We were ______ surprised at the news that we couldn’t say anything.

____ the temperature falling so rapidly, we couldn't go on with the experience.

A. Since   B. With    C. As    D. For

It was a Sunday and the heavy storm had lasted all night. The morning after the storm, though, was beautiful： blue skies, warm air and a calm, inviting sea touching the shore gently.

My father realized it was a good day for fishing and invited my sister and me to go with him. I was only 14 and fishing had never been my thing, but I decided to go all the same. I’m so glad I did.

On the road to the harbour we could see the terrible destruction on the coast, but the harbour itself was in fairly good shape. After all， it was protected by the arms of a bay that had only one tiny channel to the sea. As we got on board, we noticed two big humps(脊背) in the distance.

On approaching them, we saw it was a mother whale with her baby. We couldn’t believe it ——there aren’t any whales along the coast here. The storm must have driven them across the ocean into the bay, in which the still water was so badly polluted that nothing could survive.

The little baby whale——actually as big as our boat——was obviously stuck and could not move. The mother dived under the water and came up suddenly, making big whirlpools(漩渦) and waves. ”She’s trying to help her baby, but on the wrong side, ”my father said. At this point, my father moved our boat in a semicircle to the other side and, heading the boat towards the baby whale, pushed it gently. With our several gentle pushes the big hump turned over and disappeared under water. Then it swam up right beside its mum. They struggled in their desperate attempts to escape but missed the exit and started heading in the wrong direction. We hurried up to the whales and tried to lead them towards the bay channel. Slowly, they let us lead them, some-times rising from the water right beside us to breathe——and to give us a trusting look with those huge eyes. Once they hit their first part of clean water flowing straight from the sea, the mum gave us a wave with her tail and off they swam into the distance.

In the excitement it had felt like only a few minutes, but we had been with those wonderful animals for almost an hour and a half. That was the simple and lasting beauty of the day, Nearly four decades later, I still look back fondly to that golden day at sea.     

1.The author says “I’m so glad I did ” (in Para. 2)because ______.

2.The harbour survived the storm owing to____________.

3.The mother whale failed to help her baby because__________.

4.what is the theme of the story?

Whenever the sun dropped and the blue sky came up, my father and I used to climb the mountain near my house. Walking together, my father and I used to have a lot of conversations through which I learned lessons from his experiences. He always told me, “You should have goals like climbing the mountain.” Without the mountain-climbing that we both enjoyed . We couldn’t have enough time to spend together because my father was very busy. I really got a lot from mountain-climbing. It gave me time to talk with my father and to be in deep thought as well as develop my patience (耐力).

   Once we climbed a very high mountain. It was so challenging for me because I was only ten years old. During the first few hours of climbing . I enjoyed the flowers and trees, and the birds’ singing, but as time passed, I got a pain in both of my legs. I wanted to quit climbing. In fact, I hated it at that mountain, but my father said to me, “You can always see a beautiful sky at the top of the mountain, but you can’t see it before you reach the top. Only there at the top, can you see all of the nice things, just like in life.”

    At that time, I was too young to understand his words. But later after that, I got knew hope and confidence. I found myself standing at the top of the sky, which was as clear as crystal (水晶).

1. The passage tells us that mountain-climbing was _____for Father and Son.

   A. hard      B. enjoyable       C. painful      D. comfortable

2. The word “quit” in the passage means “______”.

   A. carry on    B. put off      C. give up      D. pick up

3.Which of the following is the closest (最接近的) in meaning to the father’s words in the second paragraph?

A. You will get all you need at the top of the mountain.  

B. The sky is always as clear as crystal.

C. You can find life is full of nice things.             

D. Never give up half-way.

4.We can infer (推斷) from the last paragraph that ______.

A. the writer was very successful in his life.   

B. the writer reached the top of the mountain.

C. thought the writer was young, he could understand his father.

D. the writer used to stop half-way when he climbed the mountain.

5.The best title (題目) for the passage is “______”.

   A. Reaching the Top of the Mountain       B. Standing at the Top of the Mountain

   C. Conversations between Father and Son   D. How to Get to the Top of the Mountain

第三部分 閱讀理解（共兩節(jié)，滿分40分）
第一節(jié)       （共15小題：每小題2分，滿分30分）
閱讀下列短文，從每題所給的四個(gè)選項(xiàng)（A、B、C和D）中，選出最佳選項(xiàng)答題卡上將該項(xiàng)涂黑。
A
My sister and I shared a typical sisterly relationship: we couldn’t stand each other．Or, to be honest, she couldn’t stand me．I took her as a hero．My clothes mysteriously looked like hers, and even my words tended to copy those I heard from her．Any sort of talk we had usually became a fighting, and try as I might, my sister had an extra six years worth of rude vocabulary．
After a while, I stopped trying to impress her and learned to be totally indifferent（冷漠的）；we soon fell into a sad pattern — I avoided her, she paid no attention to me, and deep inside, it hurt．She was only a sister in name．I truly believed that we would forever be apart, two housemates without conversation, two strangers without warmth．
I still remember the day I learned to ride a bike．I had received the bike that Christmas, which was great, until I realized I had no idea how to ride it．My mom had long since abandoned any attempt to teach me; I had proved to be a frustrating student．I had to learn by myself, a little bit each day, but unsuccessfully．On that day I was so disappointed that I threw my bike aside and began to cry, I guess that was what caused my sister to come outside．At first I was nervous, as I thought she would begin to laugh at me．She did not．She gently picked my bike up．That was the beginning．She fearlessly held my hand while the tears dried on my cheeks．She never once let me fall．And for three hours — three wonderful hours — we learned to ride my bike．No shouting．No fighting．No arguing．
That day I learned that my sister was human — how else could she have been my teacher? It was a life-changing experience．We still occasionally have our quarrels, but since that day, it’s been easier to get along because we have an unspoken respect for each other．
56．From the first paragraph, we can infer that _____．
A．the writer’s sister usually won the fighting
B．the writer was not always honest with her sister
C．the writer showed little respect for her sister
D．the writer’s sister had a good memory
57．When the writer failed to impress her sister, she _____．
A．felt hurt and treated her sister as a stranger
B．decided to be indifferent to her sister
C．didn’t talk with any member of the family
D．kept apart from her sister for a long time
58．What caused the writer to cry when she learned to ride a bike?
A．She fell off the bike and hurt herself seriously．
B．Her mother refused to buy her a bike．
C．She couldn’t learn how to ride a bike by herself．
D．Her sister laughed at her old bike．