Children are natural scientists, very interested in the world around them. Helping them enjoy science can be easy; there’s no need for a lot of scientific terms（科学术语）or modern labs. You only have to share your children’s interests.

　 Firstly, listen to their questions. I once visited a classroom of seven-year-old children to talk about science as a job. The children asked me “textbook questions” about schooling, the money I got and whether I liked my job. When I finished answering, we sat facing each other silently. Finally I said, “Now that we’ve finished with your lists, do you have questions of your own about science?”

After a long wait, a boy put up his hand, “Have you ever seen a grasshopper(蚱蜢) eat? When I try eating leaves like that, I get a stomachache. Why?” This began a lot of questions that lasted nearly two hours.

Secondly, give them time to think. Studies over the past 30 years have shown that, after asking a question, many teachers usually wait only one second or less for an answer, no time for a child to think. When teachers increase their “wait time” to three seconds or more, children give better answers.

Thirdly, watch your language. When the child is having a science discussion, don’t jump in with “That’s right” or “Very good”. These words work well when it comes to encouraging a child to help others. But in talking about science, these words make a child think that the discussion is over. Instead, keep things going by saying, “That’s interesting” or “I’ve never thought of it that way before”, or coming up with more questions or ideas.

Lastly, show; don’t tell. Let children look at their hands through a microscope（显微镜）, and they’ll understand why you want them to wash before dinner….

81. To help children enjoy science, the most important thing for teachers to do is ___________.

　 A. let them see the world around　　　 　 B. let them study in modern labs

　 C. tell them the difficult terms on science D. share the children’s interests

82. In the last sentence of the second paragraph, the words “your lists” mean ____________.

　 A. your answers to the questions　　　 　 B. your own questions about science

C. your questions from textbooks　　　 　 D. all the questions of your own

83. According to the passage, children can give better answers to the questions if teachers ____.

　 A. ask them to answer quickly　 　　　 B. wait for one or two seconds after a question

　 C. tell them to watch their language　 D. wait at least three seconds after a question

84. The writer talks about all of the following ways except that teachers should ____________.

　 A. tell their children stories instead of telling them to remember facts

　 B. offer their children chances to see things for themselves

　 C. allow enough time for their children to find answers to the questions

D. encourage their children to ask questions of their own

85. The writer of the passage is probably ____________.

A. a teacher B. a scientist　

C. a seven-year-old boy’s father　　 D. a reporter

　　In Britain, guide (向导) dogs are the “eyes” for many blind people. At first, Lucy went to a woman's home when she was three months old. For nine months, the woman trained her to walk, sit, stop and lie down.

　　When Lucy was one year old, she went to a special school for dogs. It has a street like in a town. Here Lucy learned to guide a person round holes and across streets. She had to look for holes in the ground and high-up dangers like trees, too.

　　When Lucy passed all her tests, Dick came to the training centre to meet his “eyes”. Dog and person must like each other. If they do not like each other, they will not work well together. Dick stayed at the training centre for four weeks. He learned to walk along the street with Lucy. At the end, they went out into the real town for practice trips.

　　Dick is now back at home after his four weeks' training. Every day he walks with Lucy to his job in a factory. He is the telephone operator. The other workers love Lucy. She spends the day in a corner of his office. When they get home in the evening, Dick cleans Lucy's feet and gives her the evening meal-meat and dogcakes.

(1) The text is mainly about ________.

[　　]

A．blind people

B．Dick

C．a guide dog named Lucy

D．blind dogs

(2) What did Lucy learn to do?

[　　]

A．To guide a blind person safely.

B．To live in a town.

C．To run with a blind person.

D．To jump over holes.

(3) At the training centre, Lucy and Dick ________.

[　　]

A．did not work well together

B．practised sitting and lying down

C．did hot like each other

D．practised walking

(4) From the text we learn that Lucy ________.

[　　]

A．guides Dick to the training centre

B．lives together with Dick

C．spends the day with Dick's other workers

D．is staying with Dick for another four weeks

(5) Which of the following is TRUE according to the text?

