Long ago, near the village of Hedley, there lived a strange and playful trickster(骗子), known as the Hedley Kow.  Sometimes it looked like an ordinary object.  Sometimes it looked like a donkey or a goat.

One evening, as an old woman went along the path, she saw an old iron pot lying in the ditch. “Fancy that,” she said.  “Nobody seems to want this old pot. I will take it home and plant pretty flowers in it.”

When she tried to lift it, she saw that it was full of gold pieces. “Well, now, if that doesn’t beat all,” she said. “I’m rich! I can buy a fine house and fancy clothes.”

The pot was heavy, so she tied her shawl around it and began to drag it home.  After a while, she stopped to rest. When she looked in the pot, she was amazed to see that it was full of silver pieces!

“Oh, my god!” she said.  “Aren’t I the lucky one ! If it were gold, thieves would have been after me.  My friends might have been jealous.  But I can hide these silver pieces, take out a few at a time, and live like a queen.”

On she went, pulling the pot after her. She was nearing home now. At her gate, she looked into the pot. What a surprise! The silver had changed into a lump(块) of iron. “Iron,” she said.  “Well, now! No one will be jealous or want to steal this from me.  I can use this iron to prop my door open and let in fresh air and sunlight. Lucky  me!”

As soon as she said that, the pot began to grow and later it became a goat. Then it jumped up and ran off down the road laughing.

“Fancy that!” said the old woman.  “I believe I have seen the Hedley Kow! Not many folks can say that, and that’s a fact. I’ll just sit up by my fire tonight thinking about how lucky I was to see it for myself. I truly must be the luckiest person in the world!”

Which of the following sayings can best describe this story?

A. All good things come to an end.                    B. The early bird catches the worm.

C. Content is better than riches.                       D. All bad luck goes away.

What does “the Hedley Kow” stand for in the eyes of the old woman?

A. Glory         B. Honor           C. Misfortune     D. Luck

From this passage we can know the old woman is _________.

A. optimistic     B. pessimistic        C. strange       D. mindless

Which of the following can be the best title for the passage?

A. The woman   B. The Hedley Kow    C. The pot       D. The Effort

They once seemed more at home on the busy streets of Asia like Delhi, Calcutta and Bangkok but cycle powered rickshaws (人力车) can now be seen taking people across town in many European cities. Many people believe that rickshaws are a good way of experiencing a city close-up, while also cutting down on traffic jams and pollution. In Berlin, one of the first cities to introduce this new model of transport, more than 200 bike-taxis go along at 15km per hour, past many tourist attractions and city parks.
“It is completely environmentally friendly; we have new models with an engine to help the driver up the hills but they use renewable energy.” said a spokesman for VELOTAXI, the leading rickshaw company which has carried a quarter of a million people this year.
While the city still has 7,000 motor-taxis, rickshaw company officials say their taxis’ green ideas, speed and safety make them more than just a tourist attraction. While now increasingly out of fashion in Delhi, Berlin people have eagerly accepted the new fleet since their launch in 1997.
“It’s better than a taxi, better than a bus, better than the train,” said ULF Lehman, 36, as he leapt out of a rickshaw near the world famous Brandenburg gate. “ It feels so free.”
This is something out of the ordinary, you feel you are on holiday in Bangkok instead of Berlin,” said another traveler.
In Amsterdam, driver Peter Jancso said people like to be driven around in his bright yellow rickshaw and pretend to be a queen in a golden carriage. "I like my passengers to feel important," he said as he dropped off another passenger. Another visitor noted how cheap it was compared with a normal taxi.
Although increasingly popular in Europe, it is the opposite in India, where hand-pulled rickshaws are considered inhuman and a symbol of India's backward past.
Nearly 500 bike-rickshaws are running in London and are not required to pay the city's road tax but things may change as other taxi drivers complain of unfair treatment.
【小题1】 Where are rickshaws becoming more popular?

