Dear son,

   The day that you see me old and I am already not in good health, have patience and try to understand me.

   If I get dirty when eating, if I can not dress, have patience and remember the hours I spent teaching it to you. If, when I speak to you, I repeat the same things thousand and one times, do not interrupt me, listen to me. When you were small, I had to read to you thousand and one times the same story until you got to sleep. When I do not want to have a shower, neither shame me nor scold me. Remember when I had to chase you with thousand excuses I invented, in order that you wanted to breathe. When you see my knowing little about new technologies, give me the necessary time and do not look at me with your mocking(嘲弄) smile. I taught you how to do so many things: to eat good, to dress well, to confront life… When at some moment I lose the memory or the thread of our conversation, let me have the necessary time to remember, and if I cannot do it, do not become nervous, as the most important thing is not our conversation but surely to be with you and to have you listening to me.

  If ever I do not want to eat, do not force me. I know well when I need to and when not. When my tired legs do not allow me to walk, give me your hand, the same way I did when you made your first step. And when someday I say to you that I do not want to live anymore—that I want to rest forever, do not get angry. Someday you will understand.

  Try to understand that my age is not lived but survived. Some day you will discover that, despite my mistakes, I always wanted the best thing for you and that I tried to prepare the way for you. You must not feel sad, angry or impatient for seeing me near you. You must be next to me, try to understand me and to help me as I did it when you starting living. I will pay you by a smile and by the great love I have had always for you.

21. What does the second paragraph mainly talk about?

   A. To show that he needs his son’s understanding.   B. To show he has educated his son well.

   C. To teach his son how to be a good father.        D. To tell his son why he couldn’t behave well.

22. What does the underlined sentence mean?

   A. My life is so hard that I cannot live longer.       

B. I cannot live so long for my old age.

   C. If you treat me better, I can live longer.       

D. I cannot live so long although I am in good health.

23. What does the father mainly want to say to his son in short?

   A. “ Help me to understand my life.”         B. “ Teach you how to live and survive.”           

   C. “ Share you how I taught you.”           D. “ Help to end my way with your love and patience.”

Today was a very big day for me and I had already ordered up a pile of books I needed in the University Library from home by about 10:15. Off I went at 10:30 to the University Library, to get all those references.

Only trouble was that when I arrived I discovered I hadn’t got my university card that would open the library’s electronic entrance, and every other place I needed to access. I had had it in another library the night before (which was where I strongly suspected it still was), but the immediate dilemma was this: should I (Plan A) try using the old university library card I had, which I had thought I had lost, and had been cancelled, but I thought there was a chance it would still work the University Library turnstile (转门)? Or should I (Plan B) admit it and hope that I could blag (哄骗)my way in on the “I’ve been coming to this library for 40 years…” line?

I went for Plan A.

Two reasons really. I think I could probably blag (or cry) my way in, but I thought it might get the entry staff into trouble. They’ve known me for ages, but rules are rules. Besides, I thought there was a good chance that my old card would still work the turnstile even if it had been cancelled. And if it didn’t work, I could still try Plan B.

The answer was my old card did still work. I looked up that tricky little article about the Middle East, then I went off to my own little Library, knocked on the window and got let in by a graduate student (I am sure there are also rules about not letting professors in when they haven’t got their card, even if desperate and crying). And there was good news. There under the pile of books I had been using the night before was the lost card.

24. Who is likely to be the writer?

   A. a librarian working in the Library.        B. a student studying in the university.

   C. a professor working in the university.      D. one of the entry staff working in the Library.

25. What happened to his old university library card?

   A. It was lost in another library.                   B. It was found under a pile of books.

   C. It was found by a graduate student.                D. It had already been cancelled.

26. How did the writer get into his own library?

   A. By using his old card.                                  B. By using his new card.

   C. By asking a student to help him.                 D. By asking entry staff to help him.

27.The writer seems to be a _______ person.

   A. humorous and thoughtful                     B. sensitive and determined  

C. stubborn and forgetful                          D. responsible and decisive

  Three Japanese tourists taking a holiday in Australia got stuck when their GPS told them they could drive from the mainland to an island，failing to mention the 15 kilometres of water and mud in between．

    As they drove their hired car from Moreton Bay to nearby North Stradbroke Island，they started to notice the firm surface they were driving on giving way to the well-known bay mud．However, being confident that their GPS would direct them to a road soon，they decided to drive on，managing to travel around 500 metres before their car was up to its tires in mud．To make matters worse，the tide(潮汐)started to come in and soon forced them to seek help and abandon the vehicle．Just four hours later the car was trapped in, two metres of water—to the great amusement of onlookers on the shore and passengers on passing boats and ferries．

Yuzu Noda,21，said she was listening to the GPS and“it told us we could drive down there．It kept saying it would navigate(导航)us to a road．But we got stuck…there’s lots of mud．”She and her travel companions Tomonari Saeki，22，and Keita Osada,21，instead had to give up their plans for a day trip to the island and headed back to the Gold Coast of a lift from the RACQ tow truck(吊车)driver who was called to the trapped car．No such luck for the hired car though—after assessing the situation，no attempt was made to recover it. The students from Tokyo，who are due to return home tomorrow, said the experience would not put them off returning to Australia for another visit．Mr．Tomonari said，“It has rained every day on our six day holiday．Hopefully next time we come back it will be sunny.”

