In a small village in England about 150 years ago, a mail coach ( 邮车) was standing on the street . It didn’t come to that village often . People had to pay a lot to get a letter . The person who sent the letter didn’t have to pay the postage (邮资) , while the receiver had to .
“Ｈere’s a letter for Miss Alice Brown , ” said the mailman .
“ Ｉ’m Alice Brown , ” a girl of about 18 said in a low voice .
Alice looked at the envelope（信封） for a minute , and then handed it back to the mailman .
“ Ｉ＇m sorry I can’t take it , I don’t have enough money to pay it＂, she said .
A gentleman standing around were very sorry for her . Then he came up and paid the postage for her .
When the gentleman gave the letter to her , she said with a smile , “ Thank you very much ,This letter is from Tom . I’m going to marry him . He went to London to look for work . I’ve waited a long time for this letter , but now I don’t need it , there is nothing in it .”
“ Really ? How do you know that ? ” the gentleman said in surprise .
“ He told me that he would put some signs on the envelope . Look ,sir ,this cross in the corner means that he is well and this circle means he has found work . That’s good news .”
The gentleman was Sir Rowland Hill . He didn’t forgot Alice and her letter .
“ The postage to be paid by the receiver has to be changed ,” he said to himself and had a good plan .
“ The postage has to be much lower , what about a penny (便士 ) ? And the person who sends the letter pays the postage . He has to buy a stamp and put it on the envelope .” he said .
The government accepted his plan . Then the first stamp was put out in 1840 . It was called the “ Penny Black “ . It had a picture of the Queen on it . The first postage stamp was made ___________ .
| A．in England | B．in America |
| C．by Alice | D．in 1910 |
The girl handed the letter back to the mailman because ______________ .
| A．she didn’t know whose letter it was |
| B．she had no money to pay the postage |
| C．she received the letter but she didn’t want to open it |
| D．she had already known what was written in the letter |
We can know from Alice’s words that _________________ .
| A．Tom had told her what the signs meant before leaving |
| B．Alice was clever and could guess the meaning of the signs |
| C．Alice had put the signs on the envelope herself |
| D．Tom had put the signs as Alice had told him to |
The idea of using stamps was thought of by __________________ .
| A．the government | B．Sir Rowland Hill |
| C．Alice Brown | D．Tom |
From the passage we know the high postage made _____________ .
| A．People never send each other letters |
| B．lovers almost lose every touch with each other |
| C．people try their best to avoid(避免) paying it |
| D．receivers refuse to pay the coming letters |
If you travel in the city of Kunming, you can’t miss the Kingdom of Little People. It opened in the summer of 2009 in the mountains in Kunming.
There are tiny(微小的) animals, little beautiful cottages (小屋) and small furniture in the park. The big attraction of the park is the performances by little people. Many little people work in the park. Twice a day, they perform for visitors. They sing, dance and give a magic show. People who want to work in the park should be between eighteen and forty years old from any part of the country. And they should be under 130 cm in height.
The creator of the park is a rich businessman. He wants the park to be like a fairyland. And he wants to do something good for dwarfs in China. This theme park has brought together people of unusual stature (身高). They enjoy being part of the community and impressing tourists with (给……深刻印象) their courage and skills.
Are you interested in this fairyland? How about having a visit in the Kingdom of Little People? What is the big attraction of the park?
| A．It is very huge. | B．It is in the mountains. |
| C．The performances by little people. | D．It looks like a fairyland. |
What can we find in the park?
①Some small animals
②Some big animals.
③Some big castles.
④Some giants.
⑤Some small cottages.
⑥. Some small furniture
| A．①⑤⑥ | B．①②⑤ | C．②③④ | D．③④⑥ |
The underlined word “dwarfs” means “________” in Chinese.
| A．残疾人 | B．智力障碍者 | C．盲人 | D．侏儒 |
Which of the following is TRUE?
| A．You can watch the performance only once a day. |
| B．A dwarf think of an idea to create the park. |
| C．Dwarfs have a chance to show their talent in the park. |
| D．The Kingdom of Little People is a theme park for children. |
Bob was a gardener and he had no work for a few months. One day he went out to look for a job. While he was walking in the street, he saw a poster at the gate of a big restaurant. It said the restaurant needed to hire（雇佣） a man who could grow flowers and trees well. Bob was so pleased that he went straight to answer it. There Bob was told to go back and get his old working clothes to the office. Bob did so.
