①A. 6:00               B. 5:45                 C. 6:15

② A. two kilometers      B. three kilometers        C. four kilometers

③A. his little sister       B. his lovely dog          C. his father's chickens

④ A. the TV was broken    B. it was boring            C. he didn't have one

⑤A. had some good times    B. didn't do any housework     C. worried about his life

阅读下面短文，掌握其大意，然后从A、B、C、D四个选项中选出可以填入空白处的最佳选项。

    Twenty years ago, I drove a taxi for a living. One early morning, I 1 a call for a taxi. When I arrived at the building, it was 2:30 a.m. and I found the building was dark except for the only light in a first floor window.

    Many drivers would just shout once or twice and then drove away, but I thought this 2 might need my help. So I walked to the door and knocked, “Just a minute,” answered a 3, elderly voice. After a long time, the door opened. A small old man showed up before me, 4a small bag. He kept thanking me for my 5. “It's nothing,” I told him.

     “Oh, you're such a good man.” He said. When we got into the taxi, he gave me a (an) 6, and then asked, “Could you drive through the city center?”

     “But it wasn't the 7way.” I answered quickly. “Oh, I'm in no hurry.” He said. “I'm on my way to a hospital. I don't have any family left. The 8 says I don't have much time left.

    I 9 started the taxi and shut off the meter(计程器). For the next two hours, we drove through the city center. He showed me the building where he once worked. We drove 10 the church where he got married. He would never forget that happy moment. Sometimes he'd ask me to slow down in front of a building and would sit 11the darkness for a long time, saying nothing. When the sun began to rise, we drove in silence to the address he had given me. When we arrived,12 without thinking, I gave him a big hug. “You gave an old man a little moment of 13. Thank you!” He said with tears in his eyes.

    I was completely lost in thought for the rest of the day. What would happen if I had refused to do14 I did? We always think that there are no 15 moments in our lives, but great moments are just in what others may think small and unimportant ones!

A

One night, when I was eight, my mother gently asked me a question I would never forget. “Cindy, my company wants to promote (升职) me but needs me to work in Brazil. This is like your teacher telling you that you've done well and allowing you to skip (跳) a grade, but you'll have to leave your friends. Would you say yes to your teacher?” She gave me a hug and asked me to think about it. I was lost in thought. The question kept me wondering for the rest of the night. I had said “yes” but for the first time, I realized the difficult decisions adults had to make.

     For almost four years, my mother would call us from Brazil every day. Every evening I'd eagerly wait for the phone to ring and then tell her everything happened during the day. A phone call, however, could never take her place and it was difficult not to feel lonely at times.

During my fourth-grade Christmas break, we flew to Rio to visit her. Looking at her large empty apartment,   ▲  It was then I started to understand the difficult choices she had to make. She needed to think about both family and work. Faced with difficult decisions, she used to tell me, you wouldn't know whether you make the right choice, but you could always make the best out of the situation, with a positive attitude.

     Back home, I reminded myself that what my mother could do, I could, too. If she managed to live in Rio all by herself, I, too, could learn to be independent. I learn how to take care of myself and set high but achievable goals.

My mother is now back with us. But I will never forget what the experience has really taught me. I've learned a lot because of this separation. There are lots of difficult decisions that we have to face in our life. We need to have a positive attitude no matter what happens.

     The weather is getting hotter. You are thirsty playing basketball or riding home from school. A cold drink may be just the thing. But be careful what you are drinking. Something that looks cool may not be good for your health. There are plenty of “energy drinks” on the market. Most of them have beautiful colors and cool names. The lists on them tell you they are helpful to your health. Sounds great! But after a careful check you may find that most energy drinks have lots of caffeine(咖啡因 )in them.

These drinks are especially aimed at young people, students, busy people and players. Makers sometimes say their drinks make you better at sports and can keep you awake. But be careful not to drink too much.

Caffeine（咖啡因）makes your heart beat fast. Because of this, the International Olympic Committee has limited(限制) its use .Caffeine in most energy drinks is at least as strong as that in a cup of coffee or tea. Possible health dangers have something to do with energy drinks. Just one box of energy drinks can make you nervous, have difficulty sleeping and can even cause heart problems. Scientists say that teenagers should be discouraged from taking drinks with a lot of caffeine in them.

One year, a college in the United States announced that it would offer a lot of money for the pure white marigold(金盏花). The high reward attracted so many people, but in the nature, besides golden, the marigold is brown, and it is not easy to get the white one. So after they were excited for a time, many people had forgotten the announcement.

    One normal day after 20 years, the college received a letter and 100 seeds of pure white marigold. It was an old woman of over 70 years old. Some experts in the college doubted it, but in order not to let her down, those seeds finally took root (根）in the earth. The miracle appeared after one year; the field was covered by pure white marigold.

     Therefore, the old woman who was always unknown to the public became a new focus.

