Is a nearby neighbour better than a faraway cousin？ An American lady， Anna Lane， believes it's true． Her kind neighbours once helped her out when she was in a big trouble．
Mrs. Lane was living alone in a city in Texas， US． The woman in her 70s could do a lot of housework herself． However， she was too old to mow（修剪）her lawn（草坪）． Then a big trouble found her． She let the grass grow over 18 inches high and it broke the law in her city． As a result， she was in danger of paying lots of money or even going to prison!
Luckily， her neighbours， the Adams brothers， heard the news about her on TV． They decided to do something to help． "We haven't met her yet， but she's 75 years old and she needs some help， "said Sam Adams， one of the boys． "That's the least we could do．"
The Adams brothers took their mowers（修剪机）and came to Mrs. Lane's house to mow her lawn without telling her． Once they got started， other neighbours saw what was going on and joined in the effort．
Together they worked hard in the sun and finished mowing the whole lawn in about two hours． When Mrs. Lane saw what her neighbours did for her， she was surprised and moved to tears（感动得落泪）． "I cannot believe this， "she said． "They were so kind to spend two hours helping me and I didn't even know their names． "As for the Adams brothers， they said they would always be ready to help her．
（1）What can we know about Mrs. Lane？
A． She was 70 years old．
B． She could not do her housework．
C． She was living with her children．
D． She could not cut the grass on the lawn．
（2）Mrs. lane was in danger of going to prison because ．
A． she broke the education law in her city
B． the grass on her lawn was over 18 inches high
C． the news about her on TV was made up by her
D． she didn't pay enough money to her neighbours
（3）Who mowed the lawn？
A． The Adams brothers．
B． Sam Adams and Mrs. Lane．
C． The Adams brothers and Mrs. Lane．
D． The Adams brothers and other neighbours．
（4）Which of the following is true？
A． The Adams brothers knew Mrs. Lane very well．
B． Mrs. Lane knew some of her neighbours' names．
C． Mrs. Lane didn't expect her neighbours would help her．
D． The Adams brothers used Mrs. Lane's mowers to cut the grass．
（5）The best title（题目）for the passage would be ．
A． Good neighbours
B． A serious city law
C． A beautiful garden
D． Humorous brothers
Whenever I'm invited to somebody's house for the first time， I'll take a close look at their bookshelves．What they keep on their shelves，in my eyes，is a reflection（反映） of their personal tastes and interests．The books on a bookshelf tell the story of a life．
My own shelves are a kind of roadmap through my life， telling a chronological tale． First up come my favorite childhood reads， like Watership Down and His Dark Materials． The collection then moves on to teenage things I read in school ﹣ Nineteen Eight﹣Four， The Handmaid's Tale and A Clockwork Orange． Finally， we come out of full﹣time education and enter the real world， and this part is a reflection of my professional（职业的） life， from the first exciting days of work experience to the present．
If you pointed to any book on my shelves， I could name the year I got it， where I was working，and probably where I was living at the time．
___▲____It is an easy way to get to know about his hopes， dreams and interests． And a big part of that story is how we arrange（排列） our books， and get on with them． It's such a personal thing，different from each other． Some want to be with their books in every room， others have them on
shelves， behind glass or simply lining their floors． Each home has a story to tell through the way they live with their books．
It's often said that what we read says something about who we are． The way we fill our bookshelves might also send a message about ourselves． From the pile of books on your bedside table to your well﹣organized shelves， whether we notice it or not， our book collections are telling a story before a single page has been turned．
（1）The book son the writer's own shelves are organized according to ．
A． their prices
B． their writers
C． his personal interests
D． the periods of his life
（2）Which of the following is the best sentence to fill in the blank in Paragraph 4？
A． Every book is worth reading．
B． Each bookshelf holds a special dream．
C． Book collections tell so much about a person．
D． The books a person reads depend on his choices，
（3）The writer seems to agree that ．
A． we'd better not put our books on the floor
B． the way we arrange our books shows our tastes
C． the books at our bedside are usually more important
D． we Can know about a person by reading the message he sends
（4）It can be learned from the passage that the writer is probably ．
A． a book lover
B． a story teller
C． a shelf collector
D． a fashion designer
It's late evening in the middle of the winter． The snow is deep， but off I go into the wild．Suddenly， I hear it： the howl（嚎叫） of wolves． Excitedly， I walk faster in the direction of the howling．
I've been working as a volunteer wolf tracker in Yellowstone National Park for over a year． It's my job to follow wolves to record information about them． Like wolves， however， I don't work alone． I'm one of a team of people who have been in a project to help reintroduce wolves to the park．
