ThesedaysthestudentsinClass4ar-优题课

The Great Fire of London started in the very early hours of 2 September 1666. In four days it destroyed more than three-quarters of the old city, where most of the houses were wooden and close together. One hundred thousand people became homeless, but only a few lost their lives.
The fire started on Sunday morning in the house of the king’s baker (面包师) in Pudding Lane. The baker, with his wife and family, was able to get out through a window in the roof. A strong wind blew the fire from the bakery (面包房) into a small hotel next door. Then it spread quickly into Thames Street. That was the beginning.
By eight o’clock three hundr ed houses were on fire. On Monday nearly a kilometer of the city was burning along the River Thames. Tuesday was t he worst day. The fire destroyed many well-known buildings, old St. Paul’s and the Guildhall among them.
Samuel Pepys, the famous writer, wrote about the fire. People threw their things into the river. Many poor people stayed in their houses until the last moment. Birds fell out of the air because of the heat.
The fire stopped only when the king finally ordered people to destroy hundreds of buildings in the path of the fire. With nothing left to burn, the fire became weak and finally died out.
After the fire, Christopher Wren, the architect (建筑师), wanted a city with wider streets and fine new houses of stone. In fact, the streets are still narrow; but he did build more than fifty churches, among them new St. Paul’s.
The fire caused great pain and loss, but after it London was a better place: a city for the future and not just of the past.
It seems that the writer of the text was most sorry for the fact that__________.

A．some people lost their lives

B．the birds in the sky were killed by the fire

C．many famous buildings were destroyed

D．the king’s bakery was burned down

Why did the writer cite (引用) Samuel Pepys?

A．Because Pepys was among those putting out the fire.

B．Because Pepys also wrote about the fire.

C．To show that poor people suffered most.

D．To give the reader a clearer picture of the fire.

How was the fire put out according to the text?

A．The king and his soldiers came to help.

B．All the wooden houses in the city were destroyed.

C．People managed to get enough water from the river.

D．Houses standing in the direction of the fire were pulled down.

Having returned from her round trip (往返旅程), the angry woman stood outside the ticket office of the station. “The railway owes (应给予) me￡12,” she said to Harry Jenks, the young man working at the office, “you sold me a ticket for May 22nd, but there was no ship from Jersey that night. So my daughter and I had to stay in a hotel. It cost me ￡12.”
Harry was worried. He remembered selling the woman a return ticket. “Come into the office, madam,” he said politely, “I’ll just check the Jersey timetable for May 22nd.”
The woman and her little girl followed him inside. She was quite right, as Harry soon discovered. There was no sailing on May 22nd. How could he have made such a careless mistake? He shouldn’t have sold her a ticket for that day. Wondering what to do, he smiled at the child. “You look sunburnt,” he said to her. “Did you have a nice holiday in Jersey?”
“Yes,” She answered, shyly. “The beach was lovely. And I can swim too!”
“That’s fine,” said Harry. “My little girl can’t swim a bit yet. Of course, she’s only three…”
“I’m four,” the child said proudly. “I’ll be four and a half.” Harry turned to the mother. “I remember your ticket, madam,” he said. “But you didn’t get one for your daughter, did you?”
“Err, well…” the woman looked at the child. “I mean… she hasn’t started school yet. She’s only four.”
“A four-year-old child must have a ticket, madam. A child’s return ticket to Jersey costs… let me see…￡13.50. So if the railway pays your hotel, you will owe ￡1.50. The law is the law, but since the fault was mine…”
The woman stood up, took the child’s hand and left the office.
The woman was angry because__________.

A．she couldn’t use the ticket for her round trip

B．she had to return home a day earlier than she had planned

C．she spent more money than she had expected

D．Harry had sold her a ticket to Jersey where there was no sailing

Harry started talking to the little girl________.

A．because he was in difficulty and did not know what to do

B．because he had a little girl about the same age as this girl

C．because he wanted to be friendly to the little girl who looked so nice

D．when he suddenly realized that he could find a way out from the little girl

The woman left the office without saying anything because _______.

A．she wanted to go home and get money for the child’s ticket

B．she was so angry that she didn’t want to have anything more to do with the young man

C．she was moved by Harry’s kindness

D．she knew she would have to pay the railway if she insisted

How can a small stamp be worth ＄16,800?
Any mistake made in the printing of a stamp raises its value to stamp collectors. A mistake on a two-penny stamp has made it worth a million and a half times its face value.
Do you think it impossible? Well, it is true. And this is how it happened.
The mistake was made more than a hundred years ago in the former British colony (前英国殖民地) of M auritius (毛里求斯岛), a small island in the Indian Ocean. In 1847 an order for stamps was sent to London. Mauritius was about to become the fourth country in the world to put out stamps.
Before the order was filled and the stamps arrived from England, a big dance was planned by the commander-in-chief (总司令) of all the armed forces on the island. The dance would be held in his house and letters of invitation would be sent to all the important people in Mauritius. Stamps were badly needed to post the letters. Therefore, an islander, who was a good printer, was told to copy the pattern of the stamps. He carelessly put the words “Post Office” instead of “Post Paid”, two words seen on stamps at that time, on the several hundred that he printed.
Today, there are only twenty-six of these misprinted stamps left--- fourteen One-penny Reds and twelve Two-penny Blues. Because there are so few Two-Penny Blues and because of their age, collectors have paid as much as ＄16,800 for one of them.
When a mistake is made in the printing of the stamp, the stamp___________.

