My mother loves flowers. As soon as warm weather comes around, you will find her planting, watering and weeding over everything .For many years we lived next door to each other, and she spent as much time in my garden as she did her own. After the flowers became plentiful each summer, she would cut colorful bouquets(花束)to enjoy inside the house—both hers and mine . I would often come home from work and find a beautiful arrangement(布置)of fresh flowers on my coffee table.
Shortly before Christmas one year, a local flower shop offered a bouquet-a-month special. It seemed to be a great way to thank her for all of the flowers she had given me through the years.
After the holidays, in early January, I drove her to the flower shop to pick up her first month’s bouquet. the small fresh colorful bouquet would hardly fill a small vase(花瓶).
I was so embarrassed(尴尬的).However, after we returned home, she began to arrange the flowers she had received.“Mom, I’m sorry, ”I told her.“I can’t believe how skimpy that bouquet is.”She looked at me and smiled.“It’s okay,”she said“It allows me to better enjoy the beauty of each one.”
Mom’s words helped me to realize something bigger and more important—when we have too many good things, we often fail to enjoy the beauty of each one.
Thanks, Mom ,for helping me understand that less is sometimes more.According to paragraph 1 ,which of the following is TRUE?
| A．The author’s mother put fresh flowers on the author’s coffee table. |
| B．The author used to buy some fresh flowers on her way home. |
| C．The author’s mother usually bought flowers for her daughter. |
| D．The author and her mother shared a beautiful garden. |
The author bought her mother flowers to_______.
| A．celebrate the coming Christmas |
| B．express thanks for all her mother’s done |
| C．bring more flowers to her mother’s garden |
| D．arrange her mother’s new house |
The underlined word“skimpy”in Paragraph 4 means_______.
| A．beautiful | B．colorful |
| C．cheap | D．small |
What did the author learn from her mother?
| A．How to grow flowers. |
| B．How to arrange flowers |
| C．Enjoying life if possible |
| D．Considering things in other ways. |
Parents whose children show a special interest in a sport feel very difficult to make a decision about their children’s careers. Should they allow their children to train to become top sports men and women? For many children it means starting schoolwork very young, and going out with friends and other interests have to take a second place. It’s very difficult
to e
xplain to a young child why he or she has to train five hours a day, even at the weekend, when most of his or her friends are playing.
Another problem is of course money. In many countries money for training is available from government for the very best young sportsmen and women. If this help can not be given, it means that it is the parents who have to find the time and the money to support their child’s development and sports clothes, transport to competitions, special equipment, etc. Can all be very expensive?
Many parents are worried that it is dangerous to start serious training in a sport at an early age. Some doctors agree that young muscles may be damaged by training before they are properly developed. Professional(专业的) trainers, however, believe that it is only by training young that you can reach the top as a successful sports person. It is clear that very few people do reach the top, and both parents and children should be prepared for failure even after many years of training.This article is most probably taken from ____.
| A．a letter | B．an advertisement |
| C．a personal diary | D．a newspaper article |
According to the passage, parents whose children show a special interest in sport ____.
A．feel un certain if they should let their children train to be sports men or women . |
| B．try to get financial(财政的) support from the government for their children’s training. |
| C．have to get medical advice from doctors about training methods |
| D．prefer their children to be trained as young as possible |
Which of the following statements is NOT true?
| A．By starting young, you won’t have much time for your schoolwork. |
| B．Early training may damage your muscles. |
| C．Most children may become professional sports men after a long period of training. |
| D．It’s very expensive for parents to support their child’s development in sports. |
The phrase “ to take a second place” means____.
