.Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
A. The pig was comparatively less friendly than the others in the farmyard.
B. The mouse trap that the mouse discovered was not a practical one.
C. The farmer and his wife trapped an evil snake that night.
D. The farmer’s family was in fact poor and they had no friends.
4.The underlined word “ingredient” (Paragraph 7) refers to ______.
A. the mouse B. the pig
C. the snake D. the chicken
Nick was not the kind of boy I had expected to spend my summer with. I was hoping to have a relaxation the summer before my busy senior year, ____ my mother asked me to do her a ____. One of her colleagues needed a full－time ____. “You planned to volunteer at the local hospital; why not volunteer to ____ Nick instead？” Then she told me that this six-year-old boy was not a ____ child.
Nick was a lovely little boy who suffered from many disorders. Normal day-care centers would not ____ him. As a baby, he had serious ear infections which left him with equilibrium(平衡)problems. He couldn't ____ or run properly. I was hesitating ____ I was to take the job when my mother ____, “Don't you want to be a nurse in the future? I doubt if you even have the ____.”
Then I told her I was ____ for the job.
The day started at 7：00 a．m. Nick was my wake-up call! With so much energy and very little ____ , he was quite a mix.
At the park, when he saw all the other children play on the jungle gym and swings, the boy's face ____ up—How he wished he belonged to the group of his age! You would think it would be___ to get a child to go down a slide. Believe me, it wasn't! It took time, a lot of time. But with patience and support, Nick took one step up the slide each day. We worked together to face his ____ and gradually he got closer to taking the slide of his life.
Halfway through the summer, he ____ it to the top of the slide. With my arms ___ him tightly, we flew down the slide! I waited for his reaction. After realizing that he was safe and sound, he gave me a big ____ and asked, “May I go down again, alone？”
I had never been happier in my life when I saw this little child climb the ladder and enjoy what other children ____ for granted.
This ____ child taught me that being a nurse means respect, kindness and patience.
1.A. and B. however C. so D. but
2.A. service B. business C. favor D. trade
3.A. nurse B. waitress C. guard D. guide
4.A. protect B. attend C. defend D. comfort
5.A. naughty B. clever C. normal D. happy
6.A. admit B. receive C. accept D. adopt
7.A. speak B. play C. stand D. walk
8.A. if B. what C. why D. where
9.A. suggested B. argued C. challenged D. commented
10.A. courage B. energy C. faith D. time
11.A. eager B. sorry C. grateful D. ready
12.A. awareness B. knowledge C. balance D. control
13.A. delighted B. cheered C. lit D. shut
14.A. difficult B. interesting C. simple D. terrible
15.A. fears B. worries C. chances D. situation
16.A. climbed B. got C. managed D. made
17.A. taking B. holding C. bringing D. greeting
18.A. kiss B. clap C. welcome D. surprise
19.A. play B. do C. take D. enjoy
20.A. miserable B. smart C. brave D. special
---How did you find your visit to the Summer Palace yesterday?
---______. I got separated from my 80-year-old grandparents.
A. It couldn’t be better
B. I have no idea
C. Good luck to me
D. It couldn’t be worse
______ in his novel, he didn’t notice his teacher entered the classroom.
A. Having absorbed B. Absorbing
C. Absorbed D. Being absorbed
It took me quite a while to ______ how to solve this problem.
A. figure out B. stand out
C. put out D. run out
The Smiths consider ______ a computer, which is commonly considered ______ a great help in our work and study.
A. to buy; to be B. to buy; being
C. buying; to be D. buying; being
