“George can make sick plants well. He is a plant doctor, ” farmers in Missouri said.

　　George was a young boy then. But farmers sent for him when their crops did not grow well. Women asked him to help them when their roses would not bloom (开花) in spring.

　　George was born a slave (奴隶) , in 1862. As a child, he was not allowed to attend the nearby school. But he was always asking questions.

　　“Why are some roses red and others yellow?” he would ask “Can you change the colour of a flower by changing the seed (种子)? What makes rain fall?”

　　No one he knew could answer such questions. George tried to find answers for himself, some of the answers were in books, so he taught himself to read. At 14, he went to school for the first time.

　　He never stopped learning. Even when he was 80. Dr. George Washington Carver, the great scientist, was still asking questions and finding answers.

1．The farmers sent for George because ________ .

[　　]

2．George ________ in his life.

[　　]

3．The writer doesn't say so, but you can know from the story that ________ .

[　　]

A．George had learned to read before he went to school

B．George couldn't read until he studied at school

C．George had learned from a teacher before he was 14

D．George had learned nothing before he attended school

4．George's family must be a ________ .

[　　]

5．Which of the following sentences is NOT true?

[　　]

A．George did not only ask questions, but also tried his best to find the answers.

B．George learned to read because he wanted very much to enjoy the stories for children.

C．Peanut was not the only thing George was interested in his lifetime research work.

D．As a child, George asked a lot of strange questions and few grown-ups around him could answer them.

　　Most Americans don't like to get advice(忠告) from members of their family. They get advice from “strangers” . When they need advice, they don't usually ask people they know. Instead many of them write letters to newspapers and magazines which give advice on many different subjects including family problems, the use of language, health, cooking, child care, clothes, and even on how to buy a house or a car. Most newspapers regularly(定期地) print letters from readers with problems. Along with the letters there are answers written by people who are supposed (推测) to know how to solve such problems. Some of these writers are doctors; others are lawyers or educators. But two of the most famous writers of advice are women without special training (训练) for this kind of work. One of them answers letters written to “Dear Abby. ” The other is addressed as “Dear Ann Landers. ” Experience is their preparation for giving advice.

　　There is one writer who has not lived long enough to have much experience. She is a girl named Angel Gavaliere, who started writing advice for newspaper readers at the age of ten. Her advice to young readers now appears regularly in a column called DEAR ANGEL in the Philadelphia Bulletin.

　　So people often say Americans get advice from strangers.

1．Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?

[　　]

A．None of the Americans likes to ask advice from members of his family.

B．People like to ask advice from others.

C．Two of the great women are writers of advice.

D．The writers of advice included doctors, lawyers and educators.

2．The subjects which newspapers and magazines give advice on are ________ .

[　　]

A．family problems, the use of language, health, child care

B．cooking, clothes and how to buy a house or a car

C．for different advisors and askers

D．both A and B

3．The word “educators” in the text means ________ .

[　　]

A．people who want to get education

B．people who teach small children

C．people who have a good education and can educate others

D．people who have no education and therefore want to be educated

4．Among the writers writing advice for newspaper readers, two women are the most famous. Because ________ .

[　　]

A．they have been trained specially for the work

B．they have much experience and do their work well

C．they have got good preparations

D．they have been well educated

5．In the passage, the writer wants to tell us ________ .

[　　]

A．a man can also get advice from a girl without experience

B．most Americans get advice from unknown people

C．most Americans like to get advice from newspapers

D．experience is the preparation for giving advice

　　“He's coming! ” Patrick cried.

　　He could not see Hunter's face. Without glasses, Patrick could see very little in the darkness of the tall building. But he could see the white hands climbing up the ladder steps, one by one.

　　There was a wooden door beside the boys. Ned pushed it open and light washed over the top floor. Ned pushed Patrick through the door and half fell after him. Then he shut the door and pressed his back to it .

　　The morning light hurt their eyes. They were standing in the open air at the top of the round tower, on a store floor.

　　“What's happening?” Ned called.

　　Patrick moved forward and looked over the wall, but without his glasses he could not see clearly. In the village below forms were moving. People stood with upturned faces like little white circles (圆圈).

　　The door pushed against Ned's back. Ned pushed backwards with the full force of his arms and legs.

　　“Open it! ” Hunter shouted.

1．Patrick could not see Hunter's face because ________ .

[　　]

2．When the boys came out at the top floor ________ .

[　　]

A．Ned had a rest

B．Ned stood against the door to keep it shut

C．Patrick fell over the wall

D．they looked for somewhere to hide (藏)

3．Down below the building ________ .

[　　]

A．people were standing in circle

B．people were looking at the building

C．animals were moving about

D．Hunter was shouting

4．From the passage we can guess ________ .

