John sent his mother expensive presents on his mother's birthday every year. He liked to show her how rich he was.

"I must find something wonderful for her, and it must be the only one in the whole world. "John thought.

He advertised (登广告) in the newspapers. " Wanted—the best present for the woman who has everything. "

For many days his telephone did not stop ringing. People phoned him from all over the world. They wanted to sell him "the best present". But they did not have anything that was the only one in the whole world.

Then less than a week before his mother's birthday, a man came to his office. He was carrying a cage, and in the cage there was a large bird.

"This bird, "the man said, "can speak ten languages and sing any pop song. There is no other bird like it in the world. "

"I will listen to it, "John said. "If what you said is true, I will buy the bird from you. "

The man spoke to the bird. "Talk to me in French, " he said. The bird spoke to him in French. "Tell me a joke in Japanese, " he said. The bird told him a joke in Japanese. "Sing a famous pop song, "he said. The bird sang a famous pop song.

"I'll buy it, "John said. "How much do you want?"

"One hundred thousand dollars, "the man said. This was a lot of money but John paid him. Then he sent the bird to his mother with a birthday card.

The day after his mother's birthday he phoned her. "Well, mother, "he said, "Is the bird wonderful?"

"Oh, it was delicious, dear, "she said.

1. Why did John send her mother expensive presents for her birthday every year?

A. Because he loved his mother very much.

B. Because his mother needed these presents.

C. Because he wanted to show he had a lot of money.

D. Because he was the richest man in the world.

2. How did people know John wanted the best present in the world?

A. They rang John up.

B. They knew it from the newspapers.

C. John phoned them one by one.

D. They knew it on TV.

3.When did the man with a bird come to visit John?

A. Two weeks before John's mother's birthday.

B. On John's mother's birthday.

C. About five days before John's mother's birthday.

D. Less than a week after John's mother's birthday.

4. Why did John pay the man a lot of money for the bird?

A. Because it was such a beautiful bird.

B. Because he wanted to help the poor man with the bird.

C. Because the bird could look after his mother.

D.  Because John  thought  the bird could make his mother happy.

5. What does the sentence "It was delicious, "really mean in the story?

A. His mother ate the bird.

B. His mother let the bird fly away.

C. His mother began to learn languages from the bird.

D.  His mother thought  it  was the most  expensive present in the world.

 

John and Bobby joined the same company together just after they completed their university studies the same year. Both of them worked very hard. Several years later, however, the boss promoted(提拔) Bobby to manager but John was still a worker. John could not take it, and gave his resignation（辞职书） to the boss. He complained that the boss did not think much of those who were hard -working, but promoted only those who flattered him.

The boss knew that John had worked very hard for the years. He thought a moment and said, “Thank you for what you said, but I hope you will do one more thing for our company before you leave”

John agreed. The boss asked him to go and find anyone selling watermelons in the market. John went and returned soon. He said he had found a man selling watermelons. The boss asked how much they cost every kilogram. John shook his head and went back to the seller to ask and returned to tell the boss $1.2 every kilogram.

The boss told John to wait a second, and he called Bobby to come to his office.  He asked Bobby to go and find anyone selling watermelons in the market. Bobby went and returned, saying, “Boss, only one person is selling watermelons. $1.2 every kilogram, and $10 for 10 kilograms. The seller has 340 melons. On the table there are 58 melons, and each weighs about 2 kilograms. They were brought from the South two days ago. They are of good quality.”

Hearing what Bobby said, John realized the difference between himself and Bobby. He decided to stay and learn from Bobby.

1.How did John feel when Bobby was promoted to manager?

A．Angry.            B．Nervous.          C．Unlucky.          D．Helpless.

2.The boss gave John a task because______________.

A．he wanted John to do more for his company

B．he wanted John to learn more about himself

C．he wanted to punish John for what he said

D．he wanted to prove what John said was right

3.We can infer from the passage that_____________.

A．Bobby was unselfish                     B．John was lazy

C．the seller was dishonest                  D．the boss was wise

4.What can we learn from the passage?

A．The boss should treat all his workers in a fair way.

B．The boss should not promote one who flatters him.

C．One should not only work hard but also use his head.

D．One should try to get every detail of watermelons.

 

 I agree with most of what you said. But I don’t agree with___________.

A. anything            B. something         C. nothing       D. everything

 

用所给词的正确形式填空。
【小题1】The bag is __________(light) than that one.
【小题2】I’m sorry to say that there’s nothing ________(eat).
【小题3】When I visited them at 7 o’clock yesterday, they _____________(chat) by the fire.
【小题4】There are many boys _________(play) on the playground.
【小题5】We must send a letter to her. A letter must _________(send) to her.
【小题6】What you said makes me __________(confuse)
【小题7】He needs _________(spend) time with friends.
【小题8】An ad can lead you _________(buy) something you don’t need.
【小题9】She ______________(live) here since three years ago.
【小题10】____________(receive) money makes me uncomfortable.

短文填词（共10分）

A blind boy sat on the steps of a building with a hat by his feet. He held up a sign saying, “ I’m blind, please help.” There were only a few coins in the hat.

A man was   1   by. He took a few coins from his pockets and put them   2   the hat. Then the man took the sign, turned it around, and   3   some words. He put the sign back so that everyone who walked by   4   see the new words.

Soon the hat began to fill up. A lot   5   people were giving money to the blind boy. That afternoon the man who had changed the sign came to see how things were. The boy recognized(听出) his footsteps and asked, “ Were you the one who changed my sign this morning? What did you   6  ?”

The man said, “ I just wrote the truth. I said what you said but in a   7   way.”

What he had written was, “Today is a beautiful day; I can not see it.” Of course,   8  the signs told people the boy was blind.  9  the first sign simply said the boy was blind. The second    sign told people they were so lucky that they were not blind. Should we be surprised that the second   10  was more effective(有效的)?