Driving a car at a high speed along a highway seems to be fun. You need only to follow the bright traffic signs beside the highways and it will take you to where you wish. But to a London taxi driver, driving is not an easy job. A taxi driver has to have not only skills but also a good knowledge of the city of London, from the smaller road to the most popular bar around. He has to be at service of all kinds of passengers at all times.
A certain London taxi driver told of his job as follows.
During the night it is quite usual for him to stop two or three times for some refreshments (提神). He said, “I never drink when I’m working --- I would lose my license.”
He usually goes home between 2 and 3 o’clock in the night. There are times he has to stay longer and try to make more runs. He said, “That’s the worst thing about working for yourself. If you don’t make any money, no one is going to give it to you.”
London taxi drivers not only “take” but also “give”. Every summer hundreds of children from London will go for a day at the sea --- by taxi! Their rides are paid by the taxi drivers, and these all go to the “London Taxi for Underprivileged Children”. At the sea, they are met by the mayor (市长), and a lunch party is also held in honor of the taxi drivers and the children. After a happy day running around the sea beaches and visiting the markets, the children go home again --- by taxi, and free of charge (支出), of course!
【小题1】From the first paragraph, we can see that________.

Robert is eleven years old. He loves to watch TV. But for one full year, he did not watch TV at all. What was the reason? Robert’s parents said they would give him $500 if he didn’t watch TV for a year.
Robert’s parents thought he watched too much TV. One day his mother saw a newspaper story about a boy who didn’t watch TV for a year. She showed the story to Robert. “It was a joke,” his mother said, “I didn’t think he would do it.” But Robert liked the idea. He turned off the TV right away. He said, “It doesn’t matter to me whether to watch TV or not. I just want the money.”
At first, Robert’s parents were very happy. Robert read the newspaper, played outside, played computer games, and played cards with his mother. But after a while, he got bored. Every evening, he asked his parents, “What are we doing tonight?” Sometimes his mother and father wished he would watch TV, just for one evening. Robert always said, “No, it would cost me money!”
Finally the year was over. Then Robert started watching his favourite TV shows all day long again. Robert got the money from his parents. What does he plan to do with the $500? “I want to buy myself a TV set!” he said.
【小题1】What is Robert’s hobby?

Chinese people call the Spring Festival“Nian”. But do you know that Nian
was once the name of a monster(妖怪)?
　　A long time ago, the monster Nian lived in the mountains. It ate
animals. But in winter, it could not find food. So it came to villages and
ate a lot of people. People were so afraid of Nian that they locked their
doors before evening came during the winter. One day, an old man came to a
village. He told people there that Nian was afraid of three things——the
color red, fire and noise. He told people to play drums and gongs, make
big fires and set off fireworks(放鞭炮)to make Nian go away.
　　On a moonless, cold night, Nian went to the village again. As soon as it
opened its big mouth, people made loud noises and made fires. Nian was
really afraid and ran away. wherever it went, there was noise and fire.
When Nian was tired and could not run anymore, people killed the monster.
　　After that, on the coldest day of winter, people beat drums and gongs,
and set off fireworks to celebrate the death of the monster of Nian. They
put up red lanterns and have a big dinner without sleeping during the
night.
　　In the morning people greet each other happily. So now we have the
Spring Festival.
【小题1】 From the story, Nian seemed to be       long, long ago.
A exciting    B  interesting    C boring   D terrible
【小题2】 The monster Nian ate people in winter because it          .
A  wanted to make people afraid    B  had no food to eat
C  celebrated the Spring Festival    D liked to eat people in a village
【小题3】Nian was afraid of          .
A red    B fire   C noise    D  A, B and C
【小题4】 The monster Nian wasn’t killed until          .
A it had eaten all the animals  B  the old man came to a village
C it was too tired to run away  D people knew what it was afraid of
【小题5】 What is the best title for the passage?
A How the Spring Festival Came  B What People did During Nian
C How People Celebrated Nian  D What the Spring Festival was 

Nancy’s hobby is collecting sharpeners. She spends a lot of time on it after school. She has been collecting more than one hundred sharpeners from different countries. They are all different in color and size.
Nancy likes sharpeners with animals and birds on them. In this way, she learns the names of many animals and birds. She also borrows books on animals and birds from her school library. She learns a lot about them from books.
Sometimes Nancy has many sharpeners of the same kind. She gives them to her friends. Then they give her other different sharpeners in return.
Nancy has many pen pals in many countries. She sends them sharpeners of her country. In return, they send her sharpeners of their countries. Nancy’s father also gives her sharpeners. He brings them home from his friends for her.
Many of Nancy’s friends collect other things. Some collect coins and others collect matchboxes（火柴盒）or stamps. But, all of them say that Nancy’s collection is the most interesting of all.
【小题1】Nancy spends a lot of time on her hobby             .

I’m Alfred. I was born with a problem in my backbone and mobility(行走能力）was a big challenge, but thanks to my teachers and friends, my school life was excellent.
My friends and I used to sit together and have lots of fun. Whenever we got a free period, we used to start shouting or play games. I would take part in all competitions, such as poetry writing, story writing and painting and all activities like Teachers’ Day or anybody’s birthday and had much fun.
My English teacher was very tall. The moment she would enter the class, we would all sit quiet and open the books. She would encourage me by giving me important assignments and also morning news to read during the assembly. She would come down and hear my English debate(辩论), which made me participate in all debate competitions.
The same was true of my biology and science teacher. She was very nice and sweet. She would always give me extra information on the biology project. I could not go to the lab for the practicals (lessons or exams in science, cooking etc. in which you have to do or make something yourself rather than write or read about it), so she would bring the lab down and help me with the biology and science practicals and would give me excellent marks.
My friends made me monitor and the naughty boys listen to me. My friends used to help me with my notes if I was absent. My teachers always gave me important project work and I felt proud when they patted me on the back after I finished it quickly and correctly.
I was never shouted at or made fun of or scolded(批评) by any of my friends and teachers. Today I saw the terrible punishments given to students on television news. I felt very sad.
I really want to express my love and thanks to all my wonderful teachers and friends, without whom my school life would not have been so excellent and unforgettable. I really pray to God that each child in the world is blessed with caring teachers and wants to attend school every day.
【小题1】Alfred’s problem in his backbone _________ .