Bob was a gardener and he had no work for a few months. One day he went out to look for a job. While he was walking in the street, he saw a poster at the gate of a big restaurant. It said the restaurant needed to hire（雇佣） a man who could grow flowers and trees well. Bob was so pleased that he went straight to answer it. There Bob was told to go back and get his old working clothes to the office. Bob did so.
The boss looked over his working clothes carefully and then decided to let Bob have the job. Bob asked the boss why his working clothes were so important. The boss answered with a smile, "Oh, young man, your working clothes are all with patches(补丁) on the knees. You know, I have dismissed（解雇） two men these days. They had working clothes with patches on the buttocks(臀部). They were too lazy."When the boss saw Bob, he ________.
| A．gave him the job at once | B．liked Bob at once |
| C．asked Bob to go home to get his working clothes | D．liked Bob's clothes |
Bob's new job was________.
| A．to wash dishes | B．to clean the restaurant |
| C．to cook dishes | D．to grow flowers and trees |
We may learn that the boss was ________.
| A．very clever | B．foolish | C．very kind | D．hardworking |
Fun Facts about animals
| ●After killing an animal, a cheetah waits half an hour to catch its breath. |
●The biggest horses are the Shire horses. The tallest on record is 198cms from shoulder to leg. |
●The only mammal that can fly is the bat. Bat’s wings are overgrown hands. |
| ●Gorillas are actually very gentle animals although they have bad reputation (声誉). ●Gorillas build nests in tree tops to sleep in. |
●The rhino has the thickest skin of any animal. Its skin is 2cms thick and covers their body like armor. |
●An elephant’s trunk has no bones in it, only 100,000 muscles!!! ●Elephant babies take 22 months to develop inside their mothers before they are born. |
| ●A kitten is born blind and helpless and stays close to its mother for protection. In just nine weeks, it can grow big enough to leave its mother and look after itself. |
●A camel’s hump is actually used to store food. It is made of extra (多余的) fat. ●They have long legs to keep them as far away from the ground as possible |
● Bears usually walk on 4 legs, but when they are frightened, they stand up and walk on two legs to make themselves appear bigger. |
After a cheetah kills an animal, it .
| A．waits thirty minutes to catch its breath |
| B．waits half an hour for the animal to catch its breath |
| C．eats the food immediately |
| D．doesn’t eat the food until its friend comes. |
It takes 22 months to develop inside their mothers before they are born.
| A．Baby gorillas | B．Baby bears |
| C．Kittens | D．Baby elephants |
Which statement is NOT true according to the reading material?
| A．The tallest Shire horse on record is 198cms from shoulder to leg. |
| B．Bat’s wings are overgrown legs. |
| C．The rhino’s skin is 2cms thick and covers their body like armor. |
| D．The camel has long legs to keep them cool in the desert. |
The Clockwork Radio
The British inventor Trevor Baylis created this really clever ′wind-up radio′ for people from Third World countries. in some parts of the Third World countries, it’s very hard for people to get or pay for enough energy. This radio uses no batteries (电池) and does not need any electricity to run it. A clockwork generator (发电机) is put inside the radio and works as the power. When it is fully wound up (上弦), the radio can work for long periods.
The clock work product is not a new invention. The Victorians had already put it in wide use. We may find them used in toys as well. Then what is new about this clockwork radio? Baylis has used this simple but effective (高效的) way of creating electricity to both help the people of the Third World and to develop a product which is selling well in Western Europe.
Even former President of South Africa, Nelson Mandella has one of these radios and personally recommends this product to others. What does the clockwork radio use to run it?
| A．Batteries. | B．Electricity. |
| C．A clockwork generator. | D．Wind power. |
The Third World countries are in the world.
| A．the rich countries | B．the poor countries |
| C．Western European | D．Victorian countries |
Which sentence is true according to the passage?
| A．the clockwork radio can work for only a short period of time. |
| B．Trevor Baylis created the world’s first clockwork product. |
| C．The clockwise radio is also a toy for people of the Third World. |
| D．Nelson Mandella owns one of the clockwork radios. |
Interested in Chinese calligraphy (书法) experiences? By joining our Beijing Tours Xi’an Tours or Guilin Tours, visitors can add Chinese calligraphy classes to the tour at, very reasonable prices.
Most of the big museums in China have calligraphy collections. See our Museums Tours.
For travelers who are interested in the history and culture of Chinese calligraphy, Museum of Chinese Characters in Anyang City, Henan Province is a good choice. The Stele Forest Museum in Xi’an City houses many works of famous ancient calligraphers as well as precious stone sculptures (雕塑).
Contact us for a tailor-made tour.Where can we find this piece of writing?
| A．In a story book. | B．In a textbook. |
| C．In a cookbook. | D．In a travel magazine. |
What can we see in the Stele Forest Museum in Xi’an City?
| A．Statue of ancient calligraphers. |
| B．Precious stone sculptures. |
| C．City houses |
| D．Famous workers. |
Which road sign tells us that we must NOT turn right?
Outside our school there’s a sign like this
. What should the drivers to when they see it?
| A．They must stop the car immediately and wait there. |
| B．They must take a U-turn there. |
| C．They mustn’t even stop the car in that area. |
| D．They mustn’t drive the car into that area. |
Where in the world can you take an hour’s train ride, and pass a forest, a London street, a scene from the Wild West, and a burning building that never burns down? There’s only one place, and that’s Hollywood, in California. The scenes you see from the tourist train are film sets（布景） in the Universal Studios, one of the oldest and largest movie companies(公司) in the USA.
A visit to Universal Studios brings back memories of great days of Hollywood, the films and the stars. But they are only memories. Hollywood isn’t quite the same as it used to be. Costs have gone up and confidence has gone down. Movie-makers are afraid to spend their money on expensive new ideas. Instead, they repeat old ones.
The film industry is changing fast. Teenagers still go out to the movies. The theatre is a good place to meet friends away from home. But older people mostly stay home to watch series, like Dynasty have become as important to Hollywood as expensive movies. These “soap opera”, as they are called, show rich, powerful families living in beautiful homes and wearing beautiful clothes. But the actors and actresses are nearly all middle-aged, like many of the people who watch them.
Though it is soap operas that are keeping the film-makers of Hollywood in Business, big films are still being made in America. But more and more of them are made outside Hollywood. New York is the most important new center, but there are many others as well. Movie-makers have realized that they don’t need Hollywood any more. Modern cameras and real houses instead of expensively made copies in a studio. Other states, especially Florida and Texas, are working hard to take the film business away from California. They are offering better working conditions and lower cost.
But Hollywood is fighting back. The state of California is trying hard to keep its best-known industry.From the passage, we know Universal Studios is ______.
| A．a very large park | B．a busy London street |
| C．a famous movie company | D．an old Hollywood movie |
The movie industry in California isn’t as successful as before because ______.
| A．young people don’t go to movie theatres any more |
| B．there is strong competition from other states |
| C．its movie companies are in neeed of young stars |
| D．the state hasn’t put a development plan into action |
Which of the following seems to be a threat（威胁）to Hollywood？
| A．The use of modern cameras and other equipment |
| B．The interest of middle-aged film stars |
| C．The making of TV series like Dynasty |
| D．The expensively made copies of scenes |