Many teenagers feel that the most important people in their lives are their friends．They believe that their family members, especially their parents, don’ t know them as well as their friends do．In large families, it is often for brothers and sisters to fight with each other and then they can only go to their friends for advice．

　　It is very important for teenagers to have one good friend or many friends．Even when they are not with their friends, they usually spend a lot of time talking among themselves on the phone．This communication is very important in children’s growing up, because friends can discuss something difficult to say to their family members．

　　However, parents often try to choose their children’s friends for them．Some parents may even stop their children from meeting their good friends．The question of“choice”is an interesting one．Have you ever thought of the following questions?

　　Who choose your friends?

　　Do you choose your friends or your friends choose you?

　　Have you got a good friend your parents don’ t like?

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

阅读理解

　　Many people who work in London prefer to live outside it, and to go to their offices or schools every day by train, car or bus, even though this means they have to get up early in the morning and reach home late in the evening．

　　One advantage of living outside London is that houses are cheaper．Even a small flat in London without a garden costs quite a lot to hire．With the same money, one can get a large house in the country with a garden of one’s own．

　　Then in the country one can rest from the noise and hurry of the town．Even though one has to get up earlier and spend more time in trains or buses, one can sleep better at night and during weekends and on summer evenings, one can enjoy the fresh, clean air of the country．If one likes gardens, one can spend one’s free time digging, planting, watering and doing the hundred and one other jobs which are needed in a garden．Then, when the flowers and vegetables come up, one has the reward of one who has shared the secret of Nature．

　　Some people, however, take no interest in country things．For them, happiness lies in the town, with its cinemas and theatres, beautiful shops and busy streets, dance halls and restaurants．Such people would feel that their life was not worth living if they had to live it outside London．An occasional(偶尔)walk in one of the Parks and a fortnight’s visit to the sea every summer is all the country they want; the rest they are quite prepared to leave to those who are glad to get away from London every night．

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

　　A few days ago, he was just Colonel(上校)Yang; few people knew his name or recognized his face．But last Thursday, when he came back to the earth after a 21-hour trip to space, Yang Liwei’s smile was seen across the world above the magic words：“China’s first spaceman”．

　　The 38-year-old astronaut was sent into space at 9 a.m．last Wednesday by China’s Shenzhou V spacecraft, which orbited the earth 14 times．He landed safely at 6∶23 a.m．the next day, making China the third country to successfully send a person into space, after the former Soviet Union and the US．

　　Yang was satisfied with his job．“I have seen many landing scenes before on video, and I think ours was one of the most successful,”he said on a special plane to Beijing after landing．

　　Born into an ordinary family in Liaoning Province, he became a pilot in the Chinese Air Force in 1987, spending 1,350 hours in the air．He joined the Chinese space programme 11 years later．

　　While in space, Yang recorded everything he saw as well as showing China’s national flag and the United Nation’s flag to the people watching on TV at home．He also ate a meal of diced chicken and fried rice, before taking a 3-hour nap．The whole project went according to plan, but space exploration is not as easy as it seems．Anyone who saw the destruction of the US space shuttle Columbia in February this year will know that Yang took a great risk．

　　He experienced extremely high temperatures, while the gravitational forces(重力)on takeoff and landing were strong enough to force tears from his eyes．He has spent five years training to become a spaceman．“I eat all of my meals at the space programme’s dining room and have never been able to take my son to kindergarten,”he said．“I’ve never met his teachers.”But becoming China’s first spaceman has made all the effort worthwhile．

　　“When I boarded the spacecraft for the first time, I couldn’t help feeling excited”, he said．“I decided that I had to fly it．”

　　To Chinese people, Yang is now a hero．One visitor to a Xinhua News Agency Online Forum(新华社网上论坛)said：“Yang’s trip is a giant leap forward for China.”Officials say the next Shenzhou will be launched by 2005．China also plans to develop space walking and a space lab．

　　(From 21^st Century, China Daily)

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

阅读理解：

　　An American man from Las Vegas opened a dog and cat hotel recently．Pets can rest on soft rugs(小地毯),watch television and get to know some new friends while their masters have fun in the city．

　　The American Dog and Cat Hotel opened officially on a Wednesday in March．There is everything a pet could want-and more．

　　“We hear time and time again．‘This is so nice, I’ d like to stay here.’”the hotel manager said in an interview．He believed that people would want for their pets what they wanted for themselves．

