Every morning Grandpa got up early sitting at the table, reading his book. His grandson wanted to be just like him and tried to copy him in every way he could.
One day the grandson asked, “Grandpa, I try to read the book just like you, but I don’t understand it, and I forget what I understand as soon as I close the book. What good does reading the book do?” The grandpa quietly turned from putting coal in the stove and replied, “Take this coal basket down to the river and bring me back a basket of water.”
The boy did as he was told, but all the water leaked out before he got back to the house. The grandpa laughed and said, “You’ll have to move a little faster next time,” and sent him back to the river with the basket to try again.
This time the boy ran faster, but again the basket was empty before he returned. Out of breath, he told his grandpa that it was impossible to carry water in a basket, so he went to get a bucket instead. The grandpa said, “I don’t want a bucket of water; I want a basket of water. You’re just not trying hard enough.”
The boy again dipped the basket into the river and ran hard, but when he reached his grandpa the basket was empty again. Out of breath, he said, “Grandpa, it’s useless !”“So, you think it is useless?” the grandpa said, “Look at the basket.”
The boy looked at the basket and for the first time he realized that the basket was different. It had been transformed from a dirty old coal basket and was now clean.
“Grandson, that’s what happens when you read the book. You might not understand or remember everything, but when you read it, you’ll be changed, inside and out.”What puzzled the grandson most was ________.
| A．what kind of book he could understand |
| B．whether it was useful to read books |
| C．why he forgot what he read soon |
| D．how he could read books like his grandpa |
Why did Grandpa ask his grandson to fetch a basket of water? _______
| A．To punish him for not reading carefully. |
| B．To train him to run faster. |
| C．To get him to realize the use of reading books. |
| D．To clean the dirty basket in the river. |
What lesson can we learn from the story? ________
| A．It is foolish to carry water with a basket. |
| B．The old are always wiser than the young. |
| C．Reading books can change a person gradually. |
| D．You can’t expect to remember whatever you read. |
What can be the best title for the text? _______
| A．Grandpa and grandson | B．Carrying water in a basket |
| C．Baskets and books | D．Reading for total changing |
Family traditions were important in our house, and one was more appreciated than our annual trip to the woods for the perfect Christmas tree.
“Dad, can we watch when you trim(修剪) it?” my eldest son ,John ,asked on the way home.
“I won’t be cutting this year,” my husband said.” You and your brother Dan are old enough to measure things, fit the tree to the stand and do it by yourselves. Think you boys can handle it?”
They seemed to grow six inches in their chairs at the thought of such an amazing responsibility. “We can handle it,” Dan promised. We won’t let you down.”
A few days before Christmas, Dan and John rushed in after school. They gathered the tools they’d need and brought them out of yard, where the tree waited. I left the older boys to their work and brought David inside for his early supper. A moment later I heard the happy sounds as the boys carried the trees into the living room. Then I heard the sound become dead silence. I hurried out to them. The tree was too short. John crossed his arm tight across his chest. His eyes were filled with angry tears.
The tree was central to our holiday, but it was not what I worried about. I didn’t want the boys to feel ashamed every time they looked at it. We had a terrible problem on our hands. I couldn’t lower the ceiling, and I couldn’t raise the floor either. There was no way to repair the damage. If I couldn’t fix the problem, maybe I could get creative with it. A thought came to my mind, which turned to the solution.
I followed them back into the living room.. “We can’t make the tree taller,” I said. “But we can put it on a higher position.” Dan turned his head sideways, measuring the distance with his eyes . “We can put it on the coffee table and put the lights and decorations on before we lift it up . Thus, we won’t need a ladder. It just might work! Let’s try it!”
When my husband got home and looked at the big tree on top of the coffee table, Dan and John held their breath.
“What a good idea!” he declared, as if the boys had gone beyond all his expectations. “Why didn’t I ever think of such a thing ?”
