Tuesday, 1st September
I had mixed feelings today, nervous, worried, happy, excited… My heart went down when Miss Chan, our head teacher, said that Matthew and Beth, two students from England, would spend three months with us! I was worried that I had to speak English so much! But at the end of the school day, I was happier than I thought: the morning with them today was more enjoyable than I expected.
Today is the most unforgettable first day I have had! Matthew is fantastic! His English is clearer and easier to listen to than I thought. The other English student, Beth, is the most helpful girl I’ve ever met. There were lots of things to do on the first day. Beth offered to help Miss Chan put up all the notices. Of course, some of the credit (功劳) should also go to ME because I translated some of the notices for her. Miss Chan praised us!
We finished all the preparations 10 minutes earlier than expected, then Beth and I talked for a while, Matthew sang several English songs and did some stand-up comedy (单人喜剧表演) at the party. We all praised him. When the bell rang to end the first school day, none of us wanted to leave.
When I went back home, I had a little headache. I have probably spoken more English today than the whole of last year.
It was really a happy day! I hope our friendship can continue, even after they gone back to England!The writer felt ______ when he heard the news from Miss Chan.
| A．tired | B．angry |
| C．fantastic | D．worried |
Beth helped Miss Chan with the ______.
| A．comedy | B．speeches |
| C．notices | D．translation |
Matthew ______ at the party.
| A．had a talk | B．rang the bell |
| C．sang several songs | D．made a preparation |
Matthew and Beth ______ on the first day.
| A．spoke much Chinese | B．got lots of praise |
| C．had a little headache | D．forgot to leave the school |
From the passage, we know that the writer ______.
| A．caught a bad cold that day |
| B．went back home with Beth |
| C．expects to travel to England |
| D．likes the two English students |
Have you ever been sad because you failed in something? If so, please remember, for often, achieving what you expect is not the most important thing. Here is a story to tell you why.
One day a little boy decided to dig a hole behind his house after watching a science program. As he was working, a couple of boys stopped by to watch. “What are you doing?” asked one of the visitors. “I want to dig a deep hole all the way through the earth!” the boy answered excitedly. The older boys began to laugh, telling him that it was impossible to do it. Then they left.
The little boy kept on digging and digging. Suddenly, a few small colorful stones caught his eyes. He collected them and put them into a glass jar (罐) patiently. Humming (哼唱) a song, he went on digging. The jar was full soon. Then he talked to himself calmly and proudly, “Maybe I can’t finish digging all the way through the earth, but look at what I have found in the process (过程) of digging!”
The boy’s goal (目标) was too difficult, but it did cause him to go on, in other words, to cause us to keep working!
Not every goal will be achieved. Not every job will end up with a success. Not every dream will come true. But when you can’t achieve your goal, maybe you can say, “Yes, but look what I’ve found along the way! There are so many wonderful things that have come into my life because I tried to do something!” It is in the digging that life is lived. It is the unexpected joy on the journey that really has a meaning.What did the boy do after watching a program?
| A．He bought a glass jar. |
| B．He started to dig a hole. |
| C．He played with some visitors. |
| D．He went on watching the program. |
What did the older boys think of the little boy?
| A．He was silly. |
| B．He was strict. |
| C．He was strong-minded. |
| D．He was energetic. |
What does the underlined sentence “It is in the digging that life is lived.” mean according to the article?
| A．Life is to make a big success. |
| B．Life is to find the colorful stones. |
| C．Life is difficult but colorful. |
| D．Life is on the way to achieve the goal. |
I would like to talk to you about one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen. I was born and raised there and now I visit it from time to time. My family moved to the city, so I only go back to see friends or to camp and fish.
I grew up in a small town called Antonito Co. It is surrounded by mountains. So camping is a big source of happiness in the valley. There are so many beautiful places to hike.
The town itself is very small. It is said that if you blink (眨眼) when you’re going through it, you’ll miss it. This has some truth in it considering the size of the town. We have one grocery store (杂货店), a tiny post office , and a tiny bank. There are also a few gas stations, bars, some excellent restaurants, a small hospital and of course several schools. However, for clothing and shoes, you have to drive thirty miles to Alamosa to shop there.
Everyone in the town is nice and we all know each other. The crime rate (率) is zero unless you count some weekend fights that break out because some people drink too much. The classes in school are small, so you get a lot of attention from the teacher.
