The warm day was the only day of the week without rain. I opened the door and went to the yard, took a seat and began to enjoy the wonderful sunshine. Suddenly, I noticed that the house near mine had been sold. An elderly lady was in front of the door, with some beautiful flowers beside her. I walked to her. She looked to be in her early eighties and had the prettiest white hair.

    “Hi! My name is Robert,” I said smiling brightly at the old lady. She smiled back and said, “Hello, Robert. I’m Charlene.” Her voice was very strong for someone at her age. Later, I learned she was alone and had no family or relatives to look after her. From that day on, I often visited her and helped her with her housework and sometimes she gave me some delicious food. A year passed, and I considered Charlene to be one of my best friends.

    One day, I walked over for my morning visit and knocked on the door, but there was no answer. I knocked again, and she still didn’t turn up. So I let myself in, using the key she had given me. I checked her living room and then her kitchen. I finally went into her bedroom, and she was lying peacefully on her bed. Beside her there were two notes. One was her will(遗嘱), which said all that she had would be given to me. The other was a thank-you note. I went to her bedside and cried sadly.

   Although it has been a long time, I still miss her deeply. Whenever I look at the beautiful flowers in front of her house, I remember the wonderful friendship we had.

1.The writer came out of the house to ____________.

A. look at the old lady              B. enjoy some flowers

C. enjoy the sunshine               D. clean the house nearby

2.Through visiting the old lady, the writer learned that the old lady__________.

A. disliked all her relatives         

B. had no one to look after her

C. didn’t want to live with her family 

D. was looking for someone to look after her

3.Which of the following is true according to the passage?

A. The old lady was not kind to others except Robert.

B. The writer didn’t have any other good friends .

C. The old lady didn’t know how to make food.

D. The writer got along very well with the old lady.

1 

“What’s the matter, mum?” When I came home yesterday, I found my mother was unhappy. It was unusual—she usually opened the door and welcomed me with a smile. “She’s dying (死),” mum said sadly. I knew what she said. The tulip (郁金香), mother’s favorite, was dying.

A month ago, we moved into our new house and mum bought a very beautiful tulip. Mum liked it very much. Every time she was free, she would sit near the tulip and enjoyed its beautiful color and nice smell. She treated (对待) it like a baby and looked after it carefully. She put the tulip by window and moved it from one place to another to give the tulip enough sunshine. Every morning the first thing she did was to water the tulip. Mum also fertilized (施肥) it many times. She hoped the tulip would become more and more beautiful and stronger. But the tulip was dying because of too much sunshine, water and fertilizer.

It’s true that mother loved the tulip. But this kind of love can be harmful (伤害的). Love can sometimes kill (杀害) what you love.

1.Yesterday the writer found that __________.

A. his mother was sad

B. his home was as usual as before

C. his mother bought a tulip.

2.The sentence “She’s dying ” means __________ was dying soon.

A. the mother        B. the tulip          C. a baby

3.Which of the following is NOT true about the mother?

A. Every afternoon she watered the tulip.

B. She looked after the tulip carefully.

C. She moved the tulip everywhere to give it enough sunshine.

4.Why was the tulip dying in the end? Because __________.

A. she forgot to water it

B. she never fertilized it

C. she gave it too much sunshine, water and fertilizer

5.What does the writer want to tell us?

A. Love is important to everyone.

B. Everyone should love his mother.

C. Not all of love is good for us.

Little Mike’s grandma died weeks ago. He missed her very much. One afternoon Mike went to the city park where his grandma used to go. There he saw an old lady. She looked very kind. She was sitting there, watching pigeons（鸽子）. Little Mike went up and sat next to her. He took out his food and drinks and gave some to her. She smiled at him. Her smile was so sweet that Mike wanted to see it again. She seemed to understand him, so once again she smiled. Mike was very glad.

They sat there all the afternoon, eating and talking. As it got dark, Mike got up to leave. Before he left, he hugged（拥抱）the old lady and she gave him her sweetest smile.

   When Mike got home, his mother was surprised by the look of joy on his face. “I met a granny in the park. Her smile was like the kind of smile I had seen on Grandma’s face.”

   The old lady also returned to her home happily. She told her son that she had food and drinks with a little boy. “He was as lovely as Brittany,” she said. Her son was surprised, because he had never seen her so happy since Brittany, her grandson, died weeks ago.

1.Little Mike went to the park and __________.

A. played with pigeons       B. fed pigeons

C. met an old lady         D. saw a friend of his grandma’s

2.The old lady’s smile showed that _________.

A. she had hoped to meet the boy    B. she wanted to get some drinks

C. she missed her grandson       D. she liked the little boy

3.Mike felt very glad because __________.

A. he gave the granny food and drinks

B. the old lady was as kind as his grandma

C. he had seen his grandma

D. she liked the little boy

4.Mike and the old lady __________.

A. were good to each other      B. knew each other well

C. often met in the park       D. did nothing that afternoon

5.What can we learn from the story?

A. When one feels unhappy, he must go to a park.

B. Old people are always kind and happy.

C. Children and old people should get on well with each other.

D. When people are kind to each other, they will feel happy.

1 

Mr. Klein told the class that a new student, Inez, would join them soon. He   1   that Inez was deaf. She “talked” with others by using sign language. Mr. Klein knew sign language, and he decided to teach  2   students so that they could also “talk” with Inez.

First, they learned to sign the letters. Some letters were hard to 3   . Other letters, such as C ,were easier because the shape of the hand was the same as the shape of the letter.

The  4   thing they learned was finer spelling. They signed one letter after another to spell a word. They   5   with two-letter words such as at and on . Then they spelled   6   words.

Finally, Mr. Klein showed that   7   one sign could be used for a whole word. To make the sign for the word fine, a person spreads out the fingers on one hand,   8   the thumb(拇指) to the chest(前胸) , and moves the hand away from the chest. Signing is not just done with the hands. Expressions on the face are also   9   . The students learned to sign a question mark by using expressions on the face.

When Inez first entered the classroom. She looked   10   . But the students signed, “Good morning, Inez. ” She gave the class a big smile and signed back, “What a wonderful welcome !”

1.A. hoped          B. said         C. guessed      D. thought

2.A. his            B. my           C. her          D. our

3.A. spell          B. check            C. remember     D. write

4.A. first          B. only         C. last         D. next

5.A. met            B. started          C. agreed           D. helped

6.A. newer          B. easier           C. longer           D. nice

7.A. never          B. perhaps      C. still            D. just

8.A. joins          B. fixed            C. touches      D. ties

9.A. important      B. different        C. difficult        D. strange

10.A. serious           B. surprised        C. frightened       D. nervous