阅读理解

　　For many people the subject of hiccups(嗝)is a joke, but for Harry Mendes, a fifteen year old schoolboy from Birmingham, it was something quite different．

　　His hiccups began one Sunday lunchtime after an Indian meal and continued day and night for two weeks．After the first week, Harry’s parents took him to hospital, but it took another week for the doctors to cure his attack．

　　Harry, who is now back at school, described what happened to him．

　　“When I began to hiccup, I drank a glass of water but that didn’t do any good．That evening I had hiccups every four seconds．We tried everything to stop them．I held my breath and drank cold drinks．My father even tried to give me a shock but that didn’t work either．”

　　After a week of sleepless nights, he went to hospital．The doctors took an X ray of his chest but they couldn’t find anything wrong．

　　“They gave me some medicine and my hiccups slowed down, but it was another week before the medicine worked completely and my hiccups stopped．”

　　Harry was very lucky．The world record holder is the American farmer Charles Osborne, who hiccupped for sixty eight years．He stopped in 1990 at last, but nobody knows why．

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

阅读理解

　　Britain’s smallest school was closed down because its only pupil failed to turn up for class, a famous British newspaper reported in May．

　　The newspaper said the six year old girl’s parents were unhappy with a teacher who just got the new job to teach the only pupil．

　　The school had been closed for the last nine months after its former(前任的) teacher retired(退休)and the only other pupil moved on to a secondary school．The new teacher, Ms．Puckey, was to start teaching the girl and reopen the school．

　　But the girl’s mother is keeping her daughter at home．“I was not pleased with the new teacher, ” the mother said．“I had told the old teacher as far back as last September that if Ms．Puckey got the job, my children would not be going to school．”

　　The school lies on an island off the northeast coast of Scotland．Although there was only one pupil, the school is very good in many ways and has a headmaster, three computers, a television and an art room as well as a school house with three bedrooms．

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

阅读理解

　　Manuel came home crying．The children had called him “Fatso” again, and he hated it．He sat down, and looked very sad．“Don’t worry, I’m fat too, ” said his mother．“But it’s me who they call Fatso, ” Manuel cried．His mother felt very sorry for him．“All right then, ” she said．“We’re both too fat．Let’s go on a diet together．”

　　It would not be easy．They both loved bread, cakes, potatoes and chips．To diet, they had to eat salads．The first day was fun, but by night time, they felt very hungry．

　　“We won’t think about food．Let’s think about airplanes, ” said his mother．“But I keep seeing chocolate in my mind, ” Manuel answered．

　　The second day was hard, for they both kept thinking about cream cakes．The third was worse．By now they both wanted to give up, “No, no, we must be strong, ” said Manuel’s mother．

　　Somehow, they kept on dieting for three weeks, and lost a lot of fat．They liked their new bodies so much they kept going until they were really slim．After a few months, Manuel enjoyed eating fruit, or nuts instead of sweets．Nobody called him Fatso any more．Some were calling him Spider Legs－and he loved it．

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

阅读理解

　　Do you know something about tree rings?Do you know they can tell us what the weather was like, sometimes even hundreds of years ago?

　　A tree will grow well in a climate with lots of sunshine and rainfall．And little sunshine or rainfall will limit(限制)the growth of climate by studying the tree rings．For example, to find out the weather of ten years ago, count the rings of a tree from the outside to the inside．If the tenth ring is far from the eleventh ring, then we’re sure that it was sunny and rainy most of that year．If it is near to the eleventh ring, then the climate that year was bad．

　　Tree rings are important not only for studying the history of weather but also for studying the history of man．Many centuries ago there lived a lot of people at a place in New Mexico．But now you can find only sand there－no trees and no people．What happened?

　　A scientist studied the rings of dead trees there．He found that the people had to leave because they had cut down all the trees to make fires and buildings．As all the trees had gone, the people there had to move．

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

阅读理解

　　Three travelers, Allan, Carl and Paul were sitting on the chairs in a train station．They were waiting for a train that was very late．

　　To pass the time, they began talking to each other．

　　At first, they talked about the weather and their work．Then Paul said, “Tell me－what you would most like to do if your doctor tells you that you have only three months to live?”

　　The other two men thought about this for a while, and then Carl spoke．

　　“Well, ” he said, “if I have only three months to live, I’ll take all my money out of the bank and go to foreign countries for holidays with my best friend, Erik．I’d like to travel to the places in the world as many as possible．And I’ll stay at the best hotels and then eat the best food．I think I’ll have a wonderful time．”

　　“That’s very interesting, ” Paul said．

　　With these words, he turned to the other man, saying, “And what about you?”

　　“I’ll tell you a secret, ” Allan said．“I always want to be a racing driver．So if I have only three months to live, the first thing I’d like to do is to sell my house．With the money I’ll buy the fastest car in the world．Maybe I can enter all the big motor races．”

　　Then he laughed, “I might even end up(以……而告终)world champion．”

　　“Now it’s your turn, ” Allan went on, “If your doctor tells you the bad news, what would you most like to do?”

