For years I wanted a garden．I’d spend hours thinking of different things I could plant that would look nice together．

But then we had Matthew, and Marvin, and the twins Alisa and Alan, and then Helen．I was too busy raising them to grow a garden．

Money was not enough．Neither was time．Often when my children were little,

one of them would want something that cost too much, and I’d have to say, “Do you see a money tree outside? Money doesn't grow on trees, you know．”

Finally, all the children got through high school and college and were off on their own．I started thinking again about a garden．

Then, one spring morning, on Mother’s Day, I was working in my kitchen．Suddenly, I looked out of the window and there was a new tree, planted right in my yard．There were things blowing around on it．       Then I put my glasses on—and I couldn’t believe what I saw．

There was a money tree in my yard!

I went outside to look．It was true! There were dollar bills(帐单), one hundred of them, hanging all over that tree．There was also a note among them, “Thank you for your time, Mom．We love you!”

Later, my children bought me tools, ornaments, a sunflower stepping stone and gardening books．A new page started in my life．

That was three years ago．My garden’s now very pretty, just like I wanted．When I go out and take care of my flowers, I don’t seem to miss my children as much as I once did．It feels like they’re right there with me．Now every year when winter comes, I look out of my window and think of the flowers I’ll see next spring in my little garden．I think about what my children did for me, and I get tears in my eyes—every time．

I’m still not sure that money grows on trees．But I know love does!

1.How many children did the writer have?

A．Three            B．Four             C．Five              D．Six

2.What did the mother mean when she said “Money doesn’t grow on trees”?

A．She was too busy to plant a money tree at that time．

B．She had to save money so that she could have a garden．

C．It wasn’t easy for her to make money to raise all the children．

D．They didn’t have much money because the mother lost her job．

3.The “money tree” appeared in the writer’s yard _________．

A．before her children were born

B．one spring morning when the children were little

C．after the children went to school

D．on a Mother’s Day after the children left her

4.The children planted a money tree in their mother’s yard because _________．

A．their mother needed money badly

B．they wanted to show their love to their mother

C．it was time for them to give the money back to her

D．they wanted to live together with their mother forever

 

beep …beep … There went the bell! Robbie opened his eyes. He had been sitting in the room for a whole day, and now it was time for him to do something.

Robbie looked out of the window. It was still snowing heavily and there was ice on the window. It was another cold day. Robbie was told to turn the heat on before the family got home. And he did it.

Then Robbie was told to do some cleaning work at once. It was an easy job for him, but a tough one for his master, Helen. He kept on working until every room was clean and tidy.

For now, he had to cook supper for the family.

The first thing Robbie did was to get the big pot(锅) in the kitchen. Then he put some water in the pot and put it on the stove. He used one of his hands to cut up a chicken and added the pieces to the water to make a good soup. Then he got some tomatoes, cabbages and carrots to make a vegetable salad.

At ten past eight he laid the table. Then he put some bread, the chicken soup and the salad on it. What a sweet smell! The moment he turned on the lights, the whole family came home.

“The soup smells great, Victor,” said Helen. “You really know how to tell Robbie what to do.”

Robbie is one robot that really saves the family a lot of work.

1.What is Robbie?

A. A cook.       B. A robot        C. A cleaner       D. A computer

2.What do the underlined words “did it” in the second paragraph mean?

A. Looked out             B. got home   

C. turned the heat on        D. did some cleaning

3.What time did Robbie lay the table?

4.What can we learn from the passage?

A. The story happened on a rainy day.

B. Robbie didn’t have to be told what to do.

C. Helen found it easy to do cleaning work at home.

D. Victor and Helen felt comfortable when they got home.

 

Bruce and his other two friends, Bruno and Dick lived in the same city in England. They were free in their summer holiday. So they came to a village by a large lake. They liked fishing very much. Then the next day after they got there, they got to a boat and went fishing in the lake. They boated farther and farther. They came to an out-of-way place. They were very happy because there were a lot of fish. When it was time for them to go home, Bruce said to his friends: “We’d better make a mark(标记） here so that we will easily find the place tomorrow.”

