The clock struck eleven at night. The whole house was quiet. Everyone was in bed except me. Under the strong light, I looked sadly before a huge pile of troublesome stuff they call “books”.
I was going to have my examination the next day. "When can I go to bed?" I asked myself. I didn’t answer, in fact I dared not.
The clock struck 12. "Oh, dear!" I cried, " ten more books to read before I can go to bed!” We pupils are the most wretched creatures in the world. Dad does not agree with me on this. He did not have to work so hard when he was a boy ."
The clock struck one. I was quite hopeless now. I forgot all I had learnt. I was too tired to go on. I did the only thing I could. I prayed, “Oh, God, Please help me pass the exam tomorrow. I do promise to work hard afterwards, Amen.” My eyes were heavy, so heavy that I could hardly open them. A few minutes later, with my head on the desk, I fell asleep.
1.When the author was going over his lessons, all the others in the house were_____ .
A. asleep B. working in bed
C. outside D. quietly laughing at him
2.Reviewing his lessons didn’t help him because ________.
A. it was too late at night
B. he was very tired
C. his eyes l ids were so heavy that he couldn’t keep them open
D. he hadn’t studied hard before the examination
3.What do you suppose happened to the author?
A. He went to a church to pray again
B. He passed the exam by luck
C. He failed in the exam
D. He was punished by his teacher
4.The best title for the passage would be __________.
A. The Night Before the Examination
B. Working Far into the Night
C. A Slow Student
D. Going Over My Lessons
The only thing that troubled me more than the pain in my back that morning was my worries about money. I’d been excited to visit my sister--Therese, but all I could think about was how I’d hurt my back and had to down my hours at work. Even with my savings, I wasn’t sure I’d have enough to cover the bills.
“Are you OK?” Therese asked.
“Yeah,” I said. “Just wish I could stop worrying about .”
“Why don’t we make Mom’s cake?” she said. “Mom to make this kind of cake for all of us. It will you up.”
It wasn’t easy being a single mom, raising eight of us kids with money, but that couldn’t bring Mom down. She got that spirit from our grandmother, who was never about the hardships(艰难，困苦). Also, Mom was good at use of food. She always found a way to include a special(特别的) treat on birthday or Christmas--a tasty cake with 43 eggs, milk or butter.
“ how we’d all run around the living room singing,‘eggless, milkless, butterless cake’?” Therese asked, laughing.
“Those were good times,” I said. We didn’t have money, we knew how to have together.
Thinking about the eight of us gathered around the kitchen table waiting for Mom to cut the cake my worries. Mom would make the cake extra for Christmas--a coin was put into the cake. “Whoever finds the in their cake can keep it and they won’t have to do housework for a week.”she would say.
My siblings﹙兄弟姐妹﹚and I are now separated from each other, but the cake still us.
“Cake’s done,” Therese said. I pulled it out of the oven(烤箱), then called everyone in. We gathered around the kitchen table, like old times.
“Feeling any ?” Therese asked.
“Yeah,” I said. I looked at the around the table, reminded once again that whatever hardships come my way I can do more than just get through them.
I can find in my life, even in a simple cake, and share it the ones I love.
1.A.breakB. passC. putD. cut
2.A.moneyB. businessC. timeD. health
3.A. usedB. hadC. gotD. enjoyed
4.A. wakeB. cheerC. bringD. pick
5.A. littleB. extraC. goodD. easy
6.A. facedB. upsetC. surprisedD. caught
7.A. gettingB. havingC. makingD. finding
8.A. manyB. someC. fewD. no
9.A. WonderB. ExplainC. RememberD. Understand
10.A. andB. butC. ifD. as
11.A. freedomB. performanceC. funD. dream
12.A. endedB. hidC. deepenedD. kept
13.A. specialB. roundC. heavyD. large
14.A. candleB. prizeC. butterD. secret
15.A. connectsB. challengesC .treatsD. interests
16.A. alsoB. somehowC. soD. just
17.A. fasterB. closerC. youngerD. better
18.A. platesB. guestsC. facesD. chairs
19.A. limitB. joyC. respectD. luck
20.A. forB. atC. withD. to
---Was he sorry for what he’d done?
---____________.
A .No wonder B. Not really
C. Well done D. Go ahead
The first place ____they visited in London was the Big Ben.
A. where B. in which
C. that D. which
With the day’s work____, Mr Smith left office.
A .finished B. finishing
C. to finish D. finish
You are not ____the books out of the library.
A. suppose to take B. supposed taking
C. supposing to take D. supposed to take
