A beautiful and very successful actress was the star for a new musical show. Her home was in the country, but she didn’t want to go back there every night, so she bought an expensive house in the center of the city, got some beautiful furniture and got a man to paint the rooms in new colour.
It was very difficult to get tickets for her show in the evening, because everyone wanted to see it. So she decided to give the painter two of the best seats. She hoped that this would make him work better for her. He took the tickets without saying anything, and she heard no more about them until the end of month, when she got the painter’s bill. At the bottom of it were these words: “Four hours from 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. watching Miss Hall sing and dance: 3 pounds,” with this note: “Before 5:00 p.m. I get 10 shillings (先令)an hour and after 5:00 p.m. 15 shillings.”

1. 1.

   The actress bought a house in the center of the city because        .

   1. A.
      she liked to live in the busiest place
   2. B.
      she didn’t like to live in the country
   3. C.
      she wanted to work harder than before
   4. D.
      she didn’t want to live in old house
2. 2.

   In order to make the painter work better for her, the actress        .

   1. A.
      gave him two tickets for her show
   2. B.
      sang and danced for four hours
   3. C.
      decided to give him 3 pounds
   4. D.
      invited him for a big dinner
3. 3.

   The actress got the painter’s bill        .

   1. A.
      to ask for the money of his painting work
   2. B.
      to ask her to pay for his watching her show
   3. C.
      in which he showed his thanks for the tickets
   4. D.
      in which he expressed his dissatisfaction
4. 4.

   It can be learned from the text that one pound is         shillings.

   1. A.
      10
   2. B.
      12
   3. C.
      15
   4. D.
      20
5. 5.

   What kind of man was the painter?

   1. A.
      He was a careful man.
   2. B.
      He was a poor man.
   3. C.
      He was not friendly to others.
   4. D.
      He knew little about music and dance.

A girl complained to her father about her hard life.She didn't know what she had to do and wanted to give up.She felt tired of fighting and fighting.One problem had been finished but another came over.
Her father，a cook，took her into the kitchen.He poured water into three pans and boiled(煮沸) them.After boiling，in the first pan was put some carrots，the second was put some eggs and the last was put with coffee.
The girl waited impatiently (不耐煩的)，confused by what her father did.About 20 minutes later，her father took out the carrots and put them in a bowl.He took the eggs and put them in a bowl.After that the coffee was poured into a cup.“My sweet heart，what do you see？” he asked.
“Carrots，eggs and coffee，” she replied.
Her father told her to close her eyes and asked her to touch the carrots.She did so and felt that the carrots were soft.After that he asked her to take the eggs and break them.After peeling (剝開(kāi)) them，she got the eggs，cooked and hard.The last，the father let her smell the coffee. She asked，“What did you do this for，F(xiàn)ather？” He explained that each had the same unlucky experience—the boiling water，but each had a different result. The strong and hard carrots had become soft and weak.The fragile eggs became hard after being cooked. The coffee was very special，they could change water.“Who are you？” asked her father.“When bad luck knocks at your door，what is your decision? Are you carrots，eggs or coffee？”

1. 1.

   The girl complained about her hard life because she didn't ________.

   1. A.
      want to give up
   2. B.
      finish one problem
   3. C.
      know what to do
   4. D.
      get tired of fighting
2. 2.

   The girl's father took her to the kitchen to ________.

   1. A.
      ask her how to boil eggs
   2. B.
      show her how to make coffee
   3. C.
      teach her how to be a cook
   4. D.
      tell her how to face difficulties
3. 3.

   After about twenty minutes，the carrots became ________.

   1. A.
      soft
   2. B.
      hard
   3. C.
      salty
   4. D.
      sweet
4. 4.

   The underlined word “fragile” in the passage means “________”.

   1. A.
      美味的
   2. B.
      易碎的
   3. C.
      特別的
   4. D.
      可憐的
5. 5.

   What can we learn from the passage?

   1. A.
      The girl's father liked to eat some kinds of food.
   2. B.
      Bad luck always knocks at strong people's doors.
   3. C.
      Boiled carrots，eggs and coffee had the same result.
   4. D.
      People should make right decisions when in trouble.

