One morning in Philadelphia, the sun shone bright through all the thick jungles and the tall churches. John, 6, wearing the worn-out clothes, walked from a far place, his dark small hands holding a piece of stolen bread.
John stopped for a moment at the entrance to the church and then left tightly holding the bread,
He was an orphan(孤儿), whose parents were killed in World War II leaving him alone in the orphanage for five years, Like many children in the house, he had a lot of free time. Mostly no one took care of them, so they had to learn how to steal those they wanted.
John believed God to be real, so every Sunday morning in any case he would go to the church to have a look and listen to those people singing inside or reading the Bible. He felt only at this moment he was the child of God and so close to God. But he couldn’t enter because his clothes were so dirty. John himself knew it.
John was quietly calculating the times. This was his 45th Sunday at the entrance to the church. He stood on tiptoe(踮着脚尖) for a while and walked away.
As time passed, the pastor(牧师) noticed John and learned from others that he was the small boy who liked stealing things in the orphanages.
On the 46th Sunday, the sun was shining and John came still holding a piece of bread with his dark small hands. When he just stood there, the pastor came out. He felt like running away, but he was carried by the pastor's friendly smile.
The pastor walked up to his side, clearly seeing John's small hands shaking.
"Are you John?"
John didn't answer, but looked at the pastor and nodded.
"Do you believe in God?" the pastor patted John on his head with dust.
"Yes, I do!" This time John told him loudly.
"So you believe in yourself?"
John looked at the pastor, without a word.
The pastor went on saying, "At the first sight of you, I find you're different from other kids because you have a good heart."
His face turning red, John said nervously, "In fact, I'm a thief." With that, he lowered his head.
The pastor didn't speak, but held John's dark small hands, slowly opened them and put them against his wrinkled face.
"Ah" Just at the same time, John shouted and was about to take out his dark small hands. Yet the pastor tightly held his small hands and spread them out in the sun.
"Do you see, John?"
"What?"
"You're cupping the sunshine in your hands."
John blankly looked at his hands: when did they become so beautiful?
"In God's eyes, all children are the same. When they are willing to spread out their hands to greet the sun, the sun will naturally shine on them. And you have two things more than they do. First is courage and the second is kindness." With that, the pastor led him into the church. It was the first time that John went into this sacred place, and at this moment he didn't feel inferior, but the unspeakable warmth.
On that morning greeting the sunshine, John found himself again, along with the confidence, satisfaction, happiness, dreams he had never had.
Twenty years have passed. Now the boy who ever tightly held the bread with his dirt hands has been the most famous cook in Philadelphia and made many popular dishes.
Every Sunday morning, he would personally send the bread he baked to the orphanage. Those children who greeted him with cheers were used to consciously spreading their palms before they got the bread.
Because they all knew when we are willing to spread out our hands to greet the sunshine, the sun will naturally shine on us.The method the writer uses to develop Paragraph is ______________
| A.presenting contrasts (对比) | B.showing causes (原因) |
| C.offering analyses | D.providing explanations |
Why didn't John go inside whenever he went to the church?
| A.He was frightened to be recognized by the pastor |
| B.He was not welcomed by those singing in the church. |
| C.He was sorry for his dirty clothes and identity as a thief. |
| D.He was left alone in the orphanage and nobody cared for him. |
Which of the following questions did John reply certainly?
| A.“Are you John?" | B."Do you see, John?" |
| C."So you believe in yourself?" | D."Do you believe in God?" |
Which of the following can best describe the pastor's great effect on John?
| A.John became a famous cook. |
| B.John admitted his bad behavior. (行为) |
| C.John believed God to be real |
| D.John spread warmth to other orphans. |
According to the passage, the sunshine cupped in hands can bring _______________
| A.cheers and confidence | B.dreams and imagination |
| C.courage and kindness | D.forgiveness and satisfaction |
When Mr. David retired(退休),he bought a small house in a village near the sea. He liked it and hoped to live a quiet life in it.
But to his great surprise, many tourists came to see his house in summer holidays, for it was the most interesting building in the village. From morning to night there were tourists outside the house. They kept looking into the rooms through the windows and many of them even went into Mr. David’s garden. This was too much for Mr. David. He decided to drive the visitors away. So he put a notice on the window. The notice said: “If you want to satisfy your curiosity(好奇心), came in and look round. Price: twenty dollars.” Mr. David was sure that the visitors would stop coming, but he was wrong. More and more visitors came and Mr. David had to spend every day showing them around his house. “I came here to retire, not to work as a guide(导游).” he said angrily. In the end, he sold the house and moved away.Mr. David’s house wasthat many tourists came to see it.
| A.so small | B.so quiet | C.so interesting | D.such interesting |
Mr. David put a notice on the window in order .
| A.to drive the visitors away |
| B.to satisfy the visitor’s curiosity |
| C.to let visitors come in and look round |
| D.to get some money out of the visitors |
The notice made the visitors .
| A.more interested in his house |
| B.lost interest in his house |
| C.angry at the unfair price |
| D.feel happy about the price |
After Mr. David put up the notice , .
| A.the visitors didn’t come any longer |
| B.fewer and fewer visitors came to see his house |
| C.more and more tourists came for a visit |
| D.no tourist would pay the money for a visit |
Roger Conner is a modern-day Horatio Alger hero. Roger started out as an unpaid worker in a small flower shop. He has become the owner of a florist company whose sales are well over $100 000 a year.