John broke into a grin. Dan’s chest swelled with pride. David squealed.Who trimmed the Christmas trees this year?
| A．David | B．The writer |
| C．The children | D．The writer’s husband |
By “ grow six inches” ( Paragraph4), the writer means that the children might feel _____.
| A．excited | B．nervous | C．terrible | D．worried |
What was the writer worried about according to Paragraph 6?
| A．The Christmas tree | B．The husband’s health |
| C．The holiday | D．The boys’ pride |
How was the short tree turned into a perfect one?
| A．By making it taller | B．By lowering the ceiling |
| C．By placing it on a table | D．By raising the floor |
What the writer’s husband said in the end shows that ________.
| A．he expected too much of the children |
| B．he was satisfied with what the children had done |
| C．it was stupid of the children to think of such an idea. |
| D．the children shouldn’t have given up the responsibility |
If you dream of going to someplace warm to escape the cold winter weather, a trip to a recently discovered planet would certainly warm you right up. The planet, named OCLE-TR-56b, has temperatures of more than 3,000 °F. “This is the hottest planet we know about,” says Dr. Dimitar Sasselov, a scientist who led the discovery team, “It is hot enough to have an iron fog and to rain hot iron droplets（细沫）”
The new planet is 30 times farther away than any planet discovered by scientists before. It is in the Milky Way（银河）but it is not in our solar（太阳的）system The new planet moves around a star much like our sun, however. Scientists discovered the planet by using a new planet-searching method, called“transit technique” They were able to catch sight of the planet when it moved in front of its star, causing the star’s light to dim（变暗）.Scientists compare the method to discovering the shadow of a bee flying in front of a searchlight 200 miles away. “We believe the door has been opened wide to go and discover planets like Earth,” says Sasedlov.We can infer from the passage that_________.
| A．there is iron on the new planet |
| B．we could go to the new planet in winter |
| C．the star could block our view of the new planet |
| D．scientists are studying the weather on the new planet |
The “transit technique” can_________.
| A．help dim the light of a star. |
| B．help scientists with a searchlight |
| C．help discover a bee on a planet |
| D．help find a planet moving before its star |
Which is the best title for the passage?
| A．New Planet-searching Technique |
| B．New Distant Discovery |
| C．Space Searching |
| D．Dream Planet |
Driving In America
Keep Right
The traffic follows the “keep right rule”. While driving, drive on the right side of the road. On one-way, multiple lanes(车道) road, the right-most lane would be slowest and left-most lane is fastest.
Hand Signals
Though indicators(车的指示灯) are used for the purpose of showing which direction you are going, knowing some hand signals is very important and are usually always asked in a driving test. When you want to turn right, you can put your left hand out of the window and point upward. When you want to make a left turn, you can reach your left arm out of the window and point to the left. If you want to slow down or stop, you can just point downward.
School Buses
Yellow school buses have flashing red lights and stop signs that reach out from the driver’s side. The drivers use these warning signals when letting pupils on and off. No matter which side of the road you are traveling on, if you come upon a school bus with its lights flashing and a stop sign used, you must stop. It’s the law. Remain stopped until the lights stop flashing or the stop sign is removed.
Using the Horn
Using horns is not common in America. Actually they are very rarely used. You may use your horn to warn walkers or other drivers of possible trouble or to avoid accidents. Do not use your horn to express anger or complain about other drivers’ mistakes or to try to get a slow driver to move faster. If Freddy is asked to go to Florida in the shortest time from Missouri, on which lane in the picture below should he drive his car according to Paragraph 1?
| A．Lane ①. | B．Lane ②. | C．Lane ③. | D．Lane ④. |
What could a driver do in America when turning left?
| A．Place left hand out of the window pointing upward. |
| B．Put left hand out of the window pointing downward. |
| C．Reach left arm out of the window pointing to the left. |
| D．Place left hand out of the window pointing backward. |
According to the passage, which of the following is possibly accepted in America?
| A．Use horns sometimes to warn passers-by of danger. |
| B．Drive on before the stop sign on a school bus is removed. |
| C．Use hand signals instead of indicators to show which direction you are going. |
| D．Do not use warning signals in the school bus until all the pupils get on the bus. |
Who is the passage most probably written for?
| A．Passers-by. | B．Pupils. |
| C．Policemen. | D．Drivers. |
First published in 2001, the book Life of Pi written by Canadian author Yann Martel won the Man Booker Prize and an Asian American Prize for Literature. It is the story of a young boy named Pi who spends 227 days at sea with a small group of animals after disaster strikes their ship and is an account of his journey of survival and hardship.
