12-year-old John Thomas Robertson is a born train fan. “I’ve liked trains probably from the day I was born,” he told Good Morning America. “When I was very little,” he said, “my grandpa got me a train model. I would just watch it go round for hours and hours.”
When Robertson finally had the opportunity to ride on a train, he felt great. His journey was so mind-blowing that he couldn’t keep it to himself: he decided to take all his classmates to go on a ride with him. When he found that some of his classmates couldn’t pay the fares, he spent money he had saved by collecting cans（罐子）and bottles and raised more than ＄1,000 for them.
That train was such a happy one that he made it yearly action. “It never gets boring for some reason; it’s just very fun,” he said. “It really lets people get away from their busy life and have fun.”
Every October, Robertson takes a new group of disabled children to ride the train — but now, he has a problem. Several disabled children were refused because the train was not accessible（可用的）to disabled people. “He was angry to think that children of his own age couldn’t ride a train,” his mother said.
But he wouldn’t say no: he recently sent a letter to the train office for help. To his surprise, the leader, Ty Pennington, took the letter seriously. He said that he and his workers would work on making a train accessible to disabled people.The first time John Thomas Robertson took a train, he_______
| A．felt extremely happy. | B．was frightened by it. |
| C．watched it for hours. | D．acted as a driver. |
John Thomas Robertson is a born train fan, because he _______.
| A．was taken on a train the day he was born. |
| B．his grandpa once worked on the train. |
| C．took a group of disabled children on board a train. |
| D．was greatly attracted to trains since early childhood. |
The underlined word “mind-blowing” can be replaced by “_______”.
| A．exciting | B．frightening |
| C．surprising | D．disappointing |
The disabled children were refused to get on the train because _______.
| A．they couldn’t afford the train tickets |
| B．Robertson had not saved enough money for tickets |
| C．the train didn’t have special services for them |
| D．the workers there would not allow them to do so |
According to the passage, we can see that Robertson is a（n）_______ child.
| A．honest and crazy | B．kind and helpful |
| C．clever but boring | D．lazy but kind |
Bark
Cover Price: $19.80 Price: $15.00($2.50 / issue (期) )
You save: $4.80 (24%) Review: By Pat Kane
I absolutely love Bark magazine! I love the “smiling” pages and the tips on every issue. I am a dog lover and have saved all of my dogs from either death row or from people who were going to put them down. Everyone should have a chance to live and Bark stresses that with its articles. This magazine is a MUST HAVE for any dog lover!!
Dog Fancy
Cover Price: $54.00 Price: $14.99 ($1.25 / issue)
You save: $39.01 (72%) Review: By Berner Mom
Don't waste your money on this magazine. 60-70 percent of it are advertisements, and the articles offer little useful information. It might be suitable for children, but not adults who are serious about educating themselves about dogs.
Dog World
Cover Price: $48.88 Price: $14.99 ($1.25 / issue)
You save: $33.89 (69%) Review: By one critic
Dog World has many very interesting and thought-provoking (令人思考的) articles for people involved in dog showing, breeding(饲养), performance events, etc. However，over half of the magazine is devoted to breeder ads, which is boring. Still, as a whole, I recommend(推荐) it for the articles. Good articles, but tons of ads.
Modern Dog
Cover Price: $45.00 Price: $15.00 ($3.75 / issue)
You save: $30.00 (24%) Review: By Dinah
My new favorite magazine! Beautiful photos, smart and amusing articles, fashion, art, interviews with famous people… all with a dog focus！Cover models range from Paris Hilton and Tinkerbell to Virginia Madsen and her dogs. Thanks to Modern Dog I now know how to give a dog-friendly cocktail party and how to actually get my dog to come when she’s called. Surely worth checking out.Which of the following magazines saves the most money?
| A．Bark | B．Dog Fancy |
| C．Dog World | D．Modern Dog |
Dog world is recommended for its _________.
| A．wonderful articles | B．fashionable cover |
| C．low price | D．good paper quality |
According to the text, Modern Dog ________.
| A．has lovely dog pictures on the cover |
| B．is interesting but not helpful |
| C．has some photos but no articles |
| D．has interviews with famous people |
The purpose of the text is to introduce _________.
| A．some cheap magazines |
| B．different magazines for different readers |
| C．some magazines about dogs |
| D．information on raising dogs |
There are many older people in the world and there will be many more. A limeknown fact is that over 60 percent of the older people live in developing countries. According to the World Health Organization，by 2020 there will be 1 billion，with over 700 million living in developing countries.
