When I was a child, my mother often told me, “Don’t run around, or bad uncles will grad（抓住） you. And you know what? You will never see Mum and Dad again.”

    “Why, Mama? Why would these uncles grab me?” I would ask. “The city is a dangerous place and we don’t trust any strangers, ”she would reply.

  Well, that might answer the question of why my second brother never picks up calls from an unknown person either on his mobile or his home phone. It seems that he doesn’t care if he misses an important call. because he thinks that all unknown calls are from bad persons.

    So, have we given too much protection to our young kids? Perhaps it is so. But the adults’ thoughts are indeed easy to understand. The kids meet swindlers sometimes as we adults tell them. Also they get some news about cheating（欺骗） in newspapers or on TV every day. That makes the kids believe that they just cannot trust strangers.

    Let’s look at an example from everyday life. Say, if someone carrying a wooden stick（棍子） comes nearer to you, will you try to run away at once even before he or she starts talking to you? Will you guess this person’s intentions（意图） and think that he or she wants to rob（抢劫） you of something? Think of the answer for yourself.

    Of course, the kids should look after themselves, but overprotection can sometimes stop them from making new friends. Sometimes it’s not good for their new friendships.

    Trust is like a mirror. When we offer trust to people, they might just show you trust in return.

1 What do “swindlers” probably do?

  A. They cheat other people.

  B. They often call other people.

  C. They rob people of something.

  D. They teach children to protect themselves.

2 Which of the following is NOT the reason why children don’t trust strangers?

  A. Their parents tell them not to trust strangers.

  B. They get to know some news about cheating in newspapers or on TV every day.

  C. Strangers always have bad intentions.

  D. They sometimes have experiences of being cheated.

3 What does the writer want to tell us?

  A. Children should always follow their parents’ advice.

  B. We should never talk to strangers.

  C. Parents should learn to protect their children.

  D. People should try to trust each other.

I have a twin sister, Anna．She has （ 1 ） hair than me．I don’t like long hair．Many people think we （ 2 ） have lots of things in common．I’m afraid this is not true．When my parents’ fiends come to my home, Anna often sits there and says （ 3 ）, but I like to talk with them．So she is （ 4 ） than me．Anna likes reading, drawing and cooking．I just like swimming and playing basketball．She has （ 5 ） hobbies than me, but she is not as athletic （ 6 ） me．Because Anna does （ 7 ） than me at school, my parents say to me, “ （ 8 ）Anna is younger than you, you should learn （ 9 ） her．” We do have some similarities （相似之处）, however．For example, we （ 10 ） like eating fast food, going shopping and listening to pop music．

1．A．long                  B．longer              C．short               D．shorter

2．A．can              B．should         C．must          D．need

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

4．A．younger                 B．quieter         C．wilder         D．busier

5．A．much                   B．less           C．more          D．fewer

6．A．than              B．like           C．so            D．as

7．A．worse            B．better         C．bad           D．good

8．A．But              B．Because       C．Although       D．If

9．A．from             B．with          C．as            D．by

10．A．all             B．both          C．either         D．two

Today was not a good day. Everything went wrong. First, I sleep late and Mom shout at me to wake up. When I went to the kitchen for breakfast, there was no cereal（粥）. I decided to have some toast（烤面包）instead, but I burned it. I had to eat it anyway because there was no more bread. There was no juice, either. I just had a glass of water.

When I was almost at the bus stop, I realized that I had forgotten my wallet, so I had to go back home and get it. Of course, I missed the bus and had to wait for the next bus.

I was late for school and the teacher told me to stay in the classroom at lunchtime to catch up on（弥补）the schoolwork I had missed.

After lunch, it was the time to give the teacher our homework. I reached into my bag to get it but it wasn’t there. I had left it at home. I was in trouble again.

When I got home, I went straight to my room to catch up on my homework. Mom cooked fish for dinner. She knows I don’t like fish, but she thinks it is good for her son. It was a horrible day. I hope tomorrow will be better.

36. What happened to the writer on this bad day?

　 A. The writer argued with his parents.　　　　　　　　 B. The writer heard some terrible news.

　 C. Many small things went wrong.　　　　　　　　　　　 D. Part of the writer’s house was on fire.

37. When did the writer’s bad day begin?

　 A. In the morning.　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 B. At school.

　 C. At lunchtime.　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 D. In the afternoon.

38. What did the writer do after he went home?

　 A. He did some homework.　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 B. He made a telephone call.

　 C. He made fun with his friend.　　　　　　　　　　　　　 D. He was tired, so he went to bed.

39. When you “burn” something, you ___________________.

　 A. cook it too long　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 B. eat it too fast

　 C. give it to others　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 D. make it very well

40. According to the passage, we can know _______________.

　 A. the writer fell off from his bike B. the writer went to school

　 C. the writer got up early in the morning D. the writer left his homework at home