Dear Reader,

Imagine an 11-year old girl whose days are often spent washing clothes, looking after a baby, working hard in the field.

Imagine a little girl who knows there will not be enough food for dinner, who can’t fill her stomach with water because it’s polluted, and who has watched life slip away from her father, little brother and sister because the family is too poor to see a doctor.

Is it hard to believe? For Maria Pastora, these are the real life.

Maria would gladly walk miles to school, but her mother, now alone, needs her badly at home. If Maria grows up without any schooling, what will be her future?

But for just 52 pennies a day, you can sponsor a child like Maria. Through “Save the Children”, you can help Maria’s mother get the tools and ways she needs to turn their poor food into a good dinner and the money she needs to buy clothes and school things for Maria.

To help Maria most, your money is put together with that of other sponsors, so hard-working people can help themselves. Build a school, a hospital…bring in clean water. This is what “Save the Children” has been about since 1932.

For you there are many rewards. Have the chance to write to or hear from your sponsored child. Receive photos or progress reports. Know you are reaching out to another person. Not with a handout(施舍物), but a “handup”. That’s how “Save the Children” works. But without you, it can’t work. Please take a moment now to fill in and post the form below to help a child like Maria and her village.

It can make such a difference in her life and yours.

1.We can most probably read the letter in __________.

A．somebody’s diary                      B．a newspaper

C．a progress report                       D．a storybook

2.From the passage, we can infer （推断）that _________

A．Maria is an 11-year-old girl.

B．Maria’s family is very poor.

C．Maria has to do a lot of hard work.

D．Maria is hoping to get schooling.

3.What is “Save the Children”?

A．An organization to help poor children go to school.

B．An office of the government to collect money.

C．A program shown at theatres to help the poor.

D．A group who works for children in poor places.

4.The underlined word “sponsor” means “__________” in Chinese.

A．回报             B．资助　　　　　    C．感恩　　　　      D．抢救

5.What does the last sentence in the letter mean?

A．If Maria goes to school, you will be rewarded.

B．What you give is more than what you take.

C．Both Maria’s life and yours will change a lot.

D．Marie and you can help each other at school.

Jack is a twenty-year-old young man. Two years ago, when he finished middle school, he found work in a shop. Usually he works until ten o'clock in the evening. He is very tired when he gets home. After a quick supper he goes to bed and soon falls asleep. His grandma lives downstairs. She is happy with him.

One day, on his way home, he met Mary. They were both happy. He asked the girl to his house, she agreed happily. He bought some fruit and drinks for her. And they talked about their school, teachers, classmates and their future . They talked for a long time.

"Have a look at your watch, please," said the girl. "What time is it now?"

"Sorry, something is wrong with my watch," said Jack. "Where's yours?"

"I left it at home."

Jack thought for a moment and found a way. He began to stamp his foot on the floor, "Bang! Bang! Bang!"

The sound woke his grandma up. The old woman shouted downstairs, "It's twelve o'clock in the night, Jack. Why are you still jumping upstairs?"

1.Jack was ________ when he finished middle school.

A. sixteen　 B. eighteen　 C. twenty　 D. fifteen

2.The old woman is happy with Jack because ________.

A. he's her grandson　　  B. he's clever

C. he can keep quiet　　  D. he gets home on time

3.The word "stamp" in the story means ______ in Chinese.

A. 盖印　　   B. 跺　　 C. 贴邮票　 　  D. 承认

4.Jack stamped his foot on the floor in order (为了) ________.

A. to wake his grandma up

B. to make his grandma angry

C. that his grandma was going to tell him the time

D. that his grandma was going to buy him a watch

----- Could you please buy _______fruit and vegetables?

　  -----Sorry. I don’t have _______ money.

　 A. some,  any   B. any, any　C. some, some     D. any, some