The old woman was a flower-lover. When she read the announcement 20 years ago, she got very excited like others. But her eight children were totally against her decision. After all, a woman who never knew the seed genetics(遗传学) couldn't complete what the experts could never do, so her thought was only a day dream.

     Still, the old woman didn't change her mind and went on working. She planted some of the most common seeds and took good care of them. A year later, when the marigold came out, she chose one faintest(最暗淡的) from those golden and brown flowers and got the best seed. The next year, she again grew them and chose ...Day after day, year after year, through many seasons, the old woman's husband died, her children flew far, a lot of things happened in her life, but only the wish to grow the pure white marigold took root in her heart.

     Finally, after 20 years on the day we all know, in the garden she saw a marigold, which was nearly white, but as white as silver or snow.

     A problem even experts couldn't deal with was solved by an old woman who didn't understand genetics. Was it a miracle (奇迹）?

     To take root in the heart, even the most common seed, can grow into a miracle!

    Don and his son, Allen, love basketball very much. On Allen's        (第十) birthday, Don decided to drive him to Chicago, for the first game of the World Championships. The car ride took them two hours. They had no tickets but hoped to buy two from other people.

    After arriving, they walked in the streets for two hours, carrying a sign which said, “We need two tickets.” But the       (最便宜的) ticket was $175 and they could not       (买得起) it. They were about to leave when a       (陌生人) stopped them. He       (拉; 拖) out two tickets and handed them to Don. “How much do you want?” “Free ! No money is needed!” said the man.

    When asked, the man explained. “I am working for Joe, who hasn't       (错过) a World Championships for 16 years.       (但是), he is ill and he can't make it this time. So he told me to give the two tickets away. The only rule he set is to give the tickets to people who really needed them. A lot of people looked as if they might just take the tickets and sell them quickly. Then I saw you. You remind me of my dad and myself when I was a child. I really wanted to go to see a World Championships game at that time. But I never got the       (机会).” With the tickets, we entered the court       (高兴地).

    It's an important and unforgettable game that Don and his son watched! Here is what Don said, “It's       (值得的) remembering it. My boy and I must have turned to each other 30 times duringthe game. I can't forget that night.”

A: Annie, I'm a little nervous. I have to finish        a book and give a report next Monday.

B: That doesn't sound too bad.

A: But I'm a very slow reader.

B: Just read quickly to get the main ideas at first. Don't read word        word. Read word groups.

A: But I don't understand many of the words. I have to use a dictionary.

B: Try to guess a word's        by reading the sentences before and after it. You        understand more than you think.

A: That sounds difficult!

B: Well, be patient. It takes time. You can become better by reading something you enjoy every day. The more you read, the        you'll be.

    An ant was walking by a river. She looked at the river and said to herself, “       nice and cool this water looks! I must drink some of it.” But        she was drinking, she slipped(滑倒) into the river.

    Luckily a bird was sitting in the tree. The bird quickly used his mouth       (cut) a leaf from the tree. He dropped the leaf into the river near the ant.

    The ant climbed onto the leaf, and the wind blew the leaf to the bank. And the ant       (save).

     “Thank you!”shouted the ant,        her low voice. But her voice was        low that the bird couldn't hear it.

    After a few days, the bird was building his nest. Suddenly a bird catcher       (careful) took out his nest(网). He quietly walked towards the branch where the bird was sitting.

    The ant saw this, and ran quickly to bite the       (man) leg. “Ouch” The pain in his leg made the man drop his nest. The bird heard the noise and        (fly) away.

    The bird never knew how the little ant helped.        the ant was happy that she was able to do something for the bird.

    ①    

     Hello, I'm Tom. I remember at one time, when we were running on the playground, I was too tired to go on. As I wanted to give up, some of my classmates cheered me up. My classmates' encouragements helped me finish the run. I'll never forget it.

    ②    

     Hello, I'm Mary. When I was in Grade Two, I didn't prepare well for an English contest. I said sorry to my teacher. He said: “Any opportunity is important. You should never give it up easily.” Later on, I made good use of every opportunity. I'll never forget him.

    ③    

     Hi, I'm Lucy. The time I traveled to Qingdao with my classmates was the most unforgettable experience. We swam in the sea and caught crabs (螃蟹) on the beach. We played games and enjoyed the beautiful scenery. I will never forget that trip.

     ④   

     Hi, I'm Jim. I took part in the red song competition with my classmates last year. Every day, we rehearsed(排练) very hard in order to get a good result. Because of our hard work, we achieved a good result in the competition.

请你根据来信内容，写一封回信。回信内容要求:

1）理解父母亲的良苦用心, 他们出发点一定是为你好的。临近毕业，学业为重。

2）手机的确有很多好处，比如：查字典，听音乐，查资料……但是也有不少危害，如使用不当，的确影响学习和生活。

3）注意：以上信息不能遗漏，并适当发挥。但不要逐条翻译中文提示。词数80～100。

Dear Liu Yang,

    It's normal to have these feelings. ……

    I hope things will be better for you soon!

Meghan