A．will be thrown away

B．increases in value

C．is not worth buying

D．is worth no more than its face value

Why did Mauritius print some stamps too? Because__________.

A．London stamps were not well printed

B．London would not print them

C．invitations to a big dance had to be posted quickly

D．Mauritius had a very good printer

“Post Paid” means___________.

A．the same as “Post Office”

B．the Post Office is the place to buy stamps

C．money has been paid for the stamp

D．the letter must be posted

Stop. Listen! What do you hear? You may hear many different sounds. Some of those sounds may be noise. Noise is a loud or unwanted sound.
Noise can be caused by many kinds of machines, such as motorcycles, jet planes and farm tractors(拖拉机). Rock music is also noise.
What happens to people who live near noisy machines or use them over a period of time? Doctors have found that these people have trouble in sleeping. But, most important, constant(不断的) loud noise can cause a loss of hearing.
Scientists use a unit of measure called decibel(分贝) to measure the loudness of a sound. The sound of a quiet room, for example, measures 35 decibels. Talking measures between 40 and 65 decibels. Sounds from traffic and from some rock bands can measure over 120 decibels. Noise at this high level(层次) causes the great hearing loss.
According to the passage, noise is .

A．any kind of sound	B．a loud or unwanted sound
C．all sounds that you can hear	D．terrible sound

A decibel is a .

A．unit that measures sound	B．kind of noise
C．machine that makes loud noise	D．person who hates sound

According to the passage, loud noise can .

A．help people to sleep better	B．stop machines
C．cause a loss of hearing	D．kill people

We can conclude from the passage that .

A．noise is a serious problem	B．rock music isn’t noise
C．noise is only from traffic	D．some people hate any sound

Study the diagram below. would be the quietest.

Room	Noise Level
A	40~65 decibels
B	35 decibels
C	120 decibels
D	130 decibels

A. Room A B. Room B C. Room C D. Room D

Have you ever done something foolish and it made you feel so embarrassed（尴尬的）?
Well, that’s exactly how I felt. On a Saturday morning last autumn．I went to town to do some shopping and as I was on my way home from the shop，it suddenly began to rain. I at once ran into a nearby phone box because I didn’t have an umbrella．It was raining so heavily that I had to stay in the phone box until it stopped．
A few moments later，I saw a young man walk up to the phone box，wearing a yellow raincoat and holding a box. I didn’t want to go out into the rain，so I picked up the phone and pretended（假装） I was talking to someone. I thought the man would go away，but he didn’t. He just waited in the pouring rain，and I acted as if I was deep in conversation.
Luckily，the rain stopped after about ten minutes．“Okay，Mum，” I said loudly into the phone，“I’ll see you later. Bye!” I put the phone down, picked up my shopping bag and walked out of the phone box. “I’m sorry I took so long.” I said to the man．
“Oh, I don’t want to use the phone,” he answered, smiling．“I’ve just come to repair it. There is something wrong with it, you see .” I felt myself go red in the face and I hurried away with my head down，feeling a complete fool. That was certainly one of the most embarrassing moments of my life!
Why did the writer go to the phone box and stay there?

A．Because she wanted to keep warm.

B．Because she wanted to wait for her friend there.

C．Because she wanted to phone her mother.

D．Because it rained heavily and she had no umbrella with her.

The writer thought that the young man wanted .

A．to repair the phone.	B．to use the phone.
C．to stay in the phone box.	D．to clean the phone box.

How long did the man wait for?

A．About five minutes．	B．About fifteen minutes.
C．About ten minutes.	D．About thirty minutes.

Which of the following is TRUE?

A．The story happened on a cold Saturday morning last summer．

B．The writer telephoned her mother．

C．The writer was on her way home after doing some shopping，suddenly it began to rain.

D．The writer knew why the man came here．

Why was the writer embarrassed?
A. Because she did something foolish.
B. Because she got all wet.
C. Because she made the young man wait so long.
D Because she couldn't get out of the phone box.

A．Football.	B．Cycling.
C．Baseball.	D．Swimming.

A．Football.	B．Baseball.
C．Swimming.	D．Cycling

A．Football.	B．Baseball.
C．Swimming	D．Basketball.