四、阅读理解(共15小题;每题2分，共30分。)

　　阅读下列短文，然后根据短文的内容从每小题的四个选择项中选出最佳的一项，并把它前面的大写字母填入左边的括号里。

　　A

　　Jimmy was five years old and his brother，Billy，was only a baby. One morning his mother waited for an important telephone call for hours，but nobody called. There was no bread in the house and she had to go out to buy some. Jimmy stayed at home to look after the baby. When the mother was out，the telephone rang and Jimmy answered.

　　Mr. Baker：Hello!May I speak to Mrs. White?

　　Jimmy：Sorry，Mother is out.

　　Mr. Baker：Well，when she comes back，say to her，“Mr. Baker called.”

　　Jimmy：What?

　　Mr. Baker：Mr. Baker. Write it down. B-A-K-E-R.

　　Jimmy：How do you write B?

　　Mr. Baker：How do I write…?Listen，little boy，is there anybody else with you?Any brothers or sisters?

　　Jimmy：Yes，my brother Billy is here.

　　Mr. Baker：Good. I want to talk to him，please.

　　Jimmy：All right. Jimmy took the telephone to the baby‘s bed and put it beside its head. Not long after that his mother came back.

　　Mother：Did anybody call?

　　Jimmy：Yes，a man called. But he only wanted to talk to Billy.

　　( )51. Jimmy‘s mother waited for ________.

　　A. an important man

　　B. a good friend

　　C. a telephone call

　　D. a piece of good news

　　( )52. Jimmy‘s mother went out because ________.

　　A. she waited for hours

　　B. nobody called

　　C. she had to buy some bread

　　D. she had to buy some milk

　　( )53. Jimmy couldn‘t write down Mr. Baker’s name because ________.

　　A. he had no pen or paper

　　B. he couldn‘t read or write

　　C. he had to look after the baby

　　D. he had to play with his brother

　　( )54. Mr. Baker wanted to talk to ________.

　　A. a child older than Jimmy

　　B. a child younger than Jimmy

　　C. Jimmy‘s brother Billy

　　D. Jimmy‘s sister Betty

　　B

　　The cowboy is the hero of many movies. He is，even today，a symbol of courage and adventure. But what was the life of the cowboy really like?

　　The cowboy‘s job is clear from the word “cowboy”。Cowboys were men who took care of cows and other cattle. The cattle were in the West and in Texas. People in the cities of the East wanted beef from these cattle. Trains could take the cattle east. But first the cattle had to get to the trains. Part of the cowboy’s job was to take the cattle hundreds of miles to the railroad towns.

　　The trips were called cattle drives. A cattle drive usually took several months. Cowboys rode for sixteen hours a day. Because they rode so much， each cowboy brought along about eight horses. A cowboy changed horses several times each day.

　　The cowboys had to make sure that the cattle arrived safely. Before starting on a drive，the cowboys branded the cattle. They burned a make on the cattle to show who they belonged to. But these marks didn‘t stop rustlers，or cattle thieves. Cowboys had to protect the cattle from rustlers. Rustlers made the dangerous trip even more dangerous.

　　Even though their work was very difficult and dangerous，cowboys did not earn much money. They were paid bally. Yet cowboys liked their way of life. They lived in a wild and open country. They lived a life of adventure and freedom.

　　( )55. The cowboy‘s job was ________.

　　A. to be a hero

　　B. to take care of cattle

　　C. to be a rustler

　　D. to be a driver

　　( )56. Cowboys ________.

　　A. made a lot of money

　　B. had a difficult job

　　C. did not like their way of life

　　D. were rich

　　( )57. When you do something new exciting，you have ________.

　　A. a symbol

　　B. an adventure

　　C. a job

　　D. a trip

　　( )58. The cowboy was the most important person in the movie. He was the ________.

　　A. chief

　　B. rustler

　　C. hero

　　D. president

　　C

　　Uncle Sam is a tall，thin man. He‘s an older man with white hair and a white beard. He often wears a tall hat，a bow tie， and the stars and stripes of the American flag.

　　Who is this strange，looking man?Would you believe that Uncle Sam is the US government?But why do you call the US government Uncle Sam?

　　During the War of 1812，the US government hired meat packers to provide meat to the army. One of these meat packers was a man named Samuel Wilson. Samuel was a friendly and fair man. Everyone liked him and called him Uncle Sam.

　　Sam Wilson stamped the boxes of meat for the army with a large US for United States. Some government inspectors came to look over Sam‘s company. They asked a worker what the US on the boxes stood for. As a joke，the worker answered that these letters stood for the name of his boss，Uncle Sam.

　　The joke spread，and soldiers began saying that their food came from Uncle Sam. Before long，people called all things that came from the government “Uncle Sam‘s”，“Uncle Sam” became a nickname for the US government.

　　Soon there were drawings and cartoons of Uncle Sam in newspapers. In these early pictures，Uncle Sam was a young man. He wore stars and stripes，but his hair was dark and he had not a beard. The beard was added when Abraham Lincoln was President. President Lincoln had a beard.

　　The most famous picture of Uncle Sam is on a poster from World War I. The government needed men to fight in the war. In the poster，a very serious Uncle Sam points his finger and says “I want YOU for the US Army.”

　　( )59. “Uncle Sam” became a ________ for the US government.

　　A. boss

　　B. nickname

　　C. picture

　　D. businessmen

　　( )60. Uncle Sam often wears tall hat，________ and the stars and stripes of the American flag.

　　A. dark hair

　　B. a bow tie

　　C. a box

　　D. a shirt

　　( )61. Government inspectors came to ________ Sam‘s meat-packing company.

　　A. ask

　　B. stand for

　　C. look over

　　D. see

　　( )62. In the drawing and cartoons of Uncle Sam ________.

　　A. he wore the stars and stripes

　　B. the never had a beard

　　C. he had no hair

　　D. he wore a bow tie

　　D

　　The Red Cross is an international organization which cares for people who are in need of help. A man in Paris hospital who needs blood，a woman in Mexico who was injured in an earthquake，and a family in India that lost their home in a storm may all be aided by the Red Cross.

　　The Red Cross exists in almost every country around the globe. The world Red Cross organizations are sometimes called the Red Crescent，the Red Mogen David，the Sun，and the Red Lion. All of these agencies share a common goal of trying to help people in need.

　　The idea of forming an organization to help the sick and wounded during a war started with Jean Henri Dunant. In 1859，he observed how people were suffering on a battle field in Italy. He wanted to help all the wounded people regardless of which side they were fighting for. The most important result of his work was an international treaty called the Geneva Convention. It protects prisoners of way the sick and wounded，and other citizens during a war.

　　The American Red Cross was set up by Clara Barton in 1881. Today the Red Cross in the United States provides a number of services for the public，such as helping people in need，teaching first aid and providing blood.

　　( )63. A good title for this selection is _______.

　　A. People in Need of Help

　　B. Safety and Protection

　　C. The International Red Cross

　　D. Forming an Organization to Help People

　　( )64. The word “aided” in the first paragraph means ________.

　　A. needed

　　B. helped

　　C. caught

　　D. protected

　　( )65. We may draw a conclusion that _______ during a war.

　　A. the Red Cross only protects the wounded

　　B. the Red Cross only helps prisoners of war

　　C. the Red Cross only helps citizens

　　D. the Red Cross helps all the people in need no matter which side they are fighting for

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