A lot of people like reading, why? Words play magic. They can create pictures in our mind; they’re can help us express our feelings that we have been trying to hide, and like a key, words can open up locked hearts and free our souls that have been kept deep inside.

When different people are reading the same passage, for example, about a scene(情景) which shows a palace at midnight, the words they read are the same, yet if they are asked to point out what the scene is like in their mind, each person will have the pictures drawn differently. How they draw their palace according to their nature appears to be view on how they can see things.

Although human minds are different, I do believe that somehow(以某种方法) we have all come across mutual feelings. Stories that touch（触动） us, stressed that terrify us, stories that set us free---- we all have tasted the pain, the fear, the freedom because we all have feelings. I believe all of us have personalities within personalities, and by that I mean people who seem to be strong are not always that strong, they are easily hurt on the inside.

Good writers, who can smartly use the right words in their writings, will easily break through the shell(壳) of one’s personality within. Great writers, who can use only words to move the personality within, will understand one’s weakness. Excellent writers, who can use the perfect words to aim at the personality within, will open up one’s heart---- even rewrite his or her life.

I want to be an excellent writer because when I read, I feel like home. Home is where my books are. When I feel scared, I read, and it becomes my candles. When I feel sad, I read, it becomes my cover. When I feel lonely, I read, and it becomes my company.

Home is where we leave the sadness, fear and stress behind, where we only allow happiness to stay. I want to be a writer who brings such feeling to everyone to bring them home with my words.

Reading is all that I need. Whenever I read, I just feel the magic that words create, leaving everything behind.

(　 )56. What does the underlined word “mutual” in paragraph 3 mean?

A. shared　 　　　　 B. strange　 　　　 C. special　　 　　 D. different

(　 )57. The writer uses “home” in paragraph 5 and 6 to show ______________.

A. a place where we live happily　

B. a place where we read freely

C. a sense of belonging　 　　　　

D. a sense of relaxing

(　 )58. Which of the following statement is TRUE according to the passage?

A. Many words can help hide your feelings deep inside.

B. Some writers can free your personalities from locked hearts.

C. Most people will draw the same picture for the same passage.

D. No places will keep the sadness, fear and stress away from people.

(　 )59. The best title for the passage is ____________.

A. Creative Minds 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 B. Excellent writers　　　　　　

C. Touching stories　 　　　　　　　　　　　 D. Wonderful Words

Are you sorry for not traveling（旅行）during the National Day ? If you stay at home at that time, I think you are very lucky. Why? Because there are too many people everywhere. In many places of interest in China, it’s too crowded to do anything.

Look at the picture. It was too crowded on the Great Wall on October 1st, 2012. You even couldn’t take photos for you or your friends. All what we could see were people. It was reported that there were about twenty people per meter on the Great Wall. My friends told me they could see nothing but many people on the Great Wall. “We couldn’t walk if the people in front of us didn’t walk,” he said. He showed us a photo on the Great Wall. In the photo, we hardly found him out, there were too many people.

So some people give the advice that we should not have the gold week (黄金周) any more. But other people say no about this advice. What’s your idea of it? Are you sorry now for not traveling during the gold week? I love staying at home more than traveling next National Day.

56. How did the writer feel about staying at home on National Day?

A. He believed it was interesting to stay at home on National Day.

B. He believed it was boring to stay at home on National Day.　　

C. He felt lucky to stay at home on National Day.　

D. He felt sorry to stay at home on National Day.

57. Which of the following is TRUE about the Great Wall on National Day?

A. You could find yourself easily on the photos you took that day

B. You could walk as you like on the Great Wall

C. There were about 30 people per meter.

D. There were so many people there that day.

58. When is the gold week do you think?

A. In January　　 B. In August　 　　 C. In October　　　 D. In April

59. What does the underlined word crowded mean?

A. 干净　　 B. 拥挤　 　C. 宏伟 　　 D. 偏僻

60. Where do you think is the article from?

A. www.chinabus.com　　　　　 B. www.movies123.com　　　

C. www.chinatourist.com　　　　 D. www.storyhouse.com

   When you read an article you will understand and remember it better if you can work out how the writer has put the ideas together．Sometimes a writer puts ideas together by asking questions and then answering them．For example，if the article is about groundhogs（土拨鼠），the set of questions in the writer’s head might be：
    What does a groundhog look like？
    Where do groundhogs live？
    What do they eat？…
    In the article，the author might answer those questions．
   Sometimes an author writes out her questions in the article．These questions give you signals．They tell you what the author is going to write next．Often an author has a question in her head but she doesn’t write it out for you．You have to work out her question for yourself．Here’s a sample reading for you to practice this method.
                       Earthworms
  Do you know how many kinds of earthworms there are？There are about 1800 kinds in the world！ They can be brown，purple，green．They can be as small as 3 cm long and as large as 3 m long．
  The best time to see earthworms is at night，especially a cool，damp night．That’s when they come up from their burrows（地洞）to hunt for food．Earthworms don’t like to be in the sun．That’s because they breathe through their skin，and they can’t breathe if their skin gets too dry．Earthworms must come out of the earth if it rains a lot，because they can't breathe in their flooded burrows．What a dangerous life！
  Earthworms don't have eyes，so how can they tell when it's dark？ They have special places on their skin that are sensitive to light．These spots tell whether it’s light or dark．If you shine a flashlight on an earthworm at night，it will quickly disappear into the ground．
  Earthworms don't have ears either，but they can hear by feeling movements in the earth．If you want to hear like an earthworm，lie on the ground with your fingers in your ears．Then have a friend stamp his or her feet near you．This is how earthworms feel birds and people walking，and moles digging，near them．
  Earthworms are useful．Farmers and gardeners like having lots of earthworms in their land because the worms help to make better soil when they dig．That digging keeps the soil loose and airy（通风的）．In one year earthworms can pile up as much as 23,000 kg of castings in an area about the size of a football field．

56. What’s the purpose of reading Earthworms?
 A. To show the special life facts of earthworms.
 B. To explain the differences from the groundhogs.
 C. To put the writer’s idea into real use.
 D. To make the readers think more clearly. 

