An eight-year-old child heard her parents talking about her little brother. All she knew was that he was very sick and they had no money. Only a very expensive operation(手术) could save him now and there was no one to lend them the money.

　　When she heard her daddy say to her tearful mother， “Only a miracle(something couldn’t happen) can save him now，” the little girl went to her bedroom and pulled her money from its hiding place and counted it carefully.

　　She hurried to a drugstore(药店)with the money in her hand.

　　“And what do you want？” asked the salesman. “ It's for my little brother，” the girl answered. “He's really，really sick and I want to buy a miracle. ”

　　"Pardon？”said the salesman.

　　“My brother Andrew has something bad growing in-side his head and my daddy says only a miracle can save him. So how much does a miracle cost？”“We don't sell a miracle here，child. I'm sorry，”the salesman said with a smile.

　　“Listen，if it isn't enough，I can try and get some more. Just tell me how much it costs. ”

　　A well-dressed man heard it and asked， “What kind of a miracle does your brother need？”　　“I don't know，” she answered with her eyes full of tears. “He's really sick and mum says he needs an operation. But my daddy can't pay for it， so I have brought all my money. ”

　　“How much do you have？” asked the man. “$ 1.11， but I can try and get some more，” she answered.

　　“Well, what luck，”smiled the man. “$ 1.11， the price of a miracle for little brothers. ”

　　He took up the girl's hand and said， “Take me to where you live. I want to see your brother and meet your parents. Let's see if I have the kind of miracle you need. ”

That well-dressed man was Dr. Carlton Armstrong, a famous doctor. The operation was successful and it wasn't long before Andrew was home again.

　　How much did the miracle cost？

1.What was the trouble in the little girl's family？

A. Her brother was seriously ill.

B. They had no money.

C. Nothing could save her brother.

D. Both A and B.

2.In the eye of the little girl,a miracle might be _______.

A．something interesting

B．something beautiful

C．some wonderful medicine

D．some good food

3.What made the miracle happen？

A．The girl's love for her brother.

B．The girl's money.

C．The medicine from the drugstore.

D．Nobody can tell.

4.From the passage we can infer(推断) that _______.

A．The doctor didn't ask for any pay

B．A miracle is sure to happen if you keep on

C．The little girl is lovely but not so clever

D．Andrew was in fact not so sick as they had thought

Mary’s dime（一毛钱）
It was Sunday afternoon. I decided to clean up the room nicely so that my parents would feel   1  when they returned from a long ride! Then, I sat in the room, having nothing to do.
　　 What else could I do? Then, with no reason, I suddenly  2  the pale face of that little beggar(乞丐) girl. I could see the glad light   3  her eyes when I put the dime in her little dirty hand.
　　  How much I  4  that dime, too! Grandpa gave it to me a whole month ago, and I had kept it ever since in my red box upstairs, but those sugar apples looked so attractive, and were so   5  — only a dime a piece — that I wanted to have one.
　　  I could imagine the little girl stood there in front of the  6  in her old dirty dress, looking at the   7  that were put all in a row in the window. I wonder what I should say, “Little girl, what do you want?” I gently asked. She felt   8  and looked straight at me, just as if（似乎）nobody had spoken so   9  to her before. She realized what I had meant, so she said seriously and sadly. “I was thinking how good one of those delicious hamburgers would  10 . I haven’t had anything to eat today.”
　　 Now I thought to myself, “Mary Williams, you have had a good breakfast and a good lunch today,   11  this poor girl has not had a mouthful yet. You can give her your  12 . She needs it a great deal more than you do.”
　　 I could not run away from that little girl’s sad,  13  look — so I dropped the dime right into her hand. How  14  the girl was! I am so glad I gave her the dime,  15  I had to go without the apple lying there in the window.

An eight-year-old child heard her parents talking about her little brother. All she knew was that he was very sick and they had no money. Only a very expensive operation(手术) could save him now and there was no one to lend them the money.
　　When she heard her daddy say to her tearful mother， “Only a miracle(something couldn’t happen) can save him now，” the little girl went to her bedroom and pulled her money from its hiding place and counted it carefully.
　　She hurried to a drugstore(药店)with the money in her hand.
　　“And what do you want？” asked the salesman. “ It's for my little brother，” the girl answered. “He's really，really sick and I want to buy a miracle. ”
　　"Pardon？”said the salesman.
　　“My brother Andrew has something bad growing in-side his head and my daddy says only a miracle can save him. So how much does a miracle cost？”“We don't sell a miracle here，child. I'm sorry，”the salesman said with a smile.
　　“Listen，if it isn't enough，I can try and get some more. Just tell me how much it costs. ”
　　A well-dressed man heard it and asked， “What kind of a miracle does your brother need？”　　“I don't know，” she answered with her eyes full of tears. “He's really sick and mum says he needs an operation. But my daddy can't pay for it， so I have brought all my money. ”
　　“How much do you have？” asked the man. “$ 1.11， but I can try and get some more，” she answered.
　　“Well, what luck，”smiled the man. “$ 1.11， the price of a miracle for little brothers. ”
　　He took up the girl's hand and said， “Take me to where you live. I want to see your brother and meet your parents. Let's see if I have the kind of miracle you need. ”
That well-dressed man was Dr. Carlton Armstrong, a famous doctor. The operation was successful and it wasn't long before Andrew was home again.
　　How much did the miracle cost？
【小题1】What was the trouble in the little girl's family？
A. Her brother was seriously ill.
B. They had no money.
C. Nothing could save her brother.
D. Both A and B.
【小题2】In the eye of the little girl,a miracle might be _______.