A.Delhi, Berlin, Paris.B.Amsterdam, Bangkok, Delhi.
C.Athens, London, Berlin.D.Berlin, Amsterdam, London.
【小题2】Why are rickshaws no longer as widely used in India as in the past?
A.They are a reminder of a bad period in India's history.
B.They have been banned because they are inefficient.
C.The streets of India are too crowded for them to move through easily.
D.Indians now prefer to travel by car because they are richer.
【小题3】What does the underlined sentence "This is something out of the ordinary, you feel you are on holiday in
Bangkok instead of Berlin" suggest?
A.The passenger didn't like taking a rickshaw as it reminded him of Bangkok.
B.The passenger enjoyed being on holiday in Berlin more than in Bangkok.
C.The passenger was impressed when taking a rickshaw and considered it unusual.
D.The passenger disapproved of rickshaws because they were not original to Berlin.
【小题4】 What is the author's attitude towards rickshaws?
A.He gives no personal opinion.
B.He believes they will be of no use.
C.He thinks they will reduce pollution.
D.He thinks they are old-fashioned.


Disease, poverty, hate, love—Charles Dickens’ stories opened his readers eyes to the most important themes of his age. Two hundred years on, his stories still speak volumes across the world, proving that Dickens’ legacy(遗产) was far greater than just “great literature”
February 7 marks the 200th anniversary of the writer’s birthday. To mark this date, BBC writer Alex Hudson listed six things Dickens gave the modern world. Let’s take a look at two of them.
A white Christmas
Dickens is described as “the man who invented Christmas”—not the religious festival, but the cultural aspects that we associate with the festive season today. In the early 19th century, Christmas was barely worth mentioning, according to critic and writer Leigh Hunt. The committee which ran the Conservative Party even held ordinary business meetings on Christmas Day – unthinkable in the West nowadays, when everyone but the most necessary workers takes at least three days off.
Many people believe that Dickens’ popular descriptions of the festive period became a blueprint for generations to come. In his classic novel, A Christmas Carol, he not only put forward the idea of snow at Christmas, but also painted a picture of glowing warmth –“ home enjoyments, affections and hopes”.
In his biography of Dickens, Peter Ackroyd wrote: “ Dickens can be said to have almost single-handedly created the modern idea of Christmas.”
“Dickensian” poverty
Dickens was one of the first to take an honest look at the underclass and the poor of Victorian (the period during British Queen Victoria’s reign from 1837 to 1901) London.
He helped popularize the term “red tape” to describe situations where people in power use needless amounts of bureaucracy(官僚作风) in a way that particularly hurts the weaker and poorer members of society.
“Dickensian” has now become a powerful word for describing an unacceptable level of poverty. In 2009, when the president of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers in the UK wanted to talk about deprivation in some areas of Britain, she did not use words like “terrible” or “horrific”, but rather described it as “life mirroring the times of Dickens”. 
【小题1】What is the main idea of the article?

A.An introduction to Charles Dickens’ classic novels.
B.Charles dickens’ impact on the world.
C.Charles Dickens’ amazing characters.
D.Why Charles Dickens is popular across the world.
【小题2】Why is Dickens called “the man who invented Christmas”?
A.Because he created the religious festival.
B.Because many of his novels have something to do with Christmas.
C.Because one of his novels helped to shape Christmas celebrations.
D.Because he was the first man to have proposed celebrating Christmas.
【小题3】According to the article, the phrase “red tape” refers to _______.
A.rules or procedures that are required to accomplish a task
B.a situation in which poor members of society are hurt.
C.conflict between people in power and weaker people
D.pointlessly time-consuming official procedures

In my living roomthere is a plaque () that advises me to“Bloom (开花) where you are planted.” It reminds me of Dorothy.I got to know Dorothy in the early 1980swhen I was teaching Early Childhood Development through a program with Union College in BarbourvilleKentucky.The job responsibilities required occasional visits to the classroom of each teacher in the program.Dorothy stands out in my memory as one who“bloomed”in her remote area.