　　Kennels(狗舍)have been around for a long time, but nowadays masters want to put their loved pets in some better places, he added．

　　He said the cats and dogs like to watch images(图象)on TV although they may not understand them．Anyway, they don’t have to know Britney Spears or Emimem to enjoy the pop music．Also,“The dogs don’t know it is a rug, but they know it is soft,”he said．

　　Pet masters can book a dog suite(套房)for $79 a night．Baths and other services are also offered．

　　The pet hotel manager believes that all the animal lovers in the world will love this great idea．

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

　　If you’re in charge of(负责)a project, the key to success is getting everyone to want to help you．As a director, I point, I suggest, I gently push the actors in the direction(方向)I want them to go．

　　In the 1986 movie Nothing in Common, Jackie Gleason’s character, Max Basner, gets fired(or unemployed)from his job as a clothing salesman．The scene, shot(拍)on a boat, shows Max’s despair(绝望)about being out of work．I was looking for some gesture that would allow Max to show his feelings．

　　Jackie had far more experience(经验)at everything than I did, and at first I was frightened(very much afraid)．What could I possibly tell“The Great One”about acting?Out of fear I decided to direct by suggestion, and I sat down with Gleason to talk about the scene．“So Max is sad, right?”I said．

　　Gleason nodded．

　　“And he’s probably still carrying his pens with his name on them－the ones he used to hand out to his customers, right?”

　　Gleason nodded．

　　“So what would you want to do with the pens after you were fired?”He was silent for a moment．“Why don’t I throw them overboard(or all over the boat)?”I stood up and turned toward the crew．“Hey, everybody, Jackie has a wonderful idea．Let’s shoot it．”

　　After filming the scene, Gleason called me over and said with a smile,“Garry, what kind of wonderful idea am I going to have tomorrow?”

　　You and your team can discover the answers to problems together．When there are no prizes or gold stars for who gets the solution(or the way to work out a problem)first, you’ll all benefit(or get something of use or value)when everything turns out right．

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

“You don’t say!”

　　A year ago, I paid no attention to English idioms, though my teacher emphasized(强调)the importance(重要性)again and again．But soon, the importance of English idioms was shown in an amusing experience(经历)．

　　One day, I happened to meet an Englishman on the road, and soon we began to talk．As I was talking about how I was studying English, the foreigner seemed to be astonished(or greatly surprised)．Gently(轻轻)shaking his head and shrugging his shoulders(耸肩), he said,“You don’t say!”“You don’t say!”I was puzzled．I thought, perhaps this is not an appropriate topic(适当的话题)．“Well, I’d better change the topic.”So I said to him,“Well, shall we talk about the Great Wall?By the way, have you ever been there?”“Certainly, everyone back home will laugh at me if I leave China without seeing it．It was magnificent(or great and beautiful).”He was deep in thought when I began to talk like a tourist guide．“The Great Wall is one of the wonders in the world．We are very proud of it”Soon I was interrupted(or stopped suddenly)again by his words：“You don’t say!”I couldn’t help asking,“Why do you ask me not to talk about it?”“Well, I didn’t request(or ask in a polite way)you to do so,”he answered, greatly surprised．I said,“Didn’t you say ‘you don’t say’?”Hearing this, the Englishman laughed to tears．He began to explain,“‘You don’t say’ actually means ‘really?’ It is an expression of surprise．Perhaps you don’t pay attention to English idioms.”Only then did I know I had made a fool of myself．Since then I have been more careful with idiomatic expressions．

　　Remember：what the English teachers said is always right to us students．

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

Reading Comprehension(阅读理解)

　　The famous director of a big and expensive movie planned to film a beautiful sunset over the ocean(海洋)so that the audiences(or people who watch the film)could see his hero and heroine in front of it at the end of the film as they said goodbye to each other for ever．He sent his camera crew(摄制组)out one evening to film the sunset for him．

　　The next morning he said to the men,“Have you provided me with that sunset?”

