请阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项（A、B、C、D）中，选出最佳答案，并在答题卡上将该选项的标号涂黑。
A
I arrived at my mother’s home for our Monday family dinner. The smells of food flew over from the kitchen. Mother was pulling out quilt(被子)after quilt from the boxes, proudly showing me their beauties. She was preparing for a quilt show at the Elmhurst Church. When we began to fold and put them back into the boxes, I noticed something at the bottom of one box. I pulled it out. “What is this?” I asked.
“Oh?” Mom said, “That’s Mama’s quilt.”
I spread the quilt. It looked at if a group of school children had pieced it together; irregular designs, childish pictures, a crooked line on the right.
“Grandmother made this?” I said, surprised. My grandmother was a master at making quilts. This certainly didn’t look like any of the quilts she had made.
“Yes, right before she died. I brought it home with me last year and made some changes,” she said. “I’m still working on it. See, this is what I’ve done so far.”
I looked at it more closely. She had made straight a crooked line. At the center of the quilt, she had stitched(缝) a piece of cloth with these words: “My mother made many quilts. She didn’t get all lines straight. But I think this is beautiful. I want to see it finished. Her last quilt.”
“Ooh, this is so nice, Mom,” I said. It occurred to me that by completing my grandmother’s quilt, my mother was honoring her own mother. I realized, too, that I held in my hands a family treasure. It started with the loving hands of one woman, and continued with the loving hands of another.
56. Why did the author go to mother’s home?
A. To see her mother’s quilts.
B. To help prepare for a show.
C. To get together for the family dinner.
D. To discuss her grandmother’s life.
57. The author was surprised because .
A. the quilt looked very strange.
B. her grandmother liked the quilt.
C. the quilt was the best she had seen.
D. her mother had made some changes
58. The underlined wood “crooked” in the passage most probably means .
A. unfinished
B. broken
C. bent
D. unusual
59. Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?
A. A Quilt Show
B. Mother’s Home
C. A Monday Dinner
D. Grandmother’s Quilt
B
While all my classmates seen to be crazy about a one-way ticket to Mars(火星), I’d rather say Mars is totally unsuitable for human existence. People won’t have enough food supplies there, and the terrible environment would make it impossible for them to live a long life. Besides, the journey won’t be safe. Can anybody explain to me just why people would go to Mars, never to return?
Steve Minear, UK
Here are the things you can think of: the desire to explore a foreign and unique environment, the excitement of being the first humans to open up a new world, the expectation of fame and glory…For scientists there is another reason. Their observations and research will probably lead to great scientific achievements.
Donal Trollop, Canada
There are already too many people on the Earth. I think that sometime before the end of the century, there will be a human colony(殖民地)on Mars. It will happen when people finally realize that tow-way trips to the red planet Mars are unnecessary. Most of the danger of space Flight is in the launches(发射) and landings. Cutting the trip home would therefore reduce the danger of accidents, save a lot of money, and open the way to building an everlasting human settlement on another world.
Enough supplies can be sent on ahead. And every two years more supplies and more people will needs, and Mars is far more pleasant than the other planets in the outer space.
Paul Davies. USA
60. The main purpose of Steve Minear’s writing is .
A. to report his classmates’ discussion
B. to invite an answer to his question
C. to explain the natural state of Mars
D. to show his agreement on going to Mars
61. Which of the following best states Donal Trollop’s idea?
A. There is a plan to send humans to Mars.
B. There are many reasons for going to Mars.
C. Scientists become famous by doing research on Mars.
D. It is possible to build an Earth-like environment on Mars.
62. Paul Davies points out that .
A. humans need only a one-way ticket to Mars.
B. two-way trips to Mars will be made safe soon
C. it is easy to reduce the danger and cost of flights to Mars
D. it is cheap to build an everlasting human settlement on Mars
63. What does Paul Davies think of human existence on Mars?
A. Humans will have to bring all they need from the Earth.
B. Humans will find Mars totally unsuitable for living.
C. Humans can produce everything they need.
D. Humans can live longer in the colony on Mars.
