Sarah came running in saying, "Look what l found. " Over the top of the paper I was reading I saw a long object that made me jump. It was a piece of snakeskin that had been shed （脱皮)  by one of our garden snakes.

'Isn't it beautiful?" said my wide-eyed 7~year-old daughter. I stared at the organic wrapper and thought to myself that it really was not that beautiful, but I did not want to disappoint Sarah.  Everything children see for the first time is elementary to their sense of beauty and creativity. They see only merit (忧点) and excellence in the world.

"Why does it do this?" Sarah asked. I like to teach my children that there is something else going on besides what they see in front of them. "Snakes shed their skin because they need to renew themselves," I explained.

"Why do they need to renew themselves?" Sarah asked. "We often need to shed our skins, those coatings that we cover ourselves with," I said to my now absorbed daughter. "We outgrow some things and find other stuff unnecessary. This snake no longer needs this skin.  It is probably too old, and the snake probably doesn't think it looks as smart in the skin as it once did.  Like buying a new suit. "

Of course, I'm sure this explanation won't suit naturalists. But Sarah got the point. As we talked, I knew that she began to understand that renewal is part of progress; that we need to take a good look at ourselves, and rooms and schoolwork and creativity, and she began to see what we need to keep and what need to cast off.  I was careful to point out that this is a natural process, not one to be forced.

"Snakes don't peel off their skin when they feel like it," I explained.  "lt happens as part of their growth. "

"I see, Dad. " said Sarah.  She then jumped off my lap, grabbed the snakeskin, and ran off.

I hoped she would remember this. Often, in order to find our real selves underneath the layers of community and culture we are cloaked (掩饰) in year after year, we need to start examining these layers. We need to gently peel some away, as we recognize them to be worthless, unnecessary, or flawed (有缺陷的);  or at best,  remember the things we discard（丢掉）to teach us how we can improve.

1.When Sarah asked the author whether the snakeskin was beautiful,___________

A．he was shocked and jumped

B．he tried to understand her point of view

C．he thought that telling the truth was a merit

D．he decided to teach her something about the garden

2.How did Sarah feel about the author's explanation?

A．Confused.         B．Boreci            C．Satisfied.          D．Excited.

3.Which of the following would the author agree with?

A．By reflecting on ourselves, we can better ourselves.

B．It is necessary to force others to remove some things.

C．The community and culture force us to change.

D．It is natural to keep some old clothes.

4.From the text, we can conclude that the author___________.

A．does not like nature much

B．takes the chilcl's feelings lightly

C．is both a logical and thoughtful person

D．loves to see his daughter excited about animals

5.Which of the following could be the best title for the article?

A．The things we should cast off              B．A shed snakeskin in Sarah's eyes

C．A natural part of our growth               D．Renewal for snakes and us

 

Smith was a landlord（地主）. He loved money very much and never gave anything to anybody. Soon he became rich. One day the weather was fine. There wasn't a cloud in the sky and the sun was very warm. The landlord was walking along a river with his friends, when, all of a sudden, he slipped（滑倒） and fell into it. He cried, "Help! Help!" One of his friends held out his hand and said, "Give me your hand and I will pull（拉） you out." The landlord's head went under the water and then came up again, but he did not give his hand to his friends. Then another of his friends tried but the same thing happened. Just then a farmer came over and saw all this. He knew the landlord very well. He said to the others, "Let me try." He held out his hand and said to the landlord," Take my hand and I will pull you out." Hearing this, the landlord took the farmer's hand, and in a minute the farmer pulled the landlord out of the water. All the others got very surprised at this and asked the farmer, "Why did he give his hand to you but not to us?" The farmer said, “You don't know your friend very well, When you say 'give' to him, he does nothing, but when you say 'take', he takes."

1.Smith was a ____.

A．doctor            B．farmer            C．landlord           D．waiter

2.Smith became very rich, because he ____ gave anything to anybody.

A．always            B．never            C．often             D．sometimes

3.One day Smith was walking along a ____ with his friends.

A．river             B．park              C．street            D．lake

4.The rich man held ____ his hand when he heard "Take my hand."

A．in               B．into              C．down             D．out

5.Who knew the rich man very well?

A．his friends         B．his wife           C．the farmer         D．his children

 

1 

One day, while a woodcutter was cutting a branch of a tree above a river. When he began crying, God appeared and asked him, "Why are you crying?"

The woodcutter told him that he had dropped his axe into water. God went down into the water and reappeared with a golden axe.

"Is this your axe?" God asked.

The woodcutter said "No."

God again went down and came up with a silver axe." Is this your axe?" God asked.

The woodcutter said "No."

