One of my wonderful memories is about a Christmas gift. Unlike other gifts ,it came without wrap（包装）. On September 11, 1958, mum gave birth to Richard. After she brought him home from hospital, she put him in my lap（大腿）, saying, “I promised you a gift, and here it is .” What an honor! I turned four a month earlier and none of my friends had such a baby doll of their own. I played with it day and night. I sang to it. I told it over and over how much I loved it!
One morning, however, I found its bed empty. My doll was gone! I cried for it. Mum wept and told me that the poor little thing had been sent to a hospital. It had a fever. For several days, I heard mum and dad whispering such words as “hopeless”, “pitiful”，and “dying”, which sounded ominous.
“Christmas was coming, don’t expect any presents this year ”Dad said, pointing at the socks I hung in the living room. I’d never seen him cry before.
The phone rang early on Christmas morning. Dad jumped out of bed to answer it. From my bedroom I heard him say.” What? he’s all right?” he hung up and shouted upstairs. “The hospital said we could bring Richard home! ”
“Thank god!” I heard Mum cry.
From the upstairs window, I watched my parents rush out to the car. I had never seen them so happy. And I was also full of joy. What a wonderful day! My baby doll would be home. I ran downstairs. My socks still hung there flat. But I knew they were not empty: they were filled with love!What happened to the author on September 11, 1958 ?
| A．He got a baby brother. | B．He got a Christmas gift |
| C．He became four years old. | D．He received a doll |
What does the underlined word “ominous” in Paragraph 3 probably mean？
| A．Impossible. | B．Boring | C．Difficult | D．Fearful |
Which word can best describe the feeling of the father when Christmas was coming?
| A．Excitement. | B．Happiness. | C．Sadness. | D．Disappointment. |
What is the passage mainly about ?
| A．A sad Christmas day | B．Life with a lovely baby |
| C．A special Christmas gift. | D．Memories of a happy family |
Why play games? Because they are fun, and a lot more besides. Following the rules…planning your next move...acting as a team member…these are all “game” ideas that you will come across throughout your life.
Think about some of the games you played as a young child, such as rope-jumping and hide-and-seek. Such games are entertaining and fun. But perhaps more importantly, they translate life into exciting dramas that teach children some of the basic rules they will be expected to follow the rest of their lives, such as taking turns and cooperating (合作) .
Many children’s games have a practical side. Children around the world play games that prepare them for work they will do as grown-ups. For instance, some Saudi Arabian children play a game called bones. Which sharpens the hand-eye coordination（协调）needed in hunting.
Many sports encourage national or local pride. The most famous games of all, the Olympic Games, bring athletes from around the world together to take part in friendly competition. People who watch the event wave flags, knowing that a gold medal is a win for an entire country, not just the athlete who earned it. For countries experiencing natural disasters or war, an Olympic win can mean so much.
Sports are also an event that unites people. Soccer is the most popular sport in the world. People on all continents play it—some for fun and some for a living. Nicolette Iribarne, a Californian soccer player, has discovered a way to give people hope through soccer. He created a foundation(基金会) to provide poor children with not only soccer balls but also a promising future.
Next time you play your favorite game or sport, think about why you enjoy it, what skills are needed, and whether these skills will help you in other aspects of your life.Through playing hide-and-seek, children are expected to learn to ________.
| A．be a team leader |
| B．obey the basic rules |
| C．act as a grown-up |
| D．predict possible danger |
The underlined part in Paragraph 2 most probably means that games can________.
| A．describe life in an exciting way |
| B．turn real-life experiences into a play |
| C．make learning life skills more interesting |
| D．change people’s views of sporting events |
According to the passage, why is winning Olympic medals so encouraging?
| A．It makes people have a deep love for the country. |
| B．It proves the exceptional skills of the winners. |
| C．It helps the country out of natural disasters. |
| D．It earns the winners fame and fortune. |
Iribarne’s goal of forming the foundation is to _______.
| A．bring fun to poor kids |
| B．provide soccer balls for children |
| C．give poor kids a chance for a better life |
| D．appeal to soccer players to help poor kids |
What can be learned from the passage?
| A．Games benefit people all their lives. |
| B．Sports can get all athletes together. |
| C．People are advised to play games for fun. |
| D．Sports increase a country’s competitiveness. |
Some time ago I discovered that one of my chairs had a broken leg. I didn’t think there would be any difficulty in getting it mended, as there are a whole lot of antique(古董) shops near my home. So I left home one morning carrying the chair with me. I went into the first shop expecting a friendly reception(接待). I was quite wrong. The man wouldn’t even look at my chair.
