The Guidance Department （教導處）at Berryville High School has a staff of eleven teachers. Most of their work is done with the students. But the staff sees a lot of parents, too.
“Parents meetings make clear monthly diagram（圖表）.”says Mildred Freman, head of the Guidance. “This diagram stays much the same from year to year. The busy months are October, March and May. ”
September, the beginning of a new school year, starts rather slowly. Few parents come in. Most of these want to talk about the schedules. October brings many problems caused by some students. Some parents are called in. Others come by themselves. Things quiet down in November. December is a quiet month. “It’s the holiday. ”Ms Foreman says, “People want to come in, I know, but they decide to wait until after New Year’s Day.”
Report cards go home just before Christmas holidays. Bad marks bring parents in as school opens again. This happens again in March, another report card month. May is always the year’s busiest month. That’s when parents begin to think that their children may be asked to stay in the same grade again. They come in to see if anything can be done before things are decided in June.
【小題1】The teachers in the Guidance Department usually ______.

A．do most of their work for the students

B．answer all the questions from parents

C．help other teachers get along with students and parents

D．only bring report cards to students and parents

【小題2】In December parents usually ______.

A．stay at home with their children for their holidays

B．wait for the teachers to bring report cards to their children

C．wouldn’t like to visit the teachers in the Guidance Department

D．let teachers have a good rest during their holidays

【小題3】Why do some parents come to school in March? Because ______.

A．they want to see their children’s teachers after Christmas holidays

B．they are called by the teachers of Guidance Department

C．bad marks have them do it

D．it’s the beginning of a new school year

【小題4】Which of the following is Right?

A．In June the school decides who will stay in the same grade again.

B．Almost all the parents come to meet Mildred Foreman every month.

C．April is also the second busiest month for the staff.

D．The parents help to do most of the work for the staff.

Students learn their lessons in class. In class teachers teach them. Students sit in the classroom listening to the teacher. This is a way of learning. Is this the only way for students to learn something? Of course not. There is another way to learn: students can teach themselves. For example, if you can’t remember something when you are doing your homework, you can look at your book to find the answer. This is a way to teach yourself. And it is not a difficult thing. We can do this at any place and at any time.
How do you teach yourself? The first thing you must do is reading. Read something you are interested in. or you have to read. The second is that you must ask yourself questions. The question is something you don’t understand, or you want to know more about. You can write down these questions. A clever student is usually good at asking questions. The third is to answer the question yourself by thinking hard, by reading the passage or other books, and sometimes by asking other people. This is the way of teaching yourself. And you must do this all by yourself. If you keep doing like for a long time, you are sure to succeed in your study.
【小題1】Listening to the teacher is ______for students to learn something.

A．not a way

B．the best way

C．the only way

D．not the only way

【小題2】Which of the following is right?________
A student can teach himself only in class.
B.It is a bad way to learn from the teacher.
C.A student can learn to teach himself if he wants to.
D.Students know very well how to teach themselves.
【小題3】In teaching yourself, the first thing you must do is_______.

A．writing

B．reading

C．asking

D．answering

【小題4】A clever student usually likes _______.

A．asking questions	B．answering questions
C．finding answers	D．teaching others

【小題5】If you want to succeed, you’d better learn _______.

A．how to teach others	B．how to teach yourself
C．to read and write carefully	D．how to ask questions

American schools begin in September after the long summer holidays. There are two terms in a school year, the first term is from September to January, and the second is from February to June. Most American children go to public schools.
High school students study only four or five subjects at a time. They usually go to the same classes every day, and they have an assignment(課外作業(yè)) for every class. After class they have many activities.
After high school, many students go to college. They can go to a small one or a large one. They usually have to pay a lot of money for college education (教育). But there are scholarships (獎學金) for good students, and many college students work part time in order to get money for their education.
【小題1】How long do American students study in school every year?

A．8 months

B．9 months

C．10 months

D．11 months

【小題2】High school students take ______ subjects at a time.

