Brenda Bongos was a happy, artistic girl. She had one big ambition-to play the drums in a band. But
one big obstacle lay in her way. To be good enough to play in a band, Brenda had to practice a lot, but
she lived next-door to a lot of old people. Many of them are sick. She knew that the sound of beating
drums would really get on their nerves. So, she had tried playing in the strangest places: a basement, a
kitchen, and even in a shower. But there was always someone it would annoy.
    One day, while watching a science documentary on TV, she heard that sound cannot travel in space,
because there's no air. At that moment, Brenda Bongos decided to become a sort of musical astronaut.
    With the help of a lot of time, books and work, Brenda built a space bubble. This was a big glass ball
connected to a machine which sucked out all the air inside. All that would be left inside was a drum kit(成套设备) and a chair. Brenda got into the space suit she had made, entered the bubble, turned on the
machine, and played those drums like a wild child.
    It wasn't long before Brenda Bongos came very famous. Many people came to see her play in her
space bubble. Shortly afterwards she came out of the bubble and started giving concerts. Her fame
spread so much that the government suggested that she be part of a unique space journey. Finally,
Brenda was a real musical astronaut, and had gone far beyond her first ambition of playing drums in a
band.
    Years later, when asked how she had achieved all this, she thought for a moment, and said: ''If those
old people next - door hadn't mattered so much to me, I wouldn't have found a solution, and none of this would have ever happened.''

1. Why did Brenda try to play in the strangest places?

A. Because she didn't want others to hear her play.
B. Because she didn't want to disturb others.
C. Because she didn't have a large house.
D. Because she liked to play in strange places.

2. Brenda started to give concerts _______ .

A. after she practiced in her space bubble
B. when she became part of the unique space journey
C. after she became a real musical astronaut 
D. when people came to see her in the space bubble

3. Brenda became famous because _______ .

A. she made a space suit
B. she became a real musical astronaut
C. she played drums in her space bubble
D. she played drums in a band

4. Which of the following can be used to describe Brenda? 

A. kind, hardworking and clever
B. brave, kind and hardworking
C. lovely, brave and kind
D. nervous, kind and clever

5. We can draw a conclusion from the passage that: " _______".  

A. He laughs best who laughs last
B. It's never too old to learn
C. Two heads are better than one
D. One good turn deserves another

〔1〕"Everything happens for the best," my mother said whenever I faced disappointment.
" If you carry on, one day something good will happen. And you'll realize that it wouldn't have happened if not for that previous disappointment."
〔2〕Mother was right, as I discovered after graduating from college in 1932. I had decided to try for a
job in radio, then work my way up to a sports announcer. I went to Chicago and knocked on the door of every station-and got turned down every time.
〔3〕In one studio, a kind lady told me that big stations couldn't risk hiring an inexperienced person. "Go out in the sticks and find a small station that'll give you a chance," she said.
〔4〕I returned home to Dixon, Illinois. While there were no radio-announcing jobs in Dixon, my father
said Montgomery Ward had opened a store and wanted a local athlete to manage its sports department.
Since Dixon was where I had played high school football, I applied. The job sounded just right for me.
But ______           _ .
〔5〕My disappointment must have shown. "Everything happens for the best," Mom reminded me. Dad
offered me the car to job hunt. I tried WOC Radio in Davenport, Iowa. The program director, a
wonderful Scotsman named Peter MacArthur, told me they had already hired an announcer.
〔6〕As I left his office, my frustration boiled over. I asked aloud, "How can a fellow get to be a sports
announcer if he can't get a job in a radio station?"
〔7〕I was waiting for the elevator when I heard MacArthur calling, "What was that you said about
sports? Do you know anything about football?" Then he stood me before a microphone and asked me to
broadcast an imaginary game. I got the job!
〔8〕On my way home, as I have many times since, I thought of my mother's words: …

1. How did the writer discover that his mother was right? ( no more than 10 words )
______________________________________________________________________________
2. Fill in the blank with proper words in paragraph 4 to complete the sentence.
   ( no more than 6 words )
______________________________________________________________________________
3. Why did the writer say ''My disappointment must have shown'' in paragraph 5?
   Find details to support your idea.  ( no more than 20 words )
______________________________________________________________________________
4. Translate the underlined sentence in paragraph 1 into Chinese.
______________________________________________________________________________
5. What can you learn from the passage? (no more than 30 words)
______________________________________________________________________________