The second shop, though slightly more polite, was just the same, and the third and the fourth — so I decided that my approach must be wrong.
I entered the fifth shop with a plan in my mind. I placed the chair on the floor and said to the shopkeeper, “Would you like to buy a chair?” He looked it over carefully and said, “Yes, not a bad chair. How much do you want for it, sir?” “Twenty pounds.” I said. “OK,” he said, “I’ll give you 20 pounds.” “It’s got a slightly broken leg,” I said. “Yes, I saw that, it’s nothing.”
Everything was going according to plan and I was getting excited. “What will you do with it?” I asked. “Oh, it will be easy to sell once the repair is done.” “I’ll buy it,” I said. “You’ve just sold it to me,” he said. “Yes, I know but I’ve changed my mind. I am sorry. I’ll give you twenty-seven pounds for it.” “You must be crazy,” he said. Then, suddenly the penny dropped. “I know what you want. You want me to repair your chair.” “You’re right,” I said. “And what would you have done if I had walked in and said ‘Would you mend this chair for me?’” “I wouldn’t have agreed to do it,” he said. “We don’t do repairs. Not enough money in it and too much trouble. But I’ll mend this for you, shall we say for a fiver?” He was a very nice man and was greatly amused(感到有趣)by the whole thing.We can learn from the text that in the first shop the writer _______.
| A．was rather impolite |
| B．was warmly received |
| C．asked the shopkeeper to buy his chair |
| D．asked the shopkeeper to repair his chair |
The expression “the penny dropped” in the last paragraph means the shopkeeper _______.
| A．changed his mind | B．accepted the offer |
| C．saw the writer’s purpose | D．decided to help the write |
How much did the writer pay?
| A．＄5 | B．＄7 | C．＄20 | D．＄27 |
From the text, we can learn that the writer was _______.
| A．honest | B．careful | C．smart | D．funny |
Allan goes everywhere with Birgitta Anderson, a 54-year-old secretary. He moves around her office at work and goes shopping with her. “Most people don’t seem to mind Allan,” says Birgitta, who thinks he is wonderful. “He’s my fourth child.” She says. She may think of him and treat him that way, buying his food, paying his health bills and his taxes, but in fact Allan is a dog.
Birgitta and Allan live in Sweden, a country where everyone is expected to lead an orderly life according to rules laid down by the government, which also provides high level of care for its people. This level of care costs money.
People in Sweden pay taxes on everything, so aren’t surprised to find that owning a dog means yet more taxes. Some people are paying as much as 500 Swedish kronor in taxes a year for the right to keep their dog, money that is spent by the government on dog hospitals and sometimes medical treatment for a dog that falls ill. However, most such treatment is expensive, so owners often decided to pay health and even life insurance(保险) for their dog.
In Sweden dog owners must pay for any damage(损坏) their dog does. A Swedish Kennel Club official explains what this means: if your dog runs out on the road and gets hit by a passing car you, as the owner, have to pay for any damage done to the car, even if your dog has been killed in the accident.Birgitta pays taxes for Allan because ____________.
| A．he is her dog | B．he is her child |
| C．he follows her everywhere | D．he often falls ill |
If a dog causes a car accident and gets killed, who should pay for the damage done to the car?
| A．The owner of the car | B．The owner of the dog |
| C．The insurance company (公司) | D．The government |
From the text it can be learned that in Sweden ____________.
