I had the meanest mother in the whole world. While other kids ate candy for breakfast, I had to have cereal, eggs or toast. When others had cokes and candy for lunch, I had to eat a sandwich. As you can guess, my supper was different from the other kids' also. But at least, I wasn't alone in my sufferings. My sister and two brothers had the same mean mother as I did.

    My mother insisted upon knowing where we were at all times. You'd think we were on a chain gang. She had to know who our friends were and where we were going. She insisted if we said we'd be gone an hour, that we be gone one hour or less — not one hour and one minute.

    We had to wear clean clothes and take a bath everyday. The other kids always wore their clothes for days. We reached the height of insults because she made our clothes herself, just to save money.

    The worst is yet to come. We had to be in bed by nine each night and up at eight the next morning. We couldn't sleep till noon like our friends. So while they slept --- my mother actually had the nerve to break the Child Labor Law. She made us work. We had to wash dishes, make beds, learn to cook and all sorts of cruel things. I believe she laid awake at night thinking up mean things to do to us.

    Through the years, things didn't improve a bit. We could not lie in bed, "sick" like our friends did, and miss school. Our marks in school had to be up to par. Our friends' report cards had beautiful colors on them, black for passing, red for failing. My mother, being as different as she was, would settle for nothing less than ugly black marks.

    As the years rolled by, first one and then the other of us was put to shame. We were graduated from high school. With our mother behind us, talking, hitting and demanding respect, none of us was allowed the pleasure of being a drop-out.

    My mother was a complete failure as a mother. Out of four children, a couple of us attained some higher education. None of us have ever been arrested or divorced. Each of my brothers served his time in the service of this country. She forced us to grow up into God-fearing, educated, honest adults. Using this as a background, I am now trying to raise my three children. I am filled with pride when my children call me mean. Why? Because now I thank God every day for giving me the meanest mother in the whole world.

What can we infer from the passage?

A. The author is not happy to have such a mean mother.       

B. The author's mother broke the Child Labor Law to make money.

C. The author's mother failed to educate her children to be honest adults

D. The author is strict with her children.

Why couldn’t the author eat candy for breakfast?

  A. Because she preferred cereal, eggs or toast to candy.

  B. Because her mother couldn’t afford for candy.

  C. Because her mother thought it not good to eat candy for breakfast.

  D. Because her mother had to gave candy to the author’s sister and two brothers.

The author’s mother made her children work because _________ .

   A. she had trouble falling into sleep

   B. she could not keep such a big family without her children’s help

   C. she was teaching her children to live by themselves.

   D. she had no time to do housework.

.____my corporation, let me propose a toast to you! Thank you again for your generous help.

A.  On behalf of         B. In honour of        C In favour of    D. On account of

 

III 閱讀（共兩節(jié)，滿分40分）

第一節(jié)閱讀理解（共15小題；每小題2分，滿分30分）         閱讀下面短文，從每題所給的A、B、C和D項中，選出最佳選項，并在答題卡卷上將該項涂黑。

Your Excellency, Ladies and Gentlemen,

I take great pleasure in formally welcoming you and Madam Liu to Buckingham Palace on the occasion of your State Visit to the United Kingdom. You are certainly no stranger to the United Kingdom. This will be your second visit this year, and I also met Your Excellency when you visited as Vice-President in 2001.

It is now almost twenty years since I visited China. Since then China’s development has caught the world’s attention and admiration. It matters to all of us what kind of country China’s people will build, what role they will play in the world of the twenty-first century, and how this will be sensed by others.

China’s growth brings with it difficult challenges for you and your government, but also great opportunities. During her visit in September, the Princess Royal saw both the flagship cities of Beijing and Shanghai and the efforts of government and non-governmental organizations to reduce poverty in rural areas of Anhui and Gansu. I am delighted that China was able to join discussions earlier this year on poverty relief in Africa, sharing with the global community your own remarkable experience in this area.

In those twenty years, the world has changed too. When I visited China in 1986, we had no inkling that the Cold War was so close to its end and we knew little then of the significance of global warming. Now we are able to work together and in the international community to solve problems of environmental protection and sustainable (可持續(xù)的) development ...

May I now ask all our guests to raise their glasses and drink a toast:

To His Excellency the President of the People’s Republic of China and Madam Liu and the Chinese people.

1. The speech was most probably given in _________.

A. 1986          B. 1995             C. 2001             D. 2005

2. According to the passage, which of the following is NOT true?

A. The hostess cares much about China’s development.

B. China is faced with both difficult challenges and opportunities.

C. China attended the discussion earlier that year whose topic was how to relieve poverty in rural areas of Anhui and Gansu.

D. China used his own successful experiences to help African people to reduce poverty.

3. The underlined word “inkling” means ____________.

A. slight knowledge              B. suggestion         C. impression         D. doubt

4. The paragraphs which are left out probably talk about ___________.

A. the history of the two countries

B. things they disagree with each other

C. what the partnership between the countries is like today

D. development of the two countries

5. Which of the following best summarizes the tone of the speech?

A. Formal.                 B. Excited.                   C. Casual.                    D. Personal.

      

Born into a poor family，two of the Durers' children still had a dream for art，but they knew their father could not afford to send either of them to the academy(院校)．
After discussions，the two boys finally agreed to toss a coin．The loser would go to the nearby mines and support his brother while he attended the academy．Then，when the winner completed his studies，he would support the other brother，either with sales of his art work or，if necessary，by working in the mines．So they tossed a coin．Albrecht Durer won the toss and went to Nuremberg．Albert went to the dangerous mines and financed his brother，whose work at the academy was almost an immediate success，and by graduation，he was beginning to earn considerable fees for his works．
When the Durer family held a dinner to celebrate Albrecht's homecoming， Albrecht drank a toast to his brother，“Now，Albert，it is your turn to go to Nuremberg and follow your dream，and I will take care of you．”
Albert wiped the tears from his cheeks，glanced at the faces he loved，and said softly，“No，brother．It is too late for me．Look….look what four years in the mines have done to my hands! The bones in every finger have been broken at least once，and lately I have been suffering from arthritis(關(guān)節(jié)炎)so badly in my right hand that I cannot even hold a glass to return your toast，much 1ess make lines on canvas(畫布)with a pen or a brush．No，brother …for me it is too 1ate．”
Therefore，Albrecht took pains to draw his brother’s injured hands with palms together and thin fingers stretched skyward．The entire world almost immediately opened their hearts to his great masterpiece and named it “The Praying Hands”．
【小題1】The passage is mainly about

A．the early life of Albrecht Durer

B．the story behind “The Praying Hands”

C．the sacrifice Albrecht made for his brother

D．a(chǎn) young man showing his talent through effort

【小題2】According to the two brothers’ agreement，．

A．they let the coin decide who would go to the academy first

B．the winner would work at the academy in exchange for the loser’s help

C．the loser would go to the mines and earn money to pay for his own education

D．the winner would work in the mines after graduation in return for the loser's support

【小題3】Albert refused his brother’s offer because．

A．he was too old to learn drawing

B．he suffered an accident.

C．he was not used to holding a pen or brush

D．his hands were out of shape as a result of hard work

【小題4】The artist created the masterpiece “The Praying Hands”

A．to show kindness to his poor brother

B．to encourage people to realize their dreams

C．in praise of his brother’s sacrifice and love

D．in honor of his brother as a symbol of working people

Overjoyed to see his long lost friends, Carter ______ a toast to the health of them all.

    A.suggested        B.recommended       C. proposed        D. ordered