One of my wonderful memories is about a Christmas gift.Unlike other gifts, it came without wrap(包装).
On September11th.1958.Mum gave birth to Richard.After she brought him home from hospital, she put him in my lap, saying."I promised you a gift, and here it is." What an honor! I turned four a month earlier and none of my friends had such a baby doll of their own.I played with it day and night.I sang to it.I told it stories.1 told it over and over how much I loved it!
One morning, however, I found its bed empty.My doll was gone! I cried for it.Mum wept and told me that the poor little thing had been sent to a hospital.It had a fever.For several days, I heard Mum and Dad whispering such words as "hopeless", "pitiful", and "dying", which sounded ominous.
Christmas was coming."Don’t expect any presents this year." Dad said, pointing at the socks I hung in the living room."If your baby brother lives, that'll be Christmas enough." As he spoke, his eyes filled with tears.I'd never seen him cry before.
The phone rang early on Christmas morning.Dad jumped out of bed to answer it.From my bedroom I heard him say."What? He's all right?" He hung up and shouted upstairs."The hospital said we can bring Richard home!" "Thank God.'" I heard Mum cry.
From the upstairs window, I watched my parents rush out to the car.I had never seen them happy.And I was also full of joy.What a wonderful day! My baby doll would be home.I downstairs.My sacks still hung there flat.But I knew they were not empty; they were filled with love!what happened to the author on September 11 1958 ?
| A．He got a baby brother |
| B．He got a Christmas gift |
| C．He became four years old |
| D．He received a doll |
What does the underlined word “ominous” in Paragraph 3 probably mean?
| A．Impossible. | B．Boring |
| C．Difficult | D．Fearful |
Which word can best describe the feeling of the father when Christmas was coming?
| A．Excitement. | B．Happiness. |
| C．Sadness. | D．Disappointment. |
What is the passage mainly about?
| A．A sad Christmas day |
| B．Life with a lovely baby |
| C．A special Christmas gift |
| D．Memories of a happy family |
A newspaper reporter’s job can be very interesting. He meets all types of people and lives quite a busy life. He is on the rush for news all the time, then after several years he may get a desk job, and life becomes a bit more settled. Let’s look at his work a little more closely. In a day he may have to interview the prime minister of a foreign country, and the next day he may be writing about a football match. Sometimes he may be so busy that he has hardly any time to sleep. And at other times he may go on for days looking out for news materials yet return empty-handed.
In the beginning, a reporter has to cover a very wide field. After the early years he becomes more specialized in his work. For example, he may finally be asked to write only on court cases or politics or sports. Some reporters may become so specialized that they are asked only to write on a special thing: horse racing, for example. In most newspaper houses there is at least one special racing correspondent. Some newspapers have book reviews. Their job is delightful. They read the latest book and then write reviews on the ones they like. Then there are those who write on films, so they get to see them even before they are shown in the cinema. How lucky, you would say!
A reporter’s job can also be very dangerous. A number of them have died rushing from one assignment to another, and if there is a flood or a riot(暴乱) they may get hurt or even be killed. Three years ago there was a reporter whose camera was smashed by a group of men, because they were angry with him for taking their picture. Dangerous or not, one thing is certain, and that is, their job is never dull!What does the underlined phrase “on the rush” mean in the passage?
| A．on the beach | B．on the spot | C．in a hurry | D．in no time |
Reporters who write on films are said to be lucky because they _____.
| A．can see more film stars |
| B．can see the films before most people see them in the cinema |
| C．can pay less than other people |
| D．can write anything they like |
A reporter’s work becomes dangerous when _____.
| A．there is an interview with the prime minister | B．there is a football match |
| C．he is seeing a horror film | D．there is a flood or a riot |
From the passage we can infer that, to be a good reporter, he must be all of the following except _____.
| A．brave | B．quick in mind | C．strong | D．well-informed |
Water is very important to living things. Without water there can be no life on the earth. All animals and plants need water. Man also needs water. We need water to drink, to cook our food and to clean ourselves. Water is needed in offices, factories and schools. Water is needed everywhere.
There is water in seas, rivers and lakes. Water is found almost everywhere. Even in the desert part of the world, there is some water in the air. You can not see or feel it when it is a part of the air. The water in the seas, rivers and lakes is a liquid, the water in the air is a gas, and we call it water vapour (蒸气).
Clouds are made of water. They may be made of very small drops of water. They may also be made of snow crystals(结晶体). Snow crystals are very very small crystals of ice. Ice is frozen water. It is a solid. There can be snow and ice everywhere in winter.
Water may be a solid or a liquid or a gas. When it is a solid, it may be as hard as a stone. When it is a liquid, you can drink it. When it is a gas, you can not see or feel it.Where can we find water?
| A．Water can be found almost everywhere |
| B．We can find water when it turns into vapour. |
| C．Water is only in seas and rivers. |
| D．We can see water in deserts here and there. |
We can drink water when it is.
| A．a solid | B．in the air | C．aliquid | D．turned into ice |
Clouds are made of.
| A．seas, rivers and lakes | B．solid, liquid and gas |
| C．very small drops of water or snow crystals | D．blocks of ice |
Water has three states(状态). They are .
| A．solid, liquid and gas |
| B．solid, vapour, snow |
| C．drops of water, blocks of ice and crystals of water |
| D．ice,snow and air |
In the United States, when one becomes rich, he wants people to know it. And even if he does not become very rich, he wants people to think that he is. That is what “keeping up with the Joneses” is about. It is the story of someone who tried to look as rich as his neighbors.
