第三部分：阅读理解（共20小题，每题3分，满分60分） 阅读下列短文，从每题所给

问题：

第三部分：阅读理解（共20小题，每题3分，满分60分）

阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。

Sarah Williams went to a boarding school. Here is one of the letters she wrote to her parents from the school:

Wentworth Girls’ school

Beachside

July 20th

Dearest Mom and Dad,

I’ m afraid I have some very bad news for you. I have been very naughty and the school principal is very angry with me. She is going to write to you. You must come and take me away from here. She does not want me in the school any longer.

The trouble started last night when I was smoking in bed. This breaks the rules, of course. We are not supposed to smoke at all.

As I was smoking, I heard footsteps coming towards the room. I did not want a teacher to catch me smoking, so I threw the cigarette away.

Unfortunately, the cigarette fell into the waste-paper basket, which caught fire.

There was a curtain near the waste-paper basket which caught fire, too. Soon the whole room was burning.

The principal phoned for the fire department. The school is a long way from the town and by the time the fire department arrived, the whole school was in flames. Many of the girls are in the hospital.

The principal says that the fire was all my fault and you must pay for the damage. She will send you a bill for about a million dollars.

I’m very sorry about this.

Much love,

Sarah

P. S.  None of the above is true, but I have failed my exams. I just want you to know how bad the things could have been!

56．Sarah wrote home to        .

A．tell her parents about the fire               B．ask for a lot of money

C．tell her parents she had failed her exams       D．tell her parents she had to leave school

57．Why did Sarah tell her parents the story about the fire?

A．She wanted to worry them.

B．She wanted to make them laugh.

C．She wanted to make them less angry at the real news.

D．She wanted to warn them about what the principal was going to do.

58．The letter before the P. S. was ________.

A．mostly true            B．partly true                     C．all true            D．completely untrue

59．Sarah said the principal was angry because ________.

A．she had failed her exams                          B．it was her fault that had caused the fire

C．she had not made the phone call in time        D．she had been caught smoking in bed