[　　]

A．the boys were having a race with Hunter

B．the story happened in the late afternoon

C．Hunter was running after the boys and wanted to catch them

D．the boys climbed to the top of the tall building to see the whole village

　　The year was 1849. Americans were moving west across the country. Men set up camps near gold fields. Early settlers built their homes on open land. The Army got busy building forts(堡垒) .

　　All of these people needed the same kind of help. They needed food, clothes, and other goods. A few brave men came to help. They were the “truckers” of the old West.

　　The early truckers carried goods, like the truckers of today. But they didn't have trucks then. They used long lines of wagons(四轮马车) . Mules(骡) or oxen(牛) pulled the wagons. The trips were dangerous. The truckers had to fight off robbers. The roads were bad.

　　One of the early truckers was William Russell. In one year, his company sent out two and a half million pounds of goods from Kansas. His business grew, until 1969. In that year, railroad trains began to steam across the country.

1．Why couldn't people in the old West get their goods fast?

[　　]

2．This story is mostly about ________ .

[　　]

3．The truckers of the old West are like today's ________ .

[　　]

4．The wagons form Kansas must have gone ________ .

[　　]

5．Why did the wagons lose business after 1868?

[　　]

　　Thomas Alva Edison was born in 1847 in Ohio, America. As a little boy he was very inquisitive (好问的) . He always wanted to know how things were done. Very early in life he showed he was full of curiosity(好奇) , a quality(素质) which is so important to inventors. In 1869 he went to New York, where he worked for some time as a telephone operator. But soon he became interested in inventions. In a very short time they were his chief business. In order to carry on his business, which was to become his life's work, he built a lab at Menlo Park, where he had gone to live. His first great invention was a system of telegraphy (电报学) . Soon afterwards he invented the phonograph (留声机), the first form of the instrument that we now know as the gramophone or record player. The word “phonograph” means something that can “write” or record sound. Other scientists before Edison had thought of instruments which would do this, but Edison was the first to make an instrument which actually(实际地) worked. He also invented the incandescent lamp (白炽灯), the wire is heated by an electric current (电流) . People could now use electricity (电) to illuminate (照亮) their homes. By the time Edison died in 1931 he had about a thousand inventions.

1．As a little boy Thomas Alva Edison was ________ .

[　　]

2．Edison worked as a telephone operator ________ .

[　　]

A．when he was a little boy

B．because he was full of curiosity

C．in his twenties

D．when he became interested in inventions

3．Edison built a lab at Menlo Park ________ .

[　　]

A．because he wanted to live there

B．in order to carry on his business

C．to invent phonograph

D．because he had no room to live in in New York

4．Edison was the first to ________ before other scientists.

[　　]

5．The incandescent lamp ________ .

[　　]

A．was the first invention of Edison's

B．was invented just before the year 1931

C．was Edison's last invention

D．has been used to illuminate for more than 60 years since it was invented

6 bananas

1 package (6 ounces) semi-sweet chocolate pieces

1 cup chopped(磨碎的) peanuts(花生)

12 wooden popsicle(冰棒) sticks

　　Peel(剥皮) the bananas. Cut them in half the long way. Put a wooden stick in an end of each banana half . Put the bananas in a low pan. Freeze them for 2 to 3 hours.

　　Melt(熔化) the chocolate pieces slowly in a pot over hot water. Use a knife to spread the melted chocolate over all the bananas. Sprinkle(撒) with the nuts quickly, before the chocolate gets hard.

　　Wrap(裹) each pop in foil or plastic wrap. Keep them in the freezer. Serves 12.

1．The foods you need are in a list at the top so you can ________ .

[　　]

2．The wooden stick in the banana is for ________ .

[　　]

3．The reason you melt the chocolate is to ________ .

[　　]

4．What will happen if the chocolate gets hard too fast?

[　　]

5．Six bananas can make 12 pops because ________ .

[　　]

A．the bananas are cut in small pieces

B．the bananas are large

C．each pop is made of half a banana

D．the chocolate makes the bananas bigger

　　Long ago, the sky over California was full of condors (美洲秃鹰). Today, the sky is full of airplanes. People have taken over the condor's space. These big birds with giant wings are dying out.

　　Condors once flew along the Pacific Coast from Canada to Mexico. Then people moved into woods where the birds lived. By 1970, there were only about 50 condors left along the coast. Now there are less than 30. None of these birds may be left in 20 years.

　　Most people think the condors should be saved. People have different ideas for helping the birds. One group of people wants to study the birds and find out where they go. They also want to take the birds to zoos so that baby condors can be born there. A second group of people wants to leave the birds alone. Instead, they want to protect the wild places where the birds live.