　　“Oh, ” said Paul with a smile．“I’ll go and see another doctor．”

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

阅读理解

　　You will have a lot of reading to do in this grade this year．You can do more of it in less time if you learn to read rapidly．

　　Perhaps you have been told about some habits which keep a person from reading fast and have been strongly asked to break those habits which you might have．

　　Do you still have any of these bad habits?Check yourself by answering “yes” or “no” to these questions．

　　(1)Do you move your lips when reading silently?

　　(2)Do you point to words with your finger as you read?

　　(3)Do you move your head from side to side as you read?

　　(4)Do you read one word at a time?

　　If you answer “yes” to any of these questions, start at once to break the habit．If you move your lips, hold your fingers over them, or hold a piece of paper between your lips while you are reading．Then if your lips move, your will know it and can stop them．

　　If you point to words, hold the two sides of your book, one side with your left hand, the other side with your right hand．Then you won’t have a free finger to use in pointing while reading．If you move your head, place your chin(下巴)in one hand and hold your head still．

　　If you read no more than one or two three words at a time, you need to work very hard in learning to take in more words at each glance(一瞥)as your eyes travel across the lines of words．

　　Even if you do rather fast now, you can learn to read even faster．As you probably have been told, the use of fast reading is to take in whole groups of words at each glance．Read in thought groups and force your eyes along the lines of words at fast as you can make them go．Anyone who practices doing these things will be able to read faster．

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

阅读理解

　　A year ago, I paid no attention to English idioms, though my teacheremphasized the importance again and again．But soon, the importance of English idioms was shown in an amusing experience．

　　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 gently shaking his head, shrugging his shoulders, saying, “You don’t say!” “You don’t say!” I was puzzled．I thought, perhaps this is not an appropriate topic．“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．” 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 again by his order, “You don’t say!” I couldn’t help asking．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 realize I had made a fool of myself．Since then, I have been more careful with idiomatic expressions．

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

　　It is difficult for parents of nearly every family to teach their children to be responsible(有责任的)for housework, but with one of the following suggestions, you really can get your children to help at home．

　　If you give your children the impression that they can never do anything quite right, then they will regard themselves as unfit or unable persons．Unless children believe they can succeed, they will never become totally independent．

　　My daughter Carla's fifth-grade teacher made every child in her class feel special．When students received less than a prefect test score, she would point out what they had mastered and declared firmly they could learn what they had missed．

　　You can use the same technique when you evaluate(评价)your child's work at home．Don't always scold and give lots of praise instead．Talk about what he has done right, not about what he hasn't done．If your child completes a difficult task, promise him a Sunday trip or a ball game with dad．

　　Learning is a process(过程)of trying and failing and trying and succeeding．If you teach your children not to fear a mistake of failure, they will learn faster and achieve success at last．

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

　　We are often asked to make a speech in life．Most of us are afraid of it and don't do a good job．Here are some simple steps to make your speech a successful one．First of all, find out everything you can about your subject and at the same time find out as much as you can about your audience(听众)．Who are they?What do they know about your subject?Put yourself in their shoes as you prepare your speech．Then try to arrange(安排)your material so that your speech is clear and easy to follow．Use as many examples as possible．Never forget your audience．

　　Don't talk over their heads or talk down to them．When you are giving your speech, speak slowly and clearly and look at your audience．Pause for a few seconds from time to time to give your audience chance to think over what you've said．Just remember：be prepared, know your subject and your audience, say what you have to say and be yourself so that your ideas will bring you and your audience together．

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

　　For years scientists have been worried about the effects of air pollution on the earth's natural conditions．Some believe the air inside many houses may be more dangerous than the air outside．It may be one hundred times worse．

　　Indoor air pollution can cause a person to feel tired, to suffer eye-pain, headache and other problems．Some pollutants(污染物)can cause breathing disorders, diseases of blood and even cancer．Most scientists agree that every modern house has some kind of indoor pollution．People began to notice the problem in the early 1970s．It is that when builders began making houses and offices they did not waste energy．To do this they built buildings that limited the flow of air between inside and outside．They also began using manmade building materials．These materials are now known to let out harmful gases．As the problem became more serious, scientists began searching for a way to deal with it．They discovered a natural pollution control system for buildinggreen plants．Scientists do not really know how plants control air pollution．They believe that a plant's leaves absorb or take in the pollutants．In exchange the plant lets out oxygen through its leaves and through its tiny organizations on its roots．Scientists suggest that all buildings should have one large plant or several small plants inside for every nine square metres of space．Studies of different plants show that each absorbs different chemicals．So the most effective way to clean the air is to use different kinds of plants．Having green plants inside your house can make it a prettier and healthier place．

(1)

(2)

(3)