Dorothy taught in a school in Harlan CountyKentuckyAppalachian Mountain area.To get to her school from the town of HarlanI followed a road winding around the mountain.In the eight?mile journeyI crossed the same railroad track five timesgiving the possibility of getting caught by the same train five times.Rather than feeling excited by this drive through the mountainsI found it depressing.The poverty level was shocking and the small shabby houses gave me the greatest feeling of hopelessness.

From the moment of my arrival at the little schoolall gloom (忧郁) disappeared.Upon arriving at Dorothy’s classroom.I was greeted with smiling faces and treated like a queen.The children had been prepared to show me their latest projects.Dorothy told me with a big smile that they were serving poke greens salad and cornbread for“dinner”(lunch)In case you don’t knowpoke greens are a weed?type plant that grows wildespecially on poor ground.

Dorothy never ran out of reports of exciting activities of her students.Her enthusiasm never cooled down.When it came time to sit for the testing and interviewing required to receive her Child Development Associate CertificationDorothy was ready.She came to the assessment and passed in all areas.Afterwardshe invited me to the one?and?only steak house in the area to celebrate her victoryas if she had received her Ph.D.degree.After the mealshe placed a little box containing an old pen in my hand.She said it was a family heirloom (传家宝)but to me it is a treasured symbol of appreciation and pride that cannot be matched with things.

1.“Early Childhood Development”in Paragraph 1 refers to________.

Aa program directed by Dorothy

Ba course given by the author

Can activity held by the students

Dan organization sponsored by Union college

2.In the journeythe author was most disappointed at seeing________.

Athe long track

Bthe poor houses

Cthe same train

Dthe winding road

3.Upon arriving at the classroomthe author was cheered up by________.

Aa warm welcome

Bthe sight of poke greens

CDorothy’s latest projects

Da big dinner made for her

4.What can we know about Dorothy from the last paragraph?

AShe was invited to a celebration at a restaurant.

BShe got a pen as a gift from the author.

CShe passed the required assessment.

DShe received her Ph.D.degree.

5.What does the author mainly intend to tell us?

AWhatever you doyou must do it carefully.

BWhoever you areyou deserve equal treatment.

CHowever poor you areyou have the right to education.

DWherever you areyou can accomplish your achievement.

 

Many people will remember the flight of the space shuttle (航天飞机)Challenger , in June, 1993.The achievement of Sally Ride, America’s first woman astronaut to fly into space, made this flight especially memorable.Students from two high schools in Camden, New Jersey, however, are likely to remember Norma rather than Sally whenever they think about the flight.

Norma didn’t travel alone.She brought about 100 companions along with her.Norma was an ant, a queen ant who, with her subjects, made up the first ant colony (群体) to travel into space.The ants were part of a science experiment designed by the students to test the effects of weightlessness on insects.

The equipment designed by the students for their colony functioned perfectly throughout the long space trip.The young scientists and their teachers were very sad to find that their insect astronauts had all died at some point before the container was returned to the school and opened.The problem did not occur in space, but on the ground after Challenger had landed.The container remained in the desert for nearly a week before the ant colony was removed.The hot, dry desert air dried out the colony’s container and the ants died from lack of moisture (水分).

The project was termed a success because it did provide useful information.Students will continue their efforts to find out exactly what went wrong.They will try to prevent the same difficulties from recurring (再发生) on future missions .They don’t want to be discouraged either by the death of the ants or by the $10,000 shuttle fare they will have to pay to send the next colony of ants into space.

1.The story is mainly about       .

A.Sally Ride’s first ride

B.space equipment for insects

C.a space experiment with ants

D.going to school in New Jersey

2.The project wasn’t a failure because       .

A.some important things were learned

B.dead ants are better

C.everything went as expected

D.students wrote about it

3.The ants died because       .

A.weightlessness harmed them

B.space caused too much pain

C.no one fed them in space

D.they dried out in the desert

4.On the next space trip , ants       .

A.will be sent without people

B.should not be left in the desert too long

C.will have to pay double fare

D.will escape the trip completely

 

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