One day when Roger was only twelve, he stopped at a local flower shop. He asked the owner if he could work for him, without pay, in order to learn the business. Roger started working every day after school and on weekends. After two years on the job, he finally asked for a small salary. The owners told him he “wasn't good enough to be paid.” So he quit, and found a paying job at another local flower shop. He worked hard there, but after six months they laid him off because business was slow.
Not discouraged, Roger decided to do it alone and started his own flower store in a basement in his town. He started his business with only sixty-five dollars. He bought old refrigerators at garage sales and knocked the shelves out. This turned them into coolers for his fresh-cut flowers. His business grew rapidly as he built up a reputation for top quality and fine service.
In 1977, Roger bought out the flower store where he had worked without pay for over two years. The people who said he “wasn’t good enough to be paid” were astonished to find that they were being taken over by a teenager. He had plans to renovate (振兴) the whole store.
One of the reasons the owners sold out to Roger was that the store wasn't doing well. But after Roger took over ownership and redid the store, business started booming. In fact, business was so good that after one year, he celebrated by buying out the other store where he had worked. Roger then combined both stores and moved to a location in the center of his town.
The new store has 2 000 square feet and seven employees. And he did it all before he reached the age of twenty.The author is wants to show us that people who want to succeed in business should ________.
| A.work without pay |
| B.own a flower shop |
| C.work hard and never give up |
| D.work as teenagers |
Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?
| A.He worked for two years without pay. |
| B.He needed luck to be successful. |
| C.He opened his first flower business in a basement. |
| D.He became successful before the age of twenty. |
The passage may be a ________.
| A.newspaper report | B.humorous story |
| C.television play | D.scientific story |
The underlined part in Paragraph 2 probably means ________.
| A.employed him |
| B.didn’t let him work there |
| C.paid him money |
| D.were proud of him |
From the passage, a “Horatio Alger hero” may be the kind of person who________.
| A.works hard in the flower business |
| B.was born into a rich family |
| C.starts out poor and becomes rich |
| D.becomes famous as a result of good luck |
Electronic books have changed the way many people read for pleasure. Now online textbooks are changing the way some students learn and some teachers teach.
More than one hundred seventy-five thousand students attend the public schools in Fairfax County, Virginia, outside Washington. Last year, the school system used digital books in fifteen schools. This school year, middle schools and high schools changed from printed to electronic textbooks in their social studies classes.
Luke Rosa is a history teacher at Falls Church High School. His students work on laptop computers at school. He explains the idea to them this way. “I mean, it’s just like a regular textbook, except it’s got it all online.”
Peter Noonan, an assistant superintendent (助理监督) of schools, said, “The world’s changing. And the online textbooks can change right along with the events that are happening.” Digital books also cost less than printed textbooks, he said.
A student named Melanie Reuter said, “I don’t have to carry a textbook around, so that’s nice.”
But another student said, “I don’t like it because the Internet sometimes doesn’t work.”
Students also need access to the Internet when they are not at school. About ten percent of students in Fairfax Country do not have a computer or online access at home. Public libraries in the country have free Internet. There are also after-school computer labs as well as computer clubhouse supported by the country. Middle school student Slieman Hakim is happy about that. He said, “My family only has one computer; my sister and I both do our homework on it. So I come here to do my homework. It’s good.”
Other school systems in the area are also considering online textbooks. Which of the following is /are NOT used when students have social studies classes?
| A.Paper textbooks. | B.The Internet. |
| C.Computers. | D.Electronic textbooks. |
According to the passage, one of the disadvantages of digital textbooks is that_________.
| A.they are more expensive |
| B.they can’t be used if the computer is offline |
| C.they’re soon out of date |
| D.reading online does harm to the students’ eyes |
Why does Slieman Hakim feel happy?
| A.He is offered a free computer to do his homework. |
| B.He doesn’t have to do his homework at home. |
| C.He has access to the Internet to study at any place. |
| D.He needn’t share a computer with his sister to do homework. |
What can we learn from the passage?
| A.The lessons online are completely different from those in paper textbooks. |
| B.Digital textbooks are more beautiful than paper textbooks. |
| C.All students like digital textbooks because they are new. |
| D.Students can do their homework in the computer clubhouses. |
The passage aims to ________.
| A.report the use of electronic textbooks in school |
| B.show how to use electronic textbooks |
| C.encourage more schools to use electronic textbooks |
| D.tell readers electronic textbooks will replace regular textbooks |
I have always really loved receiving my monthly pocket money form my dad. After getting the money I would be very excited and would rush off to my friend’s place where after much consideration we would decide what to do with it and where to spend it. Mostly it would go for the ice cream treats(请客;款待) or jam sessions with our favorite people around. Girls will manage to find some way of budgeting so the money we save can be used for other purposes.