The car was covered by insurance, but the tourists will have to pay up to about$1 500 in extra charges．

28．The three Japanese tourists got stuck because________．

A．there was no way to the island

B．their GPS had given the wrong information

C．their GPS was broken during their journey

D．their car was not made in Japan

29．They didn’t abandon their car until___________．

A．some onlookers went to save them       B．they got stuck in the mud

C．there came the tide                             D．they managed to travel around 500 metres

30．How did these Japanese students get back?

A．They had to walk back to their living place．

B．They had to repair their GPS and drove back．

C．They had to turn to passengers on boats and ferries．

D．They had to take a lift from the tow truck driver．

31．From the passage we can know that__________．

A．The car was left where it was trapped

B．The passengers saved these students in the end

C．Mr．Tomonari got very down after the journey

D．No money has to be paid thanks to insurance

A bargain is something offered at a low and advantageous price. A more recent definition is: a bargain is a dirty trick to force money out of the pockets of silly and innocent people.

       The cost of producing a new - for example - toothpaste would make 80p the proper price for it, so we will market it at £1.20. It is not a bad toothpaste, and as people like to try new things it will sell well to start with; but the attraction of novelty soon fades, so sales will fall. When that happens we will reduce the price to £1.15. And we will turn it into a bargain by printing 5p OFF all over it.

       Sometimes it is not 5p OFF but 1p OFF. What breathtaking rudeness to advertise 1p OFF your soap or washing powder or whatever! Even the poorest old-age pensioner ought to regard this as an insult(侮辱), but he doesn’t. A bargain must not be missed. People say one has to have washing powder (or whatever) and one might as well buy it a penny cheaper.

The real danger starts when unnecessary things become ‘bargains’. Many people just cannot resist bargains. Provided they think they are getting a bargain they will buy clothes they will never wear or furniture they have no space for. Once I heard of a man who bought an electric saw as a bargain and cut off two of his fingers the next day. But he had no regrets: the saw had been truly cheap.

       Quite a few people actually believe that they make money on such bargains. A lady once told me: “I’ve had a lucky day today. I bought a dress for £120, reduced from £400; and I bought a beautiful Persian carpet for £600, reduced from £900.” It will never occur to her that she has actually wasted £720. She feels as though she had made £580. She also feels, I am sure, that if she had more time for shopping, she could make a living out of it.

       Some people buy in large quantities because it is cheaper. Once a couple bought enough sugar for their lifetime and the lifetime of their children and grandchildren. They thought it a bargain not to be missed. When the sugar arrived they didn’t know where to store it – until they realized that their toilet was a very spacious one. So that was where they piled up their sugar. Not only did their guests feel rather strange whenever they were offered sugar to put into their coffee, but the toilet became extremely sticky.

       To offer bargains is a commercial trick to make the poor poorer. When greedy fools fall for this trick, it serves them right.

32. Which word best describes the language style of the passage?

   A. Polite.                     B. Foolish.                    C. Humorous.              D. Serious.

33. What does the underlined word “novelty” in Paragraph 2 probably mean?

   A. Good quality.              B. Low price.                C. Newness.                 D. Curiosity.

34. How does the author feel about 1p OFF a product?

   A. It’s a gift for poor people.                               B. It’s an offence to shoppers.

   C. It’s a bargain worth trying.                             D. It’s a real reduction in price.

35. Which statement will the author probably agree with?

   A. Bargains are things people don’t really need.    B. Bargains are often real cheap products.

   C. Bargains help people make a living.        D. Bargains play tricks on people. 

House Sitting

In many countries of the world people do what is called house sitting. It means that if owners of the house are going away, they want someone to come into their home and look after the house and maybe pets while they are away.

In Australia, many people travel. After people retire, they might buy a van(房车) and travel all over the country.    36      

So if someone wants to travel or go away for some reason, they might want someone in their home to care for it and keep the gardens tidy. House sitters might have to care for pets. Also, quite a few people have swimming pools in their back yard and they need cleaning.    37    I feel it is a great way of seeing the country, because you go and stay in a new city, get to meet new people, and have time to go sightseeing in a new area.

     38      There are websites where you find the advertisements by people who want to travel, and by replying to the advertisement, you can make arrangements to go and look after their home.

There are some requirements to be a house sitter. You must be a trusted person, so that the home owner knows you will not steal anything. You must be able to go when the house owner wants you to go, so you need lots of free time.    39    You need to be good with pets, able to care for cats and dogs, or other pets they may have.

Some house sitting jobs are just for a few days or a couple of weeks while the house owner have a short holiday. Sometimes it is for much longer. We have had one house sit for six months, while the home owner travelled to Europe.

   40    Then you can travel to many different countries and stay there. One of the important things to get are references from the home owners where you have stayed. A reference is a written letter to say that you are trustworthy and have looked after their home well. You can show these letters to prospective house sitting jobs and they know you will do a good job.

A. I have done house sitting many times.

B. Besides, thousands of people do this all the time.

C. It is also possible to do house sitting in other countries.

D. Generally you have many opportunities to get a house sitting job.

E. You must take a little care over what your description says about you.

F. This is an international house sitting service for all city and country areas.

G. You must have a good car, so you can travel to different parts of the country.