| A．to repeat the activities some other day |
| B．to become less important |
| C．of all the things, they are the most important |
| D．to happen again |
____can become the best players after many years of training.
| A．Most people | B．Some people | C．Hardly any people | D．No people |
Tanzania Tarangire is a national Park which lies in Tanzania．The park itself covers an area of around 2,850 square kilometers, making it the sixth largest park of its kind in the country．I recently visited Tarangire to see what it was like…．
One of the first sightings upon entering the park which I found was a huge herd（群）of elephants． Our guide told us that Tagrangire was probably the best place in Tanzania to find large herds of elephants, and that their population in the park was around 2,500．We continued to watch the elephants as they stood under trees and scratched themselves against the trees to hit the spot of an itch（痒处）．
To the right of the elephant herd, we noticed a big tree! Our guide informed us that this was a Baobab tree and that they could live for hundreds of years．Compared with this tree, the elephant just looked like dwarfs（侏儒）! We were informed that Tarangire was one of the best National Parks in Africa to see so many Baobab trees．
As we continued our drive through the park, we finally reached a watering hole．Our guide warned us that there were lions all around us．It took us all a while to find them, but there they were! Most of them are resting in the 
shade under brushes, but there was one that was drinking from the watering hole directly in front of us．We then noticed just to our right, there were a couple of fresh zebra corpses（尸体）— it seemed as if the lions which were resting had killed them! We were unlucky not to have seen the actual kill, as our guide had mentioned that the zebra corpses were fresh and the kill had occurred within the last hour．
Our final big sighting was one that none of us were expecting to see, even our guide! We pulled over to where there was a large gathering of cars, with a sleeping leopard（美洲豹）there! We took photos h
appily and excitedly and observed its surprising body before returning to our hotel as it was getting late．
So, I hope yo
u enjoyed my description of Tarangire, and that I have inspired you to add this amazing park to your very own Tanzania travel route．Which statement is correct about the park?
| A．It covers an area of about 2,580 square kilometers |
| B．It is the largest park of its kind in the country |
| C．Their population in the park was around 2,000 |
| D．There are a lot of Baobab trees in it． |
How did the writer travel in Tanzania Tarangire?
| A．On foot | B．On horseback | C．By car | D．By bicycle |
What did they see when they stopped with some other cars?
| A．A large herd of elephants | B．Some lions |
| C．Some zebras | D．A leopard |
What does the writer think of his trip in Tanzania Tarangire?
| A．Boring | B．Challenging | C．Dangerous | D．Enjoyable |
Since my son is getting ready for first grade, I asked a friend where she shops for school supplies．For price and convenience, she had a quick answer: schoolpak．com．Parents can buy items or packaged equipment for all grades．The Generic Elementary School-pak for first through fifth graders, for example, is $23．28．（Teachers can also e-mail their grade’s or school’s whole list for a price on customized kits（销售包）．Shipping（运送）is free for 75 or more kits）
Teachers thinks highly of educational warehouse．com for its learning tools and games—everything from puzzles and puppets to software and chalks．Classroomdirect．com has great prices on over 10．000 products and a special corner offering even deeper discounts．
Pick your lunch box
The second-most-difficult back-to-school decision, right after what to wear on the first day, is what kind of lunch box to buy．Jonas Brothers or Hannah Montana? Ariel or Elmo? Your kids can examine their （and your） lunch boxes at platesplus4kids．com and lunchboxes．com．
Trade in sports tools
My garage is a tangle（混乱） of bikes and balls, sticks and clubs, so I was excited to find play it again sports．com --- a company that helps you sell quality, name-brand sporting equipment．You’ll have to visit one of its 320 stores, located in 46 states and the District of Columbia．
3 sites for saving
Feed the pig．org
Think about the savings if your kids （and you） stopped buying lunch out every day and brown-bagged（自带午餐）it．
Good shop．com
Support your favorite school by shopping at more than 1,000 participating shops．Up to 30 percent of every purchase is donated．And you’ll find hundreds of deals and coupons（优惠券）．
Tax admin．org
Click on 2009 State Sales Tax Holidays to see if your state has a tax-free shopping day．Check what’s included before going to the store．The passage is mainly aimed at__________．
| A．parents | B．teachers | C．students | D．businessmen |
If you want to sell the bikes your children don’t use, you can go to ____________．
| A．educationalwarehouse．com | B．playitagainsports．com |
| C．Feedthepig．org | D．Taxadmin．org |
What does the writer think of picking a lunch box?
| A．It is very easy | B．It is rather hard |
| C．It proves interesting | D．It seems special |
What can be filled in the blank in the first item?
| A．Teachers are much wiser | B．Puzzles and puppets |
| C．Shops where teachers shop | D．Develop your brains |
Twelve years ago, a young traveler named Rhett Butler from San Francisco, California, visited the Sabah rainforest on Malaysian Borneo. In one area of the rainforest, he watched a bird flying through the trees. The beautiful sight left quite an impression on him. But weeks later, back home, Rhett Butler got the news that trees had been cut down in the area he visited.
