四.阅读理解(本大题满分30分， 每小题2分)   A

Once upon a time there lived two brot hers named Jacob and William in Germany. They liked to listen to old stories and then write them down. So they had enough stories to make a book. You can guess the name of the book! It is Grimms’ Fairy Tales.

The story of this little book began when the brothers were still in school. And it started with a good teacher. The teacher liked to find out how things happened. Soon the two brothers were doing the same thing. They asked questions and then looked for answers.

Among the questions the brothers asked, “Who made up the old fairy tales? Who first told about Cinderella ? Why made up the story of the Snow White and the story of Sleeping Beauty?”

They found that no one knew the answers to such questions. The tales were made up in very early times. Most of them were made up in the days before people knew how to write. People told the stories to one another and to their children. But only a few old people still remembered them.

“When old people die, the stories will die with them,” said the brothers. “We must write down all the stories we can find.”

Jacob and William hunted for stories for five years. At last they had 89 tales written. Just before Christmas in 1812, the first book was published.

People love the book! They asked more fairy tales. So Grimms put tales into two more books. In all, they collected 210 stories to put into their books.

51.Who wrote Grimms’ Fairy Tales?

A. Jacob and his teacher.   B. William and his teacher.

C. Jacob and William.        D. Some old people.

52. What did the teacher like to do?

A. To ask questions and look for answers.    B. To make up stories.

C. To tell the stories to his students.         D. To asked some old people to tell stories.

53. Most of the tales in the Grimms’ books were made up __________.

A. in five years’ time

B. when Jacob and William were students

C. before people knew how to write

D. by some old people

54. The two brothers wrote down all the stories because _________.

A. their teacher asked them to do so

B. their parents asked them to do so

C. they liked all stories very much.

D. they didn’t want to the stories to die with the old people

55. Grimm’s Fairy Tales came out _____________.

A. in 1218       B. in 1812       C. In 1912      D. in 1918

B

Sometimes I really doubt whether there is love between my parents. Every day they are busy trying to earn money in order to pay the high tuition for my brother and me. They don't act in the romantic way that I read in books or I see on TV. In their opinion. “I love you”is too luxurious(奢侈的)for them to say. Sending flowers to each other on Valentine's Day is even more out of the question. Finally my father has a bad temper when he's very tired from the hard work, it is easy for him to lose his temper.

One day, my mother was sewing a quilt. I silently sat down beside her and looked at her.

“Mom. I have a question to ask you.” I said after a while.

“What?” She replied, still doing her work.

“Is there love between you and Dad?”I asked her in a very low voice.

My mother stopped her work and raised her head with surprise in her eyes, She didn't answer immediately. Then she bowed her head and continued to sew the quilt.

I was very worried because I thought I had hurt her. I was in a great embarrassment and I didn’t know what to do. But at last I heard my mother say the following words：

“Susan,”she said thoughtfully. “Look at this thread. Sometimes it appears, but most of it disappears in the quilt. The thread really makes the quilt strong and durable(结实). If life is a quilt then love should be a thread. It can hardly be seen anywhere or any time, but it’s really there. Love is inside.”

56.Why does the writer doubt the love of her parents?

A.Because they hardly meet each other.       B.Because they hardly speak to each other.

C.Because they often argue with each other.    D.Because they hardly express their love.

57.In the writer's opinion, ________________.

A.her mother enjoys doing chores at home.  B.her parents often act in romantic ways.

C.her parents love to make money.  D.love means sending flowers on Valentine's Day and saying“I love you.”

58.Here in the passage,“thread”may mean __________________.

A.the writer's family.                 B.the relationship between her parents

C.the love between her parents         D.the daily life

59.The phrase“out of the question”in the passage means __________________.

A.impossible    B.unbelievable       C.enjoyable     D.comfortable

60.What’s the best title of passages?

A.Life without love.     B My parents’ love.    C.Life like sewing the quilt.       D.Love in mind.