My son Jack, a fourth grader, was having a hard time in getting interested in story books recently, so I offered to read the first few chapters to him. In the early pages of ‘Incident at Halk Hill’, a quiet little boy has a special meeting with a female badger (獾).Soon after, another badger is caught in a steel leg trap(陷阱), and the author describes in detail the pain and scare of an animal struggling to its death. We meet the cruel hunter and his ill treatment of a dog; we see the badger being skinned by the boy's father；and we experience the child's confusion when beaten by his father in anger. Pretty heavy going for ten-year-olds, I thought.

Last night , I returned from a weekend away to find that Jack had finished the whole book on his own. “It was really, really good and sad, and violent，” he reported. “There was a lot of killing.”

“Were there any happy parts?" I asked,

"The boy's life was saved by the badger, and that was good. But then that badger got caught in a trap again and at the end it's dying, too. ” Jack said, "It was so sad that I almost cried. ”

I told him that many books have made me cry, beginning with Heidi, when I was just his age, right on up to the novel I finished last week.

“Well，” he admitted then, “I actually did cry. Reading that book just reminded me of all the sadness in the world, and it made me feel sad ,too. ”

So, I think, now he has been through the sad tone of the passage , the discovery that words on a printed page can give rise to such strong emotion ，that a book can move you right out of your own comfortable little self and into someone else's pain. Thus we come to realize that if we are to remain fully engaged in life, open to its mysteries and feel sorry towards its suffering, we indeed need stories to grab（抓住） us by the neck and remind us of the sadness in the world that is not our own.

1.‘Incident at Halk Hill’ is a _______story.

A．sad              B．happy            C．funny             D．boring

2.The underlined sentence “Pretty heavy going for ten-year-olds" means____

A．the book is too long for a ten year old child

B．the book is too difficult for a ten year old child

C．the book is too violent(暴力) for a ten year old child

D．the book is too pretty for a ten year old child

3.According to the passage , stories can be something to help you_____

A．enjoy your spare time                    B．develop your care for animals

C．realize the truth of life                   D．think about your own life

4.By writing the passage, the writer mainly wants to____.

A．tell a story that interested his son

B．show the importance of reading stories

C．share an experience between himself and his son

D．show how to make children interested in books

 

We adopted Luke four years ago．The people from the orphanage（孤儿院）dropped him off at our hotel room without even saying  1  ．He was nearly six years old, only 28 pounds and his face was crisscrossed（交叉着）with scars．  2   ，he was terrified．Luke kicked and  3  ．His cries were animal-like．I  4 my alms around him so he could not hit or kick．After an hour and a half he finally fell asleep．exhausted．I called   5 . They delivered every noodle dish on the menu．After Luke woke up I handed him chopsticks and pointed at the food．He stopped crying and started to eat．

    That night we went for a walk．  6  at the moon，he pantomimed（打手势），“What is it?” I said，“The moon，it's the moon．”He   7  and tried to touch it．He reached again when I tried to give him a bath  8  I started to play with the water．By the end of his bath the room was soaked and he was   9  ．Then we read the book “One Yellow Lion”．He loved looking at the  10   pictures and 11   the pages．By the end of the night he was saying“  12  ”．

    The next day we  13  orphanage officials to do  14  ．Luke looked at them and wrapped my arms   15   around his waist．

It has been four years．Luke is a smart，funny, happy fourth-grader．He is   16  with charm and is a natural athlete．His teachers say he is  17  behaved and works very hard．Our neighbor says she has never seen a happier kid．

    When I think back，I am  18   at what transformed this abused，terrified little creature．It was not medications．It did not cost money．It was love: just simple，plain，easy to  19  ．It is comprised（组成）of compassion，care，security，and a leap of faith．I believe in the power of love to  20  ．I believe in the power of love to heal．

1．A．hello                      B．nothing                C．goodbye                 D．everything

2．A．Clearly                  B．Surprisingly          C．Sadly                     D．Fortunately

3．A．spoke                    B．1aughed               C．screamed                      D．trembled

4．A．hold                      B．unfolded              C．raised                    D．wound

5．A．the police station                                          B．room service

    C．the laundry                                                D．the manager

6．A．Ashamed               B．Interested             C．Delighted               D．Terrified

7．A．reached up             B．stood up              C．knelt down             D．moved on

8．A．after                      B．until                     C．whenever               D．unless

9．A．crying                   B．thinking               C．giggling（傻笑）    D．1earning

10．A．colorful               B．yellow                 C．old                        D．plain

11．A．tearing                 B．turning                 C．holding                  D．beating

12．A．goodbye              B．one yellow lion    C．moon                      D．water

13．A．called                  B．found                  C．met                       D．refused

14．A．daily work           B．housework           C．odd jobs                 D．paperwork

15．A．tightly                  B．slightly                 C．unwillingly             D．uneasily

16．A．1oaded                B．full                      C．delivered                D．covered

17．A．ill                        B．well                    C．over                             D．quite

18．A．amused                B．happy                  C．amazed                  D．sorry   

19．A．lose                     B．find                    C．take                       D．give

20．A．prepare                B．remain                 C．kill                 D．transform

My son Jack, a fourth grader, was having a hard time in getting interested in story books recently, so I offered to read the first few chapters to him. In the early pages of ‘Incident at Halk Hill’, a quiet little boy has a special meeting with a female badger (獾).Soon after, another badger is caught in a steel leg trap(陷阱), and the author describes in detail the pain and scare of an animal struggling to its death. We meet the cruel hunter and his ill treatment of a dog; we see the badger being skinned by the boy's father；and we experience the child's confusion when beaten by his father in anger. Pretty heavy going for ten-year-olds, I thought.

