A woman repeated a bit of gossip (流言) about a neighbour. Within a few days the whole neighbourhood knew the story. The neighbour was deeply hurt. Later the woman responsible (负责) for spreading the gossip learned that it was completely untrue. She was very sorry and went to a wise old man to find out what she could do to repair the harm.
“Go to the marketplace,” he said. “and buy a chicken, and have it killed, then on your way home, pluck (拔) its feathers and drop them one by one along the road. ” Although surprised by this advice, the woman did what she was told.
The next day the wise man said, “ Now, go and collect all those feathers you dropped yesterday and bring them back to me. ”
The woman followed the same road, but she was so discouraged when she found the wind had blown all the feathers away. After searching for hours, she returned with only three in her hand.
“ You see, ” said the old man, “it’s easy to drop them, but it’s impossible to get them back . So it is with gossip. It doesn’t take much to spread a gossip, but once you do, you can never completely undo the wrong.”
【小题1】The woman was very _________ the harm she had done to her neighbour.

A．happy about

B．angry about

C．sorry for

D．excited about

【小题2】Which of the following statements is TURE?

A．The gossip didn’t hurt anyone at all.

B．The wise man was not kind enough.

C．The woman found all the feathers at last.

D．The woman was given a lesson.

【小题3】What the wise man said has nearly the same meaning as the Chinese phrase “_________”

A．覆水难收

B．无中生有

C．欲速不达

D．得道多助

A new term has begun. Teachers are   1  about the fact that new students are not easy to deal with(对付). They like to bring telephones（手机） and MP3 players to school. What is   2  , some students even use telephones to do out-of-class matters in class, or sometimes just for fun. Some otherstudents listen to MP3 players when they are having a lesson that they are not interested in.
Are these new students really that  3 ? “Yes.” says Delaney Kirk, a professor at Drake University.   4  she says it’s not their fault(过错).   5 , the teachers should be blamed(责备). Mrs Kirk first began thinking about students’ manners six years ago. “I had my first class in which students were sleeping or talking to each other. It seemed that learning well had nothing to do with them.” she says. “At first, I got worried about this.” but then I said to myself, “You’re giving   6  , and you need to deal with this kind of situation (情况). These students need to know more about manners. It’s time to help them develop some good   7  . They shouldn’t waste time doing nothing when they are young. Sooner or later, they may regret(后悔) the time they have wasted.”
Mrs Kirk also   8  a list of suggestions(建议) to help teachers better manage (控制) their classes. The following are among her suggestions:
l     On the first day of class, tell students how they will benefit(受益) by taking the class and the importance   9  listening carefully in class.
l     Do not allow（允许） them to bring telephones or MP3 players to the class at all.
l     Tell them how to use telephones or MP3 players   10  .

【小题1】

A．excited B．worried C．surprised D．interested

【小题2】

A．bad B．worse C．good D．better

【小题3】

A．rude B．polite C．friendly D．boring

【小题4】

A．But B．However C．And D．So

【小题5】

A．Such as B．For example C．Like D．Instead

【小题6】

A．Math B．English C．Chinese D．lessons

【小题7】

A．ideas B．problems C．habits（习惯） D．classes

【小题8】

A．makes B．produces C．designs D．gets

【小题9】

A．on B．of C．at D．by

【小题10】

A．carefully B．properly C．clearly D．quickly

In the sea there are many islands. In its warm waters there are some little ones. We call them coral(珊瑚) islands.
A coral island is very nice to look at. It looks like a ring of land with trees, grass, and flowers on it. One part of the ring is open to the water. There is a little round lake inside the island.
If you look into this lake, you will see beautiful coral. You may think they are flowers.
If you look at a piece of coral, you will see many little holes in it. In each of these holes a very small sea animal has lived. These sea animals make the coral.
They began to build under the water. Year after year, the coral grew higher and higher. At last it grew out of the water.
Then the sea brought to it small trees and something else. After some years, these things changed into earth. Sometimes the wind brought seeds to this earth. Sometimes birds flew over it and brought seeds to the island. The little seeds grew. In a few years there were plants all over the island. In a few more years there were trees growing there.
So you see, these islands were built little by little. The workers were very small. Don’t they teach us a lesson? Can you think what the lesson is?
【小题1】 In the sea _____.

