D
Everyone would like to be remembered. A few people even try to do something that no one else in history has ever tried to do. These people sometimes have their names recorded（记录）in the Guinness Book of Records.
Often it takes a group of people to do something unusual. One such team paddled（用桨划）a bathtub（浴缸）145 kilometers for 24 hours. This group had 13 members. They paddled their bathtub on a river near Ashford, Great Britain on May 28 and 29. 1983. A month later, a racing team of hospital bed pushers in Avon, Great Britain, pushed a hospital bed 16 kilometers in just 50 minutes! However, the distance（距离）record for hospital bed pushing is still held by the men of Bruntsfield Bedding Center. This team from Edinburgh pushed a hospital bed 5,203 kilometers in 1979. It took the team 35 days to cover the distance.
Another group of record makers held the highest dinner party in the world. Nine people from Sydney,Australia, climbed Mountain Huascaran on June 28, 1989. The climbers carried a dinner table. chairs, and a meal up the mountain. When they reached the top, they all put on warm suits for dinner.
People all over the world are trying hard to do something unusual to make a record. It should be understood, however, that now not all the records will be kept in the Guinness Book of Records.
【小题1】 According to the passage, what record was made near Ashford in May, 1983?

D

James shook his money box again. Nothing! He carefully counted the coins that lay on the bed. $24. 17 was all that he had. The bicycle he wanted was at least $90! How was he going to get the end of the money?

He knew that his friends all had bicycles. It was hard to hang around with people when you were the only one without wheels. He thought about what he could do. It was no use asking his parents, for he knew they had no money to save.

There was only one way to get money, and that was to earn it. He would have to find a job. But who would hire him and what could he do? He decided to ask Mr. Clay for advice, who usually had opinions on most things.

“Well, you can start right here,” said Mr. Clay. “My windows need cleaning and my car needs washing. ”

That was the beginning of James’ part-time job. For three months he worked every day after finishing his homework. He was amazed by the different kinds of jobs that people found for him to do. He took dogs and babies for walks, cleared out cupboards, and mended books. He lost count of the number of cars he washed and windows he cleaned, but the money increased and he knew that he would soon have enough for the bicycle he was eager to have.

The day finally came when James counted his money and found $94. 32. He wasted no time and went down to the shop to pick up the bicycle he wanted. He rode proudly home, looking forward to showing his new bicycle to his friends. It had been hard working for the money, but James knew that he valued his bicycle far more since he had bought it with his own money.

1.James in the passage was probably ________.

A．a cleaner          B．a worker          C．a student          D．a teacher

2.The only way for James to earn money was to ________.

A．find a part-time job                      B．borrow some from his parents

C．ask Mr. Clay for help                     D．study very hard

3.Which of the following is NOT mentioned in the passage?

A．He mended books.                      B．He cleared out cupboards.

C．He washed dogs.                        D．He cleaned windows.

4.James valued his bicycle very much because ________.

A．it was very expensive                    B．it was bought with his own money

C．he was too poor to have one               D．his friends all had bicycles.

D

Everyone would like to be remembered. A few people even try to do something that no one else in history has ever tried to do. These people sometimes have their names recorded（记录）in the Guinness Book of Records.

Often it takes a group of people to do something unusual. One such team paddled（用桨划）a bathtub（浴缸）145 kilometers for 24 hours. This group had 13 members. They paddled their bathtub on a river near Ashford, Great Britain on May 28 and 29. 1983. A month later, a racing team of hospital bed pushers in Avon, Great Britain, pushed a hospital bed 16 kilometers in just 50 minutes! However, the distance（距离）record for hospital bed pushing is still held by the men of Bruntsfield Bedding Center. This team from Edinburgh pushed a hospital bed 5,203 kilometers in 1979. It took the team 35 days to cover the distance.

Another group of record makers held the highest dinner party in the world. Nine people from Sydney,Australia, climbed Mountain Huascaran on June 28, 1989. The climbers carried a dinner table. chairs, and a meal up the mountain. When they reached the top, they all put on warm suits for dinner.

People all over the world are trying hard to do something unusual to make a record. It should be understood, however, that now not all the records will be kept in the Guinness Book of Records.

1. According to the passage, what record was made near Ashford in May, 1983?

A．A record for paddling a bathtub.