A．all

B．four

C．five

D．B or C

【小題3】______ can get scholarships.

A．Many college students

B．All the students

C．Good high school students

D．Good college students

【小題4】Many college students work part time because ______ .

A．they have many activities

B．they have a lot of free time

C．they like doing things

D．they have to pay a lot of money for their education

【小題5】According to the passage, which sentence is Not true?
A. American schools have long summer holidays.
B. There are two terms in the USA.
C. American students don’t do exercises after class.
D. They do part time job to get money to pay for their education.

English Students’ Education
English schools begin in September after a long summer holiday. There are two terms in a school year. The first term is from September to January, and the second term is from February to June. Most English children begin to go to school when they are five years old. When they finish high school, they are seventeen or eighteen years old.
High school students take only five or six subjects each term. They usually go the the same class every day, and they have homework for every class. After class, they do a lot of interesting things. After high school, many students go to college^①. They usually have to pay a lot of money. So they have to work after class to get money for their studies.
Notes:1. go to college 上大學
【小題1】In England, summer holidays begin in        .

A．September

B．January

C．June

D．July

【小題2】Most English children go to school at the age of        .

A．five

B．seven

C．seventeen

D．eighteen

【小題3】High school students          after class.

A．do housework	B．go to work
C．play sports	D．do interesting things

【小題4】Many English college students work after class for        .

A．helping their parents	B．getting money for their studies
C．helping others	D．learning some useful things

【小題5】After high school, many students go to         .

A．cities

B．work

C．college

D．towns

All the wisdom of the times, all the stories that have delighted mankind for centuries, are easily and cheaply available to all of us in books, but we must know how to make use of this treasure. The unluckiest people in the world are those who have never discovered how satisfying it is to read good books.
I’m very interested in people and finding out about them. Some of the most amazing people I’ve met could only  be found in a writer’s imagination, then in his book, and then, again, in my imagination. I’ve found in books new friends and new worlds.
Reading is fun, not because the writer is telling you something, but because it makes your mind work. Your own imagination works along with the writer’s or even goes beyond his. Your experience, compared with his, brings you to the same or different conclusions, and your ideas develop as you understand his.
Every book stands by itself, like a one-family house, but books in a library are like houses in a city. Although they are separate(分開的), in some way they are connected with each other. The same ideas, or related(相關的) ones, appear in different places; the human problems that repeat themselves in life repeat themselves in books, but with different solutions(解決方法) according to different writings at different times. Books influence each other. They connect the past, the present and the future and have their own generations (age groups), like families. Wherever you start reading, you connect yourself with one of the families of ideas, and in the end, you not only find out about the world and the people in it, you find out about yourself, too.
Reading can only be fun if you expect it to be. If you concentrate on(專注于) books somebody tells you “ought” to read, you probably won’ t have fun. But if you put down a book you don’t like and try another till you find one that means something to you, and then relax with it, you will almost certainly have a good time — and if you become, as a result of reading, better, wiser, kinder, or more gentle, you won’t suffer during the process.
【小題1】Which of the following ideas may the writer of this article agree with?

A．You will never meet amazing people in your life unless you read.

B．You think actively instead of getting facts passively（被動地）when reading.

C．You will get much delight from any book that you are told to read.

D．You can relax yourself by reading because it involves little thinking.

【小題2】What can we learn from Paragraph 4?

A．We can often find something connected with ourselves in books.

B．Different writings at different times share the same characteristics.

C．The same problems will appear in different books with similar solutions.

D．Reading books which are written for your generation is more helpful to you.

【小題3】What’s the writer’s purpose of writing this article?

A．To advise us to enjoy ourselves by reading.

B．To encourage us to make full use of libraries.

C．To encourage us to find out solutions in books.

D．To advise us to discuss books with other people.