[　　]

A．Dick trained Lucy to guide him to work.

B．Lucy is helpful to Dick.

C．Dick had to pass all tests. before he met Lucy.

D．Lucy helps Dick to clean his feet.

Children are natural scientists. They are interested in looking into the world around them. Helping them enjoy science can be easy; there’s no need for a lot of expensive lab tools. You only have to share your children’s curiosity(好奇).

Firstly, listen to their questions. I once visited a classroom of seven-year-old students to talk about working as a scientist. The children asked me questions about schooling and whether I liked my job. When I finished answering, we sat facing one another quietly. Finally I said, “Now that we’ve finished, do you have questions of your own about science?”

After a long pause, a boy put up his hand, “Have you ever seen a grasshopper(蚂蚱) eat? When I try eating leaves like that, I get a stomachache. Why?” This began a set of questions that lasted nearly two hours.

Secondly, give them time to think. Studies have shown that, after asking a question, adults usually wait only one second or less for an answer, do not leave time for children to think. When adults increase their “wait time” to three seconds or more, children can give more logical(合逻辑的), complete and creative answers.

Thirdly, watch your language. Once you have a child telling his idea in a science discussion, don’t jump in with “That’s right. ” or “Very good. ”. These words work well when it comes to encouraging good behavior. But in talking about science, quick praise can mean that discussion is over. Instead, you can say “That’s interesting. ” or “I’d never thought of it that way before. ” or come up with more questions or ideas.

Never push a child to “Think”. Children are always thinking, without your telling them to. What’s more, this can turn a conversation into a performance. The child will try to find the answer you want in as few words as possible, so that he will be a smaller target(目标)for your disagreement.

Lastly, show; don’t tell. Real-life feeling of nature is far more exciting than any lesson children learn from a book. Let children look at their fingertips(指尖) through a magnifying lens(放大镜), and they’ll understand why you want them to wash before dinner.

(   )53. When children are in a science discussion, adults should ________.

A. speak highly of the children.

B. praise the children immediately

C. end up their discussion with “That’s interesting”

D. leave time for them to come up with better ideas

(   )54. What does “this” refer to in the 6th paragraph?

A. Pushing children to think.

B. Finding the answer you want.

C. Talking about science.

D. Telling children to discuss.

(   )55. These are the ways for adults to share children’s curiosity EXCEPT ________.

A. telling them encouraging stories instead of boring facts  

B. offering them chances to see things by themselves

C. being patient when the children answer questions     

D. persuading them to ask the questions of their own

Two weeks ago, Ruichang City in Jiangxi Province was hit by an earthquake measuring 5.7 on the Richter scale(里氏震级). It killed 18 people and left hundreds homeless.

　  Earthquakes are one of the most deadly natural disasters(灾难) in the world. They happen more often than you would expect.

　  In the 24 hours after you read this, 400 to 500 earthquakes will shake the earth. You won't notice most of them because you live in a relatively(相对地) safe area or the quake is too far away or because the quake will be too small to notice.

　  Earthquakes are caused by sudden breaks in rock masses(群) deep in the earth. Rock masses are always under very high pressure. If the pressure in a certain area become too much and the rock masses break, an earthquake happens. But exactly when the rock masses reach the breaking point is a mystery(谜).

　  China is on the Eurasia(欧亚) plate, where earthquakes happen very often due to the earth's plates knocking against each other. Up to 17,139 earthquakes have taken place in China in the past 44 years, according to scientific research.

1What happened to the City of Ruichang?

A.18 people were killed in an earthquake.

B. Hundreds homeless people left the city.     

C. An earthquake ruined thousands of houses there.

D. An earthquake measuring 7.5 on the Richter scale happened.       

2How many earthquakes can happen in a day in the world?

A. 24.                  B. 44.                  C. 400 to 500.                   D. 17139.

3Why does the earth quake? Because ______.

