Once my father asked me to hold his hammer while he repaired something, so we could have some time to talk to each other.
For 22 years, after I left home for college, he called me every Sunday at 9 am. He was always interested in my life and how my family was doing, and I never once heard him complain about his own life.
Nine years ago when I bought my first house, my father, 67 years old, spent eight hours a day painting it for three days. He would not allow me to pay someone to have it done. All he asked for was a glass of iced tea and for me to hold a paint brush for him and talk to him. But I was too busy.
Five years ago, at age 71, my father spent five hours putting together a swingset (秋千组) for my daughter. Again, all he asked was that I get him a glass of iced tea and talk to him. But again, I was too busy.
Four years ago, my father drove all the way from Denver to Topeka, with an eight-foot Colorado blue spruce (蓝叶云杉) in his trunk, so that my husband and I could have a part of Colorado growing on our land. I was preparing for a trip that weekend and couldn’t spend much time with him.
Then, one day, my father telephoned me as usual, this time from my sister’s home in Florida. We talked about the tree he had brought me, “Fat Albert”, but that morning he called it “Fat Oscar”, and he seemed to have forgotten some things. I had to get to church, so I cut the conversation short.
The call came at 4:40 pm that day: my father was in hospital in Florida with an aneurysm (动脉瘤). I got on a plane immediately, and on the way I thought of all the times I had not taken the time to talk to my father. I realized that I had no idea who he was or what his deepest thoughts were. I promised that when I arrived, I would make up for lost time.
I arrived in Florida at 1 am. My father had passed away at 9:12 pm. This time it was he who did not have time to talk to me.Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．The writer arrived in Florida before her father passed away. |
| B．The writer didn’t find enough time to talk to her father all these years. |
| C．The writer noticed nothing unusual about her father’s health before he was put in the hospital. |
| D．The writer’s father brought them the Colorado blue spruce because it is an expensive kind of tree. |
How did the writer feel when she was rushing to the hospital where her father was staying?
| A．Hopeless. | B．Sorry. |
| C．Frightened. | D．Disappointed. |
Which words best describe the writer’s father?
| A．Honest and modest. |
| B．Strict and demanding (要求高的). |
| C．Talkative and positive (积极乐观的). |
| D．Caring and thoughtful. |
What’s the best title of this passage?
| A．What a good father! | B．How busy I am. |
| C．Time keeps going. | D．My father and our family. |
Plants are very important living things. Life could not go on if there were no plants. This is because plants can make food from air, water and sunlight. Animals and man cannot make food from air, water and sunlight. Animals get their food by eating plants and other animals. Therefore animals and man need plants in order to live. This is why we find that there are so many plants around us.
If you look carefully at the plants around you, you will find that there are two kinds of plants: flowering plants and non-flowering plants.
Flowering plants can make seeds. The seeds are protected by the fruits. Some fruits have one seed, some have two, three or four, and some have many seeds. But a few fruits have no seeds at all. An example of a fruit without seeds is the banana fruit.
Most non-flowering plants do not grow from seeds. They grow from spores (胚芽). Spores are very small. Some spores are so small and light that they can float in the air. We may say that spores are quite the same as seeds. When these spores are all on wet and shady places, they usually grow into new plants.
The main idea of the first paragraph is that ______.
| A．plants are important for life |
| B．plants cannot grow without air |
| C．there are many plants in the world |
| D．we can not live without water |
What can we infer(推断) from the passage ?
| A．Spores are seeds |
| B．Without plants, man will die out |
| C．All fruits of flowering plants have seeds |
| D．Of all living things animals are most important |
This passage may be taken from______.
| A．a medicine book | B．a novel |
| C．a science magazine | D．an experiment report |
I was telling my boy Sonny the story of the hare and the tortoise. At the end I said, “Son, remember: Be slow and steady, and that will win the race. Don’t you think there’s something to learn from the tortoise?”
Sonny opened his eyes wide, “Do you mean next time when I’m entering for the 60-metre race I should wish that Billy, Tony and Sandy would all fall asleep halfway?”
I was shocked, “But the tortoise didn’t wish that the hare would fall asleep!”
“He must wish that already,” Sonny said, “Otherwise how could he be so foolish as to race with the hare? He knew very well the hare ran a hundred times faster than he himself did.”
“He didn’t have such a wish,” I insisted. “He won the race by pushing on steadily.”
Sonny thought a while. “That’s a lie,” he said. “He won it because he was lucky. If the hare didn’t happen to fall asleep, the tortoise would never win the race. He could be as steady as you like, or a hundred times steadier, but he’d never win the race. That’s for sure.”
I gave up. Today’s children are not like what we used to be. They’re just hopeless.
The writer argued with his son because ______________.
| A．he liked tortoises while his son liked hares |
| B．they disagreed about whether the tortoise was foolish |
| C．he tried to teach his son a lesson but the son had totally different opinion |
| D．he liked the story of the hare and the tortoise while his son didn’t. |
Sonny believed that the tortoise ______________.
| A．won the race by his own hard working |
| B．took a risk by agreeing to run a race |
| C．was not given a fair chance in the race |
| D．in fact did win the race luckily |
Billy, Tony and Sandy must be_______________.
| A．boys who were unknown to Sonny’s father |
| B．boys who Sonny has run races with before |
| C．boys who Sonny has never raced with before |
| D．boys who Sonny did not hope to race with again |
According to the passage, who do you think learnt a lesson? ______________.
| A．The tortoise | B．Sonny |
| C．The hare | D．Sonny’s father |
Everybody is afraid of something. That’s what more than 1,700 kids told us when we asked them about fears and scary stuff. We gave kids a list of 14 scary things and asked which one frightened them most. Here are the top 5 answers from our survey: ①Scary movies and TV shows; ②Scary dreams; ③Thunderstorms, hurricanes, and other terrible weather; ④War and terrorism*; ⑤Sounds heard at night.
