As prices and building costs keep rising , the “do-it-yourself”(DIY) trend(趋势)in the USA continues to grow .
“We needed furniture for our living rooms ,” says John Ross , “and we just didn’t have enough money to buy it . So we decided to try making a few tables and chairs .” John got married six months ago , and like many young people these days , they are struggling to make a home at a time when the cost of living is very high .The Rosses took a 2-week course for $280 at a night school .Now they make all their furniture and repairs around the house .
Jim Hatfield has three boys and his wife has died .He has a full-time job at home as well as in a shoe making factory .Last month, he received a car repair bill for $420 . “I was deeply upset about it .Now I’ve finished a car repair course .I should be able to fix the car by myself .”
John and Jim are not unusual people .Most families in the country are doing everything they can to save money so they can fight the high cost of living. If you want to become a “do-it-yourself”, you can go to DIY classes .And for those who don’t have time to take a course, there are books that tell them how they can do things themselves.
【小题1】We can learn from the passage that many newly married people ______ .

A．take DIY courses run by the government

B．have to learn to make their own furniture

C．find it hard to pay for what they need

D．seldom go to a supermarket to buy things

【小题2】John and his wife went to evening classes to learn how to _______ .

A．run a DIY shop	B．save time and money
C．make or repair things	D．improve their life

【小题3】 When the writer says that Jim has a full-time job at home ,he means Jim___ .

A．makes shoes in his home	B．does extra work at night
C．repairs his own car at home	D．keeps house and looks after his children

【小题4】 Jim Hatfield decided to become a do-it-yourself when he found _____ .

A．his car repairs cost too much

B．the car repair class was not helpful

C．he could not possibly do two jobs

D．he had to raise the children all by himself

Not only women wear skirts. Men can wear them, too. In Scotland (苏格兰), men wear a kilt – a kind of skirt. The kilt is their national dress.
The kilt has checks (方格) and different colors, like red or blue. Each family in Scotland has its own colors. How did the Scotsmen (苏格兰男人) start to wear kilts. There is a story about it. Rawlinson had some workers from Scotland in his office and he thought their clothing got in the way of their work. So he cut their clothes into a shorter skirt.
Today, they usually only wear them at weddings (婚礼) or big dinners. Only a few men wear a kilt every day. Scotsmen also wear kilts in big parties. The policemen still have skills as the dress uniforms, but they don’t wear them to catch the thieves.
【小题1】 A kilt is ______.

A．a hat

B．a shirt

C．a skirt

D．a sweater

【小题2】In Scotland, different families have different _____ of kilts.

A．prices

B．colors

C．styles

D．checks

【小题3】 What does “got in the way of” mean?

A．妨碍

B．得到

C．在路上

D．到达

【小题4】When do Scotsmen wear kilts?

A．At weddings

B．At big dinners

C．In big parties

D．All of above.

【小题5】The story is about ________.

A．Scotsmen’s traditional kilts	B．how to make kilts
C．what a kilt is	D．how much the kilt is

As we all know, Charles Dickens is considered to be a great English writer. He's very famous not only in Britain, but also in many other   31  in the world. He was born in 1812 and he lived in London. He wrote lots of books, and he also liked   32 . He was an actor.
Maybe it's interesting to hear that and that's  33  his books were so good. He gave public readings of his stories that were very popular. His stories first appeared in a magazine, in parts. People always wanted  34  part. He wrote a lot, and most of them are popular. There are films and plays of them   35 : Oliver Twist became a famous musical play, and Great Expectations was a wonderful   36 __.Dickens' early life was very hard. His family was poor, and his mother sent him out to work in a factory when he was 12. He   37  it, but he used his experiences in his writing. He married Catherine Hogarth and they had a big family. He continued to write   38 he died. When he died in 1870, he was  39  a story. But what a pity! We'll never know _40_ it ended.

