Yellow Dress

By Janet Lee

Mary had a yellow dress

Bought from the department store.

It looked as beautiful as the moon,

And as bright as the sun.

Mary wore all the time

The yellow dress I felt so right.

Every day from day to night

I saw her in the dress so bright.

"Buy me a yellow dress,"

I cried to Mom and Dad,

"As beautiful and bright

As the dress the girl living near has!"

I cried and cried and cried,

Until they said with sad eyes,

"We need food for your baby sister,

And clothes for your coming brother."

Since then I've learned

Mary's yellow dress

Is better to dream of

Than to ask for.

1.From the poem, we know that Mary and the writer may be .

A. classmates B. relatives C. neighbors D. sisters

2.Why does the writer say, "Everyday from day to night/I saw her in the dress so bright"?

A. The writer lived with Mary. B. The dress had sun shapes on it.

C. The writer liked the dress very much. D. The dress was Mary's school uniform.

3.What did the writer's parents mean by their words?

A. They did not like the yellow dress.

B. They did not have money for a dress.

C. They already had a dress for her baby sister.

D. They would ask Mary where to buy the yellow dress.

Building an app is a big project. If you want to build the next great smartphone app, you need a plan. First, think about the kind of app that you want to build. Will your app be a game? Will it be for business? Then make a schedule(日程安排)for building the app. You need plenty of time for research before you are ready to build

Now you're ready to make the app. Building an app is like a puzzle(拼图)with many different parts. You can build it yourself or find a company to help you. There are many videos and websites that can teach you to build one. Some websites provide "building blocks" for app developers. As you build, you pick blocks from the website and put them in your app.

After you build your app, you need to check it carefully. Look for bugs. Most apps have several problems to fix. Show your app to people. Ask their opinions. Mike sure everything works before letting people download it. There are so many tools that can help you build apps. Having the right tools will make the work easier. Now almost anyone can make a new app.

1.What are bugs according to the article?

A. Insects. B. Opinions. C. Problems. D. Tools.

2.Which magazine would probably have this article?

A. Outdoor Adventures. B. Business News.

C. Modern Fashion. D. Technology Today.

There is an old story about a king and his daughter. The king asked his daughter how much she loved him. She said that she loved him as much as she loved salt. Her answer made the king sad. Salt is a simple thing, and it is very common. So the king thought his daughter didn't care about him. But the king was wrong. Salt might be common, but it is very important. Throughout history, salt has caused wars. So why do people care so much about salt?

Salt has many uses. Our bodies need salt. If we don't have enough, our body can't work properly. We put salt on icy roads to make them safe. We also use salt to produce other products. Products like paper, glass, rubber and soap depend on salt. But for many years, salt's most important job was preserving(保存)food.

Like other living things, most bacteria(细菌)that cause food to spoil need water to survive. Salt absorbs large amounts of water, so most bacteria cannot live in a salty environment. As a result, salt has the ability to preserve almost anything. For much of human history, this ability has made salt treasured. Every ancient culture from Egypt to China depended on salt. Even today, we compare hardworking, useful people to salt by calling them "the salt of the earth".

For centuries, salt was also hard to get. The combination(组合)of usefulness and rarity made it extremely expensive. Since almost everyone needed salt, the salt trade was an important business. Salt could even be used like money. In fact, the word salary(工资)comes from the word salt. And valuable people are still described as being "worth their salt." Today, salt is easy to get. It is no longer expensive, but it is still both important and useful.

1.In the first paragraph, the writer is trying to make readers .

A. become interested in the old story B. understand the importance of salt

C. fall in love with salt D. understand the daughter's love to salt

2.Which of the following is NOT true according to the article?

A. Salt is very common, but it has many uses.

B. Salt was so valuable that it was once used like money.

C. Although salt is cheap now, it's still important and useful

D. We can use salt to produce all the products we need.

3.What's the meaning of the underlined word "rarity"?

A. the quality of being rare B. the quality of being important

C. the quality of being common D. the quality of being useful

Gareth Ellis, 13, is the youngest son of Alan, an engineer, and Kath, a teacher. His older brothers work in banking and computers, but Gareth's dream was always to become a clown(小丑).Three years ago, Alan, Kath and Gareth joined the circus(马戏团). People laugh when we tell them,' saysKath. 'But it's true. Gareth has wanted to be a clown since we took him to the circus when he was three.'

When Alan lost his job, he and Kath decided to see if they could find full-time circus jobs. They both got jobs with a famous circus and Gareth began training to become a clown. He calls himself Bippo. They travel with the circus during the summer and return home for the winter. Gareth's brothers are old enough to look after the house while they are away.

