A “Gap Year” is a period of time when a student takes a break before going to university. It is often spent travelling or working. It can give young people useful learning experiences and new skills.
Gap years are popular with European and Australian students, but remain less popular in America. However, in recent years, more and more American students are preparing for college by taking a gap year. The advantages of taking a gap year are as follows：
Learn about the World and Yourself
Although you don’t have to go abroad to experience gap years, most gap year students catch the chance to travel abroad. You are able to work out who you are and what you are for. The experiences of different cultures offer you interesting lessons. You can learn more about the world and get to know yourself better.
Face Challenges and Have Fun
A gap year is not only a time to take a vacation_, but also a time to face challenges. Gap year students usually work, volunteer or take service projects. You have to learn how to get along in the real world. This process isn^’t always easy, but it is an important part of growing up. Only in this way can you enjoy life and have fun.
Save Money and Improve Your College Admission Chances
There^’s a common thought that gap years are only for rich students_, but it’ s not true. Actually, taking a gap year can save your money. Gap year students often take a part-time job. Besides, at the end of a gap year, students are much more likely to know what to study in college. Clear learning goals ran keep the students working hard instead of wasting time and money playing.
Imagine an admission officer trying to admit (录取) only one between two students. Both of them are excellent and have high grades. However, one student has much practical experience or has volunteered in his vacation. Who do you think the admission officer will choose?
【小题1】A “Gap Year” means       in the passage.

A．going abroad in a year for further education

B．travelling around the world in a year

C．taking a break before going to a university

D．doing a part-time job to make money during a vacation

【小题2】Besides having fun, gap year students have to face the        .

A．money	B．information
C．vacations	D．challenges

【小题3】Having a gap year may make you       .

A．become very rich	B．remain less popular
C．experience foreign cultures	D．have no chance to break

【小题4】The last sentence implies(暗含) that       will probably be admitted by the admission officer.

A．either of the two students

B．the student with high grades

C．neither of the two students

D．the .student with a gap year experience

No shirts are the right size. They are ________ too big ________ too small for me.

[　　]

One day, a farmer was walking along a road with his son Thomas. The father said, “Look! There’s a horseshoe, pick it up and put it in your bag.” Thomas said, “It isn’t worth the trouble.” His father said nothing but he picked it up himself. When they got to a nearby town, they had a rest. There the farmer sold the horseshoe and with the few pennies he bought some cherries(樱桃).
The father and the son continued their way. The sun was well up in the sky, and there wasn’t a house or even a tree where they could have a rest. Thomas felt too thirsty to walk on. At this time, his father dropped a cherry on the ground and Thomas picked it up quickly and ate it. After a while, his father dropped another cherry and once again, his son lost no time in picking it up and putting it in his mouth.
And so they went on. The old farmer dropped the cherries and the son picked them up. When Thomas had eaten up all the cherries, his father said to him, “My dear son, if you had bent(弯腰) down early to pick up that horseshoe, it would not have been necessary for you to bend so many times for the cherries. Always remember the lesson that he who does not worry about the little things will find that he cannot do the great things.”
【小题1】Who picked up the horseshoe at last?

A．The son.

B．The father.

C．Both the father and the son.

D．Neither the father nor the son.

【小题2】The farmer bought ______ with the money after he sold the horseshoe.

A．some bread	B．some water
C．some cherries	D．some pennies

【小题3】The father dropped the cherries one by one, because ______.

A．he wanted to teach his son a lesson

B．he wanted his son to do more exercise

C．he wanted his son to eat them all

D．he wanted to laugh at his son

【小题4】From the story, we can learn that ______.

A．cherries are so delicious that most of us like to eat them

B．a horseshoe is so expensive that it can bring us a lot of money

C．if we want to eat cherries, we must pick up a horseshoe

D．if we don’t worry about the little things we cannot do the great things

Air is a colorless, tasteless and invisible（看不见的）gas that is around us. An “empty” drinking glass and an “empty” room, in fact, are not really empty. Each is filled with air. When the glass is filled with water, the water pushes the air out of the glass.
Air, as a gas, has no definite shape, but because it is matter, it takes up space and it has weight. It is easy to prove that air is something that takes up space. Stuff a piece of dry cloth（布）into the bottom of a glass so that it will not fall out when the glass is turned upside down. Push the upside down glass, holding straight up and down, into a jar of water till the glass is completely covered. When the glass is taken out of the water, the cloth is still dry. The air inside the glass shows that it takes up space and keeps the water from coming in.
【小题1】Since air is matter, it has ________.

A．room , and weight as well	B．both room and shape
C．either room or weight	D．neither shape nor weight

【小题2】The word “Stuff” means ______ in Chinese.

A．撕

B．盖

C．取掉

D．塞

【小题3】The writer tells that the experiment（实验）___________.

A．is carried out in the space	B．must be done in the lab
C．is made in the room	D．can only be done in the open air

One day, a farmer was walking along a road with his son Thomas. The father said, “Look! There’s a horseshoe, pick it up and put it in your bag.” Thomas said, “It isn’t worth the trouble.” His father said nothing but he picked it up himself. When they got to a nearby town, they had a rest. There the farmer sold the horseshoe and with the few pennies he bought some cherries(樱桃).
The father and the son continued their way. The sun was well up in the sky, and there wasn’t a house or even a tree where they could have a rest. Thomas felt too thirsty to walk on. At this time, his father dropped a cherry on the ground and Thomas picked it up quickly and ate it. After a while, his father dropped another cherry and once again, his son lost no time in picking it up and putting it in his mouth.
And so they went on. The old farmer dropped the cherries and the son picked them up. When Thomas had eaten up all the cherries, his father said to him, “My dear son, if you had bent(弯腰) down early to pick up that horseshoe, it would not have been necessary for you to bend so many times for the cherries. Always remember the lesson that he who does not worry about the little things will find that he cannot do the great things.”
【小题1】Who picked up the horseshoe at last?

A．The son.

B．The father.

C．Both the father and the son.

D．Neither the father nor the son.

【小题2】The farmer bought ______ with the money after he sold the horseshoe.

A．some bread	B．some water
C．some cherries	D．some pennies

【小题3】The father dropped the cherries one by one, because ______.

A．he wanted to teach his son a lesson

B．he wanted his son to do more exercise

C．he wanted his son to eat them all

D．he wanted to laugh at his son

【小题4】From the story, we can learn that ______.

A．cherries are so delicious that most of us like to eat them

B．a horseshoe is so expensive that it can bring us a lot of money

C．if we want to eat cherries, we must pick up a horseshoe

D．if we don’t worry about the little things we cannot do the great things