God again went down and came up with a iron axe." Is this your axe?" God asked.

The woodcutter said "Yes."

God was pleased with the man's honesty and gave him all the three axes.

The woodcutter went home happily. One day while he was walking with his wife along the river, his wife fell into the river. W hen he began crying, God appeared and asked him, "Why are you crying?"

"My wife has fallen into water."

God went down into the water and came up with Jennifer Lopez.

"Is this your wife?" God asked him.

 "Yes." he said.

God was furious(狂怒的),"YOU CHEAT !Now I am going to curse you."

The woodcutter quickly said, “Forgive me my lord. It is a misunderstanding. IF I say 'No' to Jennifer Lopez, you will come up with Catherine Zeta Jones, If I also say 'No' to her, you will finally come up

With my wife and I will say, 'Yes.' Then you will give all the three to me .I am a poor man .I will not be able to look after all the three. So that's why I've to say 'Yes' "

【小题1】           Which of the following best describes the author's tone in telling the story?

A. Optimistic    B. Humoristic   C. Objective   D. Critical

【小题2】           The impression that the woodcutter makes on you is that he is -----

A. foolish but honest           B. foolish and honest

C. smart but honest            D. smart and honest

【小题3】           What can you infer about Jennifer Lopez and Catherine Zeta Jones?

A. They are the secret lovers of the woodcutter

B. They look much like the woodcutter's wife.

C. They are both rich women with a lot of gold and silver.

D. They are both popular with women, much worthy than his wife

 

He came into the room to shut the windows while we were still in bed and I saw he looked ill. He was shivering, his face was white, and he walked slowly as though it ached to move.

"What's the matter, Schatz?"

"I've got a headache."

"You better go back to bed."

"No. I'm all right."

"You go to bed. I'll see you when I'm dressed."

But when I came downstairs he was dressed, sitting by the fire, looking a very sick and miserable boy of nine years. When I put my hand on his forehead I knew he had a fever.

"You go up to bed," I said, "You're sick."

"I'm all right," he said.

When the doctor came he took the boy's temperature.

"What's is it?" I asked him.

"One hundred and two."

Downstairs, the doctor left three different medicines in different colored capsules（胶囊） with instructions for giving them. One was to bring down the fever, another a purgative(泻药), the third to overcome an acid condition. The germs of influenza（流感）can only exist in an acid condition, he explained. He seemed to know all about influenza and said there was nothing to worry about if the fever did not go above one hundred and four degrees. This was a light epidemic(传染病；传染性的) of flu and there was no danger if you avoided pneumonia（肺炎）.

Back in the room I wrote the boy's temperature down and made a note of the time to give the various capsules.

"Do you want me to read to you?"

"All right. If you want to, " said the boy. His face was very white and there were dark areas under his eyes. He lay still in the bed and seemed very detached（超然的；冷漠的）from what was going on.

I read aloud from Howard Pyle's Book of Pirates（海盗）;but I could see he was not following what I was reading.

"How do you feel, Schatz?" I asked him.

"Just the same, so far," he said.

I sat at the foot of the bed and read to myself while I waited for it to be time to give another capsule. It would have been natural for him to go to sleep, but when I looked up he was looking at the foot of the bed, looking very strangely.

"Why don't you try to sleep? I'll wake you up for the medicine."

"I'd rather stay awake."

After a while he said to me, "You don't have to stay in here with me, Papa, if it bothers you."

"It doesn't bother me."

"No, I mean you don't have to stay if it's going to bother you."

I thought perhaps he was a little lightheaded and after giving him the prescribed capsules at eleven o'clock I went out with my gun and the young hunting dog….I killed two quail(鹌鹑), and missed five, and started back pleased to have found a covey of quail close to the house and happy there were so many left to find on another day.

At the house they said the boy had refused to let anyone come into the room.

"You can't come in," he said. "You mustn't get what I have."

I went up to him and found him in exactly the position I had left him, white-faced, but with the tops of his cheeks flushed（发红）by the fever, staring still, as he had stared, at the foot of the bed.

I took his temperature.

"What is it?"

"Something like a hundred," I said. It was one hundred and two and four tenths.

"It was a hundred and two," he said.

"Who said so?"

"The doctor."

"Your temperature is all right," I said. "It's nothing to worry about."

"I don't worry," he said, "but I can't keep from thinking."

"Don't think," I said. "Just take it easy."

"I'm taking it easy," he said and looked straight ahead, He was evidently holding tight onto himself about something.

"Take this with water."

"Do you think it will do any good?"

"Of course it will."

I sat down and opened the Pirate book and began to read, but I could see he was not following, so I stopped.