'I can't say it was easy,' says Kath. 'There was a lot to think about and organize. We only had a car and a very small caravan(大篷车)to sleep in, and we were leaving behind our lovely house. The only thing Gareth missed was his long, hot baths.'

'People ask about my education,' says Gareth, 'but from the beginning, wherever we go, someone has always come to teach me. I follow the same books as everyone back at school and I've got a computer. I've never fallen behind my classmates.'

And the future? 'It was a difficult decision,' says Kath, 'but there was no other way to teach Gareth about being a clown. I'm happy to say it's working, and we're enjoying it.' And Gareth? 'I'm going to be the main clown in a circus one day', he says, 'perhaps Bippo's circus.'

1.In the article, the writer is trying to .

A. talk about the best way to educate a child B. give details about how to join the circus

C. describe how one family changed their lives D. advise what to do when you lose the job

2.Alan and Kath joined the circus because .

A. they wanted to spend time travelling in the summer

B. they needed money in order to buy a bigger car

C. their older sons needed their house for themselves

D. their youngest son wanted to train as a performer

3.When they first join the circus, Kath .

A. found things difficult B. did not have enough to do

C. wanted to go back home D. was not able to sleep properly

4.Which postcard did Gareth write just after he joined the circus?

A. B. C. D.

将下列句子泽成英语，并写在答题卷上标有题号的横线上。

1.凯特擅长于跳舞。

2.她不仅要努力学习，而且要花很多时间跳舞。

3.她想知道如何才能在学业和爱好之间获取平衡。

4.幸运的是，她的老师给她提供了一些有用的建议。

5.她的成功基于她老师的帮助和支持。

阅读下面的短文并用英语回答问题，并将答案写在答题卷上标有题号的横线上。

(an extract from Stuart Little)

When Mrs. Frederick C. Little's second son arrived, everybody noticed that he was not much bigger than a mouse. The truth of the matter was, the baby looked very much like a mouse in every way. He was only about two inches high; and he had a mouse's sharp nose, a mouse's tail, a mouse's whiskers(胡须)，and the pleasant, shy manner of a mouse. Before he was many days old he was not only looking like a mouse but acting like one, too-wearing a gray hat and carrying a small cane(手杖).Mr. and Mrs. Little named him Stuart, and Mr. Little made him a tiny bed.

Unlike most babies, Stuart could walk as soon as he was born. Mrs. Little saw right that the baby clothes she had provided were unsuitable, and she set to work and made him a fine little blue suit. Every morning, before Stuart dressed. Mrs. Little went into his room and weighed him on a small scale(称)which was really used for weighing letters. At birth Stuart could have been sent by first class mail, but his parents preferred to keep him rather than send him away. At the age of a month, he had gained only a third of an ounce(盎司), his mother was so worried that she sent for the doctor.

The doctor was happy with Stuart and said that it was very unusual for an American family to have a mouse. He took Stuart's temperature and found that it was 98.6, which is normal for a mouse. Everything seemed to be all right, and Mrs. Little was pleased to get such a good report.

"Feed him up!" said the doctor cheerfully, as he left.

The home of the Little family was a pleasant place near a park in New York City. In the mornings, the Littles were up early as a general rule. Stuart was a great help to his parents, and to his old brother, because of his small size and because he could do things that a mouse can do and was willing to do them.

1.What did Stuart Little look like?

2.Why did Mrs. Little send for a doctor?

3.Do you want to have a brother like Stuart Little? Why or why not?

书面表达

假如你是在苏州学习的英国交流学生Max，你的英国同学Simon给你写了一封电子邮件，想了解你在苏州的学习和生活情况。请认真阅读下面的邮件内容，根据信中的内容及你的实际情况用英语给Simon回复一封电子邮件。

注意：1.词数90左右。回复邮件的开头和结尾己经写好，不计入总词数;

2.回复邮件须包括所有要点，可适当发挥，使全文连贯、通顺;

3.同复邮引中不得提及真实的人名、校名等相关信息。

Dear Simon,

Thanks for your email. I'm sorry I haven't written to you till now.

I will send you some photos next time. Take care!

Yours

Max

(2014●常州市)Your home town is really nice!The air quality is as good as______of Sanya.

A. it B. one C. that D. the one

(2014●常州市)Though Kongfu Panda 3 is popular with teenagers, it won't be liked by__________.

A. nobody B. somebody C. everybody D. anybody

(2014●淮安市) Now teenagers are very busy with their schoolwork and they have _____ time to do exercise.

A. few B. little C. a few D. a little