“You’re right.” Bruno said happily .“Let me do that.”

“How foolish,” said Bruce. “If it rains tonight, the rain water will wash the line(线) off, and how can we find the mark tomorrow. You must cut a line with your knife.”

Dick came up to them and said angrily. “ Neither(两者都不) of you is clever. How can we find the place if we have another boat tomorrow? We should not go back tonight.”

1.The three boys _______.

A．were all too young to go to school .

B． came from the city

C．were from the workers families

D． liked eating fish very much

2.The boys wanted to go to the place again tomorrow because ______

A． it was a good place

B． there were a lot of fish

C． there was a mark on the side of the boat

D． they were good at fishing

3.They should make a mark ______

A．thicker and color it red	B．on the fish
C．in the lake	D．on every boat

 

Once upon a time, there was an island where all the feelings lived: Happiness, Sadness, Knowledge, and all of the others, including Love. One day the feelings were told that the island would sink, so all built boats and left, except Love. Love was the only one who stayed. Love wanted to hold out(坚持) until the last possible moment.

 When the island had almost sunk, Love decided to ask for help.

 Richness was passing by Love in a big boat. Love said,“Richness, can you take me with you?”

 Richness answered,“No, I can’t. There is a lot of gold and silver in my boat. There is no place here for you.”

 Love decided to ask Vanity(虚荣心) who was also passing by in a beautiful ship.“Vanity, please help me!”

 “I can’t help you, Love. You are all wet and might destroy my boat,”Vanity answered.

 Sadness was close by, so Love asked,“Sadness, let me go with you.”

“Oh…Love, I am so sad that I need to be by myself!”

Happiness passed by Love, too, but she was so happy that she did not even hear when Love called her. Suddenly , there was a voice, “Come, Love, I will take you.” It was an elder. So thankful and happy, Love even forgot to ask the elder where they were going. When they arrived at dry land, the elder went her own way. Realizing how much was owed(欠) the elder, Love asked Knowledge, another elder, “Who helped me?”

“It was Time,” Knowledge answered.

“Time?” asked Love. “But why did Time help me?”

Knowledge smiled with deep wisdom(智慧) and answered, “Because only Time is able to understand how valuable Love is.”

1.How did the feelings go away from the island?

   A. By water.         B. By swimming.     C. On foot.         D. By flying

2.Which of the following is true?

   A. Happiness was blind.                       B. Richness had a small boat.

   C. Vanity’s ship was damaged.                  D. Sadness wanted to stay alone.

3.Who saved Love?

   A. Time.          B. Knowledge.      C. Richness.         D. Happiness.

4.Which of the following might be the best title of the passage?

   A. Love and Time                     B. An Accident

   C.A sinking island                     D. Different Feelings

 

Almost everyone likes dogs, and almost everyone likes to read about dogs. I have a friend. He has a big police dog with the name Jack. Police dogs are very clever. Every Sunday afternoon my friend takes Jack for a long walk in the park. Jack likes these long walks very much.

  One Sunday afternoon a young man came to visit my friend. He stayed a long time. He talked and talked. Soon it was time for my friend to take Jack for a walk. But the visitor still stayed. Jack became much worried. He walked around the room several times and then sat down in front of the visitor and looked at him. But the visitor paid no attention to Jack. He went on talking. At last Jack got angry. He went out of the room and came back a few minutes later. He sat down again in front of the visitor, but this time he took the visitor’s cap in his mouth.

1. The young visitor stayed a long time in my friend’s house, didn’t he?

A. Yes, he was.    B. Yes, he did.    C. No, he wasn’t.   D. No, he didn’t.

2.Jack became worried because _______ .

A. he wanted to go out for a walk.           B. he wanted to play with him

C. he didn’t know the young man           D. he wanted to eat something

3.The visitor went on talking and he_______.

A. paid no attention to his cap

B. didn’t like Jack

C. didn’t know that his cap was taken away by Jack

D. paid no attention to Jack