In China, many people are leaving the countryside to find jobs in the cities, because the countryside is much poorer than the city, and often there isn’t much work there. Services such as hospital and transport （交通） are usually much better in the city than in the countryside. They hope that their lives will improve when they move to the city.
But in the big cities of Europe like London or Pads, people are moving out of the city. These rich families want to live a quieter life. They are tired of the noise and the dirt （尘土） of the city, and they are tired of the crowded streets, crowded trains and buses. They don’t want to live in the cities any more. They want a house with a garden in the countryside, and breathe the fresh air there.
So they move out of the cities. Some don’t go very far, just a little way out of the city, to the towns near the cities, other people move to the real countryside with sheep, cows and green fields. There, they start new lives and try to make new friends.
Not all those who move from the city to the countryside are happy. After two or three years, many people who have done this feel that it was a big mistake. They don’t make so much money and there isn’t much work to do. People in the countryside are very different and aren’t always very friendly.
As a result, quite a lot of people who have moved to the countryside move back to the city. “It’s wonderful to see crowds in the streets and cinema lights.” they say.
【小题1】Which is NOT the reason for people moving to the cities in China?

－English is too hard for me to study well. I don’t want to learn it any more.
－Don’t        . It is useful in the future.

When you read an article you will understand and remember it better if you can work out how the writer has put the ideas together．Sometimes a writer puts ideas together by asking questions and then answering them．For example，if the article is about groundhogs（土拨鼠），the set of questions in the writer’s head might be：

What does a groundhog look like？

Where do groundhogs live？

What do they eat？…

In the article，the author might answer those questions．

Sometimes an author writes out her questions in the article．These questions give you signals．They tell you what the author is going to write next．Often an author has a question in her head but she doesn’t write it out for you．You have to work out her question for yourself．Here’s a sample reading for you to practice this method.

Earthworms

Do you know how many kinds of earthworms there are？There are about 1800 kinds in the world！ They can be brown，purple，green．They can be as small as 3 cm long and as large as 3 m long．

The best time to see earthworms is at night，especially a cool，damp night．That’s when they come up from their burrows（地洞）to hunt for food．Earthworms don’t like to be in the sun．That’s because they breathe through their skin，and they can’t breathe if their skin gets too dry．Earthworms must come out of the earth if it rains a lot，because they can't breathe in their flooded burrows．What a dangerous life！

Earthworms don't have eyes，so how can they tell when it's dark？ They have special places on their skin that are sensitive to light．These spots tell whether it’s light or dark．If you shine a flashlight on an earthworm at night，it will quickly disappear into the ground．

Earthworms don't have ears either，but they can hear by feeling movements in the earth．If you want to hear like an earthworm，lie on the ground with your fingers in your ears．Then have a friend stamp his or her feet near you．This is how earthworms feel birds and people walking，and moles digging，near them．

Earthworms are useful．Farmers and gardeners like having lots of earthworms in their land because the worms help to make better soil when they dig．That digging keeps the soil loose and airy（通风的）．In one year earthworms can pile up as much as 23,000 kg of castings in an area about the size of a football field．

1.What’s the purpose of reading Earthworms?

A．To show the special life facts of earthworms.

B．To explain the differences from the groundhogs.

C．To put the writer’s idea into real use.

D．To make the readers think more clearly.

2.Which question CANNOT be answered in the passage?

A．How do earthworms help with gardeners?

B．What life are earthworms living with?

C．When may people observe earthworms?

D．Why can human listen like earthworms?

3.How can you understand Earthworms better according to this passage?

A．Read, ask and answer questions in your own head while reading.

B．Read to work out all the questions in the writer’s head while reading.

C．Read and check all the things that are not clear to you again and again.

D．Read for general ideas and discuss or compare with other similar topics.

4.What’s the best title for the passage?

A．One way to help with understanding

B．One way to practice with a new idea

C．One way to learn to be a wise writer

D．One way to be clearer about worms

Boris has brain. In fact, I don’t think that anyone in the class has ________ IQ.

A. a high            B. a higher                  C. the higher             D. the highest

School BBS （校园论坛）

Topics（话题）: Ask for help

1.The topic of the BBS is             .

A．how to learn English

B．to ask for help

C．how to make friends

D．Don’t play computer games.

2.If you want to help Simon, what should he do ?

A．Don’t play computer games any more, and spend more time on lessons.

B．Go on playing computer games.

C．Don’t play computer games in the net bars, just play games at home.

D．Pay no attention to (不在意) parents and teachers.

3.Which is the best present for Tom’s father?

A．A coat.                               B．A pair of sports shoes.

C．Some flowers.                          D．Some story books.

4.Which is Jim’s favourite subject?

A．English           B．Chinese           C．Maths            D．PE

5.If you have problems, what will you do?

A．Don’t tell anyone about your problems.

B．Have a talk to your classmates and ask them to help you.

C．Pay no attention to (不在意) them.

D．B and C