A beautiful and very successful actress was the star for a new musical show. Her home was in
the country, but she didn't want to go back there every night, so she bought an expensive house in
the center of the city, got some beautiful furniture and got a man to paint the rooms in new colour.
     It was very difficult to get tickets for her show in the evening, because everyone wanted to see it.
So she decided to give the painter two of the best seats. She hoped that this would make him work
better for her. He took the tickets without saying anything, and she heard no more about them until
the end of month, when she got the painter's bill. At the bottom of it were these words: "Four hours
from 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. watching Miss Hall sing and dance: 3 pounds," with this note: "Before
5:00 p.m. I get 10 shillings (先令)an hour and after 5:00 p.m. 15 shillings."

1. The actress bought a house in the center of the city because        .

A. she liked to live in the busiest place
B. she didn't like to live in the country
C. she wanted to work harder than before
D. she didn't want to live in old house

2. In order to make the painter work better for her, the actress        .

A. gave him two tickets for her show
B. sang and danced for four hours
C. decided to give him 3 pounds  
D. invited him for a big dinner

3. The actress got the painter's bill        .

A. to ask for the money of his painting work
B. to ask her to pay for his watching her show
C. in which he showed his thanks for the tickets
D. in which he expressed his dissatisfaction

4. It can be learned from the text that one pound is        shillings.

A. 10          
B. 12          
C. 15          
D. 20

5. What kind of man was the painter?

A. He was a careful man.
B. He was a poor man.
C. He was not friendly to others.
D. He knew little about music and dance.

     Every morning at 5:30, Li Jun gets up, finds a quiet place and begins shouting at a wall. "Ahh...
eee...", he is always shouting for about 30 minutes. The sounds are long and loud. Is he mad? No. Is
he a singer? Well, maybe. But he doesn't like pop music. In fact, this 14-year-old kid is mad about
Peking Opera. He is studying it at the Ji' nan Art School in Shandong. He has been doing this practice
every morning since he was 10. "My voice is changing.I sing every day.I want my voice to become
better, "he said. Li says he can't eat ice cream because it is bad for his voice. His hard work has helped.
Li got the first place in the CCTV arts contest for kids. He sang Take over of Weihu Mountain (《智取
威虎山》), a great Peking Opera song. Li's father and grandpa are both Peking Opera fans. When Li
was a kid,he saw opera masks (面具)at home and liked them. Now he and his father often sing opera
at home on weekends.    
     Every day at school, Li learns to somersault (翻筋斗) and do leg exercise. In the afternoon, he
learns to sing."My body is always in pain. I only want to lie in bed at the end of a day," said Li. But it's
more fun back in his dormitory."Eight people in my dormitory sing opera together. It turns the room into
an opera house. "Li's teacher, Ma Jisheng, thinks Li is an unusual kid. "He doesn't like new things much.
He is really serious about the old opera, art, "said Ma. Ma hopes Li Jun can be a big opera star. "But he
may also try some pop songs. Kids need to have their own style, " he said.

1. Every morning Li Jun gets up early to ______.

A. read books                  
B. do morning exercise    
C. shout at the wall          
D. show that he is mad

2. Li Jun is a boy ______.            

A. of ten years old    
B. studying at an art school    
C. ho often eats ice cream    
D. that teaches other students Peking Opera

3. Take over of Weihu Mountain is ______.

A. a beautiful pop song              
B. a name of a TV play
C. a high and beautiful mountain      
D. a great Peking Opera song

4. Every day at school, Li Jun ______.

A. learns to somersault          
B. does leg exercise
C. learns to sing               
D. all the above

5. What can we learn from this passage?    

A. No pain, no gain.     
B. It's easy for everyone to be successful.   
C. Peking Opera is easy to learn.    
D. Li Jun is successful only because of his talent.

     A heart-warming story tells of a woman who finally decided to ask her boss for a raise in pay.
All day she felt nervous. Late in the afternoon , she gathered the courage to go to her boss. To her
surprise and joy , the boss agreed to give her a raise.
    The woman arrived home that evening to a beautiful table set with their best dishes. Candles were
softly burning. Her husband had come home early and prepared a festive meal. She wondered if
someone from the office had tipped him off (向他透露了消息), or…did he just somehow know that
she would not get turned down?
    She found him in the kitchen and told him the good news. They hugged and kissed, then sat down
to the wonderful meal. Next to her plate the woman found a beautifully lettered note. It read,
"Congratulations,darling ! I know you'd get the raise ! These things will tell you how much I love you."
    Following the supper, her husband went into the kitchen to clean up. She noticed that a second card
had fallen from his pocket. Picking it off the floor, she read, "Don't worry about not getting the raise!
You are sure to get it anyway sooner or later! These things will tell you how much I love you. "
Someone has said that the measure of love is when you love without measure. What this man feels for
his wife is complete acceptance and love, whether she succeeds or fails. His love celebrates her success
and calms her pain. He stands with her, no matter what life throws in their direction.

1. What did the woman's boss do with her asking for a raise in pay?

A. He felt angry.
B. He fired her.
C. He agreed with her request.
D. He said it was impossible.

2. The underlined phrase "get turned down" in the passage means ______.

A. become lover                  
B. be put down
C. become less                    
D. be refused

3. Why did the woman's husband cook such a wonderful meal?

A. Because he wanted to celebrate her birthday.
B. Because he was free at home.
C. Because he knew she got the raise.
D. Because he loved her so much that he wanted to do something to make her happy.