You’re probably wondering why I don’t live there. Well, I can’t get a job there. A lot of the businesses are family-owned. And they never fire(解雇) their employees. So the employees work there usually until they retire(退休). Most people have to go to other places to get a job. What can you find in the writer’s hometown?
a. bank
b. a post office
c. some gas stations and bars
d. a clothing store
e. a shoe shop
f. some restaurants and a hospital
| A．abce | B．bdef | C．abcf | D．cdef |
Which is the following statements is TRUE?
| A．Teachers pay more attention to the students because they work hard. |
| B．It is great fun for the writer to go camping in the valley. |
| C．It’s common to see some drunken people in the writer’s hometown. |
| D．The writer moved to the city because he didn’t like his hometown. |
We can learn from the last paragraph that in the writer’s hometown.
| A．not many job chances are provided |
| B．employees don’t make much money |
| C．most people live a very hard life |
| D．only the old still live there |
Television is good. You’d like to watch it all day and all night. But watching too much TV is a very bad thing. Scientists find that kids who watch too much TV may have more trouble learning to read. They can’t focus on their work.
Kids learn language skills best by reading, talking and playing with others. If they spend too much time watching TV, they’ll have less time for those things. Watching too much TV is bad for people’s health. People don’t move much while watching TV. What’s more, they may eat a lot offood while watching. This can make them fat. We call these people “couch potatoes”.
Fighting on TV is a big problem for kids. Young people are good at following. Scientists have found that those who watch a lot of fighting shows are more likely to fight.Scientists say if kids watch too much TV, they will.
| A．learn language skills more easily |
| B．be healthier |
| C．find it hard to learn to read |
| D．eat less food |
Kids learn language skills best by.
| A．reading | B．talking |
| C．playing with others | D．all of the above |
While watching TV, what DON’T people do?
| A．Eat a lot of food. | B．Have less time for reading. |
| C．Hardly move. | D．Focus on their work. |
The aim of students who came to school is to study. But to study requires a right way，or you waste either the time or the money. The following are the ways of studying.
The best time for reading is morning，because in the morning，the air is fresh and the mind is clear. For that reason，we can get good results.
In studying we must have patience. If we have not known a text well，we must read it again. We should not read the next one till we have learned the first one.
When we are studying，we must put our hearts into the book，or we can get nothing from the book while we are reading.
We must always ask “whys”. If it is not well understood，write it down and ask our teachers or our parents，or friends. In any possible way，we must know it completely and what we've learned can be used well and made better.
Though there are many ways for studying，yet the above mentioned (提到的) will be quite enough if we can keep them in heart and do so. What does this passage tell us?
_______________________________________________How many ways for studying does the writer teach us according to this passage?
______________________________________________________Why had we better read in the morning?
_____________________________________________________How can we make it possible to get something from the book?
____________________________________________What should we do when we can’t understand what we learn?
______________________________________________________
Like many lovers of books, Mary and her husband, Richard Goldman, seldom walked past a bookstore without stopping to look inside. They often talked of opening their own store one day.
When Mary was in hospital with heart trouble in 1989, they decided it was time to get serious. Richard, who worked for a business company, expected to work for himself, and Mary needed to slow down from her job.
They started by talking to bookstore owners and researching the industry(产业). “We knew it had to be a specialty(专业) store because we couldn’t afford enough money,” says Mary. One idea came to her: She’d read somewhere that about 20 percent of books sold were mysteries, and many buyers spent more $300 a year on books. She and Richard were themselves mystery readers.
On Halloween 1992, they opened the Mystery Lovers Bookshop and Café near their home. With three children in college, the couple could not spend all the family’s money to start a shop. To pay the $100,000 cost, they drew some of their savings, borrowed from friends and from an bank.
The store only broke even in its first year, with only $120,000 in sales. But Mary was always coming up with new ways to attract(吸引) buyers. The shop had a coffee bar and it offered gifts to mystery lovers and provided dinners for book clubs that met in the store. She also invited some writers to discuss their stories.
Today Mystery Lovers makes sales of about $420,000 a year. After paying taxes, business costs and the six part-time sales workers, Richard and Mary together earn about $34,000.
“The job you love may not go hand in hand with a million-dollar income(收入)” says Richard. “This has always been about a pleasant life for ourselves, not about making a lot of money.”When Mary was in hospital, the couple realized that ____.
| A．they had to put their plan into practice |
| B．health was more important than money |
| C．heart trouble was a serious illness |
| D．they both needed to stop working |
After Mary got well from her illness they began _____.
| A．to study how to open a bookstore |
| B．to buy and read more mystery books |
| C．to do market research on book business |
| D．to work harder to save money for the bookstore |
How did their bookstore do in the first year?
| A．They had to borrow money to keep it going. |
| B．They made just enough to pay all the costs. |
| C．They succeeded in making a lot of money. |
| D．They failed though they worked hard. |
According to Richard, the main purpose of opening the bookstore is _____.
| A．to pay for their children’s education |
| B．to get to know more writers |
| C．to set up more bookstores |
| D．to do what they like to do |