How do you feel when you stay in hospital alone? Jenny, 13, a US student, feels bored. She knows the feeling because she has been in hospital many times herself. One day, she thought of an idea—if patients could get some books to read, they would feel better. So, from May, she and many of her friends began to collect books for hospital patients.
In six months the students collected 1,250 books at school. They decided to donate the books to the North Shore Medical Centre, a children’s hospital next door to their school. “There are books for kids of all ages, from babies up to high school level.” said Jenny.
The students put the books into “early readers”, “middle readers” and “advanced readers”. Then they wrote their best wishes to patients on bookmarks (书签) and letters, put the books in big boxes and donated them to the hospital.
“We wrote things like, “Keep on reading!’ and ‘Hope you feel better!’,” siad John, 14, Jenny’s brother. “And we also wrote some funny things to make them laugh.”
Frank, 12, and Steven, 14, helped carry 16 large boxes of books into a car. “I think these books will make me a lot of patients feel happy.” said Frank. Steven shared his opinion. “It is really the most meaningful thing that I have ever done in my life.”
【小题1】Who first thought of the idea of helping those bored patients in hospital?

t was December 25. Marie, a 13-year-old Australian girl, was happy. It was Christmas, and Marie's mother was making a special cake. She put four small coins into the cake,  and then she baked (烤) it. The four coins were for good luck. After dinner Marie and her family ate the cake. They found three coins in the cake and put them on the table. Where was the fourth coin? It was missing, but Marie's mother didn't notice.

After Christmas, Marie got sick. She coughed, and she couldn’t speak. After six weeks she felt better, but she still couldn't speak. Marie's parents took her to hospital. Doctors at the hospital looked her over, and then said, "We are sorry, but we can't help her." For 12 years Marie didn't speak. She grew up, she got a job, and she got married. But she never spoke. One day,  when Marie was 25 years old,  she got a sore throat ( 嗓子疼 ) at work. She began to cough. She coughed up something small and black. What was it? Marie didn't know. She took it to the hospital. A doctor at the hospital said, "This is a coin!" The doctor told Marie, "I think you can speak again." Marie went to a special doctor, and soon she could talk.

根据上面的短文内容回答问题。

1. What did Marie's mother make at Christmas?

  __________________________________________________________

2. What did Marie's mother put some coins in the cake for? 

   __________________________________________________________

3.How many coins did Marie's family find after eating the Cake?

  ___________________________________________________________

4. How long didn’t Marie speak?

__________________________________________________________

5. Could Marie speak at last?

  __________________________________________________________

My Year Abroad                                                           

This month in Travelers Corner there are three teenagers’ experiences in year-abroad programmes.

Mariko Okada – Tokyo

My year abroad in the United States was a fantastic experience. I’m not a shy person, and I was very comfortable speaking to everyone. So I got lots of speaking practice. I also learned lots of interesting things about American culture. When I got home, my friends all said that I had improved so much! I hope to go back again in the future.

Carla Fonseca – Rio de Janeiro

I spent last year studying English in London. I’m from a small town, and London is a very big city. Sometimes I felt it was too big. There were so many people to talk to, but I always felt bad about my English. I missed my family, and I really missed my two cats. My roommate was always using our telephone, so I hardly had the chance for a nice long talk with my parents. I think it was a good experience for me, but I’m glad to be home!

Alvin Chen – Hong Kong

Studying in New Zealand was a fun experience for me, but it was also lots of hard work! I had English classes six hours a day, five days a week——with lots of homework. I also kept a diary of my experience. I like to write, and I wrote two or three pages in my diary every day. On Saturdays, my homestay family took me to lots of interesting places and showed me so many wonderful things about the culture. I’m really glad I went!

1.All the three teenagers went abroad           .

A．to study English                         B．to visit friends

C．to have a holiday                        D．to find a job

2.Who didn’t really enjoy the stay in a foreign country very much?

A．Mariko.           B．Carla.             C．Alvin.             D．None of them.

3.Travelers Corner is most probably         .

A．a sports club newsletter                  B．a science documentary

C．a travel magazine                       D．a news website

Hi, my name is Amy. I am a Grade 7 student, and I would like to tell you something about my class and myself.

There are ten classes in Grade 7.In each class, there are about forty students. I think that my class, Class 4 is the best(最好的).That is because all the students in my class work very hard and the teachers are all very nice to the students. But I am not one of the best students in the class.

I love reading, and I am very good at Chinese and English. I don’t find Maths very interesting, so I am not good at it. I want to work hard at it. My teacher, classmates and my parents would like to help me with my Maths.

1.How many classes are there in Grade 7at Amy’s school?

A.Six B. Seven C. Nine D. Ten

2.How many students are there in Grade 7?

A.About 400. B. About 500 C. About 300 D. About 600

3.Why is Amy’s class the best class in Grade 7?

A.Because the teachers are the best.

B. Because the boys work very hard.

C. Because the students are very nice to the students.

D.Because the students work very hard and the teachers are very nice.

4.What does Amy love doing?

A.Singing B.Reading C.Swimming D.Watching TV

5.What is Amy not good at?

A. Chinese B. P.E. C. English D. Maths

My nine-year-old daughter, Maria, is in Grade Two. Every evening we get into homework battles (争执). When she get home, homework is the last thing she likes to do. I think she should do her homework just after school. But she thinks she should have some time to rest and play first. When Maria does her homework, she wants me to help her. I don’t want to help, because I think my daughter should do her homework by herself. And most of the time, I have to do other things.
Children these days have much more homework than we did, and some of it is really difficult for them. As you can see, I’m really worried about homework and I really don’t know what I should do. Any ideas ? Help me!
【小题1】The woman’s daughter is __________.