Piscine “Pi” Molitor Patel, on whom Life of Pi is based, is a young boy living in Pondicherry, India, where his father owns a zoo. The story starts when Patel’s family decide to move to Canada, along with their zoo animals for their new home.
However, because of the bad weather, the ship sinks. Pi along with an orangutan (猩猩), an injured zebra, a hyena (鬣狗) and a Bengal tiger named Richard Parker are the only survivors who take shelter in a small lifeboat. Both the injured zebra and the orangutan are soon killed and eaten by the hyena. The tiger in turn kills and eats the hyena, leaving just the two of them alone on the boat now.
In an effort to avoid being eaten by Richard Parker, Pi acts himself as the head of the group and remains safe from harm. Since he does not want the tiger to die for fear of going mad by being alone on the boat, he fishes and feeds the two of them in order to stay alive.
The life of Pi then enters its third stage when their lifeboat washes up on the shores of Mexico and the tiger escapes into a nearby forest leaving Pi alone. After the Mexicans refuse to believe Pi’s story, he changes his tale by replacing the animals with his mother, a cook and a sailor and asks the Mexicans which one they prefer. They prefer hearing the first story though they do not believe a word of it.
In my view, Life of Pi is a must read book for all those who love reading.We can learn that the book Life of Pi _____.
| A．was written in 2001 |
| B．was awarded two prizes |
| C．tells a story about friendship |
| D．is based on the author’s personal experience |
In the book Life of Pi the hyena is killed by _____.
| A．Pi |
| B．the zebra |
| C．the orangutan |
| D．Richard Parker |
How does Pi escape being eaten by the tiger?
| A．By catching fishes for the tiger. |
| B．By locking the tiger in a cage. |
| C．By being the leader of the two of them. |
| D．By fighting with the tiger. |
What happens after Pi arrives in Mexico?
| A．The tiger dies. |
| B．He tries to escape. |
| C．The Mexicans feel sorry for him. |
| D．The Mexicans doubt his experience. |
Who do you think was the most important woman of the past 100 years?
Jane Addams (1860 - 1935)
Addams helped the poor and worked for peace. She created shelters, education opportunities and services for people in need. In 1931, Addams became the first American woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize.
Rachel Carson (1907 - 1964)
Rachel Carson was born in the rural river town of Springdale, Pennsylvania in America. The popular 1962 book “Silent Spring” by Rachel Carson made people realize the dangers and the harmful effects (影响) of pollution on humans and on the world’s lakes and oceans.
Angela Merkel (1954 - )
In 2005, Germans chose Angela Merkel as their first woman head of the country. She had been a scientist in the past. As Germany’s leader, she has had an effect on the whole world.
Sandra Day O’Connor (1930 - )
When Sandra Day O’Connor finished her class at Stanford Law School, in 1952, she could not find work because she was a woman. However, she became the first woman to join the U.S. Supreme Court (最高法院) in 1981 after years of hard work.
Margaret Thatcher (1925 - )
In 1979, Margaret Thatcher became Britain’s first woman Prime Minister (首相). She served until 1990, which made her the first British leader to serve three terms in a row. Because of her high standards and strong will, people called her Britain’s Iron Lady.
Marie Curie (1867-1934)
Polish-born scientist Marie Curie discovered that some types of metal give off energy called radiation (辐射能). Her research led to new medical treatments and arms. She received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1903 and in Chemistry in 1911. Who once won the Nobel Prize?
| A．Jane Addams and Marie Curie. |
| B．Jane Addams and Margaret Thatcher. |
| C．Marie Curie and Angela Merkel. |
| D．Marie Curie and Rachel Carson. |
What do Angela Merkel and Margaret Thatcher have in common?
| A．Both of them were scientists before coming to power. |
| B．Both of them are the first woman head of their country. |
| C．Both of them are famous for being strict. |
| D．Both of them have worked for three terms. |
Who once failed to find a job?
| A．Jane Addams. | B．Sandra Day O’Connor. |
| C．Rachel Carson. | D．Margaret Thatcher. |
What would be the best title for the text?
| A．Great women | B．Famous scientists |
| C．Strong leaders | D．Ways to success for women |