                                                              Heroes of Our Time
A good heart
     Dikembe Mutombo grew up in Africa among great poverty and disease. He came to Georgetown University
on a scholarship (奖学金) to study medicine-but Coach (教练) John Thompson got a look at Dikembe and had
a different idea. Dikembe became a star in the NBA, and a citizen of the United States. But he never forgot the
land of his birth, or the duty to share his fortune with others. He built a new hospital in his old hometown in the
Congo. Af friend has said of this good-hearted man:"Mutombo believes that God has given him this chance to
do great things."
Success and kindness
     After her daughter was born, Julie Aigner-Clark searched for ways to share her love of music and art with
her child. So she borrowed some equipment, and began filming children's videos (录像) in her own house. The
Baby Einstein Company was born, and in just five years her business grew to more than $20 million in sales.
And she is using her success to help others-producing child safety videos with John Walsh of the National
Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Julie says of her new program:"I believe it's the most important thing
that I have ever done. I believe that children have the right to live in a world that is safe."
Bravery and courage
     A few weeks ago, Wesley Autrey was waiting at a Harlem subway station with his two little girls when he
saw a man fall into the path of a train. With seconds to act, Wesley jumped onto the tracks, pulled the man into
the space between the rails (铁轨), and held him as the train passed right above their heads. He insists he's not
a hero. He says:"We have got to show each other some love."

1. What was Mutombo praised for?

A. Being a star in the NBA.
B. Being a student of medicine.
C. His work in the church.
D. His willingness to help the needy.

2. Mutombo believes that building the new hospital is _____.

A. helpful to his personal development
B. something he should do for his homeland
C. a chance for his friends to share his money
D. a way of showing his respect to the NBA

3. What did the Baby Einstein Company do at its beginning? 

A. Produce safety equipment for children.
B. Make videos to help protect children.
C. Sell children's music and artwork.
D. Look for missing and exploited children.

4. Why was Wesley Autrey praised as a hero?

A. He helped a man get across the rails.
B. He stopped a man from destroying the rails.
C. He protected two little girls from getting hurt.
D. He saved a person without considering his own safety.

     The nervous-looking young man had waited for a few moments outside the jeweler's before he got enough
courage to enter. He was warmly greeted by a young assistant. James felt a rush of blood to his face as he
explained he would be bringing in his future wife to choose a birthday present. The assistant listened carefully
and told him he'd better buy a necklace (项链). He wasn't used to buying jewelry and was a little worried about
overspending, because he was not very rich. After some discussion as to a reasonable price and the type, the
assistant showed him dozens of necklaces and helped him to choose. At last James chose one and left the shop
promising to return at five o'clock. Half an hour later than planned, James did return to the shop with his future
wife, Laura. The assistant acted as if she had never seen him before. When she was asked to show them some
necklaces, she first brought out some inexpensive ones for them to choose, and then gave them the ones she
had prepared. A choice was soon made and they went away satisfactorily. Later James would certainly come
back to buy what he wanted when he got married.

1. The good title for this passage is " _____".

A. A Clever Assistant.
B. Buying a Birthday Present
C. How to Choose a Necklace
D. A Brave Young Man

2. The word "overspending" in the passage means _____.

A. spending too much energy
B. spending too much time
C. spending more time than he planned
D. spending too much money

3. When James told the assistant why he wanted to buy a present, his face _____.

A. turned pale
B. turned red
C. turned yellow
D. turned black

4. James and Laura reached the shop at _____.

A. 4:30
B. 5:00
C. 5:30
D. 6:00

   Miss Gorgers taught physics in a New York school. Last month she explained to one of her classes
about sound, and she decided to test them to see how successful she had been in her explanation. She said to them,"Now I have a brother in Los Angeles. If I was calling him on the phone and at the same time you were 75 feet away, listening to me from across the street, which of you would hear what I said earlier, my brother or you and for what reason?"
   Tom at once answered, "Your brother. Because electricity travels faster than sound waves.""That's very good, "Miss Gorgers answered; but then one of the girls raised her
hand, and Miss Gorgers said."Yes, Kate."
   "I disagree,"Kate said."Your brother would hear you earlier because when it's 11 o'clock here it's only 8 o'clock in Los Angeles."