It is a surprising fact that the population ageing is particularly rapid in developing countries. For example，it took France 115 years for the proportion of older people to double from 7 percent to 14 percent. It is estimated（估计） to take China a mere 27 years to achieve this same increase.
What are the implications（暗指） of these increased numbers of older folk？One of the biggest worries for governments is that the longer people live，the more likelihood there is for diseases and for disability. Attention is being paid to the need to keep people as healthy as possible，including during old age，to lessen the financial burden on the state.
Another significant problem is the need for the younger generations to understand and value the older people in their society. In some African countries，certainly in Asia，older people are respected and regarded as the ones with special knowledge. Yet traditions are fading away daily，which does not ensure the continued high regard of older people. As society changes, attitudes will change.
Much needs to be done to get rid of age discrimination (歧视) in employment. Lifelong learning programs need to be provided to enable older people to be active members in a country’s development.
Social security policies need to be established to provide adequate income protection for older people. Both public and private schemes are vital in order to build a suitable safety net.
To achieve equality in such matters will take considerable time and effort. One thing is sure：there is no time to be lost.The proportion（比例）of older people________.
| A．is bigger in developed countries than in developing countries |
| B．is one seventh of the population in developing countries |
| C．will increase much faster in China than in France |
| D．will be sixty percent in developing countries by 2020 |
According to the passage，which of the following are governments most worried about?
| A．The diseases and disability of older people. |
| B．The longer life and good health of people. |
| C．The loss of taxes on older people. |
| D．The increasing respect for older people. |
Which of the following measures is NOT mentioned to solve the population ageing problem?
| A．Getting rid of age discrimination in employment. |
| B．Ensuring adequate income protection for older people. |
| C．Providing free health care for sick older people. |
| D．Supplying lifelong learning programs to older people. |
The author concludes in the last paragraph that________.
| A．governments have spent lots of time in solving the ageing problem |
| B．population ageing is a hard problem，but it needs to be solved urgently |
| C．people are too busy to solve the population ageing problem |
| D．much time and effort will be lost in solving the ageing problem |
Life is filled with challenges. As we get older, we come to realize that those challenges are the very things that shape us and make us who we are. It is the same with the challenges that come with friendship. When we are faced with a challenge, we usually have two choices. We can try to beat it off, or we can decide that the thing presenting the challenge isn't worth the trouble and call it quits. Although there are certainly times when calling it quits is the right thing to do, in most cases all that is needed is commitment and communication.
When we are committed to something, it means that no matter how painful or how uncomfortable something is, we will always choose to face it through instead of running away from it. Communication is making a space for discussion and talking about how you feel as opposed to just saying what the other person did wrong. If you can say to a friend, "I got my feelings hurt", rather than "You hurt my feelings", you are going to be able to solve the problem much faster.
In dealing with many challenges that friendship will bring to you, try to see them for what they are: small hurdles you need to jump or get through on your way through life. Nothing is so big that it is impossible to get over, and hurt only serves to make us stronger. It is all part of growing up, it happens to everyone, and some day you will look back on all of this and say, "Hard as it was, it made me who I am today. And that is a good thing."The writer believes that challenges ________.
| A．are always born with friendship |
| B．help build friendship |
| C．are never worth attention |
| D．help us grow |
If your friend hurts your feelings, you are advised to ____.
| A．point out your friend's mistake |
| B．calm yourself down |
| C．start a proper conversation |
| D．run away from it |
The whole passage is centered on the relationship（关系）between ___.
| A．friendship and challenges |
| B．commitment and friendship |
| C．friendship and growth |
| D．challenges and chances |
Grandpa was a carpenter (木匠). One day he was making some boxes for the clothes his church was sending to an orphanage (孤儿院) in Egypt. On his way home, he reached into his shirt pocket to find his glasses, but they were gone. He drove back to the church, but his search turned out to be fruitless.