A．there are no coral islands	B．there are some coral islands
C．the water is always warm	D．we can see many flowers and fishes

【小题2】A coral island looks like ______.

A．a round cake

B．trees, grass and flowers

C．a ring of land

D．a round lake

【小题3】There are ____ in the holes in corals.

A．flowers

B．little corals

C．grass

D．sea animals

【小题4】How did seeds of trees, grass and flowers come to the coral islands?

A．The wind and birds brought them to the coral islands.

B．Only the wind brought them there.

C．People brought them there.

D．Fishes brought them there.

【小题5】From the story we learn that _____.

A．small workers can’t do big things

B．only big workers can do big things

C．small workers can do big things if they work hard and work a long time

D．all small things can do things

On my eighth birthday, Dad bought me an accordion(手风琴） and said excitedly, "Once you learn to play, it'll stay with you for life." But I didn't want to play it. I just wanted to play games, But Dad asked me to take accordion lessons.
One day, I found a box in a corner. When I opened it, I saw a beautiful violin. "It was your father's," Mum said. "His parents bought it for him. I guess he got too busy on the farm to learn to play it."
I had to practice half an hour every day, and every day I tried to get out of it. But Dad didn't allow. I asked why. He answered, "Because you can bring people joy. You can touch their hearts." He added softly, "Someday you'll have the chance I never had: you'll play beautiful music for your family. And you'll understand why you've worked so hard." I was speechless.
The lessons stopped after I finished high school. When I grew up, I got married and moved into a new house. I put the accordion in the attic（阁楼）.
One afternoon, my two children found the accordion by accident (偶然). They got very excited. "Play it. Play it," they laughed and said. I started to play some simple songs. I was surprised I could still remember them. Soon the kids were dancing. Even my wife was laughing and clapping to the beat.
At that moment, my father's words came back to me, "Someday you'll have the chance I never had. And you'll understand." I finally knew why Dad had asked me to practice hard. Dad never learnt to play his violin. But I told my family, "This is my father's music."
【小题1】My father didn't learn to play his violin when he was young because _______.

A．he didn't like to play the violin

B．he had to support his family

C．he wanted to play games

D．he didn't keep on practicing

【小题2】How might the writer feel when he had to practice playing the accordion?

A．Delighted.

B．Excited.

C．Bored.

D．Relaxed.

【小题3】"Dad didn't allow" means "_______".

A．Dad didn't agree with me.

B．Dad didn’t keep me doing it.

C．Dad didn't help me do it.

D．Dad didn't see me do it.

【小题4】What were the writer’s children doing when he started to play simple songs?

A．Singing

B．Dancing

C．Clapping to the beat

D．Screaming

【小题5】Dad asked me to learn to play the accordion so that _______.

A．I could go to a better school

B．I could give myself much joy

C．I could be a useful man

D．I could make people happy

At 18, many American young people go off on their own. They go away to college or find full-time jobs, and they often rent their own apartments. Some get married and start families. This independence(独立性)is learned from childhood. From an early age, American children learn responsibility. Children as young as 2 begin to put away their toys and dress themselves. At 3, many children do simple chores like setting the table.
Using money wisely is also taught early. As soon as a child understands the value of money, he or she receives a weekly allowance. This is used for things the child wants, like toys or treats. The child can spend of save it, usually with little guidance(指导) from parents. If the child wants money besides his or her allowance, it must be made by doing extra chores.
Children are taught early in life to think for themselves. They are allowed to make some decisions-and make mistakes. Failure(失败) often teaches more than success.
【小题1】 Many American young people begin to live on themselves _____ .

A．at eighteen years old	B．from childhood
C．after they get married	D．from an early age

【小题2】 An American child learn to _____ at the age of 2 .

A．find a full-time job	B．from childhood
C．put away his or her own clothes	D．do lots of chores

【小题3】The word “allowance” (in paragraph 3 ) means ______ in Chinese.

A．奖品

B．零花钱

C．财产

D．礼物

【小题4】 A child can get some more money by ______.

A．understanding the value of money	B．helping the rich
C．reading many books	D．doing extra chores

【小题5】The passage is mainly about ______ .

A．the independence of American children	B．the value of money
C．the guidance from parents	D．failure and success of American children