Arthur sat at the desk in his room, pencil in hand. He had to write a story for his English class by Friday. “I don’t know what to write about,” he complained to his dog Toby, who was asleep at his feet. Arthur was talkative when speaking to his friends, yet he had trouble finding words when he had to write.
By bedtime Arthur had drawn a picture of Toby smiling. He had drawn a tree with its branches blowing in the strong wind. He had also written a note asking his friend Lee to go to the movies on Saturday. But he had not written a single word of his story.
On Wednesday, Mrs. Solomon, Arthur’s English teacher, asked the class to turn in the first draft of their stories. His heart sinking, Arthur turned in the only work he had—the page with his name, the drawings and the note.
Arthur wasn’t surprised when Mrs. Solomon asked him to stay after class the next day. But he was surprised by what she said to him. “This is an attractive story, Arthur. The dog, the movie, the tree in the wind—I can’t wait to find out how they all fit together.”
“That isn’t my story, Mrs. Solomon,” Arthur admitted. “I haven’t been able to think of one yet.”
“Oh, I think you have the seed(种子of a story there,” Mrs. Solomon replied, “Look at your note and the pictures and see if a story comes to you.”
That night Arthur sat at his desk, and this is what he wrote: “One Saturday Mike went downstairs to meet his friend Julio at the cinema. It looked as if it might rain, so Mike carried his umbrella. Suddenly a big storm blew in, bending the trees. The noise of the wind sounded like the barking of Mike’s dog Toby. Toby really hated storms and barked whenever he wanted to be let inside. Then Mike realized that it wasn’t the sound of the wind. It was Toby. The dog was running after him down the busy street, barking. The sound was filled with blame. Mike felt guilty because he had left Toby outside. He turned and headed home with Toby running beside him. Mike let Toby in the door just as the rain started to pour down.”
Arthur had a story in the end. The last thing he did was to write his name proudly at the top of the page.Why did Arthur turn in the page with only his name, the drawings and the note at first?
A.Because he had no time to fit them together. |
B.Because he had difficulty in writing a story. |
C.Because he wasn’t willing to do his homework. |
D.Because he wanted to show his talent for drawing. |
What does the underlined sentence in Paragraph 6 probably mean?
A.Toby is an imaginative and lovely dog. |
B.The small tree will grow into a big one. |
C.His friend Lee can give him a lot of support. |
D.He can develop his story based on the first draft. |
What kind of teacher do you think Mrs. Solomon is ?
A.She is a strict teacher | B.She is a wise teacher |
C.She is an honest teacher | D.She is an energetic teacher |
What can we infer(推断from the story?
A.Arthur is a shy and quiet student |
B.Arthur isn’t very satisfied with his story |
C.There will be a storm on Saturday |
D.Encouragement is important in teaching |
A blind schoolgirl has become the youngest interpreter (口译员) when she is only ten years
Alexia Sloane is from Cambridge. She was told by the doctor she had a brain tumour (脑癌) when she was on holiday "with her parents in France. After that the two-year-old girl became blind.
Though the little girl can't see anything, she has great talent for languages and at the age of 10 she is already fluent (流利的) in English, French, Spanish and Chinese-and is learning German.
Now her dream of working as an interpreter has come true. East of England MEP (欧盟议员) Robert Sturdy invited her to the European Parliament (议会). "Usually a person who enters the European Parliament should be 14 at least. So it was amazing for Alexia to work there at the age of 10. " said Alexia's mother Isabelle. Alexia can speak three languages since birth. As her mum is hah" French and half Spanish and her dad Richard is English. " She has always been very good at languages and shown an interest from a very young age. " added Isabelle, who also has a four-year-old daughter Melissa.
Alexia has dreamed of becoming an interpreter since she was six and chose to go to the European Parliament as her prize when she won the Young Achiever Community Award of the Year (年度青年成就奖). She asked if she could learn from the interpreters and HEP Robert Sturdy agreed to take her along as his guest. " It was fantastic and I decided to become an interpreter, "said Alexia. "Nothing can stop me. "How old is the youngest interpreter according to the passage?
A.4. | B.6. | C.10. | D.14. |
When did Alexia Sloane become blind?
A.When she was born. |
B.After she had a brain tumour. |
C.After she became an interpreter. |
D.When she was on holiday with her parents. |
Who offered Alexia the chance of working as an interpreter?
A.Richard. | B.Isabelle. | C.Melissa. | D.Robert Sturdy. |
What is right about Alexia Sloane?
A.She can speak five language fluently. |
B.She is a talented language learner. |
C.She is the only child in the family. |
D.She went to France on holiday after she won the award. |
What do you think is the meaning of the sentence "Nothing can stop me. "?
