Long ago, Bluebird’s feathers were the colour of dust. She did not like her ugly colour. She was attracted by the colour of the lake near her home. It was as blue as the sky after a storm. Bluebird wanted to be the colour of that beautiful lake very much. Flapping her wings one morning, Bluebird flew from her tree to the blue lake. Then she bathed in the water three times. After each bath, she sang, “Blue water. Still water. I went in. I am blue.” Bluebird repeated this every morning. On the third day, she came out of the lake with beautiful blue feathers.

Now Coyote was a trickster(骗子)—and hungry too. He stayed behind Bluebird’s tree for a long time every day and watched her go to the lake. He pretended(伪装) to be interested in everything she did. He wanted Bluebird for lunch, but he was afraid of the blue water. On the third morning, Coyote saw Bluebird come out of the lake with beautiful blue feathers. Impressed, he sat next to Bluebird’s tree and waited for her. When she returned, he asked, “How did you get blue feathers? I want to be blue like the mountains too.” Bluebird didn’t believe Coyote, but she taught him how to bathe three times each morning and how to sing her song. Coyote did what she said, and after three days of bathing in the lake, his white fur turned deep blue.

Convinced(确信的) that blue fur was even more beautiful than blue feathers, Coyote forgot all about being hungry. He ran as fast as he could to the top of the hill. Standing on his back legs, he raised his front legs off the ground and howled. But Coyote slipped(滑倒) and rolled down the hill. He couldn’t stop himself, and the dust and dirt covered his new blue fur. He rolled and rolled until he hit into Bluebird’s tree heavily. No matter how much he tried, foolish Coyote could not shake the dust from his fur. And so the fur of all coyotes had the dull colour of dust to this very day.

1.How many times did Bluebird bathe every morning before she had beautiful blue feathers?

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

2.Why was Coyote a trickster?

A. He wanted to fly like Bluebird near the mountains.

B. He wanted to eat Bluebird but pretended to be curious.

C. He wanted to swim in the lake but was afraid of the water.

D. He wanted to sing Bluebird’s song but didn’t know the words.

3.Where did Coyote go after his fur turned blue?

A. To the lake.         B. To the tree.         C. To the cave.       D. To the hill.

4.Why did Coyote forget all about being hungry?

A. Because his fur had the dull colour of dust.

B. Because the dust and dirt covered his new blue fur.

C. Because he thought blue fur was much more beautiful. 

D. Because he hit into Bluebird’s tree and hurt himself.

5.What words does the writer use to help you imagine the colour blue?

A. sky, lake, mountains  

B. bird, coyote, storm  

C. flapped, climbed, bathed  

D. fur, feathers, dust

 

“Would you tell me which way I should go from here?” asked Alice.
“That depends a good deal on where you want to get,” said the Cat.
“I really don’t care where” replied Alice.
“Then it doesn’t much matter which way you go,” said the Cat.
--- from “ Alice in Wonderland ”
My name is David. And I have a brother called Mike. 
One day, my brother called me and asked me for some advice. He was trying to decide between two job offers:
Job 1 – The first job was your typical 40 hour a week “office” job.
Job 2 – The second job was more of a career in the insurance industry(保险业), where he would start at the bottom, and after many years and many long hours eventually rise to the top (if he was good). 
The second job did not pay as well as the first job (at the beginning), but the pay-off of the second job (in the future) was much greater than the first job. So which job should my brother take? Well the answer is…it depends.
Just like the Cat was trying to tell Alice, which road you take depends a great deal on where you want to end up.
Begin with the End in Mind
I asked my brother what was his life’s purpose. He said his purpose was to “teach,” but he wanted to make a lot of money first. I told my brother to forget about the money, and I advised him to focus on his purpose. I then asked him which job best supported his end result of “teaching.” He said the first job best supported his goal because he would only have to work 40 hours a week, which would give him spare time to teach. He continued on to say, “but if I take job number two, I can work hard and make more money, then I can retire early and “teach” later in life.” I again advised him to “focus” on his purpose, not money. Things don’t end wrong, they begin wrong!
You Can’t Ride Two Horses Well
It would be very difficult to have a successful teaching career while you’re working 70-80 hours a week in the insurance business; no one can ride two horses well. As they say, you can do anything, but not everything. I advised him to get started today by choosing the job that best supported that decision.
Tomorrow Never Comes
My brother was thinking that he could always start teaching later in life, but the reality is, tomorrow never comes. Unless you decide right now to follow your feelings, they will probably never be completed. You only live once, don’t go to the end of your life with one regret.
The Money Will Come
My brother seemed to be overly concerned with making money. I told him not to be anxious about making money. You will always have greater money when you’re doing what you love.
In a word, whenever you’re at a cross-road, be sure to make the decision that best supports the goal of your life. If you do, then you will be well on your way.
【小题1】 Mike ___________ David one day.

A．visited

B．met

C．made a telephone call to

D．found

【小题2】 Mike was trying to ____________.

A．look for a job	B．start a career
C．wok in an office	D．decide between two job offers

【小题3】As for the life’s purpose, Mike ______________.

A．wanted to teach first	B．wanted to make a lot of money first
C．wanted to work in the insurance industry	D．wanted to work 40 hours a day

【小题4】 You Can’t Ride Two Horses Well means _____________.