Humans have always feared wolves． From fairy tales to movies， the wolf is always the bad guy a danger to humans and other animals． In the 1920s， the organizers of the park shared this view about wolves and made the decision to drive them away from the park．As a result，the number of elk（麋鹿） in the park increased． The elk started looking for food near river banks since they didn't have to worry about wolves．This， in turn， stopped trees from growing along the rivers， doing great harm to the environment there．
The return of wolves has already made a big difference． To begin with， the elk soon learned to stay away from the rivers， so new trees have been able to grow there． The trees become home to new wildlife， such as birds， and provide food for more animals．
The park is now becoming more and more popular with those who want to see wolves in their natural environment． It has also helped the local people make more money， Tourists visit the area，stay in the local hotels， and eat in the local restaurants．
Looking at the wild animals and the beautiful sceneries around me， I am amazed at the changes the wolf has made to Yellowstone．And happily，it is playing a good guy in this story．
（1）According to the passage， one of a wolf tracker's jobs is to ．
A． catch wolves in the park
B． feed wolves in the wild
C． stop wolves from killing elk
D． collect information about wolves
（2）Why did the organizers drive the wolves away from the park in the 1920s？
A． The wolves were always howling at night．
B． The elk in the park were in danger of dying out．
C． The wolves had done great harm to the environment．
D． The park was thought to be unsafe with wolves around．
（3）Paragraphs 4 and 5 are mainly about the that wolves have brought to Yellowstone．
A． risks
B． troubles
C． changes
D． competitions
（4）What does the writer mean by the underlined sentence in the last paragraph？
A． Wolves are important to Yellowstone．
B． Yellowstone has been home to wolves．
C． The wolf and the elk live in peace now．
D．The number of wolves is growing fast．
Is there a connection between music and language？According to recent studies，the answer is yes：Music helps develop certain language abilities in the brain．
A study from Northwestern University shows that playing a musical instrument can improve a person's hearing ability． As a part of the study， two groups of people listened to a person talking in a noisy room．The people in the first group were musicians， while those in the second group had no musical training．The musicians were found to be able to hear the talking person more clearly．
Musicians hear better， says study leader Nina Kraus， because they learn to pay attention to certain sounds． For example， when the violinists play in an orchestra（管弦乐队），they must listen closely to what they are playing and ignore（忽视） the other sounds． In this way， musicians can hear certain sounds better， even in a room with lots of noise．
Gottfried Schlaug，a doctor at Harvard Medical School，works with stroke（中风） patients．Because of their illness， these people cannot say their names，addresses， or other information normally．However， they can still sing． Dr. Schlaug was surprised to find singing words helped his patients finally speak． Why does this work？Schlaug isn't sure． Music seems to be able to make different parts of the brain active， including the bad parts． In some way， this helps patients use those parts of the brain again．
So music is not only enjoyable， but also good for us in many other ways． Playing an instrument or singing， says Nina Kraus， can help us do better in school and keep our brain sharp as we get older．
（1）What were the people in the first group asked to do in the study of Northwestern University？
A．Listen to different kinds of music．
B． Make some noise in an empty room．
C． Give the second group musical training．
D． Find out what the talking person was saying．
（2）The writer uses the example of violinists in Paragraph 3 to explain ．
A． how musicians play in an orchestra
B． how musicians ignore certain sounds
C． why musicians have better hearing ability
D． why musicians are not afraid of loud noise
（3）Gottfried Schlaug helps his stroke patients speak by ．
A． playing music for them
B．getting them to sing words
C． teaching them to play instruments
D． joining the bad parts of their brain
（4）What is the main purpose of the passage？
A． To introduce different ways of playing music．
B． To give some advice about making our brain active．
C． To show the relationship between music and language abilities．
D． To share the results of recent studies on treating stroke patients．
Future View
I think it will be great if they invent something so that we only have to sleep for one or two， hours every day．Then we'd all have much more time to do．things and to enjoy ourselves． Life would be better， I think， and everyone would do a lot more with their lives．
Miguel
If I could choose anything， I'd go for a time machine so that I could go back and do some things differently． Of course，that's impossible-but wouldn't it be great if it was possible？ I wish I could go back in time to when I was a kid and say some of the things in a different way!