1. Miss Gorgers was teaching her class_________.
A. how to telephone        
B. about electricity  
C .about time zone          
D. about sound
2. Miss Gorgers raised this question because she wanted to know whether______.
A. it was easy to phone to Los Angeles
B. her student could hear her from 75 feet away
C. her students had grasped her lesson
D. sound waves were slower than electricity
3. Tom thought that electricity was _________.
A. slower than sound waves      
B. faster than sound waves
C. not so fast as sound waves    
D. as fast as sound waves
4. Kate thought Tom was wrong because _______.
A. clocks in Los Angeles showed a different time from those in New York
B. electricity was slower than sound waves
C. Tom was not good at physics at all
D. Tom's answer had nothing to do with sound waves
5. Whose answer do you think is correct according to the law of physics?
A. Tom's    
B. Kate's    
C. Both A and B    
D. Neither A nor B

      Long long ago, in a small and faraway village, there was a place known as the House of 1,000
Mirrors. A 1ittle happy dog learned of this place    1  decided to visit it.
      When he arrived, he bounced happily up the stairs to the doorway of the house. He looked through
the doorway   2    his tail wagging as fast as it could. To his great surprise, he found  3  staring at 1,000
other happy 1ittle dogs  4  (wag) their tails just as fast as his. He smiled a great smile, and   5  (answer)
with 1,000 great smiles. As he left the House, he thought to himself, "It is such a wonderful place  6   I
will come back to visit it often."
     In the same village,     7    little dog, who was not as happy as the first one, also decided to visit the
House. In a bad mood, he slowly climbed up the stairs and looked through the doorway   8   a smile.
When he saw the 1,000  9  (friend) dogs staring back at him, he shouted   10  (angry) at them and was
horrified to see 1,000 1ittle dogs shouting back at him in the same way. As he 1eft, he thought to himself,
" This is a horrible place, and I won't come back here any more.
      All the faces in the world are like mirrors. What kind of reflections do you see in the faces of the
people you meet?

   Because of my curiosity(好奇心), I had a really exciting weekend. I took a trip to Gloucester to see
some of the world’s most beautiful animals-whales (鲸鱼)in the North Atlantic Ocean.
   After a long trip by train and bus, we got on the ship called the “Privateer”. On our way to see the
whales on that beautiful sunny day, I grew more and more excited. After a while we stopped, and everyone on the ship started to shout because we’d seen whales. It was wonderful!
   While we were watching the whales, a guide was giving us information about them. She told us we were seeing only two kinds of whales - 50-foot whales (singing whales) and 70-foot whales (the second largest whales on the earth). She also said we could easily tell the different kinds of whales by their tales(尾巴),
since every whale has a different tail, just as people have different fingerprints(指纹).
   They all have names as well. On this trip, we saw “Salt” and “Pepper”, two whales named by a scientist and a fisherman. They swam together all the time. Sometimes whales came so close to the ship that we thought we could touch them.
   I took twenty-seven photos, which was a really hard job because they moved so quickly, and stayed on the surface of the ocean for such a short time. Having seen the whales was one of the chances few people ever got. I was lucky enough to have that chance.

1. The passage is mainly about _________.  
A. the different kinds of whales
B．the different kinds of animals in the ocean
C．a trip to study ocean animals
D．a trip to see whales
2. Which of the following transport did the author NOT use during the trip?
A．The train.      
B．The plane. 
C．The bus.         
D．The ship
3. We can learn from the third paragraph that _________.
A．there were only two kinds of whales
B．70-foot whales are the largest in the world
C．whales all have different tails
D．whales have fingerprints as people do
4. What did the author do when she saw the whales?
A. She gave them the names “Salt” and “Pepper”.
B. She swam with them.
C．She got close to touch them               
D．She took photos of them.