Once when I was a teenager, my father and I were standing in line to buy tickets for the circus. Finally, there was only one family between the ticket office and us. This family made a big impression on me.

         There were eight children, all probably under the age of 12. You could tell they didn’t have a lot of money. Their clothes were not expensive, but they were clean. The children talked excitedly about the clowns. It was clearly a very important day out for them. The father and mother seemed happy as they could be.

         The tickets lady asked how many tickets the father wanted, he proudly answered, “Please let me buy eight children’s tickets and two adults’ tickets, so I can take my family to the circus.”

         The ticket lady told him the price.

         The man’s wife lowered her head. There was no longer a smile on the man’s face. He quietly asked, “How much did you say?”

         The ticket lady again told him the price.

         The man obviously didn’t have enough money. But how could he tell his kids the bad news?

         Seeing what was happening, my dad took a $20 note from his pocket and dropped in on the ground. (We were not rich ourselves at all!) He then tapped the man on the shoulder and said, “Excuse me, sir, you dropped this.”

         The man understood my father was helping him. He picked up the money, looked straight into my dad’s eyes, and in tears replied. “Thank you. This really means a lot to me and my family.”

         Although we did not go to the circus that night, we didn’t go without.

1.Why does the writer say “Their clothes were not expensive, but they were clean” ( Paragraph 2)?

A. To show the children were well looked after.

B. To show cheap clothes could be popular.

C. To show how hard the mother worked.

D. To show how rich the family were.

2.Why was the poor man unhappy after he spoke with the ticket lady?

A. He had lost his money.                     B. His children were noisy.

C. The tickets were sold out.                        D. The tickets were too expensive.

3.Who did the $20 note belong to?

A. The poor man                .                           B. The writer’s father.

C. The poor man’s wife.                                 D. The ticket lady.

4.Why was the poor man in tears at the end of the story?

A. He found the money he lost.                   B. He wanted others to help him.

C. He made his children unhappy.               D. He was thankful for the kindness.

5.Which of the following statements is probably true according to the passage?

A. The poor mans saw the circus that night.

B. The two families became close friends.

C. The writer’s father earned some money.

D. The writer saw the circs that night.

 

A Gold Cup for an Orange
There is a poor man. He has an orange tree. On the tree, there are many fine oranges. One of them is very, very big. It is as big as a football. Nobody sees so big an orange. The poor man is very happy. He takes it to the king(國王). The King is so pleased（高興）that he gives the man a lot of money for it.
When a rich man hears of it, he says to himself, "It's only an orange. Why does the king give so much money for it? I'll take my gold cup to the king. He'll give me more money".
The next day when the king receives (收到) the gold cup, he says to the rich man, "what a beautiful cup! I'll show you something wonderful, please take this great orange away.
【小題1】How many people are there in the story?

A．Four

B．Two

C．Three

D．Five

【小題2】The orange is__________

A．fine and big

B．fine and beautiful

C．good and fine

D．small

【小題3】The rich man takes his gold cup to the king for_______________

A．the orange

B．the orange tree

C．a football

D．money

【小題4】The orange is____________

A．a football	B．like a gold cup
C．like a football	D．like an egg

【小題5】The king receives the orange and the gold cup ___________

A．on the same day	B．the next day
C．every day	D．on different days

Have you ever seen snow? Many people in the world have not. Some countries never have snow; some have only a little on the tops of very high mountains. In the north of England, there is quite a lot of snow every winter, but in the south of England, there is usually little.
When a student from a warm country comes to England in autumn for the first time, he feels cold at first. There are often dark clouds, grey sky and cold rain in England in autumn, and most students from warm countries do not like this.
But snow is different. Though it is cold, it is also beautiful. Perhaps, after several dark mornings, the student wakes up one day, and there is a lot of light in his room. He thinks “Is it so late?” and jumps out of bed. But no, it is not very late. He looks out of the window and there is the snow on the ground and on the houses and everywhere. The light of his room comes from clean, beautiful snow.
【小題1】In which part of England is there much snow in winter?

A．In the east.

B．In the north.

C．In the west.

D．In the south.

【小題2】In the autumn of England, we can NOT often see __________.

A．grey sky

B．dark clouds

C．strong winds

D．cold rain

【小題3】In England both snow and autumn rain are ____________.

A．cold

B．clean

C．beautiful

D．heavy

【小題4】Why does the student ask himself “Is it so late?”

A．Because he has some work to do.	B．Because it is bright in the room.
C．Because it is really late.	D．Because he usually gets up early.

【小題5】Which of the following statements is true?

A．Every country in the world has snow in winter.

B．Foreign students like the weather in England.

C．It is often very warm in the autumn of England.

D．Many people in the world haven’t seen snow.

－Why does the river smell terrible?  －Because the water_______.

    A. was polluted     B. has been polluted    C. will be polluted    D. has polluted

 

There is no way that you cannot have any embarrassing (令人尷尬的) moments. You can’t control everything that happens, so you’re going to be in an embarrassing situation one day. So how can you solve this problem? The answer is to control your actions and try not to get upset.

         ◆Remember that you'll probably laugh about it in a few days, so try to see the funny side of it right away.

         ◆If it is something so embarrassing that you feel you will never laugh about it, please remember that the (1) ______ will be over after some time.

         ◆Ask your friends to give you a break and not to make fun of you. If you’ve done the same for them, they’re more likely to agree to give you a break.

         Always remember that you are not alone. Everyone has embarrassing moments. While you are sure that everyone is going to remember this moment forever, that fact is that they’ll probably forget it very soon. Most of us remember the moments in which we feel embarrassed, but very few of us remember other people’s embarrassing moments.

         Most people have short memories. So while you may never forget the moment when your skirt was torn (撕裂) in gym class, most of the other people probably forget it at once. Although a short memory may not be a(n) (2) ______ thing when you are trying to remember facts in a history test, it is useful when you are trying to forget life’s most embarrassing moments.

任務一：根據短文內容，分別寫出（1）和（2）兩處所缺單詞。（每空限填一詞）（2分）

1. (1) ________________                (2) _________________

任務二：根據短文內容，選擇正確答案。（1分）

2. We know from the passage that ______ when you fall down after making a speech.

A. everyone will remember the moment forever               B. you may never forget the moment

C. other people will feel embarrassed                                   D. you will not remember the moment

任務三：把畫線部分try to see the funny side of it譯成漢語。（2分）

3. _____________________________________________.

任務四：根據短文內容，回答下列問題。（2分）

4. Why does the writer say “you are not alone”?

_____________________________________________.

5.What’s the main idea of the passage?

It’s mainly about how to _______________________ when you are embarrassed.