A long time ago, there was a big apple tree. A little boy loved to come and play with it every day. But time went by, the little boy had    32    and he no longer played around the tree.

　　 One day, the boy came back to the tree. “Come and play with me,” the tree asked the boy. “I am no longer a    33    I can’t play with you now.” The boy replied, “I need    34   .” “Sorry, I don’t have any. But you can pick all my apples and    35    them.” The boy picked all the apples on the tree and left happily. He didn’t come back. The tree was sad.

　　 The other day, the boy returned and the tree was so    36   . “Come and play with me.” The tree said. “I need a house for my family. Can you help me?” “You can cut off my branches（枝干）to build your house.”   37    the boy cut all the branches of the tree and left happily.

The tree was glad to see him happy, but the boy didn’t come since then. The tree was lonely again. One hot summer day, the boy came back again after he left for so many years. “Sorry, my boy. But I don’t have    38    for you anymore.

“I don’t need much now, just a place to rest. I am    39    after all these years.” The boy replied. “Good! Please sit down with me and have a rest.” The boy sat down and the tree was glad and smiled with tears…

This is a story of everyone. The tree is like our parents. When we were young, we loved to play with them. But when we grow up, we    40    them, and only come to them when we are41    trouble. You may think that the boy is cruel（残忍）to the tree, but that’s how many of us are treating to our parents.

1.A. grown up               B. dressed up               C. got up

2.A. tree                   B. child                    C. toy

3.A. money                  B. time                     C. help

4.A. eat                        B. sell                     C. buy

5.A. sad                        B. calm                     C. happy

6.A. So                     B. But                      C. Because

7.A. anything               B. something                C. nothing

8.A. angry                  B. tired                    C. shy

9.A. hate                   B. love                     C. leave

10.A. at                    B. for                      C. in

The word “day” has two meanings. When we talk about the number of days in a year, we are using “day” to mean 24 hours. But when we talk about day and night, we are using “day” to mean the time between sunrise and sunset. Since the earth looks like a ball, the sun can shine on only half of it at a time. Always one half of the earth is having day and the other half night. A place is moved from day into night and from night into day over and over by the spinning（旋转）of the earth. At the equator（赤道）day and night are sometimes the same length（长度）. They are each twelve hours long. The sun rises at 6 o’clock in the morning and sets at 6 o’clock in the evening. For six months the North Pole is tilted（倾斜）toward the sun. In those months the Northern Hemisphere（半球）gets more hours of sunlight than the Southern Hemisphere. Days are longer than nights. South of the equator nights are longer than days. For the other six months the North Pole is tilted away from the sun. Then the Southern Hemisphere gets more sunlight. Days are longer than nights. North of the equator nights are longer than days. Winter is the season of long nights. Summer is the season of long days.
（  ）6.When the Western Hemisphere is having day, the Eastern Hemisphere is having ________.
　　     A. both day and night              B. day
　　     C. neither day nor night            D. night
（  ）7. A place is moved from day into night and from night into day over and over by ________ of the earth.
　　     A. the pushing                    B. the pulling
C. the spinning                    D. the passing
（  ）8. At the equator day is as long as night ________.
　　        A. sometimes     B. never       C. usually        D. always
（  ）9. When the North Pole is tilted toward the sun, the Northern Hemisphere gets ________ sunlight.
　　    A. less           B. more       C. all            D. no
（  ）10. When it is winter in China,  ________.
　　    A. the USA is tilted toward the sun
　　    B. the South Pole is tilted away from the sun
　　    C. the North Pole is tilted toward the sun
　　    D. the North Pole is tilted away from the sun

完形填空（共12分，每小题1分）
阅读下面的短文，掌握其大意，然后从短文后各题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选择最佳选项
　　I had my first job at the age of thirteen, when a friend of my mother’s who owned a book shop hired（雇佣） me for six hours a week to help her in the shop. I was very 　1　 　to earn my own pocket money and my parents 　2　 　interfered（干涉）with how I spent it, even when I was spending it foolishly. They believed that by earning money, spending it, and learning from the 　3　 , I would become more mature（成熟的） and responsible about how to handle work, relationships with others, and money.
　　Like many American parents, my parents also let me and my brothers do things over which they 　4 　　a great deal. When I was sixteen, for example, after I finished high school and before I entered university, I wanted to spend the summer months traveling around Europe. My mother was against the idea of my traveling alone at such a young age, but my father felt that it would be a great 　5　 　for me. In the end, my father won the argument（争论） on the 　6　 　that I limited（限定）my traveling to France, my mother’s home, where I had many uncles, aunts and cousins spread out through the country who could 　7　 　shelter（住处）and help if I needed them.
　　Three years later, my younger brother decided to 　8　 　a year off after his first year in university and travel through the United States and the Caribbean. Again my mother was very worried and not eager to see my brother leave school, but my father encouraged him and my brother had a(n) 　9　 　year working his way on trains and ships to 　10 　　passage to different ports and cities, and discovering many fascinating places and people.
　　These kinds of experiences are probably rare（稀少的）for children in many countries but in the US they are fairly common. Most parents start 　11　 　their children at a young age to do small things by themselves. By the time they have finished high school, many American kids have already had part-time jobs, traveled around the US or other countries on their own, have selected the university they plan to attend and maybe even 　12　 　on their future career, and so on.