1．What must have been true about condors long ago?

[　　]

2．The number of condors in California is ________ .

[　　]

3．Which of these is the best title for this article?

[　　]

4．People want to help the condors but ________ .

[　　]

5．Baby condors in a zoo would ________ .

[　　]

　　My friend Joan is a nurse at St. Luke's hospital. She has been a nurse since last September. She is a short pretty girl with large eyes. Joan finds the work interesting, but the hours are very long. Every day she works in a ward (病房) from eight to twelve. She brings the patients (病人) medicine, answers their rings, and tries to be kind to everyone. She likes people even when they are not happy. In the afternoon Joan has a rest. Then four days a week she goes to classes. She is learning first aid (急救) and chemistry. She is not good at chemistry, but she is good at first aid work. She is good a nurse.

1．Joan has been a ________ since last September.

[　　]

2．What does she do in the morning? She ________ .

[　　]

3．She ________ even when they are not happy.

[　　]

　　It was a very foggy day in London. The fog was so thick that it is impossible to see more than a foot or so. Buses, cars and taxis were not able to run and were standing by the side of the road. People were trying to find their way about on foot but were losing their way in the fog. Mr. Smith had a very important meeting at the House of Commons (英国议会下院) and had to get there but no one could take him there. He tried to walk there but found he was quite lost. Suddenly he bumped (撞上) into a stranger. The stranger asked if he could help him. Mr. Smith said he wanted to go to the House of Parliament (英国议会) . The stranger told him he would take him there. Mr. Smith thanked him and they started to walk there. The fog was getting thicker every minute but the stranger had no difficulty in finding the way. He went along one street, turned down another, crossed a square and at last after about half an hour's walk they arrived at the House of Parliament. Mr. Smith couldn't understand how the stranger found his way. “It was wonderful, ” he said, “How did you find the way in this fog?”

　　“It was no trouble at all to me,” said the stranger. “I am blind. ”

1．This story perhaps happened in ________ .

[　　]

2．Mr. Smith was a(n) ________ person.

[　　]

3．The phrase “bumped into” means ________ .

[　　]

4．The stranger seemed ________ .

[　　]

A．to know this area well

B．to have some problems in finding the way

C．to be a tourist guide (导游)

D．to know Mr. Smith

5．The stranger could find the way in the fog without much trouble because ________ .

[　　]

　　People celebrate (庆祝) birthdays in almost every country on Earth. And they celebrate them in many different ways.

　　In China and in Japan, for example, the arrival of the New Year is more important than a person's birthday. So everyone adds a year to their ages on New Year's Day, instead of on their birthdays.

　　In Brazil, the special birthday food isn't cake, but special candies. In China, it's long noodles－for long life. In Iceland, people have pancakes with candies rolled inside them on birthdays.

　　In Britain, a birthday is an all-day celebration. At school, the birthday child is lifted up and “bumped” by his classmates. This means the child is lifted by the feet and arms and bumped to the ground, once for each year and once for good growth. In Israel, the same custom (风俗) is followed, except the birthday person is lifted and lowered while sitting in a chair.

　　In Holland, children not only get presents, but they give things out, too. They give cakes, cookies and candies to their classmates and teachers on their birthday.

　　In Mexico, it's good luck to give birthday greetings as early in the day as possible. So it's usual for the birthday child to be woken up at mid-night by friends singing birthday songs.

　　In India, birthday celebrations also begin before dawn (黎明) . Prayers (祈祷) and blessings must be said before morning comes.

　　In Thailand, two tall candles are lighted the night before a birthday. One is as tall as the birthday person. If it goes out early, it's bad luck. Another custom of Thailand is that they buy live (活的) fish and birds for the birthday person and then the birthday person frees the animals, and it brings good luck.

　　In Nigeria, everyone in a certain age group celebrate their birthdays together, on a certain day.

　　In many countries birthday customs are changing. Old customs are giving way to western style birthdays, with candle-topped cakes. But one thing never changes－birthdays are special days for everyone!

1．It's custom to lift and lower the birthday person in a chair in ________ .

[　　]

2．In Mexico the birthday greetings are usually given at mid-night

because ________ .

[　　]

A．birthday celebrations must begin before dawn

B．prayers must be said before dawn

C．the birthday person must be woken up at mid-night

D．it will bring good things to the birthday person

3．According to the passage, which of the following is TRUE?

[　　]

A．In Thailand people give fish and birds to the birthdays person as presents.

B．In Holland people give presents to unbirthday persons.

C．In Nigeria people who were born in the same period (期间) may celebrate their birthdays on the same day.

D．In Thailand a candle will be lighted on the birthday night.

4．How many countries are mentioned (提及) in this passage?

[　　]