Hannah
Well， of course， the best thing is medicine for really bad diseases（疾病）．A lot of scientists are working very hard to stop diseases like Ebola，a terrible disease that has killed many thousand people in Africa．So if they， found a special treatment for Ebola， or a way of completely preventing it，life would be easier in so many places．
Isabella
It will be great if there is some kind of fuel（燃料） we can use in cars that won't produce any pollution．I guess there are scientists right now trying to do that， and I hope they'll succeed because the world would be a much cleaner place， wouldn't it？
Charlie
I wish there was a machine that did homework! Wouldn't that be fantastic？ But I guess teachers wouldn't be very happy．
Georgina
（1）Why does Hannah want to go back in time？
A． To be young again．
B． To live a better life．
C． To do something for Africans．
D． To say some words differently．
（2）Who might be worried about the pollution of the world？
A． Miguel．
B． Isabella．
C． Charlie．
D． Georgina．
（3）In which part of a newspaper may this passage appear？
A． Health．
B． Science．
C． Travel．
D． Education．
A few months ago．I was nominated"，for Governor of the great state of New York， to run against Stewart L． Woodford and John T． Hoffman． I really felt dirty to run against them for all their shameful crimes that were reported on newspapers． However， as a candidate， I had no choice．
The next morning， as I was looking listlessly over the papers at breakfast， I came across this paragraph：
PERJURY﹣ Mr. Mark Twain， a candidate for Governor， was convicted' of perjury by thirty﹣four people， in Wakawak， in 1863． He intended to rob a poor woman of her land，her only stay and support after her husband died． For Mr. Twain himself， as well as the public， he needs to clear this matter up．Will he do it？
What a lie! I never had heard of Wakawak!
During the rest of the time， I got a title "the Infamous Perjurer Twain" on this paper．
Next came "Gazette"， with this：
WANTED TO KNOW﹣ When Mr. Twain was in Montana，his workmates lost small valuables from time to time， until at last， these things having all been found on Mr. Twain's person or in his suitcase．Will he explain this to his fellow﹣citizens？
I got a new title，"Twain， the Montana Thief"． But I never was in Montana in my life．
Then another newspaper article：
DELIRIUM TREMENS TWAIN ﹣ Mark Twain，who was to make a speech at the mass meeting of the Independents last night， didn't come to time! He argued that he had been knocked down by a runaway team and his leg broken in two places． But a certain man who was very drunk was seen to reel into Mr. Twain's hotel last night． It is his duty to prove that this person was not Mark Twain himself． WHO WAS THAT MAN？
I did not drink!
In the following weeks，I got more titles like "Delirium Tremens"， "Body﹣Snatcher"， "Filthy Corruptionist" ，etc．
Then one morning：
Mr. Mark Twain still maintains SILENCE． He dare not speak． Dare he open his mouth explain？
Before I could reply， more dirty charges" poured up on me． One day they even taught nine little children of all shades of colour to rush on to the platform at a public meeting and call me Pa（ father）!
I gave up． I sent them a letter to state that I gave up， and in bitterness of spirit I signed it，"Truly yours，once a decent man， but now MARK TWAIN， I．P．， M．T．， D．T．， B．S． and F．C．"
（1）In the story， people were running for Governor．
A． three
B． four
C． five
D． six
（2）Which of the following is TRUE about Mr. Twain according to his story？
A． He got punished for stealing in Montana．
B． He kept silent to the charges against him．
C． He was often too drunk to attend meetings．
D． He accepted the titles from the newspapers．
（3）Who could be the person making Mr. Twain dirty？
A． The persons who wanted to beat him．
B． The poor who wanted their land back．
C．The women who had children with him．
D． The reporters who helped him make news．
（4）Why did Mr. Twain finally decide to give up running for Governor？ （请用约40词回答）