One morning, a blind boy sat beside a building with a hat by his feet. He held a sign which said, “I am blind. Please help me.”

There were only a few coins in the hat. A man was walking by. He took out a few coins from his pocket and dropped them into the hat. He then took the sign, turned it around, and wrote some words on it. He put the sign back so that everyone who walked by could see the new words.

Soon the hat began to fill up. A lot more people were giving money to the blind boy. That afternoon the man who had changed the sign came to see how things were. The boy recognizedhis footsteps and asked, “Are you the one who changed my sign in the morning? What did you write?”

The man said, “I only wrote the truth. I said what you said, but in a different way.”

What he had written was, “Today is a beautiful day, but I can’t see it.”

Do you think the first sign and the second sign were saying the same thing?

Of course both signs told people the boy was blind. But the first sign simply told people to help by putting some money in the hat. The second sign told people that they were able to enjoy the beautiful day, but the boy could not enjoy it because he was blind.

The first sign simply said the boy was blind, while the second sign told people they were so lucky that they were not blind.

There are at least two lessons we can learn from this simple story.

The first is: Treasure (珍惜) what you have. Someone else has less. Try your best to help those who need your help.

The second is: Be creative. Think differently. There is always a better way.

1.From the article we know that________.

A．the boy always has a hat on his head

B．the man is one of his neighbors

C．the boy is blind and needs help

D．the boy works for the man

2.On the sign what the man wrote was, “                .”

A．Treasure what we have already had

B．Today is a beautiful day, but I can’t see it

C．We are so lucky that we are not blind

D．Try your best to help those who need your help.

3.According to the article, which of the following is TRUE?

A．The hat began to fill up after the man wrote some words on the sign.

B．The man took away all the few coins from the hat.

C．The boy wanted to get enough money to go to school.

D．Nobody wanted to give any coins to the blind boy.

4.The word “recognized” here in Chinese means _______.

A．承認(rèn)

B．接受

C．表?yè)P(yáng)

D．認(rèn)出

5._______ is the best title (題目) for this story.

A．Be careful not to be blind.

B．Be creative. There is always a better way!

C．Be kind to the blind!

D．Don’t always get, but offer!

 

Today we tell about Louisa May Alcott. She wrote one of America’s best loved children’s books.
In 1868, an American publisher asked Louisa May Alcott to write a book for girls. At first, she was not sure if she wanted to do it. She said she didn’t like girls.
However, she decided to write the book finally. She told about her experiences growing up in the northeast of the United States. The book was quite interesting. Little Women became one of the most popular children’s books in American literature. It was published (出版）in more than 50 languages.
Alcott was born in Pennsylvania in 1832. The Alcotts did not have much money. She tried teaching, sewing(縫紉) and taking care of children. She did not like any of these jobs.
At the age of 16, she wrote her first book, Flower Fables. Her stories were exciting, but unreal. She sold them to newspapers and magazines for money.
The first volume (卷) of Little Women came out in 1868. It made Alcott famous and get a lot of money. She continued writing other popular books for young people. These books included An Old-Fashioned Girl, Little Men and Eight Cousins.
Alcott wrote many exciting stories about love. But she was single (獨(dú)身的) all her life. She continued to help her family during the last years of her life.
【小題1】Alcott grew up in the ______ of the US.

A．southeast

B．northwest

C．northeast

D．southwest

【小題2】“One of America’s best loved children’s books” refers to (指的是) the book____.

A．Little Women	B．Flower Fables
C．An Old-Fashioned Girl	D．Eight Cousins

【小題3】The first paragraph tells us that the article is about ______.

A．a(chǎn) famous children’s book	B．a(chǎn) famous writer
C．how a book came out	D．why a book is so loved

【小題4】Alcott wrote her first book in ______. 

A．1832

B．1848

C．1850

D．1868

【小題5】From the article, we can learn ______.

A．Alcott was born into a rich family

B．Alcott had a happy childhood

C．Alcott didn’t live with her family

D．Alcott never married all her life

Walk to school every day? That will work, but not if you like sleep in. If you like bad smells and crowding(擁擠), the bus might be your best Choice. But why not a bicycle? A bicycle will get you there faster than your feet and will save your money.
This is why you see more bicycles than any other kind of transportation in China, about 500 million of them. That’s close to one for every two people in the whole country. But if you survey your class at school, you may will find a higher rate(比率).
Bicycles became popular because they are fun for people and at the same time help develop a strong body. No vehicle is better than a bicycle for enjoying an autumn weekend outside the city with parents or friends. You can travel on small, quiet paths. You also can park your bicycle beside the path wherever you want to stop to admire the beauty.
Cycling every day helps people build with city healthier hearts and stronger muscles(肌肉). Scientists say a 30-minute ride every day can help you lose weight.
Today, bicycles also are popular with city planners. They see bicycles as a good way to reduce heavy traffic. Unlike buses, bicycles produce no exhaust(尾氣) and don’t burn energy. Many countries are encouraging more daily use of bicycles.
【小題1】What’s the main subject of the passage?

