Passage 1

A well-known old man was being interviewed and was asked if it was correct that he had just celebrated his ninety-ninth birthday. "That's right," said the old man. "Ninety-nine years old, and I haven't an enemy in the world. They're all dead."

"Well, sir," said the interviewer, "I hope very much to have the honour of interviewing you on your hundredth birthday."

The old man looked at the young man closely, and said, "I can't see why you shouldn't. You look fit and healthy to me!"

What kind of man would you say the old man was?
       A. He was ill.

B. He was unconscious.

C. He was very proud and sure of his health.

D. He was very polite to young people.

Passage 2

I was the middle child of three, but there was a gap of five years on either side, and I hardly saw my father before I was eight. For this and other reasons I was somewhat lonely. I had the lonely child's habit of making up stories and holding conversations with imaginary persons, and I think from the very start my literary ambitions（文学志向）were mixed up with the feeling of being isolated（孤独）and undervalued. I knew that I had a natural ability with words and a power of facing unpleasant facts, and I felt that this created a sort of private world in which I could get my own back for my failure in everyday life.

However, the quantity of serious writing which I produced all through my childhood would not add up to half a dozen pages. I wrote my first poem at the age of four or five, my mother taking it down to dictation. I cannot remember anything about it except that it was about a tiger and the tiger had "chair-like teeth" --- a good enough expression. At eleven, when the war of 1914-18 broke out, I wrote a poem which was printed in the local（地方的）newspaper, as was another, two years later, on the death of Kitchener. From time to time, when I was a bit older, I wrote bad and usually unfinished "nature poems". I also, about twice, attempted a short story which was a failure. That was the total of the would-be serious work that I actually set down on paper during all those years.

1. From the text, we learn that as a little boy the writer          .

A. had no playmates

B. showed his gift for writing

C. put out lots of poems and stories

D. got his first poem published in 1916

2. What can be inferred about the writer?

A. He was least favoured in his family.

B. He had much difficulty in talking with others.

C .He had an unhappy childhood for lack of care.

D. His loneliness resulted in his interest in writing.

Passage 3

Since my retirement（退休）from teaching music in 2001, I have spent a good deal of time painting as an artist. I actually began drawing again in the summer of 1995 when my father died. So perhaps I was trying to recover from the loss of my father, or maybe it was just that it brought back memories of him. In any case, I drew pen and ink animals and landscapes（风景画）much influenced（影响）by Krenkel and St. John for five years.

For some strange reason, I had been waiting until my retirement to start doing watercolors again, but as soon as I walked out of the school door for the last time I picked up my brushes and rediscovered Andrew Wyeth, who quickly became my favorite artist. I had looked through all the art books I had on my shelves and found his watercolors to be the closest to how I thought good watercolors should look. So I painted landscapes around Minnesota for three years and tried out many other types of painting. However, watercolors remained my first choice, and I think I did my best work there, showing my paintings at a number of art exhibitions.

Art is now together with my piano playing and reading. There is a time for everything in my world, and it is wonderful to have some time doing what I want to do. As Confucius once said, "At seventy I can follow my heart's desire."

1. We can infer from the text that the author         .

A. had been taught by Krenkel and St. John

B. painted landscapes in Minnesota for 5 years

C. believed Wyeth to be the best in watercolors

D. started his retirement life at the age of seventy

2. How does the author probably feel about his life as an artist?

A. Very enjoyable.                    B.A bit regretful.

C. Rather busy.                        D. Fairly dull.