"Have you finished your lesson，George？" said Mr.Prentice to his son，who had laid aside his book and was busy making a large paper kite.
"No，father，"replied George，hanging down his head.
"Why not，my son？"
"Because it is so difficult，father.I am sure that I shall never learn it.Besides，I could not remember it after I had learned it，my memory is so bad."
"If I were to promise you a holiday on the thirtieth of the month after next，do you think you would forget the date？"
"No，I am pretty sure that I should not."
"You are first﹣rate at skating，and flying a kite，and playing at ball and marbles，are you not？"
"Yes，father."
"And yet you cannot learn your lesson!My dear boy，you are deceiving（欺骗） yourself.You can learn as well as anyone，if you will only try."
"But have I not tried，father？" again urged George.
"Well，try again.Come，for this afternoon lay aside that kite you are making，and give another effort to get your lesson ready.Be in earnest，and you will soon learn it.To show you that it only requires perseverance， I will tell you a story：
"One of the dullest boys at a village school，more than thirty years ago，went up to repeat his lesson one morning；and，as usual，did not know it. ‘Go to your seat！' said the teacher angrily.
‘If you don't pay more attention to your lessons，you will never be fit for anything.'
The poor boy stole off to his seat，and bent his eyes again upon his lesson.
‘It is of no use；I cannot learn.' he said in a whisper to a companion who sat near him.
‘You must try hard，'replied the kind﹣hearted boy.
‘I have tried，but it is of no use；I may just as well give up at once.'
‘Try again，Henry！' Whispered his companion，in an earnest and encouraging tone.
These two little words gave him a fresh impulse，and he bent his mind again to his task.
Gradually he began to find the sentences lingering in his memory；and soon，to his surprise and pleasure，the whole lesson was mastered!
"From that day，" continued Mr.Prentice，"there was no boy in the school who learned more rapidly than Henry.From that day till the present hour he has been a student；and he now urges his son George to ‘try again' as he tried. "
"And was it indeed you，father？" asked his son，eagerly looking up into the face of his kind parent.
"Yes，my child.That dull boy was your own father in his early years."
"Then I will try again." said George，in a decided tone；and，flinging aside his half﹣made kite，he turned and re﹣entered the house，and was soon bending in earnest attention over his lesson.
"Well，what success，George？"asked Mr.Prentice，as the family gathered around the tea﹣table.
"I learned the lesson，father！" replied the boy， "I can say every word of it."
"Did you find it hard work？"
"Not so very hard，after I had once made up my mind that I would learn it.Indeed I never stopped to think，as I usually do，but went right on until I had mastered every sentence."
"May you never forget this lesson，my son！" said Mr.Prentice， "You now get the secret of success.It lies in never stopping to think about a task being difficult or tiresome，but in going steadily on，with a fixed determination to succeed."
（1）The meaning of the underlined word"perseverance"is ．
A.the quality of continuing trying
B.the quality of being brave enough
C.thinking about what will happen next
D.thinking about what's the best thing to do
（2）Which is the correct order of the things below？
a.Mr.Prentice told George his own story.
b.George learned the lesson successfully.
c.George was busy making a large paper kite.
d.George gave up his lesson halfway.
e.The family gathered around the tea﹣table.
A.c﹣d﹣a﹣e﹣b
B.c﹣d﹣a﹣b﹣e
C.d﹣c﹣a﹣b﹣e
D.d﹣c﹣a﹣e﹣b
（3）According to the passage，we can see Mr.Prentice .
A.was encouraged by his teacher
B.was a top student at first
C.is always impatient with his son
D.is a kind and wise father
（4）Which can be the best title for the passage？
A.A dull boy.
B.Try again.
C.A strict father.
D.Finish your lesson.
阅读与回答问题，阅读下列短文，然后根据其内容回答问题。
During the summer holidays there will be a new schedule (时间表).
Changes for meal and library service hours and for bus schedules will be shown on the wall outside the dining room. Weekly film and concert schedules, which are being made, will be shown each Wednesday outside the library.
Buses to the town center will leave the North Beijing every hour on the half during the day. The dining room will serve three meals a day from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. during the weekdays and two meals from noon to 7:00p.m on weekends. The library will continue its usual hours during the weekdays, but have shorter hours on Saturdays and Sundays. The weekend hours are from noon to 5:00 p.m.
All students who want to use the library borrowing service must have a new summer card. This announcement (通知) will also be shown in the next week’s student newspaper.
A rabbit is running into its hole. You may ask, “What happened?”
Well, when a rabbit sees something dangerous, it runs away. Its tail moves up and down as it runs. When other rabbits see this tail moving up and down, they run too. They know that there is danger. The rabbit has told them something without making a sound. It has given them a signal.
Many other animals use this kind of language. When a bee found some food, it goes back to his home. It cannot tell the other bees where the food is by speaking to them, but it does a little dance in the air. This tells the bees where the food is.
Some animals say things by making sounds. A dog barks, for example, when a stranger
comes near. A cat purrs (发出呼噜呼噜的声音)when pleased. Some birds make several different sounds, each with its own meaning.
But human beings have something that no animals have –-- a large number of words about things, actions, feelings or ideas. We are able to give each other information, to tell or inform other people what is in our mind or how we feel. By writing words down we can remind ourselves of the things what have happened, or send messages to people far away. No animals can do this. No animals has the wonderful power of language.