4. Which of the following statements is NOT TRUE?

A. The woman worked hard and well.
B. The boss offered to give the woman a raise.
C. The woman's husband was really kind to her.
D. The woman and her husband lived a happy and romantic life.

5. The best title of the passage can be "______".  

A. The Story of A Woman and Her Husband
B. The Story of A Woman and Her Boss
C. True Love of A Husband
D. What Is Love

     For a long time, a boy wondered why his next-desk classmate was always the first in the class,
while he could only rank (排名) the 21st. At home, he asked his mom, " Am I more stupid than other
kids? How come I always fall behind?I can't come up with an answer. " Mom knew that her son's
self-respect (自尊心) had been hurt by the ranking system, but she didn't know what to say to help.
    She had really wanted to say that intelligence (智力) differs and that yes, her son's friend was really
a smarter boy. But that would make her son lose heart. So she didn't say it.
    Her son and his friend went on to a high school that year. Although her son tried as hard as he could,
his friend still left him behind. But she was proud of her boy for his hard work. It was around this time
she decided to take him on a trip to the seaside. On the trip, she at last found an answer for him.
Today her son no longer cares about rankings. He doesn't have to, for he himself is now at the top of the
class in a university. When invited to his old high school, he mentioned a valuable childhood experience:
Once on a trip to the sea, my mother and I were lying on the beach. She pointed to the sea and said to
me: Do you see seabirds fighting for food out there?When a wave (海浪) comes near, the little birds
rise quickly. The "clumsy"  seagulls (海鸥) are far less quick and have to tried hard to get away from the
wave. But they prove to have the biggest, strongest wings,which open the widest and allow the bird to
travel the furthest. When the season changes, they leave for foreign shores, leaving the little birds behind.
Son, I have feeling that you are one of those seagulls. "

1. From the first paragraph (段), we know that the mother _____.   

 A. knew her son was not bright enough     
B. decided to help with her son's school work.     
C. was worried about her son's low rankings
D. saw the negative effects (负面影响) of the ranking system

2. The mom was glad she didn't give an answer at first because _____.     

A. she knew her son would forget his rankings soon     
B. she felt intelligence doesn't mean everything     
C. she knew he was not strong enough for the truth
D. she wanted to avoid another blow (打击) to her son's self-respect

3. What does the underlined word " clumsy" mean here?

A. 灵巧的         
B. 笨拙的         
C. 聪明的      
D. 勇敢的

4. Which is true according to the passage?     

A. Ranking system had no effect on him.     
B. Her son's rankings have always been low.     
C. Only rankings show intelligence.
D. Hard work and confidence can lead to a change in rankings.

5. Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?

A. How important rankings are                   
B. Little birds and seagulls 
C. The answer Mom gave                       
D. Hard work leads to good results

     Mr. and Mrs. Clarke were going to America for their holidays. They had a dog called Billy.
They liked him very much. But they couldn't take him to America with them. So they found a place
to leave him while they were away. At the end of their holidays they got back to England very late
at night so they didn't go to get Billy. The next morning Mr. Clarke got into his car and drove happily
to get Billy. When he got home with the dog he said to his wife, "Dear, I don't think Billy has enjoyed
his days at that place. He made lots of noise all the way home. I guess he must want to tell me
something!" Mrs. Clarke looked at the dog carefully and answered, " You are quite right, dear, but
he wasn't trying to tell you he hadn't enjoyed his day at that place. He was trying to tell you that you
had brought the wrong dog home. That isn't our Billy."

1. Mr. and Mrs. Clarke were going to America_____.

A. to meet their friends    
B. to see their family    
C. to spend their holiday

2. Mr. Clarke drove to get Billy back______.

A. as soon as they came back
B. late at night
C. the next morning

3. Mr. Clarke thought that Billy ____ at that place.

A. had a good time.  
B. didn't have a good time  
C. liked to made noise

4. Mrs. Clarke found that ____.

A. her husband was quite right.  
B. the dog was Billy  
C. her husband had brought the wrong dog home.

5. Which of the following is right?

A. Mr. and Mrs. Clarke loved Billy very much.
B. Billy really enjoyed himself while they were away.  
C. Mr. Clarke brought their own dog home.

     A meteorite(陨石) almost hit an 80-year-old man named Arthur Pettifer in Britain when
he was working in his garden. The meteorite was the biggest in the past 26 years in Britain.
     The meteorite weighed(重量) one kilo, and might be over four thousand million years old.
     "I hear the big noise in the air. I looked up and saw the tops of the trees coming and going," he said,
"I didn't know what it was."
      Meteorites are small things from the small planets in space. About 3,500 meteorites may fall on
earth every year, but only very few are found. Mr. Pettifer's meteorite is the fifth to fall in Britain since
the Second World War.
     Mr. Pettifer is glad. "When you think about it coming from so far away, it really is something
strange."

1.The meteorite was ____ Mr. Pettifer when it fell down.

A. close to  
B. far from  
C. hitting    
D. go up

2.The meteorite was already _____ years old.

A.40,000,000,000  
B.40,000,000
C.400,000,000
D.4,000,000,000

3.Mr. Pettifer found the tops of the trees coming and going because______.

A. the trees were afraid  
B. the fast falling meteorite kept the tree tops moving
C. it was going to rain  
D. the moving was made by wind

4._____ people see a meteorite fall although they visit the earth often each year.

A. Quite a few  
B. Some    
C. Few    
D. Many

5.Mr. Pettifer was _____ to see the falling of the meteorite.

A. happy  
B. afraid    
C. sorry    
D. angry