Doctor Seuss was born in 1904. By the middle 1950s, he had become one of the best-loved and most successful children's book writers in the world. His books are very popular with young readers. They enjoy the invented words and the pictures of unusual funny animals and plants.
In 1954, life magazine published(刊登) a report about school children who could not read. The report said many children's books were not interesting. Doctor Seuss strongly hoped to help children and decided to write books that were interesting and easy to read. He used words with the same ending sound, like fish and wish. He did not receive training in art. Yet, he drew the pictures for most of his books.
In 1957, Dr. Seuss wrote The Cat in the Hat. He used less than 230 words to write the book and even a six-year-old should be able to read it. It was a fun story and easy to read. Children loved it. Their parents loved it, too. Today it is still one of the stories they like best. The success of The Cat in the Hat made him want to write more books for children. In 1960, he wrote a book using less than fifty words. The book is called Green Eggs and Ham.
In 1984, Doctor Seuss won a Pulitzer Prize (普利策奖). He was honored for the education and enjoyment his books provided（提供） American children and their parents.
He died at the age of 87, but his influence（影响） remains. Millions of his books have been sold worldwide. People say his books helped change the way American children learned to read. Yet, his books are loved by people of all ages. Doctor Seuss once said, "I do not write for children. I write for people.
【小题1】Doctor Seuss learned from the magazine that _______.

A．some school children could not read

B．many children's books were interesting

C．children wanted to learn to read

D．a writer for children was wanted

【小题2】People like his books because the books ______.

A．are cheap and easy to get

B．were written in different languages

C．are easy and interesting to read

D．were written with invented words

【小题3】He wrote the book The Cat in the Hat at the age of _____.

A．50

B．53

C．56

D．87

【小题4】Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?

A．Doctor Seuss wrote Green Eggs and Ham with over 230 words.

B．Doctor Seuss wrote books only for children in the United States.

C．The Cat in the Hat was written only for six-year-old children.

D．His books provided education and enjoyment for Americans.

【小题5】From the text we know that Doctor Seuss __________.

A．won a Pulitzer Prize soon after his death

B．sold millions of his books himself worldwide

C．changed American children's way of reading

D．wrote the largest number of books in the world

I was quite close to my grandmother, Julia. We lived with her and then she lived with us. She was a very nice person, both kind and patient. She taught me to read and write when I was young and helped me to be interested in stories and poems.

 In my mind, my grandmother was a great cook. She cooked more delicious food than anything you can eat in a restaurant today. She always cooked for family and friends.

 My grandmother was also a hard worker both at home and at work. I can still remember the difficult time when we were very poor. At that time, my grandmother was already sixty years old but she worked in a hospital for a long time every day –not in the office but doing the cleaning outside and taking care of me at the same time while my mom was at work!

My brother and sisters also love her. We will never forget our grandmother. She is really important in our lives and is always there for all of us in one way or another. I am proud to be her grandson.

1.The writer’s grandmother taught him to     when he was young.

A. read and write           B. sing and dance  

C. draw and sing           D. play and learn

2.His grandmother always made     for family and friends.

A. cakes    B. cards      C. clothes      D. meals

3.While his mom was ___ , his grandmother took care of him.

A. at home   B. at work   C. out of work   D. in hospital

4.At the age of 60, his grandmother     in a hospital for a long time every day.

A. cooked meals         B. worked in the office

C. did the cleaning       D. stayed with his mother.

5.Which of the following is not TRUE?

A. His grandmother is hard-working.

B. Her grandchildren all love her.

C. His grandmother could read.

D. His grandmother worked in a hospital for taking care of him.

 

Most people will rest and relax when they are old. They do not work. And most people are certainly not famous. But Grandma Moses is different She starts a new job at the age of 76.
  This is her story. She was born in a poor farmer's family in 1860. Her parents named her Anna Mary Robertson. She married Thomas Moses in 1887. He was a farm worker.
Now it is 1930. Anna Mary Moses is 70, and is a grandmother. She begins to paint pictures. She does paintings of country life. One day, her daughter takes her paintings to a store in town. Her paintings are put in the window. A man from New York sees the paintings in the window and buys them. And he wants more!
The man likes Grandma Moses' paintings. He wants to help her. So he takes her paintings to galleries(美术馆) in New York City. Otto Kallir has a famous gallery there. He likes the paintings by Grandma Moses. Now it is 1940 and Grandma Moses' paintings are in Kallir's gallery. She is 80 years old.
Grandma Moses suddenly becomes famous. Everyone wants her paintings. So she paints more and more. She wins many prizes for her paintings. She becomes famous in the United States and Europe .
When she is 100 years old, the State of New York makes her birthday "Grandma Moses' Day". After her 100^th birthday, she paints 6 more paintings. She dies at age 101 and a lot of people think she is amazing.
【小题1】How is Grandma Moses different from most other old people?

