Once there was a rich man who lived with his wife and child. He loved the child so much that he sent him
to Oxford University for two or three years. At the end of the first year at the university, his son came home.
He wanted a change. And he also wanted to tell his parents about Oxford University.
     It happened one night that the father, the mother and their son were having supper. They had in front of
them only two chickens. Just as they were about to eat, the father said, "My boy, I have spent a lot of money
on you to send you to Oxford University. Now I want to know what you have learnt." The son smiled and said,
"Father, I have studied a science which can make prove that these two chickens on the plate are really three
chickens."
     "Well," said the father, "this is something I would like very much to know."
     "There are two chickens on the plate," said the son, he took one of the chickens in this hand and said, "Here
is one more, and one and two makes three. So there are three chickens." Then the father took one of the
chickens to himself, gave the other to his wife, and said, "I will have one of the chickens myself, your mother
shall have another, and you can have the third for your supper and nothing else." The father kept his words and
so his son went without his supper.

1. How did the father do to love his son very much?
    _________________________________________________
2. When did the story happen?
    _________________________________________________
3. Why did the father ask his son to do that?
    _________________________________________________
4. Did the son change the two chickens on the plate into three?
    _________________________________________________
5. There's no ending in the article, can you guess what the boy did in the end?
    _________________________________________________

                                                       Is the servant clever or foolish?
     This is an old story. It was first told long ago. A rich man wanted to make a journey to another town. He
was a businessman. He wanted to take things to sell. He also wanted to take some gold to buy some things
with. He decided to take ten servants with him. They would carry the things to sell and the food to eat on the
journey.
     He was a kind man. He said to one of his servants, "You are the smallest, the thinnest and the weakest of
all my servants. You cannot carry a heavy load. You may choose the lightest load to carry."
     The servant thanked his master. He pointed to the biggest load. This was bread for them to eat on the
journey.
     "You are foolish," said his master. "That is the biggest and heaviest load." But the servant lifted up the load
cheerfully and the journey began. They walked for four hours. Then they stopped for a rest. They all ate some
of the bread. Then there was less bread for the servant to carry. The servant's load grew smaller and lighter
every day. At the end of the journey, the smallest servant had nothing to carry.

1. The rich man wanted to sell things and _____.

A. buy some gold
B. buy some gold with the money
C. buy some things with the gold
D. sell some gold

2. Before the journey began, the rich man said something to _____.

A. a businessman
B. one of his servants
C. the servants
D. some servants

3. The weakest servant _____.

A. asked for his master's advice
B. followed the master's advice
C. refused to accept the master's advice
D. took the advice another servant gave him

4. It took them _____.

A. less than four hours to finish the journey
B. some days to finish the journey
C. no more than four hours to finish the journey
D. only four hours to finish the journey

5. The smallest servant was very _____.

A. clever
B. foolish
C. honest
D. kind

     A young man worked very hard at his lessons. He was too busy to have a rest. At last, he became ill,
so he couldn't go to sleep. Every night, when he went to bed, he closed his eyes and tried to sleep. But he
always stayed awake and couldn't fall asleep.
     After some days, he decided to see a doctor. "I just can't go to sleep at night. What should I do? Could
you please help me?"
     "I have a suggestion (建議)," said the doctor."Try counting numbers. By the time you reach one thousand,
you'll be asleep. I'm sure of it."
     The next day the man returned to the doctor's office. "Well," said the doctor, "how are you today? Did
you try my suggestion?"
     The man still looked tired. "Yes," he said, "I tried counting one, two, three-up to one thousand. But when
I reached five hundred and sixty-nine, I began to feel sleepy. I had to get up and drink some tea so that I could
go on counting up to one thousand. But then I still couldn't fall asleep."

1. The young man couldn't go to sleep because _____.

A. he was worried about his homework
B. he worked too hard and became ill
C. he didn't finish doing his lessons
D. there was a lot of noise there and he couldn't have a rest

2. The doctor asked the young man _____.

A. to put all numbers from I to 1000 together
B. to take some medicine and go to bed earlier
C. to count numbers while he was lying in bed
D. to count numbers before he went to bed

3. The young man returned to the doctor's office the next day because _____.

A. he wanted to ask the doctor how to count the numbers
B. he wanted to thank the doctor
C. he was better and wanted some more medicine
D. he still couldn't go to sleep at night

4. The young man _____.

A. counted from 569 to 1000
B. counted from 1 to 1000 and fell asleep
C. counted from 1 to 569 and got up to drink some tea
D. counted from 1 to 569 and fell asleep

5. The young man _____ in fact.

A. didn't understand the doctor's suggestion
B. wasn't ill at all
C. was not able to count numbers
D. didn't try the doctor's suggestion

     Jim likes playing in a river, But there isn't a river near his new house. He isn't very happy. One day, he
asks his mother,"Is there a river near here?" "No, there isn't." his mother says,"But our new house has a
garden." "I don't like it." says Jim.
     One morning his mother says, "There is a beautiful park near here, Jim, and there are two pools in it. We'll
go there this afternoon." Jim is very happy. After lunch Jim and his mother go to the park, and he plays in one
of the pools, He has a very good time.

