One day an old man is selling (卖) a big elephant. A young man comes to the elephant and begins to look at it slowly. The old man goes up to him and says in his ear, “Don't say anything about the elephant before I sell it. Then I will give you twenty dollars.” “All right,” says the young man. After the old man sells the elephant, he gives the young man twenty dollars and says, “Now, can you tell me how you found the elephant's bad ears?” “I didn't find the bad ears,” says the young man. “Then why are you looking at the elephant slowly?” asked the old man. The young man answers, “Because I have never seen an elephant before, and I want to know what it looks like.”

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(　 )11. ________  the elephant.

　　　 A. The young man sells     B. The old man sells

　　　 C. The two men sell        D. The old man buys

(　 )12. The young man is looking at the elephant slowly.

He wants to find out ___________.

　　　 A. which foot of the elephant is bad B. how heavy it is

　　　 C. which ear of the elephant is bad D. what it looks like

(　 )13. The young man   ______________.

　　　 A. knows the elephant has bad ears B. wants to buy the elephant

　　　 C. looks after the elephant D. gets some money from the old man

(　 )14. The young man  ______________.

　　　 A. is not interested in elephants B. knows what an elephant looks like

　　　 C. has seen some elephants before D. has never seen an elephant before

(　 )15. Hearing what the young man said, the old man will probably(很可能)be ____________.

　　　 A. angry （生气）      B. happy     C. dangerous      D. hungry

One evening two young men were walking in the street together. They tried to find a chance to steal something. The clock struck twelve. Most of people went to bed. Quietly they came to a house. There were no lights in the house and it seemed that everyone in the house had fallen asleep. Standing at the front door gate, one said in English in a low voice, “You wait here. I’ll go round to the back door and then get into the house…” Suddenly out of the house ran a dog, barking at them. The two men were very frightened and ran away as fast as they could. They dare not stop until they got into a lonely place. The man said: “It’s too bad. I hadn’t expected that the dog could understand English.”
【小题1】The two young men were ________.
A. workers     B. doctors      C. thieves
【小题2】There were no lights in the house because _______.
A. the people in the house had been out
B. nobody lived there.
C. It seemed that everyone was asleep.
【小题3】“One said in English to the other in a low voice.” Here means _______.
A. he knew English
B. he didn’t want to let anyone else understand what they would say
C. both A and B
【小题4】“Did the dog understand English really?” _______.
A. Yes, it did.   B. No, it didn’t.   C. No, but it wanted to understand.
【小题5】The dog ran out of the house and barked at them only because ________.
A. it understood English    B. it heard them talking    C. the two men frightened it

In the opinion of many people, the two­parent family is the correct way to raise children. Traditionally, this has been as the most natural way, but single­parent families have had to face prejudices(偏见) against their life­style. However, the single­parent family is the fastest growing type of family. In the United States, a national survey showed that at least 50% of children will be members of a single­parent family. So we think it is important to throw prejudices away and to see the advantages of single­parent families.
When compared to two­parent families, single­parent families are usually at a disadvantage in some ways. They are often in short of money, and children receive less attention. What’s more, single parents can find themselves under too much pressure(压力) of both work and home. Despite(尽管) these disadvantages, it is possible for single­parent families to look for support from friends, schools, communities or other organizations. They need to remember that nobody can do it alone.
Surprisingly, single­parent families also have some advantages over two­parent families. Single parents have greater flexibility(灵活性) in spending time with children, because they don’t have to consider the needs of a husband or wife. So they can develop closer relationships with their children. Another advantage comes from the fact that single parents often work together with their children to solve problems, which makes children feel more needed and valued.
It’s important to remember that single­parent families have, until now suffered prejudices from some people. They think that it’s easier for the children in single­parent families to drop out of school in teens, and to be jobless in their early twenties. But, with the support from friends, schools and communities, single­parent families become more accepted by society, and this situation is certain to improve. In the future we will probably see these prejudices disappear.
【小题1】What does the writer mainly tell us in Paragraph 1?
A. People shouldn’t have prejudices against single­parent families.
B. The single­parent family is not good for raising children.
C. The two­parent family is the correct way to raise children.
D. 50% of children will be members of a single­parent family in the USA.
【小题2】Which disadvantage of single­parent families is NOT mentioned in Paragraph 2?