57. Which question CANNOT be answered in the passage?
 A. How do earthworms help with gardeners?
 B. What life are earthworms living with?
 C. When may people observe earthworms?
 D. Why can human listen like earthworms?

58. How can you understand Earthworms better according to this passage?
 A. Read, ask and answer questions in your own head while reading.
 B. Read to work out all the questions in the writer’s head while reading.
 C. Read and check all the things that are not clear to you again and again.
 D. Read for general ideas and discuss or compare with other similar topics.
59. What’s the best title for the passage?
 A. One way to help with understanding
 B. One way to practice with a new idea
 C. One way to learn to be a wise writer
 D. One way to be clearer about worms

   When you read an article you will understand and remember it better if you can work out how the writer has put the ideas together．Sometimes a writer puts ideas together by asking questions and then answering them．For example，if the article is about groundhogs（土拨鼠），the set of questions in the writer’s head might be：
    What does a groundhog look like？
    Where do groundhogs live？
    What do they eat？…
    In the article，the author might answer those questions．
   Sometimes an author writes out her questions in the article．These questions give you signals．They tell you what the author is going to write next．Often an author has a question in her head but she doesn’t write it out for you．You have to work out her question for yourself．Here’s a sample reading for you to practice this method.
                       Earthworms
  Do you know how many kinds of earthworms there are？There are about 1800 kinds in the world！ They can be brown，purple，green．They can be as small as 3 cm long and as large as 3 m long．
  The best time to see earthworms is at night，especially a cool，damp night．That’s when they come up from their burrows（地洞）to hunt for food．Earthworms don’t like to be in the sun．That’s because they breathe through their skin，and they can’t breathe if their skin gets too dry．Earthworms must come out of the earth if it rains a lot，because they can't breathe in their flooded burrows．What a dangerous life！
  Earthworms don't have eyes，so how can they tell when it's dark？ They have special places on their skin that are sensitive to light．These spots tell whether it’s light or dark．If you shine a flashlight on an earthworm at night，it will quickly disappear into the ground．
  Earthworms don't have ears either，but they can hear by feeling movements in the earth．If you want to hear like an earthworm，lie on the ground with your fingers in your ears．Then have a friend stamp his or her feet near you．This is how earthworms feel birds and people walking，and moles digging，near them．
  Earthworms are useful．Farmers and gardeners like having lots of earthworms in their land because the worms help to make better soil when they dig．That digging keeps the soil loose and airy（通风的）．In one year earthworms can pile up as much as 23,000 kg of castings in an area about the size of a football field．

56. What’s the purpose of reading Earthworms?
 A. To show the special life facts of earthworms.
 B. To explain the differences from the groundhogs.
 C. To put the writer’s idea into real use.
 D. To make the readers think more clearly. 

57. Which question CANNOT be answered in the passage?
 A. How do earthworms help with gardeners?
 B. What life are earthworms living with?
 C. When may people observe earthworms?
 D. Why can human listen like earthworms?

58. How can you understand Earthworms better according to this passage?
 A. Read, ask and answer questions in your own head while reading.
 B. Read to work out all the questions in the writer’s head while reading.
 C. Read and check all the things that are not clear to you again and again.
 D. Read for general ideas and discuss or compare with other similar topics.
59. What’s the best title for the passage?
 A. One way to help with understanding
 B. One way to practice with a new idea
 C. One way to learn to be a wise writer
 D. One way to be clearer about worms

Mr Brown is one of my friends. He can run very fast and likes to show people how fast he can run. One day, a thief（小偷）got into his house, took some of his things and ran out of the house fast.

Mr Brown found it and ran after him, and shouted, “Hey! Don’t you know you can’t get away from me.But the thief ran much faster, Mr Brown got angry and ran faster, too. He was soon a few kilometers away from his house, he was running hard when he met me. “Why are you running so fast?” I asked. “I want to catch a thief,” said Mr Brown. “But where is the thief?” I asked. “Kilometers and kilometers behind,” said Mr Brown proudly, “He thought he could run faster than me, but you see he is wrong.”

56. Did the thief steal（偷）anything from Brown’s house?

  A. Yes, he has.    B. No, he wasn’t.   C. Yes, he did.        D. No, he didn’t.

57. Who ran faster, Mr Brown or the thief?

  A. No one.         B. The writer.        C. Mr Brown.        D. The thief.

58. Did Mr Brown catch the thief?

  A. Yes, he did.                         B. No, he didn’t.          

  C. Yes, but he let him go away.                D. No, but his friend did.

59. What did Mr Brown do when he found the thief?

  A. He ran after him.                        B. He was angry with him.

  C. He caught him.                           D. He stayed far behind him.

60. What does the word “proudly” mean? It means __________.

  A. 自豪地         B. 难过地             C. 兴奋地             D. 不慌不忙地