When Bill is very young, he loves picture. His mother often draws some for him on old pieces of paper. She is very bad at drawing, but bill likes her pictures and always wants more. Then, when he is a little older, Bill’s mother gives him some pencils and a drawing book, and he begins drawing pictures, too. But they are never good .When Bill is five years old, his mother gives him a small blackboard and some pieces of a baby on the blackboard, he draws lines(线条) and rubs(擦) them out too for ten minutes , but when he looks at his picture , he is not happy. “Well”, he says at last(最后) to his mother, “I’ll put a tail(尾巴) on it and make it a monkey.”　　

1.Bill ___ when he is very young.

A．loves watching TV very much

B．often wants his mother to draw pictures for him

C．likes old pieces of paper very much

D．always wants his mother to buy pictures for him

2.He is a little older, so his mother gives him ____ and lets him begin drawing pictures .

A．some paper and ink	B．a book and some pens
C．some pencils and a drawing book	D．a blackboard and some old paper

3.How old is he when he is trying to draw a baby on the blackboard?

A．He’s five years old	B．He’s fifteen years old
C．He’s fifty years old	D．He’s five like a cat

4.Bill wants to put a tail in the picture , so _________ .

A．it looks like a duck	B．it looks like a dog
C．it looks like a monkey	D．it looks like a cat

5.Which of the following sentences is right?

A．Bill’s mother does will in drawing.

B．bill isn’t bad at drawing.

C．There are three people in the story.

D．Bill isn’t happy when he looks at his picture of a baby

 

 Elizabeth lived with her six children in a small house. One winter, there was a big flood(洪水) ,and quite a few houses were washed away, but Elizabeth's house was high enough to escape it.

    Elizabeth helped one of the families which had lost everything. She shared her home until the family could build a new house. Elizabeth's friends could not understand her since she already had so many children to take care.

"Well," Elizabeth explained to her friends, at the end of World War II, there was a poor woman in a town in England .Her husband had been killed in the war and she had a lot of children, just like me now .The day before Christmas, this woman said to her children, “We won't be able to have much for Christmas. I'm going to get just one present for us all .Now I'll go and get it. She came back with a little girl who had no parents .Here's our present, she said to her own children. The children were more than excited to get such a present. They welcomed the little girl warmly, and she grow up as their sister. I was that Christmas present."

1. How many children did Elizabeth have?, 2. What did Elizabeth do after the flood? 3.The Christmas present was Elizabeth herself, wasn't it? 4. What do you learn from the story?

 

Are you looking for something fun? Would you like to help other people in your free time? Then join us and be a volunteer（自愿者）.

We have volunteer jobs for people of all ages. Anyone, between the age of 12 and 80, can become a volunteer.

You can help people in many ways. Nursing homes need volunteers to take care of old people. Hospitals need volunteers to look after children while their parents see a doctor. Animal lovers can help take care of those dogs and cats without homes. There is something that out volunteers want to tell you.

“As a volunteer, I don’t want to get anything. Seeing the children’s happy faces, I am happy, too.” said Carlos, an old woman of 62.

“ I often played computer games in my free time before. Now I help middle-aged people learn how to use computers.” said another volunteer at the age of 18.

If everyone gives a hand, we’ll have a better world to live in.

Interested? Call us on 1-800-555-5756 or visit our website: www.active.com.

1.What kind of person can become a volunteer?

A．A 10-year-old boy	B．A 46-year-old woman
C．An 11-year-old girl	D．All babies

2. ____ need volunteers.

A．Animals without homes

B．Old people in nursing homes

C．Children while their parents see a doctor

D．All the above

3.Carlos ______.

A．wants to get something as a volunteer.

B．likes playing computer games.

C．like her work as a volunteer very much.

D．Is helping middle-aged people learn how to use computers.

4.What does the phrase “give a hand” mean? It means “ ____”

A．offer help

B．have an interest

C．give money

D．get something

5.This passage is ______.

A．a story

B．a play

C．an ad(广告)

D．a joke

 

Three kids have been learning chemistry for only a few months. But they have already begun to challenge (挑战) a world famous scientist!

   Li Weichi, Huang Runling, and Xiao Yan are from Zhongshan Huaqiao Middle School in Guangdong. They have just found a red cabbage that could be a new kind of acid-base indicator (酸碱指示剂). They want it to take the place of litmus (石蕊) paper.

"We've learnt to think of and ask questions about life by ourselves," said Li, "We work well with each other."

   British scientist Robert Boyle discovered the use of litmus paper over 300 years ago. Now it is used widely in experiments all over the world.

   But when the kids did some experiments in class last winter, they saw that the litmus paper didn’t turn very blue with base matter. It's hard to get a clear result.

  Will there be a better indicator than litmus paper? The three kids decided to try and find out!

    How? They went to collect over 40 plants in parks, gardens and markets. Then they ground (研磨) leaves, flowers and stems (茎) to get the pigments (色素) from them.

   The kids mixed pigments with acid and base. They spent months watching carefully to see which paper showed the best colour change. They decided it was the litmus paper!

"It's our first scientific journey, Huang said, "But it makes me want to try harder."

1. Whom did the three kids want to challenge?

A. Their chemistry teacher.     B. Their headmaster.

C. Robert Boyle              D. Thomas Edison

2. From the text, a red cabbage is a kind of ____.

A. plant　　B. animal　　C. paper　　D. liquid

3.What is widely used as the acid-base indicator now?

A. red cabbage              B. litmus paper

C. any plant                D. any flower 

4.The story mainly tells us ____.

A. how to make litmus paper    B. about the three kids' spirit

C. scientists were wrong        D. the kids are heroes

 

Pearl and June were good friends and spent most of their time together.

They were both very old and they worried about their health. Most of the time they talked about nothing else.

They worried about their food. Was it clean? Would it give them pains in the stomach?

They worried about the weather. Was it too cold and wet? Would it give them pains in their bones?

They worried about pollution in the air. would it give them pains in their chests(胸部)and throats(喉咙)?

They worried about being hurt in a car accident, killed in a plane crash, getting sick, and so on.

All they could think about was being ill or hurt.

One day they went on a train journey together.

“We’ll need some food,”Pearl said.

“We’ll buy some bananas,”June said.“They are good to eat and always clean.”

And so they bought two bananas to eat on the train.

It was not long before they were hungry.

Pearl took out the bananas and gave one to June. Then she peeled(剥)the skin of her banana and took a large bite of it.

At that moment the train went into a tunnel. Everything went black.“Don’t eat your banana,”Pearl shouted at June.“Mine has made me go blind!”

1.What did the two old ladies talk about most of the time? _________

A. Themselves.      B. Other people.       C. Healthy food.       D. Dangerous drivers.

2. The old ladies didn’t want to ______.

  A. eat any bananas                       B. travel by train

  C. be young again                        D. get sick

3.Pearl ate her banana ________.

  A. after they came out of the tunnel       B. at the station

  C. before June ate hers                    D. before she was hungry

4. Pearl thought that the banana _______.

  A. stopped her from seeing                B. would make her hungry

  C. would make her ill                     D. would be good for June

5.What’s the best title of the story? __________.

  A. What Good Friends                   B. What a Bad Train Journey

  C. Bananas Are Good for You            D. Bananas Are Bad for You