Suddenly, he realized what happened. The glasses had slipped out of his pocket and fallen into one of the boxes, which he had nailed shut. His new glasses were heading for Africa!
Grandpa had six children and he had paid twenty dollars for the glasses that morning. “It's not fair,” he told God as he drove home. “I've been very faithful (忠诚的) in giving my time and money to YOUR work.”
Several months later, the director of the orphanage was on holiday in the United States. He wanted to visit all the churches that helped him in Egypt, so he came to speak on Sunday night at my grandfather's small church in Chicago.
“But most of all,” he said, “I must thank you for the glasses you sent last year. You see, I had just broken my glasses. Then your boxes arrived. To my surprise, I found a pair of glasses in it and it fit me very well!”
The people listened, happy for the amazing glasses, but thought that the man must have confused their church with another. There were no glasses on their list of items to be sent overseas. Sitting quietly in the back, with tears in his eyes, Grandpa realized that God had played a big trick on him.Where were Grandpa’s glasses lost?
| A．In a church in Egypt. | B．In the box he made. |
| C．On his way home. | D．At the orphanage. |
How did Grandpa feel when he found his glasses were lost?
| A．Calm. | B．Worried. |
| C．Surprised. | D．Disappointed. |
Who got the glasses in the end?
| A．Grandpa. |
| B．The orphanage. |
| C．Grandpa’s workmate. |
| D．The director of the orphanage. |
The people except the author’s grandpa in the church _________.
| A．sent the pair of glasses to Africa on purpose |
| B．knew the glasses that belonged to Grandpa |
| C．thought the director had made a mistake |
| D．were not interested in the director’s speech |
Venue (地点) The Ian Potter Centre
Admission Free entry
Charles Blackman is famous for his beautiful painting of dreams. In 1956, he heard for the first time Lewis Carroll’s extraordinary tale of Alice in Wonderland –the story of a Victorian girl who falls down a rabbit hole, meets a lot of funny characters and experience all kinds of things. At that time, Blackman’s wife was suffering form progressive blindness. The story of Alice moving through the strange situations, often disheartened by various events, was similar to his wife’s experiences. It also reflected so much of his own life. All this contributed to the completion of the Alice in Wonderland paintings.
Illustrator Workshop
Go straight to the experts for an introductory course in book illustration. The course includes an introduction to the process of illustration and its techniques, workshop exercise and group projects.
Dates Sunday 17 June &Sunday 5Aug.10am—1pm
Venue Gas Works Arts Park
Wonderful World
Celebrate the exhibition and Children’s Book Week with special activities just for the day, including a special visit from Alice and the White Rabbit
Date Sunday 24 June,11am—4pm
Venue Exhibition Space, Level 3
Topsy-Turvy
Visit the exhibition or discover wonderful curiosities in artworks in the NGV Collection and make a magic world in a box. Alice and the White Rabbit will be with you. Walt Disney’s Alice in Wonderland will be screened
Dates Sunday 8,15,22,29 July, and Tuesday 24-Friday 27 July, 12noon—3pm
Venue Theatre, NGV Australia
Drawing Workshop
Distortions of scale ( 比例失真) can make artworks strange but interesting. Find out how Charles Blackman distorted scale in his paintings to create a curious world. Then experiment with scale in your own drawings. More information upon booking.
Date Friday 27 July,10:30am-3pm
Venue Foryer, Level 3Charles Blackman’s paintings come from ________.
| A．his admiration for Lewis Carrioll |
| B．his dream of becoming a famous artist |
| C．his wish to express his own feelings |
| D．his eagerness to cure his wife’s illness |
Which two activities can you participate in on the same day?
| A．Topsy-Turvy and Drawing Workshop. |
| B．Illustrator Workshop and Drawing Workshop. |
| C．Wonerful World and Topsy –Turvy. |
| D．Illustrator Workshop and Wonderful World. |
To understand the Alice in Wonderland paintings, you should go to ________.
| A．Exhibition Space .Level 3 |
| B．Gas Works Arts Park |
| C．Theatre, NGV Australia |
| D．Foyer, Level 3 |
Activities concerning children’s books are to be held
| A．on June 24,2007 | B．on July15,2007 |
| C．on July 24,2007 | D．on August 5,2007 |