A.Never give up. | B.Believe in yourself. |
C.Nothing is impossible. | D.Failure is the mother of success. |
It's still the holiday season and students in the UK are enjoying their winter break (休假).
Tiffany in Guangdong asks us about how British students spend their winter break.
For some, it's a time to study because they have exams next term. Some might have to study. They have to read some books. They use the winter break to catch up with(赶上) their reading. But some students can Let their hair down and celebrate Christmas and New Year with a few drinks.
This holiday is also an important time to chat with the family and maybe get some sleep too. Some lucky students are going away on holiday but it won't be long.What do the underlined words "let their hair down" mean in this reading?
A.放下头发 | B.烫发 | C.放松 | D.理发 |
Which of the following is true?
A.The winter break in the UK is not long. |
B.The winter break in the UK is a time for sleep. |
C.Students work hard in the winter break. |
D.Students are preparing for the coming exam. |
The passage is mainly about _______.
A.the differences between the winter break in China and the UK |
B.what the students in the UK usually do in the winter break |
C.why some students like the winter break |
D.how to celebrate the winter break |
Joan is an American girl. She lives in China now. She is in my class. Her parents work in China, too, but her brother works in the U.S.A. He often writes letters to them. Joan likes Chinese class very much, and likes speaking Chinese with us after class. Her father teaches us English well. We all like his class. On Sundays, Joan goes to the People's Park with her father and mother. Sometimes she goes shopping with her mother. They like the Chinese food very much. It's a happy family.Joan is from ________.
A. China B. Japan C. the U.S.A. D. CanadaJoan likes speaking ________with us after class.
A.Chinese | B.English | C.French | D.Japanese |
Joan's ________ is an English teacher.
A.father | B.mother | C.brother | D.father and mother |
How often does Joan go to the shop?
A.Often. | B.Never. | C.Every Sunday. | D.Sometimes. |
Which is not wrong?
A.Joan's mother is a good doctor. | B.There are three people in her family. |
C.They like to eat the Chinese food a lot. | D.The family are all in China. |
We can’t live without love and we know what love is, but we don’t say only humans know what love is. Yes, it’s impossible for animals to do some things because of their physical body. However, sometimes some of them might be able to show us the love that we have forgotten on our “busy road”, just like the following story.
A dog, was knocked down by a car and died in the middle of the road. Later, another dog ran beside the body of the dead dog and he tried to wake his friend up using his legs. When his effort to wake up his friend failed, he tried to push his friend to the roadside. But his friend was too heavy for him to push.
Though traffic was busy and dangerous, he wouldn’t want to go away from his friend, just standing beside his friend shouting and crying.
A lot of people saw this story and were very touched (感动的). Even a dog can show his loyalty (忠诚) and love to his friend, what can our humans do?The dog died because _______________.
A.it was badly ill | B.it was knocked down by a car |
C.it was too old | D.it fought against other dogs |
The other dog saw it lying in the middle of the road and it wanted to ________first.
A.wake his friend up | B.push his friend to the roadside |
C.catch up with the car | D.stop the traffic |
We learn __________ from the passage.
A.the car driver is too cruel | B.animals can also show love |
C.the two dogs are brothers | D.friends are the best in the world |
Many people have to work on the weekend. Some people do not mind. Others think it is terrible.
One man thinks that working on the weekend can be dangerous. He is Graham Coates. Mr Coates works in an office in Brighton, England.
On Saturday, May 24, 1986, he went to the office to do some work. When he got on the lift(电梯), it stopped between floors. Mr Coates could not get out of the lift. He started to shout, but no one heard him. Then Mr. Coats remembered that it was a holiday in England. No one was going to come to work until Tuesday.
There was nothing for him to do. He had to wait until one of his workmates came to work and found him. With nothing to eat or drink, Mr Coats ended up sleeping for most of the day.
Now Mr. Coates says, "I only use lifts if they have telephones in them."Mr. Coates thinks working on the weekend is_____.
A.interesting | B.terrible | C.happy | D.unhappy |
Mr. Coates stayed in the lift for_____.
A.about twenty hours | B.nearly two days |
C.one week | D.more than sixty hours |
When Mr. Coates got out of the lift he_____.
A.was cold, weak, hungry and tired |
B.wouldn't work there any more |
C.said "I only use lifts if they have telephones in them." |
D.went home at once |
Why could Mr. Coates not get out of the lift? Because _____.
A.it was broken | B.it was the weekend |
C.it was in an office | D.it was a holiday |
In the lift, there was_________.
A.water | B.beer | C.telephone | D.nothing |