My father made a deal with me that he would match whatever I could come up with to buy my fir st car．From the time I wa s a saver．My allowance, back in tho se day s, wa s twenty five cent s a week．I grew up on a farm near a small town called Ventura．In tho se day s the area wa s mo stly agricultural．The climate wa s and still i s a s clo se to perfect a s you could get．I earned some of my money picking one crop or another．When I wa s about ten, a school friend' s family owned walnut orchard s(果园)and it wa s harve st time．She told me we could earn five dollar s for every bag of walnut s we picked．I certainly learned about picking walnut s that day．Not surprisingly, that wa s my fir st and la st time a s a walnut picker．
In 1960 my grandmother pa s sed away．She left me 100 share s of AT＆T．One hundred share s of stock don't seem like much today but back then tho se share s paid me＄240 per year in dividend s(利息)．That wa s huge for a kid my age．
By the time I wa s seventeen．I had saved up ＄ 1, 300 and I knew exactly that I wanted．Ithink my father wa s somewhat suri sed when I announced I had saved up ＄ 1, 300 and wa s ready to buy my new car．I'll never forget the evening my father said, “Let' s go see about that car”．I wa s so excited．
My father could have ea sily ju st given me the car but he alway s in si sted that hi s children work for what they got．Thi s wa s not a bad thing．I learned self-reliance．Self-reliance i s equal to freedom．Now that I think about it I need to be thanking my father．
(1)
Which one of the following s didn't belong to the saving of ＄1, 300?
[ ]
A．
Weekly allowance．
B．
Her earning s by picking crop s．
C．
Share s left by grandma．
D．
Money earned from selling share s．
(2)
The underlined part in the second paragraph probably meant ________．
[ ]
A．
she didn't have the chance of picking walnut s
B．
enough money had been earned for her car
C．
the work wa s too hard for children like her
D．
she had no time to do that again for some rea son
(3)
We can know from the pa s sage the author got her car at the age of ________．
[ ]
A．
16
B．
17
C．
18
D．
19
(4)
The purpo se of the author' s father doing like that wa s to ________．
One night when my wife was preparing dinner, our little son took a piece of paper to her which read：
For washing the car ＄5.00
For making my own bed this week ＄1.00
Going to the provision shop ＄0.50
Playing with little sister ＄0.25
Taking out the rubbish ＄1.00
Getting a good report card ＄5.00
And for sweeping the common corridor ＄2.00
Total ＄14.75
His mother looked at him standing there expecting payment．I could see a thousand memories flashed through her mind．So she picked up the pen and turning the paper over, this is what she wrote：
For nine months I carried you, growing inside me No Charge
For the nights I sat up with you, doctored and prayed for you No Charge
For the toys, food and clothes and wiping your nose No Charge
When you add it all up, the full cost of my love No Charge
Well, when he finished reading, he had big tears in his eyes．He looked at his mother and said,“Mummy, I love you．”Then he took the pen and in great big letters wrote on the“bill”“All paid．”
(1)
What's the best title for this passage?
[ ]
A．
Part-time Job
B．
Mother's Love, No Charge
C．
Payment for House Work
D．
Greedy Mother
(2)
The write wrote the passage in order to ________．
[ ]
A．
show that children should be paid for their housework
B．
show that children should not be paid for their housework
C．
show a clever way of teaching children
D．
tell children how to spend their spare time
(3)
How do you think of the mother in the passage?
[ ]
A．
Clever
B．
Greedy
C．
Cold－hearted
D．
Selfish
(4)
From the last passage we know that ________
[ ]
A．
the boy got all the money he wanted
B．
the mother was unwilling to give the money to the boy
C．
the boy realized that it was not right to ask for money for the housework
D．
the mother was angry with what the boy said
阅读理解
Once upon a time the colors of the world started to quarrel．Green said,“Clearly I am the most important．I am the sign of life and hope．I was chosen for grass, trees and leaves．Without me, all animals would 1 ．”
Blue interrupted,“You only think about the 2 , but consider the sky and the sea． 3 the water that is the basis of life and drawn up by the clouds from the deep sea．Without my peace, you would all be 4 ．”
Yellow chuckled(笑道),“You are all so serious．I bring laughter, fun, and 5 into the world．”
Orange started next to blow her trumpet,“I am the color of health and strength．I may be 6 , but I am precious for I serve the needs of human life．When I fill the sky 7 , my beauty is so striking that no one gives another 8 to any of you．”
Red could stand it 9 and he shouted out,“I am the ruler of all of you．I am the color of danger and of bravery．I am willing to 10 truth．I am also the color of passion and of love．”
Then came Purple and Indigo(深蓝)…．
The colors went on boasting, each convinced of his or her own 11 ．Their quarreling became louder and louder．Suddenly there was a startling flash of bright lightening thunder．Rain started to pour down 12 ．The colors crouched(蜷缩)down 13 , drawing close to one another for comfort．
In the midst of the clamor(叫嚷), rain began to speak,“You foolish colors, fighting 14 yourselves, each trying to dominate 15 ．Don't you know that you were each made for a special purpose, 16 ?Join hands with 17 and come to me．”
Doing as they were told, the colors 18 and joined hands．They formed a colorful rainbow．From then on, whenever a good rain 19 the world, a rainbow appears in the sky．They remember to 20 one another．