"About what time do you think I'm going to die?" he asked.

"What?"

"About how long will it be before I die?"

"You aren't going to die. What's the matter with you? "

"Oh, yes, I am, I heard him say a hundred and two."

"People don't die with a fever of one hundred and two. That's a silly way to talk."

"I know they do. At school in France the boys told me you can't live with forty-four degrees. I've got a hundred and two."

He had been waiting to die all day, ever since nine o'clock in the morning.

"You poor Schatz," I said. "Poor old Schatz. It's like miles and kilometers. You aren't going to die. That's different thermometer（温度计）. On that thermometer thirty-seven is normal. On this kind it's ninety-eight."

"Are you sure?"

"Absolutely," I said, "It's like miles and kilometers. You know, like how many kilometers we make when we do seventy miles in the car?"

"Oh," he said.

But his gaze at the foot of the bed relaxed slowly. The hold over himself relaxed too, finally, and the next day it was very slack(松驰的) and he cried very easily at little things that were of no importance.

1.The author writes about the doctor’s visit in order to _____.

A. show the doctor’s knowledge about influenza and its treatment

B. show the boy’s illness was quite serious

C. create a situation of misunderstanding around which to build a story

D. show the father was very much concerned about the boy’s illness

2.The pronoun “it” in “Papa, if it bothers you” (line 41) refers to _____.

A. the boy’s high temperature

B. the father giving the medicine to the boy

C. the father staying with the boy

D. the boy’s death

3.It can be inferred from the story that it is _____ by the time the father gets home from hunting.

A. early in the afternoon                            B. close to evening

C. at noon                                                      D. late in the morning

4.From the story we know that the boy kept tight control over himself because _____.

A. he did not want to be a bother to others

B. he wanted to recover quickly so that he could go hunting with his father

C. he was afraid that he would die if he lost control over himself

D. he thought he was going to die and he must show courage in the face of death

5.That the boy cried very easily at little things of no importance the next day suggests that _____.

A. he couldn’t control his emotions when he finally relaxed

B. his father would go out hunting without him if he didn’t cry

C. something went wrong with his brain after the fever

D. he often complained about unimportant things as a spoiled boy

6.The theme of the story is _____.

A. death is something beyond a child’s comprehension

B. to be calm and controlled in the face of death is a mark of courage

C. misunderstanding can occur even between father and son

D. misunderstanding can sometimes lead to an unexpected effect

 

Chicken feathers are useful, and not just to a chicken. Some go into pillows, coats and other products. But countless chicken feathers go to waste.

In the United States, billions of chickens are produced yearly. Most of their feathers are thrown away.

But instead of being buried in land, some feathers could find a future in plastics（塑料）.

One of the products they have developed is a flowerpot（花盆）. It may look like other flowerpots. But the container breaks down in the earth within one to five years. And as it breaks down, it naturally becomes nutrient（营养物） in the soil.

The environmentally friendly flowerpot is the work of two researchers. Walter Schmidt is with the Agricultural Research Service, part of the United States Agriculture Department. Masud Huda is with the Horticultural Research Institute, a private（私人） organization（组织）.

Walter Schmidt has been working to find uses for chicken feathers since the 1990s. Progress in 2002 showed that plastic made from feathers could be formed like other plastics.

He says feathers are much stronger and last（持续） longer than another plant material. "Feathers are stronger. By design, feathers are also more durable（耐用的）. And the other part about it is if feathers were twice as heavy, or half as strong, then birds couldn't fly."

He points out that traditional flowerpots made from other plastics can last much longer. But he wonders if there is really a need. He says most flowerpots are never re-used.

"Why would you want a plastic that you use for a year to last for two hundred years? It makes no sense. You want to match the product with the use." said Walter Schmidt.

Walter Schmidt and Masud Huda are now adding another chicken product to their flowerpots -- chicken waste. The waste will add more nutrients to the soil as the pot breaks down. The scientists say they hope their flowerpot will be on the market in a year or two.

1.What do people mainly deal with feathers?

A．Feathers are used to make pillows, coats and other products.

B．Most feathers are paid no attention to.

C．Most feathers are used as nutrient

D．Most feathers are used to make flowerpots

2.What’s the advantage of the flowerpots?

A．They won’t last long.                    B．They can’t break

C．They are environmentally friendly           D．They can be reused

3.What does Walter Schmidt think of traditional flowerpots?

A．Too heavy                             B．Too old

C．Never re-used                          D．lasting longer but unnecessary

4.What do you think is the main idea of the passage?

A．Chicken and its feathers                  B．How to deal with feathers

C．feathers made into flowerpot              D．New flowerpots