A．Pollution reduction

B．Pollution of bicycle

C．Transportation of China

D．a(chǎn)dvantages of bicycling

【小題2】Which of the following statements may NOT help convince of bicycles?

A．Bicycling makes people stronger

B．Bicycles can travel on narrow paths

C．Many bicycles are stolen every year

D．Bicycles seldom(很少)get stuck in traffic jams

【小題3】The following paragraph is taken from the article above. Which paragraph should it follow?   South Korea expects a 10% increase in using bicycles by 2011. They say that could cut the cost of oil(石油)by $1.4 billion(十億)during that period.

A．Paragraph 1

B．Paragraph 2

C．Paragraph 5

D．Paragraph 6

【小題4】We can tell from the story that _____

A．a(chǎn)ll Chinese students ride bicycles

B．if you ride a bicycle for 30 minutes a day, you’ll be thinner

C．there are no bicycles that burn energy

D．you can’t enjoy beautiful views unless you ride a bicycle

【小題5】Which of the following thing is a vehicle?

A．A train

B．A chair

C．An orange

D．A television

Do you know why different animals or insects have their special colors? Colors are used mainly to protect themselves.

Why can’t some birds easily catch locusts（蝗蟲(chóng)）? It is because locusts change their colors together with the change of the colors of crops. When crops are green, locusts look green. But as autumn comes, locusts change to the same brown color as crops have. Some other insects with different colors from plants are easily found and eaten by others. So they have to hide themselves for lives in the day and appear only at night.

If you study the animal life, you’ll find the main use of coloring is to protect themselves. Bears, lions and other animals can’t be easily seen by hunters. This is because they have the colors much like the trees.

Have you ever noticed an even more strange thing? A kind of fish in the sea can send out black liquid when it faces danger. While the liquid spreads over, its enemies can’t find it. And it quickly swims away. So it has lived up to now though it is not strong at all.

1. From the article we learn that locusts 　　　　　　　　　.

A. are dangerous to their enemies           B. are easily found by birds

C. change their colors to protect themselves   D. are small animals

2.How can insects with different colors from plants keep out of danger?

A. They have to move quietly.

B. They hide themselves in the day and appear at night.

C. They have the colors much like their enemies.

D. They run away quickly.

3. Bears and lions can keep safe because 　　　　　　　　　.

A. they live in forests                  B. they like brown and grey colors

C. they move quietly　                   D. they have the colors similar to the trees

4.What does the word “l(fā)iquid” mean in the last paragraph?

A. 氣體          B. 固體　       C. 液體　       D. 水蒸氣

5. Which is the best title for this passage?

A. The Main Use of Colors for Animals and Insects

B. Colors of Different Animals and Insects

C. The Change of Colors for Animals and Insects

D. The Change of Different Animals and Plants

 

 

Nick Petrella is a doctor in Montreal. He works 60 hours a week. He takes care of more than100 patients a week in the hospital and at his office. He's been a doctor for ten years.

Dr. Petrella offers lots of help to his patients. But he doesn't just tell his patients what to do.

He also sings to them on television! Dr. Petrella has his own TV show. The show is in Italian, English and French. The doctor starts the show with a song and then he explains a medical problem or disease in simple language. After that, he sings another song.

Dr. Petrella makes and performs in his own show every week. The program is very popular with his patients and with people who enjoy his singing. His dream is to perform in Las Vegas.

His favorite songs are love songs, and he has a CD of love songs that he wrote. Dr. Petrella says, “I always love to sing. All my problems are gone when I sing.” But when Dr. Petrella was young,

his father didn't want him to be a singer. So he went to a medical school.

Some people tell Dr. Petrella he can help people more as a doctor. But Dr. Petrella says he helps people when he sings, too. “1 like to make people smile. Sometimes it's difficult to make a sick person smile. Medicine and entertainment both try to do the same thing. They try to make people feel good .

Choose the best choice from A, B or C according to the passage.

1. In his TV show, Dr. Petrella _________ .

A. sings love songs he wrote         

B. sings about different diseases

C. sings and explains a medical problem

2._________ isn't used in his TV show.

A. Russian              B. English               C. Italian

3.Dr. Petrella performs in his show 10_________.

A. become famous        B. make people feel good    C- achieve his dream

4.  From the article, we can know Dr. Petrella is _____________.

A. talented and proud   B, creative but lazy    C. kind and helpful

5.  What’s the best title (標(biāo)題）of the article?

A. Medicine and Entertainment  B. His Dream Came True   C. A Singing Doctor