When I was little, my mother began selling flowers in Camden Market. She couldn’t  36 me at home on my own,   37  I had to go to the market with her.

  38 , I didn’t have to do anything. I just sat there, and my mother told me jokes and stories so I didn’t get   39 .When I got older, I gave my mother a hand and I really enjoyed it.

Then one year, my grandma gave me a book for Christmas. It was all about making candles and I loved it. I was 14, and I didn’t have to go to the market  40 because my mother could leave me at home on my own. I  41 my free time making candles of all shapes and sizes. I made  42 them.

One day, my mother was ill, so I had to go to the market on my own. I decided to  43 some candles with me and see  44 I could sell them. They  45 in 20 minutes! The next week, my mother gave me some money to buy some wax (蜡) to make more candles. They were sold out really quickly, too.

Ten months later, we decided  46 flowers. My mother and I couldn’t make enough candles during the week, so some of my friends started to help us. I paid them one pound  47 every candle, and we   48 sell them for three or four times. It was fun and my friends worked with me in the market.

At the age of 22, my uncle  49 me some money and I opened my first shop in Portobello Road. Since then, I’ve  50 looked back, even in difficulties. In the first store, we only sold candles, but now we sell everything from the designer, furniture to paintings. Oh, and candles, of course.

I’m lying on my back in my grandfather’s orchard (果园), looking up at the branches above me. It is one of the last days of summer. Already the days are shorter and the nights are cooler. Some kinds of apples are already ripe(成熟的). Others will be ready to pick soon. I think of my grandmother’s apple pie, and how I used to make it with her. She died last year, before the apple harvest, and I have not had her pie since then. I really miss her. I hear bees busily humming about, visiting the late summer flowers. The gentle hum of their wings nearly sends me to sleep.

The sky is as blue as my grandfather’s eyes. Above me, big white clouds ran across the sky like pieces of cotton blowing in the wind. School starts in another week, and time seems to have slowed down.

“Sophie!” calls my grandfather. “Is that you?” I stand up, take his hand, and tell him all about my day as we walk through the orchard. We talk about apples, and bees and Grandma. He tells me that he misses her too.

He puts his rough, brown farmer’s hand around my shoulder and pulls me close. “ You know, Sophie,” he says, “ I spent the morning in the attic (阁楼), and you’ll never guess what I found. It’s the recipe(烹饪法) for Grandma’s apple pie. I used to help her make it sometimes. I can’t do it all alone, but you used to help her too. Maybe between the two of us, we can work it out. Want to try?”

“ But it won’t be the same without Grandma,” I tell him.

“That’s true,” he says, “but nothing is the same without Grandma. Still, I don’t think that she would want us never to have another apple pie. What do you say?” I nod yes, and we walk towards home…toward an afternoon in the farmhouse kitchen, making Grandma’s famous apple pie.

1.We learn from the passage that Sophie        .

A. likes to watch clouds in the attic

B. comes to the orchard after school

C. enjoys Grandma’s apple pie very much

D. picks many apples in the orchard

2.Both Sophie and her grandfather used to ______.

A. help Grandma make apple pies

B. spend summer afternoons in the orchard

C. enjoy fresh fruit in the farmhouse kitchen

D. walk alone among the apple trees

3.The underlined part in the last paragraph shows       .

A. how much Sophie’s grandmother loved Sophie   

B. how much Sophie’s grandfather likes apple pies    

C. how much Sophie loves her grandfather’s orchard

D. how much Sophie’s grandfather misses Grandma

4.Which of the following might be the best title for the passage?

A. My grandfather’s orchard                B. My grandmother’s apple pie

C. A morning in the attic                   D. The last days of summer

My grandma _______ the life in the city in the first two weeks.

1. A.
   didn’t use to
2. B.
   isn’t used to
3. C.
   wasn’t used to
4. D.
   doesn’t use to

Grandma is ill. I have to ________ her at home.  

   A. look for      B. look up          C. look at          D. look after

Do you enjoy reading? Here readers of your age from all over the United States recommend great books for you to read:
My favorite book is Don’t Die, My Love by Lurlene McDaniel. I love all her books, but this was the first one I read and I have to say, it is by far my favorite. It doesn’t end like other books, and I cried while reading.
I think Nancy Drew is great! Nancy is a detective who has many fantastic ideas! I love it because it’s a book from when my grandma was my age, and I can share the fun with her!
I highly recommend Skinny Bones by Barbara Park. It is funny, so please add it on your book list. You don’t want to miss out funny stories!
I would suggest      by Judy Blume. It is based on(基于)real things that happened to Judy Blume. It is about a girl, Alice, who meets some girls at a new state. They become friends, make a club and meet once a week. They stop after two weeks because they all like a boy in their class and put him as number one. I think every girl should read this because it is about our growing up.
I read a book called Neela: Victory Song and it was so good I read it twice! It takes place in India(印度)in 1936 and this 12-year-old girl named Neela tries to save her father! It has lots of history in it! I also learned a lot about different cultures(文化)! The author(作者)’s name is Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni.
【小题1】According to the reader, Skinny Bones can be described as a          story.