“Everything happens for the best.” Whenever I faced disappointment(失望),my mother would say this to me.
After I left college in 1932, I decided to find a job in radio as a sports announcer(廣播員). I went to Chicago and knocked at the door of every station. But unluckily, I was refused every time.
At one station, a kind lady told me that big stations wouldn’t hire（雇傭）a person without any experience and suggested that I try my luck at smaller stations. Following her advice, I went back to Dixon, where I had grown up. There were no such jobs in Dixon, and my father said a newly-opened store wanted a local athlete(運動員)to work for it . I wanted this job, but I was refused again.
“Everything happens for the best,” Mom reminded me. Dad offered me the car to look for a job. I tried WOC Radio in Davenport, Iowa. The program director, Peter MacArthur, told me they had already hired an announcer.
As I left his office, I felt so frustrated(沮喪). “How can I become a sports announcer if I can’t get a job in a radio station?” I asked aloud.
While I was waiting for the lift, I heard someone calling. It was MacArthur. “What was that you said about sports? Do you know anything about football?” Then he asked me to have a try. He was pleased with my performance, and he offered me a chance to work there.
On my way home, I thought of my mother’s words: “If you carry on, one day something good will happen. Something wouldn’t have happened if without the failure before.”
【小題1】Why couldn’t the writer find a job at big radio stations?

A．Because he never graduated from college.

B．Because he didn’t work hard in college.

C．Because he didn’t have much experience.

D．Because he didn’t know about sports.

【小題2】Which of the following is the correct order of events?
a. The writer got a job as a sports announcer at a radio station.
b. The writer was refused when he wanted jobs in Chicago.
c. The writer graduated from college.
d. The writer went back to his hometown to look for a job.

A．cbda

B．cbad

C．bcda

D．bcad

【小題3】Which of the following is TRUE?

A．The writer’s parents didn’ t want him to be a sports announcer.

B．There were no radio announcer jobs in the writer’s hometown.

C．The writer became uninterested in being a sports announcer.

D．The writer got a job as a sports announcer in Dixon at last.

【小題4】According to the last paragraph, what did the writer’s mom want to tell him?

A．He shouldn’t be a sports announcer.

B．Disappointment leads to failure.

C．He should be proud of himself.

D．Everything will be OK if he keeps trying.

With more and more farmers working in big cities, their children go into the cities, too.However, problems appear. One of these problems is that is difficult for these children to receive education in cities.
Luckily, there are some free schools for them, but they are not enough. Ten-year-old Li Xin is one of the lucky girls who get a chance to study in one of these schools. She is very happy. She studies in a school specially for migrant workers’（外來務工人員的）children. For children like Li Xin who don’t have enough money, these free schools are their best choice, because they have free classes, textbooks, uniforms and meals in the schools.
But there is a long way to go. The free schools for children from migrant workers’ families are not enough because to run such a school is not easy and needs lots of money. A school officer said they needed at least one million yuan to run the school. “Luckily, some people and companies donate（捐贈）money, used books and a lot of other things to help us. There are also some volunteers teachers,” he added.
Anyhow, we must try to give these children an equal（平等）chance to get better education so that we can make our society harmonious（和諧的）.
【小題1】From the passage, we know that Li Xin’s parents used to be __________.

A．workers	B．teachers
C．officers	D．farmers

【小題2】The school provides Li Xin with the following things free except_____.

A．textbooks	B．uniforms
C．computers	D．meals

【小題3】What does the underlined word “run” mean in Chinese in the passage?

A．奔跑

B．經營

C．考慮

D．收購

【小題4】The passage mainly talks about__________.

