Indian boy Piscine Patel is troubled by his first name. It sounds like a rude word, and his classmates laughed at him. He decides to change his name to “Pi”.
But Pi’s name problems are nothing compared to what is waiting for him.
Pi’s father owns a zoo. He decides to move to Canada. The family, together with all the zoo animals, set sail across the Pacific. One day, a huge storm hits the ship. The next morning, Pi finds his family has sunk with the ship. He is the only person still alive.
He finds himself on a lifeboat with several animals, one of which is a tiger called Richard Parker. Soon, all the animals are killed and Pi is left alone with the tiger.
As the tiger becomes hungrier, Pi starts to fish to feed him. Otherwise, he himself will become the food.
The boy and the tiger develop an amazing relationship on the sea. Although he feels hopeless, Pi never gives up. After 227 days, the lifeboat finally lands on a beach in Mexico, but Richard Parker runs away into the forest.
The ship company finds Pi and asks what happened. Pi tells them about Richard Parker but the company doesn’t believe him. Pi then tells another story in which there is no tiger, but some other shocking details(细节).
Is there really another story? If so, which one is the truth? Maybe you will have your own answer after watching The Life of Pi(《少年派的奇幻漂流》), the latest 3D movie from American Chinese director Ang Lee.
【小题1】What’s the first trouble of the Indian boy Piscine Patel?

Not only women wear skirts. Men can wear them, too. In Scotland (苏格兰), men wear a kilt – a kind of skirt. The kilt is their national dress.

   The kilt has checks (方格) and different colors, like red or blue. Each family in Scotland has its own colors. How did the Scotsmen (苏格兰男人) start to wear kilts. There is a story about it. Rawlinson had some workers from Scotland in his office and he thought their clothing got in the way of their work. So he cut their clothes into a shorter skirt.

   Today, they usually only wear them at weddings (婚礼) or big dinners. Only a few men wear a kilt every day. Scotsmen also wear kilts in big parties. The policemen still have skills as the dress uniforms, but they don’t wear them to catch the thieves.

1. A kilt is ______.

A. a hat            B. a shirt               C. a skirt             D. a sweater

2.In Scotland, different families have different _____ of kilts.

A. prices           B. colors               C. styles              D. checks

3. What does “got in the way of” mean?

A. 妨碍           B. 得到                C. 在路上            D. 到达

4.When do Scotsmen wear kilts?

A. At weddings     B. At big dinners          C. In big parties        D. All of above.

5.The story is about ________.

A. Scotsmen’s traditional kilts                  B. how to make kilts

C. what a kilt is                             D. how much the kilt is

In every school there is “top” crowd that sets the pace, while the others follow their lead. For example, if the crowd decides that it is smart to wear bright red sweaters, then very soon everybody is wearing bright red sweaters.

There is nothing wrong with that, except the fact that for some people bright red sweater is really unsuitable.

The situation can even become dangerous, if the top crowd decides that it is smart to drink and to drive cars at seventy miles an hour. Then the people who follow the lead are endangering their lives. They are like the sheep being led to the slaughter(屠杀).

Now it’s possible that you have come across situations like these more than once in your life. In fact you probably did something you knew to be wrong one time or another. You may have excused yourself by saying, “ Gee, the crowd does it.” Well, let the crowd do it, but don’t do it yourself. Learn to say “No”.

Develop your own standards(标准)and your own judgment. If you know the crowd is planning something you disagree to, you’d better take the courage to bow out in a polite way. You’ll have the satisfaction of standing on your own two feet.

1.The main idea of the passage is that _____________ .

A. in every school there is a “top” crowd that sets the pace

B. it’s a mistake to follow the “top” crowd blindly

C. people who follow the “top” crowd are endangering their lives

D. you probably did something wrong more than once in your life

2.The author(作者)doesn’t think it good wearing red sweaters if _______.

A. the crowd is wearing them          

B. you can't afford them

C. you don't look good in red           

D. it is against school rules

3.The writer encourages the readers to ___________ .

A. respect his or her parents            

B. find excuses when he or she is wrong

C. learn to stand on their own two feet    

D. take the advice of his or her elders

4.What does the underlined phrase “bow out” in the passage probably mean?

A. 鞠躬                 B. 退出             C. 参与               D. 应允

5.The best title for this passage is __________ .

A. Follow the Leader    B. The “Top” Crowd   

C. Being Yourself      D. Rules for Teens

In Canada you can find dogs, horses, etc., in almost every family. These are their pets. People love these pets and think they are their good friends. Before they keep them at their houses, they take them to animal hospital to give them injection (注射) so that they won’t catch disease(疾病). They have special animal food stores, though they can get animal food in almost every store. Some people spend around two hundred Canadian dollars a month on animal food. When you visit people’s homes, they would be very glad to show you their pets and they are very proud of them. You will also find almost every family has a bird feeder in their garden. All kinds of birds are welcomed to come and have a good meal. They are free to come and go and nobody can kill any animals in Canada. They have a law against killing wild animals. If you killed an animal, you would be punished（惩罚）.

Old people in Canada have many reasons to like animals. One of them might be: their family tie is not as close as ours. When children grow up, they leave their parents and start their own career (事业), then the old will feel lonely. And pets can make them happy. They can be good friends and never leave them alone.

1. The passage mainly tells us people in Canada _________.

      A. like to keep pets at home             B. spend a lot of money on pets

      C. think killing pets is against the law     D. enjoy showing pets to their friends

2.People give pets injection to make them not __________.

      A. run away                           B. hurt people

      C. get ill                            D. eat much

3.The underlined word “feeder” refers to ________.

      A.捕鸟器         B.捕虫器        C. 投食器          D. 置水器

4.Old people like to keep pets because __________.

      A. pets spend less money               B. pets are quiet and clean

      C. pets are easy to take care of           D. pets can make good companies

My mum only had one eye. She cooked for students and teachers to   41   the family when I was young.
One day my mum came to 　42  hello to me in primary school. I was so embarrassed（尴尬的） that I threw her a hateful  43 and ran out.
The next day at school, one of my classmates said, “Your mum only has one eye!” and  44  at me.
I hated my mum and decided to leave her, so I studied very hard. Later I got a chance to go abroad to study and I left my mother.　45　graduation I worked, bought a house and got   46  there. Then I had kids of my own. I was happy with my wife and my kids. But one day someone knocked at my door. It was my 47  !When she stood by the door, my children laughed at her, and I  48  at her, “How dare you come to my house and scare my children! GET OUT OF HERE NOW!” And to this, my mum 　49  answered, “Oh, I’m so sorry. I may have got the wrong  50  ,”and she disappeared.
One day, a letter regarding a school reunion（聚会） came to my house. So I told a 　51  to my wife that I was going on a business trip. After the reunion, I went to the old house.
My neighbours said that she   52   . I did not have a single tear. They handed me a letter that she had wanted me to have.
My dearest son,
I am thinking  53 you all the time. I’m sorry that I came to your house and scared your 　54　 .
I was so glad when I heard you were coming for the reunion. But I may not be able to even get out of bed to see you. I’m sorry that I was still an embarrassment to you when you were growing up.
You see…when you were very little, you got into an accident, and lost your eye. As a mother, I couldn’t stand watching you grow up with one eye. So I gave you   55  .
  …  With all my love to you!
Your mother