B．A record for climbing a mountain.

C．A record for pushing a hospital bed

D．A record for swimming across a river.

2.The word cover in the passage means _______.

A．start             B．go through         C．keep             D．know

3.What was unusual about the highest dinner party held by the nine people in the passage?

A．The people who held the dinner party all came from Sydney.

B．Only nine people held the highest dinner party.

C．They had a meal on the mountain.

D．They carried a dinner table and chairs up the mountain to hold the dinner party.

4.Which of the following shows the right order（顺序）of what happened in the passage?

a. A group of 13 members paddled a bathtub on a river near Ashford.

b. A team from Edinburgh made a distance record for hospital bed pushing.

c. A group of nine people from Sydney had a dinner party on the top of Mountain Huascaran.

d. A racing team pushed a hospital bed 16 kilometers in just 50 minutes in Avon.

A．a-b-c-d           B．d-b-c-a            C．a-d-b-c           D．b-a-d-c

5. Which of the following is mentioned（提及）in the passage?

A．Hospital bed pushing was a popular sport in Edinburgh.

B．People living in Ashford usually used a bathtub to carry things.

C．Two different records for hospital bed pushing were given.

D．Hospital bed pushing was held twice a year in Avon, Great Britain.

D

When I was growing up, I had an old neighbor, Dr. Gibbs. He didn’t look like any doctor I’d ever known. He never invited us to play in his yard, but he was a very kind person.

When Dr. Gibbs wasn’t saving lives, he was planting trees. He owned a large field and wanted to make it a forest.

The good doctor had some interesting ideas about planting trees. He never watered his new trees. Once I asked why. He said that watering plants spoiled (宠坏)them, and that if you watered them, each baby tree would grow weaker and weaker, so you had to make things difficult for them and pick out the weaker trees early on.

He talked about how watering trees made for shallow(浅的) roots, and the trees that weren’t watered had to grow deep roots in search of water under the earth by themselves. Deep roots were very important.

So he never watered his trees. He’d planted an oak and, instead of watering it every morning, he’d beat it with a rolled-up newspaper. I asked him why he did that, and he said it was to get the tree’s attention.

Dr. Gibbs died several years after I left home. Every now and then, I walked by his house and looked at the trees that I watched him plant about twenty-five years ago. They’re very big and strong now.

I planted some trees a few years back and carried water to them for a whole summer. After two years of caring too much, whenever a cold wind blows in, they shake a lot.

Every night before I go to bed, I check on my two sons. Mostly I pray(祈祷) that their lives will be easy. But lately I’ve been thinking that it’s time to change my prayer. I know my children are going to face difficulties. There’s always a cold wind blowing somewhere, so what we need to do is to pray for roots that reach deep into the brave heart, so when the rains fall and the winds blow, we could face it strongly and won’t be beaten down.

1. We know from the reading the doctor _________.

2. When Dr. Gibbs said, “...pick out the weaker trees early on.” he means that ______.

3.The passage tells us that the writer _______.

4. The writer wants to change his prayer, hoping that ________.

5.Which can be the best title of the reading?

D

Do you know what a castle is? A castle is a building special to Europe. Castles were built in the Middle Ages by king and other powerful people who live in. Castles were used by people to protect themselves from their enemies. They are big buildings made form stone and wood.

Today there are still castles all over Europe. Some are in ruins(废墟). But some built later are still in good repair and used even today. One example is Windsor Castle, which is a home to the British queen. It is in the country or Berkshire, not far from London.

Castles have walls around them. In the old days, soldiers would stand on the walls to guard the people in the castle. If enemies came they would shoot arrows(箭) and throw stones at them. Castles also had moats. A moat is a river around the wall that makes it difficult for enemies to get in. It could be either dry or filled with water.

Other people form younger countries love European castles. In the US there are rich people who have brought broken parts of castles to their country and rebuilt them. And some people build “replica” castles---modern copies of Castle.

You probably know the Disneyland Castle in California , US. But did you know it is based on a famous castle in Germany built by King Ludwig Ⅱof Bavaria?

1. Which of the following is TRUE about the castle?

2. We can tell from the story that a moat is __________.

3.According to the passage we can know that______________.

4. What does the passage mainly talk about?