　　“No, sir.”the men answered．

　　The director was angry．“Why not?”he asked．“Well, sir,”one of the men answered．“we’re on the east coast here, and the sun sets in the west．We can get you a sunrise over the sea if necessary, but not a sunset．”

　　“But I want a sunset!”the director shouted．“Go to the airport, take the next flight to the west coast, and get one．”

　　But then a young secretary had an idea．“Why don’t you photograph a sunrise,”she suggested,“and then play it backwards?Then it’ll look like a sunset．”

　　The camera crew went out early the next morning and filmed a bright sunrise over the beach in the middle of a beautiful bay(海湾)．Then at nine o’clock they took it to the director．“Here it is, sir!”they said, and gave it to him．He was very pleased．

　　They all went into the studio．“All right,”the director explained．“now our hero and heroine are going to say good-bye．Run the film backwards so that we can see the ‘sunset behind them．’”

　　The“sunset”began, but after a quarter of a minute, the director suddenly put his face in his hands and shouted to the camera crew to stop．

　　The birds in the film were flying backwards and the waves on the sea were going away from the beach(海滩)．

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

　　The first tape recorder didn’t use tape．It used long thin wire．It was invented in 1900 by Valdermar Poulsen．In 1930, German scientists invented the tape we use today．Back then the tape was on big rolls．In 1964 the Philips company in Holland invented the cassette．It’s pretty much a holder for the tape．People use cassettes all over the world．If you don’t have a cassette recorder, borrow one．

　　Think of a book your parents read out loud to you．That might be a great book to read out loud to your mom or dad in their car．Put a cassette in the recorder, open the book, hit the record button and start reading out loud．

　　Remember there is no such a thing as a wrong way to do this．You might think you’ve made a mistake, but this gift is part of you, and nothing about that can be a mistake．It’s impossible．

　　You get to be all artistic and creative here．You might want to play music in the background．Do whatever you want．The gift is you, so you decide．Remember to say“I love you”at the end of your reading．That’s like the prize at the end of the book．

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

Blameless

　　I was a freshman in college when I met the Whites．They were completely different from my own family, yet I felt at home with them immediately．Jane White and I became friends at school, and her family welcomed me like a long-lost cousin．

　　In my family, it was always important to place blame when anything bad happened．

　　“Who did this?”my mother would scream about a dirty kitchen．

　　“This is all your fault, Katharine,”my father would insist when the cat got out or the dishwasher broke．

　　From the time we were little, my sister, brothers and I told on each other．We set a place for blame at the dinner table．

　　But the Whites didn’t worry about who had done what．They picked up the pieces and moved on with their lives．The beauty of this was driven home to me the summer Jane died．

　　In July, the White sisters and I decided to take a car trip from their home in Florida to New York．The two older sisters, Sarah and Jane, were college students, and the youngest, Amy, had recently turned sixteen．Proud of having a new driver’s license(驾照)，Amy was excited about practicing her driving on the trip．She showed off her license to everyone she met．

　　The big sisters shared the driving of Sarah’s new car during the first part of the trip, but when they reached less crowded areas, they let Amy take over．Somewhere in South Carolina, we pulled off the highway to eat．After lunch, Amy got behind the wheel．She came to a crossroads with a stop sign．Whether she was nervous or just didn’t see the sign no one would ever know, but Amy continued into the crossroads without stopping．The driver of a large truck, unable to stop in time, ran into our car．

　　Jane was killed immediately．

　　I was slightly injured．The most difficult thing that I’ve ever done was to call the Whites to tell them about the accident and that Jane had died．Painful as it was for me to lose a good friend, I knew that it was far worse for them to lose a child．

　　When Mr．and Mrs．White arrived at the hospital, they found their two daughters sharing a room．Sarah had a few cuts on the head; Amy’s leg was broken．They hugged(拥抱)us all and cried tears of sadness and of joy at seeing their daughters．They wiped away the girls’ tears and made a few jokes at Amy as she learned to use her crutches(拐杖)．

　　To both of their daughters, and especially to Amy, over and over they simply said,“We’re so glad that you’re alive．”

　　I was astonished．No blame．No accusations．

　　Later, I asked the Whites why they never talked about the fact that Amy was driving and had run a stop sign．

　　Mrs．White said,“Jane’s gone, and we miss her terribly．Nothing we say or do will ever bring her back．But Amy has her whole life ahead of her．How can she lead a full and happy life if she feels we blame her for her sister’s death?”

　　They were right．Amy graduated from the University of California and got married several years ago．She works as a teacher of learning-disabled students．She’s also a mother of two little girls of her own, the oldest named Jane．

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

(6)