A．what jobs migrant workers can do in big cities

B．the development of big cities

C．helping migrant workers’ children go to school

D．what difficulties those free schools face now

Most people work or study from Monday to Friday. The weekend is usually a time of rest. But today's Chinese teenagers can hardly rest during the weekends.
According to a survey, 24% of the Grade 8 students in Beijing have classes at the weekend. Over 40% of the middle school students have less than eight hours’ sleep each night because of study.
And this isn't only in Beijing. Ji Chunying is a Grade 9 student in Guangzhou. The 14-year-old girl has to get up at 6:45 am on Saturday. Then she has a whole day of classes. On Sunday, she goes to extra classes for math and physics.
But Ji doesn't complain. She says her classmates all work very hard.
Finding time to have fun

Zhao Yang, 13, is from Dalian, Liaoning. As a Grade 8 student, Zhao's weekend is less busy. But he still spends Saturday in school. On Sunday, after finishing homework, he plays basketball. "I feel happy because I still have time to do the things I like," he said.
Some students are much luckier. They don't have to go to school on the weekend.
Ding Yi, a Grade 8 student from Laiwu, Shandong, is one of them. And she's a top student.
During the weekend, Ding usually gets up at 8 am. Then she spends some time doing homework. After that she is free to go shopping or watch TV.
Ding said her mother once wanted her to try extra classes. But when they asked Ding's teacher about it, the teacher said it was unnecessary.
"My teacher said I don't need to push myself too much. Learning well at school is enough," Ding said. "I feel pretty lucky."
【小題1】Over 40% of the middle school students have less than eight hours sleep each night because of ___________.

A．playing computer games

B．playing with friends

C．busy study

D．watching TV

【小題2】How many students are mentioned in this passage?

A．2.

B．3.

C．4.

D．5.

【小題3】We can learn from the passage that ___________.

A．Some middle school students can enjoy their weekend.

B．All the students in China are busy studying on the weekend.

C．Every student in China has to go to extra classes on the weekend.

D．All the students complain about their busy weekend.

【小題4】The above text may be a _______.

A．a story of science	B．school notice
C．short play	D．news report

This is Li Gang’s English self-schedule(自學計劃)for one week.

Monday	Review some English spelling rules.
Tuesday	Study prepositions（介詞）to show place.
Wednesday	Read the useful sentences used in a telephone conversation. Write a simple conversation.
Thursday	Review the prepositions that I have learned. Practice them in the evening.
Friday	Listen to the English radio program for one hour. Write nothing down. Just listen.
Saturday	Review all of the new words I have learned this week. Write a story with the new words.
Sunday	Read an English story. Do exercise. Summarize（概述） the story in my notebook.

【小題1】Li Gang will read the useful ________ used in a telephone conversation on Wednesday.

A．sounds

B．numbers

C．sentences

D．words

【小題2】Li Gang will review the prepositions to show place on ________.

A．Monday

B．Tuesday

C．Wednesday

D．Thursday

【小題3】Li Gang will improve his _______skills on Friday.

A．listening

B．speaking

C．reading

D．writing

“Depend on yourself” is what nature says to every man. Parents can help you. Teachers can help you. Others still can help you. But all these people only help you to help yourself.
There have been many great men in history. Many of them were very poor when they were young, and had no uncles, aunts, or friends to help them. Schools were few and not very good. They could not depend on them for education. They tried their best to learn something and never gave up till they became well-known. One of the most famous teachers in England used to tell his pupils, “I cannot make worthy men of you, but I can help you make men of yourselves.”
Some young men don’t try their best to make themselves valuable to the human beings. If they see their weak points and change their ways, they can be successful. They are nothing now, and will be nothing as long as(只要) they live, unless they accept the advice of their parents and teachers, and depend on themselves.
【小題1】Why did many men succeed?

A．Because they had good education.

B．Because they wanted very much to become well-known.

C．Because they worked hard.

D．Because their families were very rich.

【小題2】What can a teacher do according to the famous teacher in England?

A．A teacher can make his pupils men of strength and courage.

B．A teacher can make his pupils worthy.

C．A teacher can help his pupils become well-known.

D．A teacher can do nothing.

【小題3】If young people depend on their own efforts, _______________.

A．they are sure to be very famous in the world

B．they can be successful in their lives

C．they no longer need help

D．they are sure to fail

【小題4】What can we learn about the writer from the passage?

A．He thinks highly of those who are working hard to be successful.

B．He thinks highly of parents and teachers.

C．He wants to be a famous scientist.

D．He thinks highly of those who are poor.