The expression was first used in 1913 by a young American called Arthur Momand. He told this story about himself. He began earning $ 125 a week at the age of 23. That was a lot of money in those days. He got married and moved with his wife to a very wealthy neighborhood. When he saw that rich people rode horses, Momand went horseback riding every day. When he saw that rich people had servants. Momand and his wife also hired a servant and gave big parties for their new neighbors.
It was like a race, but one could never finish this race because one was always trying to keep up. The race ended for Momand and his wife when they could no longer pay for their new way of life. They had to move back to an apartment in New York City.
Momand looked around him and noticed that many people do things just to keep up with rich lifestyle of their neighbors. He saw the funny side of it and started to write a series of short stories. He called it “Keeping up with the Joneses” because “Jones” is a very common name in the United States. “Keeping up with the Joneses” came to mean keeping up with rich lifestyle of the people around you. Momand’s series appeared in different newspapers across the country for over 28 years.
People never seem to get tired of keeping up with the Joneses. And there are “Joneses” in every city of the world. But one must get tired of trying to keep up with the Joneses because no matter what one does, Mr. Jones always seems to be ahead.Some people want to keep up with the Joneses because they ______.
| A．want others to know or to think that they are rich |
| B．want to be as rich as their neighbours |
| C．don’t want others to know they are rich |
| D．want to be happy |
It can be inferred from the story that rich people like to ________.
| A．live in New York City | B．live outside New York City |
| C．live in apartments | D．live with many neighbours |
What’s the author’s attitude to keeping up with the Joneses?
| A．Supportive. | B．Objective. | C．Negative. | D．Positive. |
Watching some children trying to catch butterflies one hot August afternoon, I was reminded of an incident in my own childhood．When I was a boy of 12 in South Carolina, something happened to me that cured me forever of wanting to put any wild creature in a cage.
We lived on the edge of a wood, and every evening at dusk the mockingbirds would come and rest in the trees and sing. There isn’t a musical instrument made by man that can produce a more beautiful sound than the song of the mockingbird.
I decided that I would catch a young bird and keep it in a cage and in that way would have my own private musician.
I finally succeeded in catching one and put it in a cage. At first, in its fright at being captured, the bird fluttered about the cage, but eventually it settled down in its new home. I felt very pleased with myself and looked forward to some beautiful singing from my tiny musician.
I had left the cage out on our back porch, and on the second day of the bird’s captivity my new pet’s mother flew to the cage with food in her mouth. The baby bird ate everything she brought to it. I was pleased to see this. Certainly the mother knew better than I how to feed her baby.
The following morning when I went to see how my captive was doing, I discovered it on the floor of the cage, dead. I was shocked! What had happened! I had taken excellent care of my little bird, or so I thought.
Arthur Wayne, the famous ornithologist, happened to be visiting my father at the time, hearing me crying over the death of my bird, explained what had occurred. “A mother mockingbird, finding her young in a cage, will sometimes bring it poison berries. She thinks it better for her young to die than to live in captivity.”
Never since then have I caught any living creature and put it in a cage. All living creatures have a right to live free.Why did the writer catch a mockingbird when he was a boy of 12?
| A．He wanted it to sing for him | B．He had just got a new cage. |
| C．He liked its beautiful feather. | D．He wanted a pet for a companion. |
The mockingbird died because it ______.
| A．was frightened to death |
| B．drank the poisonous water by mistake |
| C．ate the poisonous food its mother gave it |
| D．refused to eat anything |
An ornithologist probably means ______.
| A．a religious person | B．a kind person | C．an expert in birds | D．a schoolmaster |
What is the most important lesson the writer learned from the incident?
| A．Be careful about food you give to baby birds. |
| B．All birds put in a cage won’t live long. |
| C．You should keep the birds from their mother. |
| D．Freedom is very valuable to all creatures. |
Earthquakes are something that people fear．There are some places that have few or no earthquakes．Most places in the world，however，have them regularly（有规律的）．Countries that have a lot of earthquakes are usually quite mountainous（多山的）．
The most talked about earthquake in the United States was in San Francisco in 1906．Over 700 people died in it．The strongest one in North America was in 1964．It happened in Alaska．
Strong earthquakes are not always the ones that kill the most people．In 1755，one of the strongest earthquakes ever recorded was felt in Portugal．Around 2,000 people died．
In 1923，a very strong earthquake hit the Tokyo，Yokohama area of Japan．A hundred and forty thousand people died．Most of them died in fires which followed the earthquake．
One of the worst earthquakes ever was in China in 2008．It killed a large number of people．The worst earthquake ever reported was also in China，in which 400,000 people were killed or injured．This earthquake happened in 1556．
Earthquakes worry people a lot．The reason is that we often do not know when they are coming．People can not prepare for it．When and where was the worst earthquake ever reported？
| A．1964;Alaska. | B．1556;China. | C．1923;Japan. | D．2008;China. |
According to the passage, which of the following is NOT true?
| A．The stronger the earthquake is, the more people are killed. |
| B．Earthquakes often come unexpectedly（出乎意料地）. |
| C．Earthquakes can cause fires. |
| D．People still don’t know how to tell when an earthquake will come. |
What may be talked about in the seventh paragraph?
| A．How do earthquakes worry people? |
| B．What will people do to prepare for earthquakes? |
| C．How can we save people when earthquakes happen? |
| D．How do earthquakes happen? |