A. we live in a relatively safe area                                             

B. the pressure in the earth is too big

C. the rock masses is reaching the breaking point

D. the rock masses break suddenly deep in the earth

C

Once upon a time a woman found she was not easy to wake up in the morning as early as she wished. So she bought a beautiful alarm clock. These clocks are so made as to strike with loud whirring noise at any hour the owner pleases to set them.

The lady placed her clock at the head of the bed, and at the right time she found herself roused by the long, rattling sound.

She got up at once, and felt better all day for her early rising. This lasted for some weeks. The alarm clock faithfully did its duty, and was plainly heard so long as it was obeyed.

But, after a time, the lady grew tired of early rising. When she was waked by the noise, she merely turned over in bed, and slept again.

In a few days, the clock ceased to wake her from her sleep. It spoke just as loudly as ever; but she did not hear it, because she had been in the habit of not obeying it.

Finding that she might as well be without it, she made up her mind that when she heard the sound she would jump up.

Just so it is with conscience(自觉意识，诚意). If we will obey its voice, even in the least important things, we can always hear it, clear and strong.

But if we allow ourselves to do what we have some fears may not be quite right, we shall grow more and more sleepy, until the voice of conscience has no longer power to wake us.

4Why did the clock failed to stop to get the woman up later?

A. Because she was tired of getting up early in the morning.

B. Because she could not hear the clock any more.

C. Because she was too tired to wake up at it.

D. Because the clock stopped to do its duty.

5 Both the underlined words “whirring” and “rattling” are kinds of ______.

A. colours                        B. sounds         C. actions                   D. feelings

6 The writer mainly wants to tell us that ______.

A. we should always obey our clocks

B. the clock sometimes can’t wake us up as we wish 

C. It is conscience that ensures early rising not the clock

D. The voice of conscience has no longer power to wake us.

Amy was a dear little girl, but she was too ready to waste time in getting ready to do her tasks, instead of doing them at once as she ought to.

In the village in which she lived, Mr. Thornton kept a store where he sold fruit of all kinds, including berries in their season. One day he said to Amy, whose parents were quite poor, “Would you like to earn some money?”

“Oh, yes, ” replied she, “for I want some new shoes, and papa has no money to buy them with.”

“Well, Amy,” said Mr. Thornton, “I noticed some fine, ripe blackberries in Mr. Green’s field today, and he said that anybody was welcome to them. I will pay you thirteen cents a quart(度量单位) for all you will pick for me.”

Amy was delighted at the thought of earning some money; so she ran home to get a basket, intending to go immediately to pick the berries.

Then she thought she would like to know how much money she would get if she picked five quarts. With the help of her slate(书写板) and pencil, she found out that she would get sixty-five cents.

“But supposing I should pick a dozen quarts,” thought she, “how much should I earn then?” “Dear me!” she said, after figuring(测算) a while, “I should earn a dollar and fifty-six cents.”

Amy then found out what Mr. Thornton would pay her for fifty, a hundred, and two hundred quarts. It took her some time to do this, and then it was so near dinner time that she had to stay at home until afternoon.

As soon as dinner was over, she took her basket and hurried to the field. Some boys had been there before dinner, and all the ripe berries were picked. She could not find enough to fill a quarter of a quart.

As Amy went home, she thought of what her teacher had often told her---“Do your task at once; then think about it,” for “One doer is worth a hundred dreamers.”

7How many times did Amy figure with her slate?

   A. 3.                               B. 4.                         C. 5.                     D. 6. 

8The underlined sentence may mean “______”.

A. she got ready to waste some time to do her tasks

B. she thought it was a waste of time to do her tasks

C. she liked to waste time when should do her tasks immediately

D. she was not ready to get her tasks ready, and it’s a waste of time

9What can we infer from the story?

A. Amy’s family was very poor.

B. Amy was good at counting with a slate.  

C. Mr. Thornton was the richest person in the village.

D. Amy would learn a better lesson from this affair than from school.        

10 The best title of the passage may be “_____”.

A. The Money Amy Did Not Earn               

B. The Girl Did Not Like To Waste Time    

C. Amy, A Good Student To her Teachers

D. A Poor Girl Wanted To Earn Some Money