We were doing the best to control the fire of the burning garage (车库). Outside, I heard the sounds of cats crying. I couldn’t stop—I would have to look for the cats after the fire was put out.
It took a long time to finally bring the big fire under control. No one inside was hurt. At that point I was free to find out where the cat noises were from. There was still a lot of smoke and heat coming from the building. I followed the meowing to the sidewalk in front of the garage. There, crying and huddled (挤作一团) together, were five frightened kittens (小猫). They must have been inside the building, as their fur was badly hurt.
I wanted to find the mother cat. It was clear that she had gone into the burning garage and carried out all her babies, one by one—unbelievable.
We finally found her. Her paws and face were blackened, and her fur was burned all over. You could even see her reddened skin under the burned fur. She could hardly move. I picked her up, and she relaxed in my arms as much as her pain would allow. I decided to save this brave little cat and her family.
The vet told me they would watch the kittens and their mother for the night, but they weren’t confident about the mother’s chances.
About a week later, I found out she was going to live. We named her Scarlet because of her reddened skin.
I was happy to see Scarlet get together with the kittens again. She touched each of them, nose to nose. She had been in danger for five times and it had paid off. All of her babies had survived.
As a fireman, I see heroic acts every day. But what Scarlet showed me that day was the kind of bravery that can only come from a mother’s love.Which of the following is TRUE according to the story?
| A．The writer went to look for the cats as soon as he heard them crying. |
| B．The firefighters put out the fire quickly and no one was hurt. |
| C．The writer didn’t find the cats until the smoke and heat were gone. |
| D．The mother cat moved all her babies out of the fire to a safe place. |
Why did the writer decide to save the cats?
| A．Because he was amazed at the mother cat’s courage. |
| B．Because the cats attracted many people’s attention. |
| C．Because he didn’t want to see any living things die. |
| D．Because it had taken him much time and effort to save them. |
The writer talks about the cat’s story to show that ________________.
| A．animals should be taken good care of |
| B．mother’s love can be great and brave |
| C．it is meaningful to help others |
| D．a cat always has nine lives |
Long long ago, there lived two girls named Emily and Tina. Both of them had long black hair and blue eyes. One day while they were playing in the back yard (庭院), Emily heard a tinkling (叮当) sound. She jumped up. “Listen,” she told her twin. They listened. The noise came again.
This time Tina heard it. She sat up. “It came from over there,” She whispered, looking at the zinnias (鱼尾菊) far away. They came near to find it out. Then something flew out, making the same tinkling sound they had heard before. The children looked at one another. “Was it a bee?” asked Tina. “I don’t think so,” replied Emily. “Do bees make a sound like bells?” “Let’s call it the Tinkle Bee anyway,” said Tina. Emily nodded, listening with a little difficulty. What had made that noise?
The next day, Emily and Tina brought their cookies outside. Tina took her plate by the zinnias. Suddenly she caught something. “Emily!” she called. “I’ve got the Tinkle Bee!” Emily rushed over. They sat down on the grass. Tina opened her hand very carefully. There was that sound! Something was shining in Tina’s hand. They smiled. Then Emily cried, “It’s a fairy (仙女)!” Tina looked down at it in her hand. It looked like a girl. A tiny girl with wings! Tina dropped it before she noticed that a wing was torn (撕裂). The little fairy could not fly away so she took a piece of grass out of the ground and sat on it.
Emily and Tina were surprised at what they saw. The fairy turned to Emily and said, “Hello, I am Marabella.” Then she said again, “Marabella the Fairy.” Emily smiled. “I’m Emily,” she said. Tina said, “I’m Tina. Are you really a fairy?” “Oh, yes!” replied Marabella. “I’ve always been a fairy.”Which of the following has the closest meaning to the underlined word “tiny” in this passage?
| A．Weak. | B．Nice. | C．Little. | D．Sick. |
How did the sound come out?
| A．A bee behind the zinnias made the sound. |
| B．It came out from the fairy’s flying. |
| C．It came out when the fairy shouted for help. |
| D．The bell by the zinnias rang. |
What does the passage mainly tell us?
| A．Emily and Tina found a tinkling sound when they were playing in the yard. |
| B．Emily and Tina were very interested in the tinkling sound. |
| C．How a fairy by the zinnias was saved by the twins. |
| D．The process of Emily and Tina’s finding a fairy. |
Oil is so important that it is sometimes called “black gold”. Almost half of our energy comes from oil. We use it to run our cars and factories and to heat our homes, offices and schools. Many everyday things are made from oil. Your shirt may have oil in the material. The soap you wash your hands with might also be made from oil. Your favorite plastic toy is made from oil.
Oil is hard to find, because it is trapped deep under the earth. Once the only way people knew there was oil someplace if it leaked（渗漏）out of the ground. Today, however, we have many ways of finding oil. One tool measures（测量）the pull of gravity. Places where gravity is weaker are more likely to have oil. Another tool is sound waves（声波）. Sound waves travel through different kinds of rocks at different speeds. We can use them to find the rocks that have oil in them.
We need a lot of oil, and we are using up the oil wells we know about. Soon we must find new ways of looking for this “black gold”.Which of the following isn’t the way to help find oil?
| A．Sound waves travel through different kinds of rocks at different speeds. |
| B．People measure the pull of gravity to know if there is oil. |
| C．Sound waves tell us where the oil has leaked out of the ground. |
| D．People know there is oil if it leaks out of the ground. |
Which of the following does the passage lead you to believe?
| A．Oil was firstly found by measuring gravity. |
| B．Many things are made from oil. |
| C．We will never run out of oil. |
| D．Our lives would not be different if we didn’t have oil. |
The main idea of the whole story is that ________________.
| A．many things are made from oil |
| B．we must find new ways of looking for oil |
| C．people spend a lot of time looking for oil |
| D．oil is important for us but hard to find |
In an American classroom, a Chinese girl was asked to answer a question. She stood up and smiled, without making any sound. The American teacher looked at himself and didn’t see anything funny. So he asked her the question again. The girl just smiled but said nothing. The teacher was angry. He didn’t know that the girl smiled to cover her embarrassment（尴尬）because she wasn’t able to answer the question.