1. Jim likes ________.

A. playing games
B. playing in the river
C. swimming
D. singing

2. There is _______ near his new house.

A. a river
B. a park
C. a shop
D. a sea

3. There are _______ in the park.

A. two hours
B. two tall trees
C. two pools
D. two lakes (湖)

4. They'll go there ________.

A. this morning
B. this weekend
C. this afternoon
D. tomorrow.

5. Jim has a very good time in the park with ________.

A.his friend
B. his father
C. his brother
D. his mother

     Peter is thirteen years old. He is in Grade Two this year. He likes to play football and watch football
matches. And he often reads newspapers. He does his best to know where and when there is going to be a
football match.  
     Now Peter is having lunch. He is listing to the radio,too. He is very happy because there is going to be
a nice football match on TV at four this afternoon. He wants to watch it very much. But he is going to have
English and Chinese lessons. He thinks hard and find a way.
     "Hello, Mrs Black," Peter says to his teacher on the phone, "Peter is ill in bed. He wants to ask for a day
off."  
     "Oh, I'm sorry to hear that." Says Mrs Black.
     "But who's that?"
     "It's my father, Mrs Black."

1. Peter is _______ years  old now.                                            
2. Peter often likes to _______ football and _______ football matches.         
3. There  is going to _______ a nice football match on TV at four this afternoon.
4. But he is going to _______ English and Chinese lessons.                      

     Mr. Jones was very angry with his wife (妻子) and his wife was very angry with him. For a few years,
they didn't' t speak to each other (彼此). One evening Mr. Jones was very tired (累的) when he came back
from work, so he went to bed soon. Mrs. Jones went up to the bed much later than her husband (丈夫).
She found a piece of paper on a small table near her bed. On it were the words:
     "Mother, wake me up at 7 a. m. (上午)-Father."
     When Mr. Jones woke up (醒來(lái)) the next morning, it was nearly 8 a.m. and on the small table near his
bed he saw another piece of paper. He read the words,"Father, wake up. It is 7 a.m. -Mother."

1. Mr. Jones was _____ with his wife.

A. pleased
B. sorry
C. angry
D. happy

2. One evening Mr. Jones was tired and _____.

A. went to bed after supper
B. do some sport
C. watched TV
D. spoke to his wife

3. Mrs. Jones went to bed ______ than her husband.

A. earlier
B. better
C. a little later
D. much later 

4. The next morning Mr. Jones _____.

A. went to work on time
B. was late for work
C. spoke to his wife
D. woke up at 7 o'clock

5. Which of the following is right?

A. Mr. Jones and his wife often talked a lot.
B. Mr. Jones liked his wife very much.
C. Before Mr. Jones went to bed, he said to his wife, "Please wake me up at 7 tomorrow morning."
D. Mr. Jones and Mrs. Jones didn't

     Mark Twain was an American writer. One day he went to a city by train. He wanted to see one of his
friends there. He was a very busy man. He usually forgot something.
     When he was in the train, the conductor asked him for his ticket. Mark Twain looked for his ticket here
and there, but he couldn't find it. The conductor knew Mark Twain. He said, "Show me your ticket on your
way back. And if you can't find it, it doesn't matter.
     "Oh, but it does," said Mark Twain, "I must find the ticket. If I can't, how can I know where I am going?"

1. Mark Twain was a _____.

A. teacher
B. farmer
C. writer
D. conductor

2. Mark Twain went to the city _____.

A. by train
B. by car
C. by air
D. by ship

3. Mark Twain went to the city _____.

A. to buy some books
B. to see his friend
C. to see his parents
D. to see a film

4. When he was in the train, the conductor asked him for _____.

A. some books
B. some food
C. some help
D. his ticket

5. Mark Twain didn't show his ticket because _____.

A. he didn't like the conductor
B. the conductor didn't ask for it
C. he couldn't find it
D. he didn't buy the ticket at all

     Jack lived in a town in the north. He wanted to visit some places in the south, but he didn't want to spend
too much money.
     Last summer he had a short vacation. He decided to take a trip to Hainan. He talked to a friend about his
plan. His friend said, "It's a long journey. If you go by plane, you'll get there in a few hours. Then you'll have
more time for sightseeing. If you go by train, it'll take you five or six days to get there."
     He left at the beginning of June and got back to work in the middle of the month. It took him more than
two weeks to make the grip.
     What was the matter? He went by ship for most of the journey.

1. Where did Jack live?

A. In the north.
B. In the south.
C. In the east.
D. In the west.

2. Where did he decide to take a trip?

A. In Hainan.
B. In Hang Hangzhou.
C. In Qingdao.
D. In Beijing.

3. When did he get back to work at last?

A. At the beginning of June.
B. In the middle of June.
C. At the end of June.
D. I don't know.

4. How long did it take him to make the trip?

A. Two days.
B. Less then two weeks.
C. Two weeks.
D. More than two weeks.

5. How did he go for most of the journey?

A. By bus.
B. By plane.
C. By ship.
D. By bike.