Mary’s dime（一毛钱）

It was Sunday afternoon. I decided to clean up the room nicely so that my parents would feel   1  when they returned from a long ride! Then, I sat in the room, having nothing to do.

　　 What else could I do? Then, with no reason, I suddenly  2  the pale face of that little beggar(乞丐) girl. I could see the glad light   3  her eyes when I put the dime in her little dirty hand.

　　  How much I  4  that dime, too! Grandpa gave it to me a whole month ago, and I had kept it ever since in my red box upstairs, but those sugar apples looked so attractive, and were so   5  — only a dime a piece — that I wanted to have one.

　　  I could imagine the little girl stood there in front of the  6  in her old dirty dress, looking at the   7  that were put all in a row in the window. I wonder what I should say, “Little girl, what do you want?” I gently asked. She felt   8  and looked straight at me, just as if（似乎）nobody had spoken so   9  to her before. She realized what I had meant, so she said seriously and sadly. “I was thinking how good one of those delicious hamburgers would  10 . I haven’t had anything to eat today.”

　　 Now I thought to myself, “Mary Williams, you have had a good breakfast and a good lunch today,   11  this poor girl has not had a mouthful yet. You can give her your  12 . She needs it a great deal more than you do.”

　　 I could not run away from that little girl’s sad,  13  look — so I dropped the dime right into her hand. How  14  the girl was! I am so glad I gave her the dime,  15  I had to go without the apple lying there in the window.

1.                A．disturbed       B．unhappy        C．satisfied  D．interested

2.                A．saw            B．remembered    C．forgot    D．described

3.                A．filling          B．protecting       C．attracting D．touching

4.                A．hated          B．loved          C．missed   D．noticed

5.                A．valuable        B．meaningful      C．expensive D．cheap

6.                A．market         B．library          C．store D．bookshop

7.                A．dresses         B．magazines       C．books    D．candies

8.                A．surprised       B．excited         C．pleased   D．worried

9.                A．happily         B．kindly          C．angrily   D．sadly

10.               A．taste           B．sound          C．feel  D．smell

11.               A．since          B．so             C．and  D．but

12.               A．apple          B．hamburger      C．dime D．candy

13.               A．proud          B．angry          C．calm  D．hungry

14.               A．grateful        B．unlucky        C．lonely D．friendly

15.               A．unless         B．if              C．though    D．because

Linda and David have traveled by air from London to Sydney, Australia． Linda has promised（答应）her mother that she will ring her to let her know that they have arrived safely． This is something she had done ever since she was a child． David thinks it is not a good idea to ring so far, to spend too much ,and to say so little．

"If there were an accident．" He says, “they’d know soon enough ． Bad news travels fast．”

But Linda has promised that she would ring ． "However," she says, "it doesn’t cost much when you just think that it′s the other side of the world．It’s only six pence per second (每秒六便士)。"

　"If you′re on that telephone for less than one minute, I’ll eat my hat, David says," And one minute’s nearly four pounds(英镑)．"

　"That‘s no more than you’d pay for a new hat," Linda answers．

　She has asked the man at the hotel (旅馆) desk to get her the number ． The telephone rings．Linda picks it up．

　"Hello, Mum ．Is that you ?" She says．

　"Six pence per second ," David reminds(提醒) her．

　“Hello, love．” It is Mrs Lee, Linda’s mother, speaking from London． "I can hear you very clearly just like you are in the next room ．It′s a better line than when you called me from your office． Do you remember? I shouted at that time ,and still you couldn’t hear me sometimes．"

　"Yes ,Mum ．"Linda puts in．． "I just wanted to ring to ……．"

　"I remember how you rang when you went to Betty‘s house to eat , when you were a little girl．And then when you …" Mrs Lee is a great talker

　"Nearly four pounds．" says David．

　Linda tries to tell her mother that it is time to say goodbye．

　"Yes, all right, "says Mrs Lee ," But you will write, won′t you, as you did when you were at work …"

Once again, Mrs Lee talks about the pass．and there is no stopping her．

“Four pounds fifty,”says David．

　At last, Linda cuts her mother short, promises to write, and rings off．

"There! That wasn′t long, was it ?"
　　" Four pounds, ninety pence．" David answers． " And you didn’t even say that we′ve arrived．"

1．Linda is telephoning home to ________．

A．tell her mother some bad news

B．say that she and David have arrived safely

C．report an accident to her mother

D．say that she and David have left London

2．Linda does not think it expensive to ring , because _____．

A．it only costs four pounds and ninety pence

B．it is even more expensive to buy a new hat

C．she had telephoned home since she was a child

D．she will speak from one side of the word to the other

3．David says, “Nearly four pounds , ”because ______．

A．he wants to remind Linda of the cost of the cost of the call

B．he wants to buy himself a new hat

C．Linda has not told her mother they have arrived

D．he wants Mrs Lee to know how much the call costs

4．Mrs Lee goes on talking for so long because _______．

A．she likes to hear all about the past ．

B．she likes talking

C．Linda had not told her that she has arrived

D．she is going to pay for the telephone call

5．Linda tries to stop her mother by ________．

A．telling her how much the call is costing

B．writing a letter as she has promised to do

C．telling her that they have arrived safely

D．promising to write, and ringing off