In some western countries, many children do chores (家務(wù)) to get pocket money. They usually start to do this when they are ten years old.
School students have to do homework and study for tests.  They don’t have much free time on weekdays. They often do chores on weekends.
Young kids only do easy chores. So they don’t get much money. But that’s enough. Many of them only want to buy candy. And candy is cheap! They often help do the dishes, sweep the floor, or feed the pet cat or dog.
When they get older, they want to buy more and more things. They want things that are more expensive than candy. So they have to work harder! They often help their parents wash the family car, cut the grass, or cook meals.
Some jobs are a good way for kids to learn new things. For example, they can learn how to use a lawnmower ( 割草機(jī)) or how to cook. Of course, their parents help them at first.

1. 1.

   How do many children get pocket money in some Western countries?

   1. A.
      By studying hard.
   2. B.
      By doing chores at home.
   3. C.
      By doing part - time jobs.
   4. D.
      By asking their parents for it.
2. 2.

   Mary wants to get more pocket money to buy something expensive. She may _________

   1. A.
      do the dishes
   2. B.
      feed the pet cat
   3. C.
      cook meals
   4. D.
      sweep the floor
3. 3.

   Which of the following is not true?

   1. A.
      Young kids do easy chores because they can get much money from their parents.
   2. B.
      School students often do chores on Saturdays and Sundays.
   3. C.
      If kids get older and want something more expensive, they can help wash their family car.
   4. D.
      Kids can learn how to cook with the help of their parents.
4. 4.

   The passage mainly tells us how children in some Western countries_________

   1. A.
      find jobs
   2. B.
      get pocket money
   3. C.
      study at school
   4. D.
      do chores

In 50 years of traveling, Colin McCorpuodale has visited every country in the world except three. And everywhere he goes, he sends himself a postcard. He always chooses a postcard with beautiful scenery (風(fēng)景). Usually he writes just a short message to himself. However, he wrote an interesting story on his latest one, from the Malians Island.
Mr. McCorpuodale lives in London. On one of the walls in his room, you can see a large map of the world. There are hundreds of little red pins (大頭針) stuck in it. “These pins mean a lot to me.” says Mr. McCorpuodale, “I follow the rule. I’m allowed to stick one in only if I’ve been in a place for more than 24 hours.”
Naturally, Mr. McCorpuodale has his favorite places. New Zealand, he describes as “a wonderful country”. About China, he says, “This is the country in the world which is completely different. There is no European influence.”
Wherever he goes, Mr. McCorpuodale takes with him a photo of his wife, a candle, a shirt with a secret pocket and a pen.
So why does he do it? For the postcards or the travels? Mr. McCorpuodale laughs, “Neither. Only for the meaningful life.”

1. 1.

   What did Mr. McCorpuodale write about on his latest postcard?

   1. A.
      Malians Island.
   2. B.
      An interesting story.
   3. C.
      Beautiful scenery.
   4. D.
      His favorite places.
2. 2.

   On a wall in Mr. McCorpuodale’s room, there is            .

   1. A.
      a map of the world
   2. B.
      a postcard to himself
   3. C.
      a message to himself
   4. D.
      a photo of his wife
3. 3.

   According to Mr. McCorpuodal, there’s no European influence          .

   1. A.
      in New Zealand
   2. B.
      in America
   3. C.
      in Australia
   4. D.
      in China

In learning English，one should first pay attention to listening and speaking．It is the groundwork of reading and writing．You’d better  31  your best to speak while you do much listening．Don’t be  32  of making mistakes．But be careful not to let them stop you from improving your  33 ．While you are doing this，a good  34  is to write-keep a diary，write notes or letters．Then if you can，ask some others to go through  35  you have written and tell you where it is wrong．Many mistakes in your speaking will be  36  found when you write．Through correcting mistakes，you can do better in learning English．

If you are slow in speaking，don’t  37  about it．One of the helpful ways is reading，either aloud or to yourself．The important thing is to choose  38  interesting to read． It mustn’t be too difficult for you．When you are reading  39  this way，don’t stop to  40  the new words if you can guess their meanings when they have nothing to do with the sentences．You can do that some other time．

31．A．have         B．send         C．make          D．try

32．A．sure         B．a(chǎn)fraid       C．proud         D．tired

33．A．English      B．Chinese      C．Japanese      D．French

34．A．start        B．idea         C．way           D．manner

35．A．how          B．when         C．why           D．what

36．A．happily      B．easily       C．really        D．slowly

37．A．talk         B．fear         C．worry         D．hurry

38．A．something    B．everything   C．a(chǎn)nything      D．nothing

39．A．by           B．on           C．a(chǎn)t            D．in

40．A．look at      B．look for     C．look up       D．look over