The boss looked over his working clothes carefully and then decided to let Bob have the job. Bob asked the boss why his working clothes were so important. The boss answered with a smile, "Oh, young man, your working clothes are all with patches(补丁) on the knees. You know, I have dismissed（解雇） two men these days. They had working clothes with patches on the buttocks(臀部). They were too lazy."When the boss saw Bob, he ________.
| A．gave him the job at once | B．liked Bob at once |
| C．asked Bob to go home to get his working clothes | D．liked Bob's clothes |
Bob's new job was________.
| A．to wash dishes | B．to clean the restaurant |
| C．to cook dishes | D．to grow flowers and trees |
We may learn that the boss was ________.
| A．very clever | B．foolish | C．very kind | D．hardworking |
Hong Kong has about forty public beaches. Some of the beaches are among the best in the world. People can go there for a swim. You can go to most of them by bus. But to go to some beaches you must take a boat. There are toilets, dressing rooms and places to buy food and drinks on most of the beaches.
You will swim there without danger if you remember these instructions(说明):
1. Never swim alone.
2. Never swim after a meal or when you feel hungry or tired.
3. Don’t stay in the water too long.
4. Never go out in a boat if you can’t swim.
Remember: A red flag means that it is dangerous for anyone to go into the water. A blue flag means that it is dangerous for children.There are _________public beaches in Hong Kong.
| A．forty | B．a little more or less than forty |
| C．less than forty | D．more than forty |
We can reach __________by bus.
| A．all the public beaches | B．no public beach |
| C．only a few public beaches | D．most of the public beaches |
When you see a blue flag, you know that _________there.
| A．women should not swim | B．children should not swim |
| C．nobody can swim | D．men should not swim |
根据短文内容判断正误，正确的用（A），错误的用（B）
The food my British friends eat in Britain is very different from our Chinese food. For example, they eat a lot of potatoes. They like to eat them every day. They eat bread for breakfast and usually for every other meal. They eat their bread with butter, cheese, or jam, things we don’t eat much in China. Cheese and butter are made from milk. They drink a lot of milk, too. They drink the milk cold or hot, and they put it in their tea. They put sugar in their tea as well. They are the world’s biggest tea drinkers. They like Chinese tea, but they drink mostly strong black tea from India and Sri Lanka(斯里兰卡). They don’t eat much rice. For their main meal they like meat or fish with potatoes and one of two vegetables. They serve(供应) all these together. Later they always have something sweet. They call this dessert. They don’t have Jiaozi in Britain.The Chinese food is the same as the British one.
The British like to eat potatoes very much.
Chinese like to eat cheese.
They drink tea with milk in Britain.
They eat meat or fish every day in Britain.
Jack was ten years old and he was a very lazy boy. He didn’t like doing any work. He had to go to school, of course, but he didn’t study hard there and tried to do little work. His father and mother were both doctors and they hoped that their son would become one too when he grew up. But one day Jack said to his mother, “When I finish school, I want to be a dustman(垃圾工).”
“A dustman?” his mother asked. She was very surprised. “That’s not a good job. Why do you want to become a dustman?”
“Because I would only have to work one day a week,” Jack answered at once.
“Only one day a week?” his mother said. “What do you mean? And how do you know?”
“Well,” Jack answered, “I know that the dustman came to work on Thursday every week, because I only see them on that day.”How was Jack doing at school?
| A．He liked his school. | B．He worked hard at school. |
| C．He didn’t study hard at school. | D．He tried to do much work at school. |
Jack’s parents wanted their son to be a .
| A．doctor | B．dustman | C．teacher | D．worker |
Jack hoped to be a dustman because he thought .
| A．that job was very important |
| B．the dustman worked only on Thursday |
| C．he could make more money |
| D．that was a dirty job |
Jack’s mother felt surprised at his hope of being a dustman, because.
| A．their son was too young to be a dustman |
| B．a dustman worked only one day a week |
| C．it was hard to get such a job |
| D．that was not a good job |
What do you think of Jack?
| A．He was not very clever. |
| B．He was very lazy. |
| C．He liked the dustman’s work. |
| D．He didn’t want to be a doctor. |