I think that the best way to enjoy your pocket money would be to enjoy those treats that come occasionally. Since just mere pocket money would be not enough, many girls are doing a part time job of some form so that a larger amount of money can be collected. The best use of pocket money is to spend it in such a way that it involves lots of fun with your closest friends. Those treats are no fun if done alone. Company, especially good company can work wonders for providing you the best relaxation that you need. It is also best to spend your pocket money on things that otherwise parents end up refusing. When you use your pocket money to get this sense of achievement you will just feel so crazily happy.
I remember the time when a friend and I were just so tired of our everyday monotonous life that we decided to go out, have some great food and then head out to the beach and have those lovely grape and mango ice-creams. And we did exactly that. That day has just been one of the most refreshing days of my life. I think the true meaning of pocket money is to be able to maximize your fun at a minimal cost!The writer thinks he can get greatest fun from pocket money by ________,.
| A.spending it alone | B.treating good friends |
| C.travelling for fun | D.buying ice creams |
We can tell from Paragraph 1 that ________.
| A.the writer didn’t know where to spend his pocket money |
| B.girls used pocket money to buy ice creams |
| C.the writer got pocket money from his dad yearly |
| D.boys and girls may spend pocket money in different ways |
What does the underlined phrase “monotonous” in the last paragraph mean?
| A.exciting. | B.Boring. | C.Wonderful. | D.Colorful. |
We can know from the passage that ________.
| A.children can’t spend our pocket money wisely |
| B.there would be no fun without pocket money |
| C.childhood happiness mainly comes from pocket money |
| D.we can enjoy ourselves with a little pocket money |
What is the best title of the passage?
| A.How to get much pocket money |
| B.Save pocket money as much as possible |
| C.Pocket money brings great fun |
| D.Pocket money means everything |
French novelist Jules Verne (1828—1905) is often called the father of science fiction. Although he was not a great traveler himself, his characters travelled to the moon (in From the Earth to the Moon), under the sea (in Twenty thousand leagues under the sea), into a volcano (in A journey to the centre of the earth), around the world (in Around the World in Eighty Days) and to many other places.
Jules Verne was born in the French city of Nantes in 1828. When he was a boy he ran away from home to work on a ship. However, his father soon found him and brought him home. After that he decided that any future travel he did would be in books. In 1847 his father sent Jules to Paris to study to be a lawyer. Even though he was busy writing, Verne passed his exams in 1849 with high marks.
When Jules told his father he did not want to be a lawyer, his father was very angry. He stopped sending his son any money, so Jules had to earn a living by his writing. Over the next few years he wrote many stories and plays, which brought him only a little money. Then, in 1856, he met Honorine de Viane, a rich, young widow with two children. The couple married the next year.
After his marriage, Verne worked as a businessman in Paris. However, he was not very successful at his job and spent most of his time writing books and doing research for the next one. In 1863 he published his novel Five Weeks in a balloon and the following year he published A Journey to the centre of the earth which made him famous. His books became so popular and earned him so much money that he was able to leave his job and work full time on his writing.
In his Lifetime, Jules Verne wrote more than 50 books and he became a rich man. Many of this imaginative novels have been turned into films. When Jules Verne was brought home by his father, he decided that ________.
| A.he would devote himself to writing |
| B.he would go on more travels in the future |
| C.he would stop writing about future travels |
| D.he would do what his father required |
Which of the following is true according to the passage?
| A.He was not good at his schoolwork. |
| B.He went to Paris because he wanted to be a lawyer. |
| C.His early stories and plays didn’t bring in much money. |
| D.He got married in 1856. |
Jules Verne became rich mainly because of his ________.
| A.family | B.marriage | C.business | D.writing |
Which book can be considered as a turning point in Jules Verne’s life?
A. From the Earth to the Moon.
B. Five Weeks in a Balloon.
C. A Journey to the Center of the Earth.
D. Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea.Which can we infer from the passage?
| A.Jules Verne’s stories and plays were liked by film makers. |
| B.Jules Verne was not clever enough to learn law. |
| C.Jules Verne’s wife helped him a lot in his writing career. |
| D.Jules Verne’s stories and plays made him famous in the 1850s. |