In a dining room in Beijing, an Englishman was careless and dropped a plate. The Chinese who had seen this began to laugh. The Englishman felt uncomfortable and even got angry. “They are laughing at me,” he thought. In fact the Chinese laughed not at the Englishman or his bad luck—whether he is a foreigner or a Chinese. The smile or laughter has several feelings: don’t take it so seriously; laugh it off, it’s nothing; such things can happen to any of us.The Chinese girl smiled in an American classroom because ________________.
| A．she was asked to answer a question | B．she was asked to stand up |
| C．she couldn’t answer the question | D．the teacher looked funny |
Which feeling is NOT included in the laughter when the Englishman dropped a plate?
| A．Don’t take it seriously. | B．Bad luck! |
| C．It’s nothing. | D．It can happen to any of us. |
What does the writer want to tell us?
| A．Smile and laughter don’t mean the same thing to different people. |
| B．Smile and laughter always bring happiness. |
| C．American people are easy to get angry. |
| D．Chinese students are impolite |
Two young men, one was a prisoner while the other was a famous official from the White House, both told a story about how their mothers give apples to them.
The story from the prisoner:
When I was young, one day my mother brought several apples, among which there was a biggest red one that I really wanted to get. My mum put all the apples on the table and asked us, “Which do you like?” I was about to say “the biggest one” while my brother took one step ahead and said what I wanted to say. My mum said angrily, “A good child should give the best to others instead of being self-centered.” I learnt a quick lesson and said, “Mum, give me the smallest one. The biggest one should be left for my brother!” Hearing my words, she felt more than happy and gave the biggest apple to me as a reward.
I told a lie but I got what I wanted! Since then, I learnt to lie. Later, I learnt to fight, steal and rob. I would try all means to get what I wanted. Then later I was put behind bars.
The story from the White House:
When I was young, one day my mum brought several apples of different colors and sizes. Both my two younger brothers and I wanted the biggest one. My mum picked up the biggest apple and said, “It is good to get the biggest apple. Now let’s start a competition. I will divide the lawn (草坪)in front of our house into three parts, one for each. Who could do the job best and fastest would be rewarded with the biggest apple.” I won the apple finally. Which does the writer want to tell us MOST?
| A．Each mother loves her kids.. |
| B．Mother’s education is very important. |
| C．The earlier education starts, the better result there will be. |
| D．No pains, no gains. |
How did the “prisoner” get the biggest apple?
| A．By working for the family. |
| B．By competing with his brother. |
| C．By doing the best job. |
| D．By cheating his mother. |
What does the underlined phrase “put behind bars” probably mean?
| A．受批评 | B．进监狱 | C．受挫折 | D．受惩罚 |
It can be inferred from the passage that .
| A．the official was very honest when he was young. |
| B．the prisoner’s mother taught him how to tell lies. |
| C．the official learned that what he wanted needed to pay for the same effort. |
| D．it was his mother who had him break laws. |
What is the writer probably going to write next?
| A．Scientific methods of giving apples. |
| B．The importance of mother’s education. |
| C．Another story about of giving apples. |
| D．School education. |
At East China University of Science and Technology, students who finish their food in the dining hall can get a coupon(优惠券) when they return their tray(餐盘). They can exchange coupons for small gifts, such as books, magazines, mobile phone covers and hand warmers.
“It’s been a big surprise,” said Liang Zhaoyun, 19, a student in the university of Shanghai. “It makes us try our best to finish the food!”
But some food in the dining hall is so poorly prepared that students are reluctant to finish it all. Some schools have paid some attention to it.
“The dishes in our canteen are all right, generally speaking. We’ve tried our best to make it tasty. But of course it’s difficult to make all the students love it.” said Wang.
Other universities also pay attention to the size of food. At Nanjing University, rice is divided into three different-sized bowls that students can choose from.
“I like to try different dishes at each meal. So I had to throw away a lot of food because the bowls were too big. But now the dining hall offers small sizes. It’s great because I can try different dishes at half price and don’t waste so much food,” said Fan Peng, a student from Nanjing University.
But what if you really can’t finish all your food? Some universities also provide a take-away service. If you can’t finish all your food, you can get a box to take the leftovers home. Even if you feed the cat, it’s not wasted.
So you see, if we call on students not to waste food, schools should also improve the service and meal quality.How can the students at East China University of Science and Technology get a coupon?
| A．They eat up all the food and wash the tray. |
| B．They return the tray in the dining hall. |
| C．They finish all the food and return the tray. |
| D．They wash the tray and return it. |
In some universities, if you can’t finish all your food, you can __________________.
| A．leave the food on the table and go away | B．share it with your friends |
| C．give the food back to the dining hall | D．take it away with a box |
The underlined word “reluctant” in this passage means ___________ in Chinese.
| A．开心的 | B．饥饿的 | C．不情愿的 | D．不可能的 |
In order to reduce the waste, universities do a lot of things except _____________.
| A．trying to make the food as delicious as possible. |
| B．offering different sizes of the food. |
| C．exchanging trays for coupons and gifts. |
| D．raising the price of the food. |
Where can we read this passage?
| A．In a newspaper. | B．In a science book. |
| C．In a story book. | D．In a fashion magazine. |