Outside her shabby cottage, old Mrs. Tailor was hanging out laundry on a wire line, unaware that some children lay hidden in the leaves of a nearby tree watching her every move. They were determined to find out if she really was a witch.

They watched as she took a broomstick to clean the dirt from her stone steps. But, much to their disappointment, she did not mount the broomstick and take flight. Suddenly, the old lady’s work was interrupted by the cackling of her hen―a signal that an egg had been laid in the warm nest on top of the haystack.

The old broomstick was put aside as she hobbled off towards the haystack followed by Sooty, a black cat she had rescued from a fox trap some time back. With only three legs, it was hard for Sooty to keep up with the old lady. The cat provided proof―the children were sure that only a witch could own a black cat with three legs.

There, standing on a wooden box, was Mrs. Tailor, stretching out to gather her precious egg. Taking the egg in one of her hands, she began to climb down when, without warning, the box broke and the old lady fell.

“We have to got and help her,” whispered Amy.

“What if it is a trick?” replied Ben.

“Don’t be silly, Ben. If she were a witch, she would have turned us into frogs already,” reasoned Meg. “Come on Amy, let’s go.” The girls climbed down the tree and ran all the way to the haystack.

Approaching carefully, they could see a wound on the old lady’s face. She had knocked her head on a stone and her ankle was definitely broken. “Go and get Dad,” Amy yelled to her brother. “Tell him about the accident.”

The boys did not need another excuse to leave. They ran as fast as thy could for help, hoping that Mrs. Tailor would not wake and turn the girls into frogs.

56. Were the children hiding in the tree?

A. They wanted to watch Mrs. Tailor do her housework closely.

B. They were playing a hide-and-seek game

C. They wanted to find out if the rumors about Mrs. Tailor were true

D. They were pretending to be spies

57. Mrs. Tailor stopped sweeping when____

A. her front steps were clean             B. she noticed the children in the tree

C. she was ready to take a flight          D. she heard the hen cackling

58. Ben did not rush in help Mrs. Tailor because_____

A. he thought that she could be necking them

B. he knew that they could not have been in the tree

C. he did not the old lady fall down

D. he was afraid of the three-legged cat

59. Which of these old sayings best suits the story’s lesson for us?

A. Make hay while the sun shines.

B. Never judge a book by its cover.

C. People in glasshouses should not the stones.

D. A bird in the hands worth two in the bush.

根据短文内容，从短文后的选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项。选项中有两项为多余选项。

What is your favourite colour? Do you like yellow, orange, red? 1.Do you prefer greys and blues? Then you are probably quiet, shy, and you would rather follow than lead. You tend to be a pessimist（悲观主义者）. At least, this is what psychologists tell us, and they should know, because they have been seriously studying the meaning of colour preference, as well as the effect that colours have on human beings. 2.If you happen to love brown, you did so, as soon as you opened your eyes, or at least as soon as you could see clearly.

3.. A yellow room makes most people feel more cheerful and more relaxed than a dark green one; and a red dress brings warmth and cheer to the saddest winter day. 4.. A black bridge over the Thames River, near London, used to be the scene of more suicides(自杀) than any other bridge in the area---until it was repainted green. The number of suicide attempts immediately fell sharply. Perhaps it would have fallen even more if the bridge had been done in pink or baby blue.

5.It is an established fact that factory workers work better, harder, and have fewer accidents when their machines are painted orange rather than black or grey.

A. On the other hand, black is depressing.

B. They tell us, among other facts, that we do not choose our favourite colour as grow up --- we are born with our preference.

C. The rooms are painted in different colours as you like.

D. If you do, you must be an optimist, a leader, an active person who enjoys life, people and excitement.

E. Light and bright colours make people not only happier but more active.

F. Life is like a picture or a poem, full of different colours.

G. Colours do influence our moods---there is no doubt about it.

A major earthquake rocked Haiti at 4:53 pm local time on Jan.12, 2010, killing possibly thousands of people but no official figure has been released so far.

The quake, which struck about 15km (10 miles) south-west of the capital, Port-au-Prince, was quickly followed by two strong aftershocks. In the space of a minute, numerous buildings fell down. A five-story U.N. building was also brought down by the 7.3 magnitude quake, the most powerful to hit Haiti in more than 200 years according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

As night fell, the whole city is in total darkness. You can see thousands of people sitting in the streets with nowhere to go. There are people running, crying, screaming. Describing the earthquake as a "catastrophe", Haiti’s president said the cost of the damage could run into billions.

Haiti became the first independent Caribbean state in the early 19th century. Haiti's location, history and attracting climate once made it a tourist hot place. However, decades of poverty, environmental pollution and violence have left it as the poorest nation in the Americas. It has suffered a lot, including four hurricanes and storms in 2008 that killed hundreds.

1.The great earthquake happened to the _______ of the capital city.

2. What can we infer from the underlined sentence?

3. What’s the meaning of the word in bald “catastrophe”?

4.Which statement about Haiti is NOT true?

A great French writer said that we should help everyone as much as possible because we often need help ourselves. The small even can help the great. To this effect, he tells a simple story. 
An ant was drinking at a small river and fell in. She tried hard to reach the side, but made no progress at all. The poor ant, almost tired out, was still bravely doing her best when a bird saw her. Moved with pity, the bird threw her a blade (叶片) of grass, which supported her like a boat, and thus she reached the bank again. While she was resting and drying herself in the grass she heard a man coming near. He was walking along barefooted and carrying a gun in his hand. As he saw the bird he wished to kill her, and he would certainly have done so, but the ant bit him in the foot just before he raised his gun to fire. He stopped to see what had bit him, and the bird immediately flew away. It was an animal much weaker and smaller than herself that had saved her life. 
【小题1】 According to the French writer, we often need help from others, therefore we should________. 

A．when the water pushed her	B．with the help of a piece of wood
C．with the help of a blade of grass	D．when the bird reached out a leg for her

根据短文内容, 从短文后的选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项。选项中有两项为多余选项。
What is your favourite colour? Do you like yellow, orange, red?   【小题1】  . Do you prefer greys and blues? Then you are probably quiet, shy, and you would rather follow than lead. You tend to be pessimist(悲观主义者). At least, this is what psychologists tell us, and they should know, because they have been seriously studying the meaning of colour preference, as well as the effect that colours have on human beings. 【小题2】   . If you happen to love brown, you did so, as soon as you opened your eyes, or at least as soon as you could see clearly.
   【小题3】   . A yellow room makes most people feel more cheerful and more relaxed than a dark green one; and a red dress brings warmth and cheer to the saddest winter day.   【小题4】  . A black bridge over the Thames River, near London, used to be the scene of more suicides(自杀) than any other bridge in the area---until it was repainted green. The number of suicide attempts immediately fell sharply. Perhaps it would have fallen even more if the bridge had been done in pink or baby blue.
  【小题5】  . It is an established fact that factory workers work better, harder, and have fewer accidents when their machines are painted orange rather than black or grey.