| A．dogs are welcome in public places |
| B．keeping dogs means asking for trouble |
| C．many car accidents are caused by dogs |
| D．people care much about dogs |
A good relationship between students and teachers makes the classroom a very inviting place. When you like your teachers, it’s easier to pay attention to their explanations and improve your marks. When you consider your teachers as friends, you’ll certainly have more respect for them. When your teachers consider you to be a friend, they’ll feel more open in class and that will probably influence the classroom in a positive way. Now here are some tips to develop a friendly relationship with your teachers:
Ask questions. If you have any questions about that subject, ask them. Show them that you’re interested in their subjects. That will make them notice you. But never ask questions that you already know the answers to. If your teachers realize that you are not asking real questions, they might think that you’re not actually trying to learn, but only trying to make an impression.
Talk about non-school subjects. When you see one of your teachers in the hall, greet him/her and ask if he/she is going to that concert or if he/she has seen that movie. That way you’ll show that you consider him/her as a reined. Some teachers don’t like to have friendly relationships with students, but most of them are happy to chat with their students. After a while, they may start to talk with you about non-school subjects in the classroom.
The rest is totally up to you; it is very easy to develop a friendly relationship with any of your teachers. If you want to be friends with your teachers, just treat them as friends, but don’t forget that no matter how good friends you are, they will still be your teachers and deserve your respect.What does the first paragraph mainly tell us?
| A．How to make friends with your teachers in or out of class. |
| B．How important a good teacher-student relationship is. |
| C．How to make yourself pay attention to your teachers in class. |
| D．Some tips for developing a friendly relationship with your teachers. |
When you ask a teacher questions you already know the answers to, __________.
| A．you may make a fool of yourself trying to be smart |
| B．it means that you should not be above asking questions |
| C．you are actually trying to make fun of your teachers |
| D．it shows that you’re trying to pretend to know everything |
What’s the main idea of this passage?
| A．What a good teacher-student relationship is. |
| B．How to make friends with your classmates at school. |
| C．How to make the classroom a very inviting place. |
| D．How to develop a good relationship with your teachers. |
You wake up in the morning, the day is beautiful and the plans for the day are what you have been looking forward to for a long time. Then the telephone rings, you say hello, and the drama starts. The person on the other end has a depressing tone in his voice as he starts to tell you how terrible his morning is and that there is nothing to look forward to. You are still in a wonderful mood? Impossible!
Communicating with negative people can wash out your happiness. It may not change what you think, but communicating long enough with them will make you feel depressed for a moment or a long time.
Life brings ups and downs, but some people are stuck in the wrong idea that life has no happiness to offer. They only feel glad when they make others feel bad. No wonder they can hardly win others’ pity or respect.
When you communicate with positive people, your spirit stays happy and therefore more positive things are attracted. When the dagger(匕首) of a negative person is put in you, you feel the heavy feeling that all in all, brings you down.
Sometimes we have no choice but to communicate with negative people. This could be a co-worker, or a relative. In this case, say what needs to be said as little as possible. Sometimes it feels good to let out your anger back to the negative person, but all this does is to lower you to that same negative level and they won’t feel ashamed of themselves about that.
Negativity often affects happiness without even being realized. The negative words of another at the start of the day can cling to(附着) you throughout the rest of your day, which makes you feel bad and steals your happiness. Life is too short to feel negative. Stay positive and avoid negativity as much as possible.The purpose of the first paragraph is to_______.
| A．make a comparison | B．offer an evidence |
| C．introduce a topic | D．describe a daily scene |
How can negative people have effect on us?
| A．By influencing our emotion. |
| B．By telling us the nature of life. |
| C．By changing our ways of thinking. |
| D．By comparing their attitudes to life with others. |
Some negative people base their happiness on ______.
| A．other people’s pity for them |
| B．making other people unhappy |
| C．building up a positive attitude |
| D．other people’s respect for them |
According to the passage, to reduce negative people’s influence on us, we are advised to ______.
| A．change negative people’s attitudes to life |
| B．show our dissatisfaction to negative people |
| C．make negative people feel ashamed of themselves |
| D．communicate with negative people as little as possible. |