【小题1】

A．cities B．countries C．towns D．villages

【小题2】

A．reading B．writing C．acting D．playing

【小题3】

A．what B．how C．when D．why

【小题4】

A．the next B．next C．next to D．next time

【小题5】

A．too B．as well C．as well as D．also

【小题6】

A．book B．story C．play D．film

【小题7】

A．hated B．enjoyed C．wanted D．shamed

【小题8】

A．as B．while C．until D．since

【小题9】

A．drawing B．singing C．writing D．making

【小题10】

A．what B．how C．who D．which

As space science develops, man has learned more and more about space. Space is not only amazing but also dangerous. While working in space, spacemen are facing danger as well as success.

Scientists have found out that the radiation（辐射） is the greatest danger to spacemen in space. When spacemen are working in space, they are in danger of the radiation from the sun and other stars, which is bad for their health. The harm of the radiation won’t be found until their children even grandchildren are born. Some special medicine may work a little, but no really effective medicine has been found so far.
Space rubbish is also thought to be a great danger to spacemen. It’s reported that there were 9,000 man-made things flying in space. About 30% of these are satellites, 10% are spaceships, and the rest are space rubbish. An explosion（爆炸）in space in 1999 made a cloud of 300,000 fragments, each at least 4mm in size. A small piece of these even knocked a spaceship window and caused some damage（损坏）.
Scientists are watching and reporting any possible danger all the time. They are working to deal with space rubbish. Although space is really dangerous, it interests many people on the earth. In the near future, it may become possible for people to spend a few days in a space hotel. We may even choose to leave the earth and live in space in a few years. So we should do something to help improve the space environment.
【小题1】 ______ shows the man-made things in space in the correct way.
   

A．

B．

C．

D．

【小题2】The radiation from the sun and other stars is ______ to spacemen.

A．good

B．helpful

C．useful

D．harmful

【小题3】 The underlined word “fragments”means “______”.

A．碎片

B．泡沫

C．烟雾

D．飞碟

【小题4】 The passage talks about _________ kinds of danger in space.

A．two

B．three

C．four

D．five

【小题5】 Which of the following is TRUE?

A．Scientists have found out ways to solve any problem in space.

B．Every one of us can have a travel to space in ten years.

C．The harm of the radiation may be found in the spacemen’s children.

D．Space is really dangerous, so it doesn’t interest anyone on the earth.

As the sun rose, a dewdrop (露珠)woke up. There it sat on a leaf, catching the sunlight. Proud of its simple beauty, it was very happy. Around it were other dewdrops, some on the same leaf and some on other leaves. The dewdrop was sure that it was the best, the most special dewdrop of them all.
Ah, it was good to be a dewdrop.
The wind blew and the plant began to shake, tipping (使倾斜) the leaf. The dewdrop became frightened as it started to move towards the edge (边缘)of the leaf. Why was this happening? Things were comfortable. Things were safe. Why did they have to change? Why? Why?
The dewdrop reached the edge of the leaf. It was sure that this was the end. The day had only just begun and the end had come so quickly. It seemed so unfair. It seemed so meaningless. It tried hard to do whatever it could to stay on the leaf, but it was no use.
Finally, it fell. Below there was a mirror. A reflection of the dewdrop seemed to be coming up to meet it.  Closer and closer they came together until finally.., the small dewdrop became a part of the great pond (池塘). Now the dewdrop was no more, but it was not destroyed.
It had become one with the whole.
【小题1】According to Paragraph 1, we know that the dewdrop _____.

A．didn’t get on well with other dewdrops

B．thought its beauty was too simple

C．couldn’t get any sunlight

D．thought itself as the best dewdrop

【小题2】The dewdrop became _____ as it started to move towards the edge of the leaf.

A．scared

B．happy

C．proud

D．comfortable

【小题3】Which of the following is TRUE according to the story?

A．There was only one dewdrop on the leaf.

B．The dewdrop did nothing before falling.

C．The mirror in the story refers to the pond.

D．The dewdrop was actually destroyed.

【小题4】What does the underlined word “reflection” mean?

A．反映

B．考虑

C．沉思

D．倒影

【小题5】The story mainly tells us that _____.

A．we should work together against difficulties

B．people should not be too proud of themselves

C．one should work hard for his/her goals

D．it’s good to become one with the whole