No one knows how man learned to make words. Somehow he learned to make them. As centuries went by, he made more and more new words. This is what we mean by language. People living in different countries made different kinds of words. Today there are about fifteen hundred different languages in the world. A very large English dictionary, for example, contains four or five hundred thousand words. But we do not know all these. The words we know are called vocabulary. We should try to make our vocabulary larger. Read as many books as possible. When we meet a new word, look it up in the dictionary. A dictionary is the Most useful book. When a rabbit gives the other rabbits a signal of danger, it _______.
| A．runs into its hole |
| B．stops to move its tail |
| C．runs with its tail moving up and down |
| D．stops moving its tail up and down as it runs |
A dog can tell something ________.
| A．by giving signals | B．by making different sounds |
| C．by purring | D．by barking |
It has been proved that no animal is able to _______.
| A．give the others information |
| B．tell others how it feels |
| C．express it actions and feelings with words |
| D． make different sounds, each with its own meaning |
Generally speaking, what we mean by “vocabulary” is _________.
| A．all the words that we know |
| B．more and more words we use |
| C．all the words we need |
| D．the dictionary which contains thousands of words |
What must we do in order to make our vocabulary large?
| A．Make more and more new words. |
| B． Learn more languages. |
| C． Look up any new words in a dictionary. |
| D． Try to read as many books as possible. |
Each year, we celebrate many holidays here in America.
On January 1, we welcome the coming of a new year like many people in other countries. And we have another four holidays on the first day of a month: April Fool’s Day, May Day, Friendship Day (Aug.1) and Grandparents Day (Sep. 1).
The most important holiday for the young people comes in February. It is Valentine’s Day. Lots of boys give red roses to girls as a present.
People celebrate some holidays for their family members. We say thanks to our mother in May and celebrate Father’s Day in the following month. In November many people return home for Thanksgiving Day, so the whole family can stay together.
There are also some interesting holidays for children. For example, Halloween comes at the end of October. Children often play with pumpkin lanterns and put on all kinds of masks.
Of course, the most important festival is Christmas. After a year of work and study, people can enjoy a long holiday, eat big meals, and visit family and friends.
| A．Four. | B．Five. |
| C．Seven. | D．Ten. |
| A．Thanksgiving Day. | B．Christmas Day. |
| C．Valentine’s Day. | D．New Year’s Day. |
| A．in May | B．in April. |
| C．in June | D．in July |
| A．children | B．mothers |
| C．girls | D．students |
| A．enjoy a long holiday | B．stay with their family members |
| C．eat big meals with friends | D．spend Thanksgiving Day |
Long, long ago people made fires from lightening (闪电). But they had to keep the fire burning, for they couldn’t start it again if there was no lightening. Later, they found out hitting two pieces of stone together could make a spark (火花). The spark could fire dry leaves. In this way they could make the fire again if it went out. Then people also learned to make a fire by rubbing (摩擦). They made a hole on a piece of wood and put a smaller stick into the hole. They turned the stick again and again. After a few minutes they got a fire.
A years went by, people learned other ways to make a fire. Sometimes they used the heat from the sun. They held a piece of glass in the right way and made a piece of paper on fire.
About two centuries ago, people began to make matches. Matches brought people a quick and easy way to make fires. Today matches are still being used, but people have more new ways to make fires. One of them is to use an electric fire starter. Of course an electric fire starter is much more expensive than a box of matches. But it is very useful.
| A．fire any leaves | B．burn anything |
| C．burn dry leaves | D．keep fire burning |
| A．making a hole on a big piece of wood |
| B．putting a smaller stick into the hole |
| C．turning the stick hard for a while |
| D．all above together |
| A．for about two thousand years |
| B．for about two hundred years |
| C． since people began to use fire for cooking |
| D． since people used the heat from the sun |
| A．electric fire starters are widely used |
| B．people haven’t used matches since they had electric fire starters |
| C．today there are only two ways to make fire |
| D．some forest fires happen from lightening |
a. with a match b. from the sun
c. from lightening d. by rubbing
e. with an electric fire starter
| A．a, b, c, d, e | B．b, c, a, e, d |
| C．c, d, b, a, e | D．d, a, c, b, e |
The more books you read, the better your life will be. If you don’t believe me, please consider these five reasons to read more books.
You will make your brain power better.
This shouldn’t come as a shock, but studies suggest reading makes you smart. Unlike watching television, which requires no thought process, reading is an active learning experience that will keep your mind sharp.
You will increase your chances of success.
The more books you read, the more knowledge you will have, the more ways and resources your brain will store, the more likely you will succeed.
You will have things to talk about at parties.
Reading more books will enable you to say the sentence, “Did you know …?” more often, making it easier to start conversations with strangers.
You will enlarge your vocabulary.
The more words you’re able to use, the better you will become at expressing your thoughts and feelings. I couldn’t imagine how I would write articles like this if I didn’t actively aim to enlarge my vocabulary, because using the same few words to express myself would get boring.
You will enjoy a good night’s sleep.
Your mobile phone or TV can make it difficult for you to get a good night’s sleep, if you do so late at night. You would be wise to cut off all electronics at least an hour before bed, and replace that with a good book, which is a much better choice.
The books can change your life. I firmly believe that if it wasn’t for books, I wouldn’t have achieved in my life; nor would I have the knowledge, imagination or creativity. I hope these reasons to read more books encourage you to unlock your power of reading.
| The more books you read, the better your life will be. |
|
| Details |
|
| Increase your chances of success. |
You will have more knowledge and your brain will store more |
| Have topics to |
You can start a talk more |
| Get a |
Using more better. |
| Enjoy a good night’s sleep. |
You’d better |
| Books can give you much knowledge, imagination and creativity that you can in your life. |