A．you’d better have two horses

B．you can only ride one horse well

C．you can do everything well.

D．you can’t do two things well at the same time

【小题5】 The best title of the passage is ______________.

A．How to choose a better job

B．It is more important to begin than to end

C．How to make a better decision

D．Make more money because tomorrow never comes

It was Mother's Day. John was so busy with his work that he couldn't go back home. When he passed by a flower shop in the evening, an idea came to his mind, “I'll send Mum some roses(玫瑰).”While John was picking his flowers, a young man went inside. “How many roses can I get for only five dollars, madam?” he asked. The assistant(店员) was trying to tell him roses were as expensive as forty dollars a dozen(一打). Maybe he would be happy with carnations(康乃馨).
“No, I have to have red roses,” he said. “My mum was badly ill last year and I didn't get to spend much time with her. Now I want to get something special, it has to be roses as rose is her favourite.”
After hearing it, John said he would pay the rest of the money for the young man. Moved by both of them, the assistant said, “Well, lovely young men, thirty dollars a dozen, only for you.” Taking the roses, the young man almost jumped into the air and ran out of the shop. It was well worth twenty－five dollars that John paid to see the exciting moment. Then John paid for his dozen of roses and told the assistant to send them to his mother.
As he walked out, he felt nice. Suddenly he saw the young man crossing the street and going into a park. But soon John realized it was not a park but a cemetery(墓地). Crying, the young man carefully put down the roses, “Mum, oh, Mum, why didn't I tell you how much I loved you? God, please help me find my mum and tell her I love her.”
Seeing this, John turned and quickly walked to the shop. He would take the flowers home himself.
【小题1】.The assistant tried to ask the young man to buy carnations instead of roses because_______ .

A．carnations were nicer than roses

B．roses were saved for John

C．roses were more expensive than carnations

D．carnations were special flowers for Mother's Day

【小题2】.John spent _________ altogether(总共) in the flower shop that day.

A．$5

B．$25

C．$30

D．$55

【小题3】The young man cried at the cemetery because he ______________ .

A．had spent all his money on the roses

B．wasn't able to tell his mother he loved her himself

C．felt sorry to ask John to pay for his flowers

D．hadn't got enough money for his sick mother

【小题4】At last John changed his mind and went home because he wanted to_________ .

A．tell his mother he loved her himself

B．ask his mother for more money

C．tell his mother the young man's story

D．ask his mother if she liked roses

【小题5】.The writer writes the passage in order to tell us “____________.”

A．Buy roses for your mother when she is ill

B．Let your mother know how much you love her

C．Work hard to get more money for your mother

D．Send your mother flowers on Mother's Day

Li Shizhen was born in 1518. His father was a poor doctor. Li Shizhen often saw that people fell ill. He decided to study medicine so that he could be able to help people. Li Shizhen read many books about medicine. He found many of the old medical books to be full of mistakes. So his wish was to write a new one.

He did his best to study medical science. He studied not only the herbs（草药）in his own garden, but also the wild ones. He set out many times on long journeys to collect herbs and talk with old farmers. He learned a lot from the working people.

After many years of hard work and study, Li Shizhen finished his great work “Ben Cao Gang Mu”（本草纲目）. At that time he was sixty. His book is now one of the greatest contributions（贡献）of the Chinese people to the medical science of the world.

1.Li Shizhen’s father was      .

A．a soldier

B．a doctor

C．a teacher

D．a peasant

2.Li Shizhen decided to study medicine because he wanted to       .

A．making a living	B．become famous
C．help the people who fell ill	D．get more money

3. Li Shizhen wanted to write a new medical book because      .

A．he was a doctor

B．he liked writing books

C．many medical books were full of mistakes.

D．he was a writer

4.“Ben Cao Gang Mu” is      .

A．a medical book	B．a medical worker
C．a herb	D．a dictionary

5.Li Shizhen collected a lot of         on his long journeys.

A．flowers

B．living things

C．plants

D．herbs

 

It was the first day of biology class. The teacher wanted to give a good 41  to his class. He wanted to 42  his students’ eyes to the world of biology.

He knew that 43   young students was not easy, so he worked 44  and tried to find a good way to teach this class. 45  thinking for a long time, he made a 46  at last. He decided to show the kids something 47  and teach them a lesson at the same time.

He asked his students to 48  carefully. Then he began. He put a worm(虫子) into a glass of water. The worm 49  around in the water. Then he put a second worm into a glass full of alcohol(酒精). It died at once. He asked the students if anyone knew about 50  they learned from it. A boy said, “You showed us that if we drink alcohol we won’t have worms.”

1.	A．pay B．start C．day D．tour

 

2.	A．go to B．open up C．call up D．keep out

 

3.	A．sending B．fitting C．following D．teaching

 

4.	A．hard B．quickly C．loudly D．alone

 

5.	A．Before B．While C．After D．When

 

6.	A．story B．decision C．cake D．face

 

7.	A．crazy B．impossible C．strange D．interesting

 

8.	A．watch B．use C．listen D．write

 

9.	A．flied B．ran C．jumped D．swam

 

10.	A．what B．how C．when D．why