－Pardon? I didn't catch ________.

－I said the book sold very well in our school.

　　 A. what you said　　　　 B. where you would go　　 C. who you talked about

Doctor Seuss was born in 1904. By the middle 1950s, he had become one of the best-loved and most successful children's book writers in the world. His books are very popular with young readers. They enjoy the invented words and the pictures of unusual funny animals and plants.

In 1954, life magazine published(刊登) a report about school children who could not read. The report said many children's books were not interesting. Doctor Seuss strongly hoped to help children and decided to write books that were interesting and easy to read. He used words with the same ending sound, like fish and wish. He did not receive training in art. Yet, he drew the pictures for most of his books.

     In 1957, Dr. Seuss wrote The Cat in the Hat. He used less than 230 words to write the book and even a six-year-old should be able to read it. It was a fun story and easy to read. Children loved it. Their parents loved it, too. Today it is still one of the stories they like best. The success of The Cat in the Hat made him want to write more books for children. In 1960, he wrote a book using less than fifty words. The book is called Green Eggs and Ham.

     In 1984, Doctor Seuss won a Pulitzer Prize (普利策奖). He was honored for the education and enjoyment his books provided（提供） American children and their parents.

     He died at the age of 87, but his influence（影响） remains. Millions of his books have been sold worldwide. People say his books helped change the way American children learned to read. Yet, his books are loved by people of all ages. Doctor Seuss once said, "I do not write for children. I write for people.

1.Doctor Seuss learned from the magazine that _______.

      A. some school children could not read

      B. many children's books were interesting

      C. children wanted to learn to read

      D. a writer for children was wanted

2.People like his books because the books ______.

     A. are cheap and easy to get

      B. were written in different languages

      C. are easy and interesting to read

      D. were written with invented words

3.He wrote the book The Cat in the Hat at the age of _____.

     A. 50          B. 53            C. 56           D. 87

4.Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?

     A. Doctor Seuss wrote Green Eggs and Ham with over 230 words.

     B. Doctor Seuss wrote books only for children in the United States.

     C. The Cat in the Hat was written only for six-year-old children.

     D. His books provided education and enjoyment for Americans.

5.From the text we know that Doctor Seuss __________.

A. won a Pulitzer Prize soon after his death

B. sold millions of his books himself worldwide

C. changed American children's way of reading

D. wrote the largest number of books in the world

At least thirty times Bobby had tried to climb the snowy mountain, but he had never   46   the top. His friend old Peeper, who knew a lot about his failures,  47  Bobby to try again. He gave Bobby a pair of sunglasses and said, “If it starts clouding over, put on the glasses, or if your feet start hurting, put them on too. The glasses are very 48 . They’ll help you.” Bobby received the gift without much thought.

The day came when he was to have another   49 . About two hours after he started, he felt his feet hurting. Then he  50 what Peeper had said, and put on the glasses. The pain was pretty bad, but   51  the sunglasses he could clearly see the snow-covered mountain top, so he went on.

  52 , clouds were gathering. But this time Bobby could still see the  53 through the clouds. He kept climbing , leaving the clouds behind, forgetting his pain, and finally arriving at the top. It was certainly worth it. His feeling of   54  was extremely good, almost as great as that  55 view. The mountain below was surrounded (包围) by a sea of clouds. He couldn’t believe that the clouds were as thick as that, so he looked more closely at the sunglasses, and discovered the  56  . Peeper had engraved (镌刻) the snow-covered mountain top on the sunglasses,  57  Bobby could see it when he was looking upwards!

Bobby __58  that the only difficulty to reaching the top had been losing   59  when he couldn’t see the mountain top. He was thankful that Peeper had used that little trick to help him see that his   60   was never impossible, and that it was still there, where it had always been.

Today we’ll talk about the history of blue jeans. For many people, blue jeans stand for (代表) American culture.
The history of blue jeans usually began with a man named Levi Strauss. He did not invent jeans. But he is the first person to produce and sell them in large numbers. Levi Strauss was born in Germany. In 1847, he and his family moved to the United States. He opened a small store and sold jeans. These pants were especially useful for miners (矿工) in California. They needed strong clothing. Levi Strauss worked with Jacob Davis, who had invented a step for making rivets (铆钉) for jeans. They helped make the blue jeans stronger.
In 1873, Strauss and Davis received a patent (专利) to own this invention. Nineteenth century workers would probably be surprised to know that their pants would one day become fashions. Today, jeans are worn by people of all ages. Jeans come in many colors other than blue and in many styles and prices. Fashion designers even create very costly jeans.
Writer James published a book called Jeans: A Cultural History of an American Icon (偶像). In the book, he says jeans serve as a sign for two American values, creativity and rebellion (叛逆).
【小题1】 Why did Jacob use rivets for jeans?