A beautiful and very successful actress was the star for a new musical show. Her home was in the country, but she didn’t want to go back there every night, so she bought an expensive house in the center of the city, got some beautiful furniture and got a man to paint the rooms in new colour.
It was very difficult to get tickets for her show in the evening, because everyone wanted to see it. So she decided to give the painter two of the best seats. She hoped that this would make him work better for her. He took the tickets without saying anything, and she heard no more about them until the end of month, when she got the painter’s bill. At the bottom of it were these words: “Four hours from 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. watching Miss Hall sing and dance: 3 pounds,” with this note: “Before 5:00 p.m. I get 10 shillings (先令)an hour and after 5:00 p.m. 15 shillings.”

1. 1.

   The actress bought a house in the center of the city because        .

   1. A.
      she liked to live in the busiest place
   2. B.
      she didn’t like to live in the country
   3. C.
      she wanted to work harder than before
   4. D.
      she didn’t want to live in old house
2. 2.

   In order to make the painter work better for her, the actress        .

   1. A.
      gave him two tickets for her show
   2. B.
      sang and danced for four hours
   3. C.
      decided to give him 3 pounds
   4. D.
      invited him for a big dinner
3. 3.

   The actress got the painter’s bill        .

   1. A.
      to ask for the money of his painting work
   2. B.
      to ask her to pay for his watching her show
   3. C.
      in which he showed his thanks for the tickets
   4. D.
      in which he expressed his dissatisfaction
4. 4.

   It can be learned from the text that one pound is         shillings.

   1. A.
      10
   2. B.
      12
   3. C.
      15
   4. D.
      20
5. 5.

   What kind of man was the painter?

   1. A.
      He was a careful man.
   2. B.
      He was a poor man.
   3. C.
      He was not friendly to others.
   4. D.
      He knew little about music and dance.

It was Christmas Eve. It was very cold. A  1  girl was selling flowers on the street. Her parents were ill,  2  she had to get money  3  food. She felt cold and hungry. She  4  in front of a beautiful house. The girl knocked at the door and a man came out. She asked him if he  5 some flowers. The man said he didn’t want any. She left the house and felt tired. She sat down at the foot of  6  tall wall. She looked at the flowers. The flowers smelled very nice. She suddenly had a strange feeling. She felt she was becoming light, and slowly she began to fly into the sky. She flew higher and higher and at last she found  7  above the clouds. A group of people were coming to meet her. At the head of them was her granny. Granny welcomed her and asked her  8  she didn’t stay at home. The girl told her that she  9  to sell flowers to get money because her parents were badly ill. Granny told her not to worry and gave her  10  of beautiful clothes and delicious food. The girl laughed happily.

A lot of boys and girls in western（西方的）countries are wearing the same kind of clothes, and many of them have long hair, so it is often difficult to tell whether（是否）they are boys or girls.
One day, an old man went for a walk in a park in Washington, and when he was tired, he sat down in a chair. A young person was standing on the other side of the pool.
“Oh!” the old man said to the person sitting be side him on the chair. “Do you see that person with the glasses and long hair? Is it a boy or a girl?” “A girl.” said the neighbor（隔壁的人）. “She is my daughter.” “Oh!” the old man said quickly. “Please forgive me, I did not know that you were her mother.” “I’m not.” Said the other person, “I’m her father.”
【小题1】What did the old man see on the other side of the pool?