To keep hi
s website going, he travels around the world on several major trips each year. His working tools are a laptop computer, cameras and sometimes diving equipment. He often calls on experts for information. For example, he interviewed Alison Jolly, a top experts on lemurs(狐猴). He interviewed Rodney Jackson, a biologist who established the Snow Leopard Conservancy.
Stories like these have made Mongabay a favorite place on the Internet for researchers, students and teachers. In April, Time.Com named it one of the fifteen top climate and environment websites in the world. What’s the main idea of the passage?
| A．Rhett Butler and his website. |
| B．Rainforest on Malaysian Borneo. |
| C．How Rhett Butler protected rare animals. |
| D．How Rhett Butler made his website popular. |
Rhett Butler didn’t publish his book about rainforests because _______.
| A．making websites earns more money than writing books |
| B．he didn’t want to become a writer |
| C．the book was not about rainforest protection |
| D．he wanted to use the information to create a website |
Which of the followings is NOT true about the Mongabay. Com?
| A．It was set up in 1999. |
| B．It attracted many advertisers. |
| C．At least two related websites grew from it. |
| D．Rhett Butler made a lot of money from it. |
To keep his website going, Rhett Butler ________.
| A．kept visiting the rainforest |
| B．traveled around and interviewed experts |
| C．raised rare snow leopards |
| D．made a great number of advertisements |
We can learn from the passage that _________.
| A．Mongabay.Com was loved by researchers as well as students |
| B．kids. Mongabay.Com. has many stories written by kids |
| C．WildMadagascar.org is better known than Mongabay.Com |
D．Rodney Jacks on was once a businessman |
Your children’s teacher will be providing extra time for test preparation. This school year’s test will be held on January 8 and 9. The test preparation time is open to all students, and we strongly encourage your children to attend.
This year we are changing the time for our test preparation: it will be on Thursday mornings from 8:10 to 8:50. This helps children who ride the bus and cannot stay for the after-school period. It also helps avoid conflicts with after-school activities.
Danielle and Marina will be working with the recent new test takers 6 days on the following Thursdays: 15th, Nov; 29th, Nov; 6th, Dec; 13th, Dec.; 20th, Dec. and 3rd, Jan.
Besides the test preparation lectures on these dates, teachers are already putting test preparation into their usual courses. We are finding that we can help our students to be both skillful and whole-hearted readers and test takers — after all, we all know that the best test preparation is good reading and writing training.
What can you do at home? Again, the best and most effective test preparation for the ELA test is reading and more reading. The research is quite clear — students who do well in the tests are those who are good readers. Reading not only builds reading ability, it also helps build confidence — important for successful test taking! But do discourage your children from spending too much time on books that are too hard or even a bit too hard. Children best develop comprehension skills when they are reading books just right for them (too easy doesn’t hurt here either).
Finally, on Friday, December 7, we will have a morning lecture on the ELA. Please pay attention!The text is mainly about ________.
| A．how teachers will provide more time for test preparation |
| B．the reason why time for test preparation will be changed |
| C．how teachers have put test preparation into their usual courses |
| D．test preparation information that parents should know about |
The time for test preparation has been changed to _________.
| A．make it more convenient for the students to attend |
| B．help the new test-takers have more time to read |
| C．avoid disagreement in time between different years of students |
| D．avoid conflicts between preparation time and the usual courses |
From the passage, we know that ________.
| A．Danielle will help students prepare for different tests |
| B．the school year test will be on a Tuesday |
| C．all the children must take part in the test preparation |
| D．the students can learn how to write well in the test preparation |
Parents should _____ at home.
| A．prepare good meals for their children |
| B．read more books with their children |
| C．ask their children not to spend too much time on reading |
| D．encourage their children to read more books fit for them |
Why did the school encourage all the students to take part in the test preparation?
| A．Test preparation is what they always do. |
| B．The students will learn what will be included in the final exam. |
| C．Test preparation helps students to be more interested in reading and confident. |
| D．The test is a long way off and there are better things to do. |