It seems that not everyone is afraid of the same thing. What makes one person scared can be of no big deal for someone else. Plenty of kids said their biggest fear wasn’t on our list.
What is fear?
Fear is a feeling that everyone has — it’s programmed into all of us — and that’s a good thing because fear is there to protect us. We’re born with a sense of fear so we can react to something that could be dangerous. The baby cries, and their mom comes over to comfort him or her, helping the baby feel safe and OK again.
Real vs. Pretend
The best way to get over a fear is to get more information about it. As kids get older, they understand more and start seeing the difference between what is real and unreal. So when William’s imagination leads him to think of witches, he can tell himself, “Wait a minute. They’re only pretend things. I don’t need to worry about them.”
The same goes for the dark. A kid’s imagination can start playing tricks when the lights go out. What’s under my bed? Is that a thief I hear? With the help of a parent, kids can get more comfortable in the dark. Using a nightlight or shining a flashlight under the bed to see that there’s nothing there can help kids fight that fear.
Which of the following can’t help a kid fight the fear of dark?
| A．Using imaginations to think of witches. |
| B．Their parents coming over to comfort them. |
| C．Using a nightlight to see there’s nothing under the bed. |
| D．Shining a flashlight to see there’s nothing under the bed. |
What does the underlined word “pretend” in paragraph 4 mean?
| A．Ugly. | B．Usual. |
| C．Unreal. | D．Lovely |
What is the second paragraph of the passage mainly about?
| A．Fourteen scary things kids list. |
| B．People are afraid of different things. |
| C．The biggest fear for kids are always the same. |
| D．The things frighten people are the same as the survey. |
Which is TRUE about the writer’s opinion?
| A．Having a sense of fear is not a bad thing. |
| B．Nothing can help kids to get over a fear. |
| C．Fear is something we get when we are older. |
| D．Not all people can react to dangerous things. |
I will never forget one day in my first year in high school. I was sitting on the stairs, putting my head in my hands and crying out to my parents because I would never be able to save enough money for college. My parents tried to comfort me, but it seemed impossible to save＄64,268, the cost for the private college that I wanted to enter.
Now let me tell you the amazing story of how I saved this sum of money. It all began with a newspaper route in Ankeny, IA. I hated delivering newspapers that route, but decided to continue for six months until my family moved to Wausau. With a few dollars from my newspaper route, a small nest egg began to develop. My next job was working in an athletic company. The money continued to grow very slowly. Half a year later, I worked for a fruit store. Then, when I was in junior high school, I began to be a waitress at Denny’s restaurant. It was hard work, but the money began to roll.
By the time my senior year arrived, I had saved a large sum of money. This was encouraging, but I knew that I would also need some help, so I began to apply for scholarships. Sometimes I got upset because I was rejected again and again. Then, my first scholarship offer came in,＄2,000 a year to play tennis. This is only a small sum of money at a school that costs about＄14,000 a year, but it was a start. Several other scholarships also came and soon I was up to have＄9,050 in scholarships. With scholarships and savings, I saved enough money for my first year.
Several years later, I was off to college. Because of careful saving, I did not have to work during the school year.
How much should the writer pay for college?
| A．＄2,000 | B．＄14,000 |
| C．＄64,268 | D．＄9,050 |
Which is the writer’s first job?
| A．Serving as a waitress. |
| B．Delivering newspapers. |
| C．Working at a fruit shop. |
| D．Working in an athletic company. |
Why did the writer want to get scholarships?
| A．Because he needed some help. |
| B．Because he liked playing tennis. |
| C．Because he didn’t want to pay for college. |
| D．Because he hated to work in an athletic company. |
What’s the best title for the passage?
| A．Different Jobs | B．My First Scholarship |
| C．Save Money for College | D．Make Money to Be Rich |
How many animals are killed for human use every year in the United States? The numbers are in the billions,and these arejust the ones we know about. Let’s break it down.
How many animals are killed for food? According to Farm Animal Rights Movement, about10 billionland animals are killed every year for food in the United States, andabout 58 billion are killed around the world. What’s more, this does not even include wild animals.
How many animals are killed for experiments? From 17 million to 100 million! The numbers are difficult to tell because most animals used in experiments are not reported.
How many animals are killed for fur? Every year, over 40 million animals are killed for fur around the world. About 30 million animals are raised on fur farms and killed, about 10 million wild animals are killed for fur, and this does not include sea animals and those that are injured and die later.
How many animals are killed by hunters? According toIn Defense of Animals, hunters kill the most animals every year. Over 200 million animals are killed by hunters in the United States every year. This does not include animals that are injured and die later and those who die after their mothers are killed.
If these numbers are shocking enough for you and you want to do something to help, act out at this very moment. Refuse wild animals on dinner tables, say no to fur coats and try your best to protect the environment. Also, don’t forget to tell the numbers above to the people around you.
How many animals are killed every year for food around the world?
| A．About 30 million. | B．About 10 billion. |
| C．About 40 million. | D．About 58 billion. |
Who kills the most animals?
| A．Farmers. | B．Scientists. |
| C．Hunters. | D．Mother animals. |
Which is NOT the reason why people kill animals according to this article?
| A．For fur. | B．For food. |
| C．For experiments. | D．For environment. |
Why does the writer use so many numbers in the article?
| A．To tell us animals are human’s best friends. |
| B．To show which country kills the most animals. |
| C．To hope us to do something to protect the animals. |
| D．To tell us there are many animals around the world. |