A．She has more grandchildren.	B．She has her own art gallery.
C．She lives an easy life.	D．She starts a new job.

【小题2】 Grandma Moses starts to paint pictures_______.

A．when her daughter asks her to do that	B．when she gets married
C．at the age of 70	D．in the year 1940

【小题3】Grandma Moses' paintings are first bought by _______.

A．a man from New York	B．her daughter
C．Otto Kallir's gallery	D．the owner of a store in town

【小题4】The writer of the passage thinks that _______.

A．Grandma Moses is too old to paint at age 100

B．people like her paintings but do not like her

C．it is never too late to start a new job

D．many people prefer paintings by old ladies

【小题5】What would be the best title for the passage?

A．Grandma Moses and New York State	B．Grandma Moses and Painting
C．Grandma Moses' family	D．Grandma Moses' Day

Dou Kou, a Chinese boy, is called “the youngest writer in the world”. He has written three books till now. Dou Kou was born in Jiangsu in 1994. When he was 7 months old, his partents started working in over 30 different cities, such as Xi’an and Shenzhen. This kind of life gave him things to think and write about. When he was 9 months old, he could speak and at the age of one, he could say five to six hundred words. At three, he could look up words in the dictionary. At four, his father taught him how to learn by himself. His parents like reading very much. So does he. At the age of 5, he began writing fairy tales. At the age of 6, he wrote a novel about his life in different cities with his parents. His fairy tales are all from his life. One day, he found many mice in the house. They only ate their food but also hurt his mother’s hand. So he thought, “If we give mice the stomach of cows, they will eat grass and they will be helpful to people.” This was his first fairy tales Change Stomach for Mice. Now he studies well in a middle school. He has written his third book, the novel called Eyes of Children. He says, “I am not different from other children. I just wrote several books.
【小题1】How many books has Dou Kou written?

A．Three.

B．Four.

C．Five

D．Six

【小题2】Thanks to his ________, Dou Kou could write his books.

A．mother

B．father

C．school life

D．life in different cities

【小题3】Dou Kou began to use a dictionary __________.

A．when he wrote fairy tales	B．before his father taught him how to learn something
C．after he went to school	D．after his mother taught him how to learn something

【小题4】 The underlined(划线的) sentences show us that Dou Kou _________.

A．is different from other children	B．doesn’t tell the truth.
C．is the same as other children	D．likes his books

【小题5】Which is the best title?

A．Three Books by a child	B．How to Write a Fairy Tales
C．How Clever the Boy is	D．Dou Kou, the Youngest Writer

We each have a memory(记忆力). That’s why we can still remember things after a long time. Some people have very good memories and they can easily learn many things by heart, but some people can only remember things when they say or do them again and again. Many of the great men of the world have got surprising memories.

A good memory is a great help in learning a language. Everybody learns his mother language when he is a small child. He hears the sounds, remembers them and then he learns to speak. Some children are living with their parents in foreign countries. They can learn two languages as easily as one because they hear, remember and speak two languages every day. In school it is not so easy to learn a foreign language because the pupils have so little time for it, and they are busy with other subjects, too.

But your memory will become better and better when you do more and more exercises.

1.Some people can easily learn many things by heart because _____.

A．they always sleep very well                B．they often eat good food

C．they read a lot of books                   D．they have very good memories

2.Everybody learns his mother language ______.

A．at the age of six                         B．when he is a small child

C．after he goes to school                   D．when he can read and write

3.Before a child can speak, he must ______.

A．read books                            B．write words

C．hear and remember the sounds            D．think hard

4.In school the pupils can’t learn a foreign language well because ______.

A．they have no good memories              B．they have no recorders(录音机)

C．they have too much time for it             D．they are busy with other subjects

5.Your memory will become better and better ______.

A．when you have enough good food          B．when you do more and more exercises

C．when you do morning exercises every day    D．when you get up early