Last night , I returned from a weekend away to find that Jack had finished the whole book on his own. “It was really, really good and sad, and violent，” he reported. “There was a lot of killing.”

“Were there any happy parts?" I asked,

"The boy's life was saved by the badger, and that was good. But then that badger got caught in a trap again and at the end it's dying, too. ” Jack said, "It was so sad that I almost cried. ”

I told him that many books have made me cry, beginning with Heidi, when I was just his age, right on up to the novel I finished last week.

“Well，” he admitted then, “I actually did cry. Reading that book just reminded me of all the sadness in the world, and it made me feel sad ,too. ”

So, I think, now he has been through the sad tone of the passage , the discovery that words on a printed page can give rise to such strong emotion ，that a book can move you right out of your own comfortable little self and into someone else's pain. Thus we come to realize that if we are to remain fully engaged in life, open to its mysteries and feel sorry towards its suffering, we indeed need stories to grab（抓住） us by the neck and remind us of the sadness in the world that is not our own.

64、‘Incident at Halk Hill’ is a _______story.

    A. sad        B. happy      C. funny       D. boring

65、The underlined sentence “Pretty heavy going for ten-year-olds" means____

    A. the book is too long for a ten year old child

    B. the book is too difficult for a ten year old child
    C. the book is too violent(暴力) for a ten year old child
    D. the book is too pretty for a ten year old child

66、According to the passage , stories can be something to help you_____

    A. enjoy your spare time              B. develop your care for animals

    C. realize the truth of life          D. think about your own life

67、By writing the passage, the writer mainly wants to____
    A. tell a story that interested his son

    B. show the importance of reading stories

    C. share an experience between himself and his son

    D. show how to make children interested in books

William Stone, a spokesman of one of the biggest import & export companies in Yorkshire, Britain, was making an angry speech at a business conference in Berlin for seeking a complete solution to the problem of so called “Mad Cow Disease”, which had been spreading quickly throughout the country and was regarded as a direct cause of the death of a 12-year-old schoolgirl who was said to have eaten some well-done beef and died two weeks later. The death caused great fear among beef-eaters all over the world.

“We don’t believe it since until now I haven’t received even a smallest piece of paper reporting the real cause of the death,” said Mr Stone excitedly facing the thirty representatives from at least twenty countries that had been the biggest import countries of the British beef but now refused to have it. When he saw no signs of anybody being willing to speak out, Mr Stone got madder, adding, “You will have to eat beef every day, won’t you? In the past, to get our beef, you ordered in advance, as much as you could, saying in your thank-you letter, … without the British beef we can’t imagine what a colorless sight would be on our countrymen’s dinner tables.”

“But now, gentlemen, you say ‘Mad Cow Disease…Death frightening … sorry to stop enjoying your beef for the moment!’” Mr Stone let out a shout and then seized a handful of paper out from a paper bag lying beside the microphone, “Here, here … What you are thinking about is all here. Have a look at your telegram, gentlemen!”

His audience looked at each other, still expressionless. “Well, let our beef rot away,” Mr Stone continued. “And let your men go hungry—they’ll be mad one day. Thank you!” He took his handkerchief out of his pocket, wiping off sweat while walking down back to his seat. All of the listeners stayed silent for seconds, then laughter burst out.

They, including Mr Stone himself, laughed so much that the chairman of the conference announced a rest of ten minutes.

1．From Mr Stone’s speech we know that ________.

A．the British beef had been widely enjoyed by people out of the country

B．the British beef had once been widely praised by the people of the country

C．the British beef caused the so-called disease

D．Mr Stone often received letters of thanks from beef-eaters

2．Mr Stone thought that since his government didn’t prove that the death of the girl had been caused by the disease, the countries of which representatives were listening should agree to import __________.

A．beef without disease                                   B．some other beef

C．a kind of beef as he suggested              D．as much British beef as before

3．The underlined word “mad” means “___________” on Mr Stone’s side, but “________” on the listeners side.

A．hungry; angry         B．bad; good 

C．angry; ill in mind     D．ill in mind; hungry

4．The laughter made by both the speaker and the listeners showed _________.

A．the problem of the “Mad Cow Disease” would be solved in an easy manner

B．both sides felt something funny

C．the listeners were making fun of the British speaker, Mr Stone

D．Mr Stone’s speech was a successful one