When this story happened, they were working around a very large house. Their job was to do the cleaning. It was not a difficult job, but sometimes it was a little dangerous, because they had to walk below where workmen were working. Often these workmen dropped something from the top of the house many meters high to the ground.

One morning Joe was working near the house with a cigarette behind one of his ears. Suddenly somebody on the top shouted, "Look out!" But Joe did not "look out". He looked up. And as he did so, a long knife missed Joe's head, but it cut off one of his ears. At once he put his hand to one side of his head and cried out, "I've lost an ear. Help! Help!"

Jeff ran up to help his friend. "Look for my ear," Joe told him. "It must be on the ground somewhere." Jeff looked everywhere for the missing ear. At last he found an ear on the ground. He picked it up and carried it to Joe. "Here you are," he said, "I've found it." Joe looked at it. "No, that's not my ear." he said, "Mine had a cigarette behind it."

1.What were Joe and Jeff?

A. Soldiers.                 B. Drivers.          C. Farmers.        D. Cleaners.

2.How did Joe lose his ear?

A. He cut it off by himself.          B. Jeff cut it off with a knife.

C. A falling knife cut it off.           D. A cigarette burned it up.

3. From the passage, we know Joe  was not _______.

A. strong            B. kind                C. foolish    D. clever

4.Which is the most possible title for this passage?

A. A Lost Ear              B. A Busy Cleaner

C. A Falling Knife          D. A forgetful Man

 If parents bring up a child with the aim of turning the child into a genius（天才）, they will cause great damage to him. According to several leading educational experts, this is one of the biggest mistakes that some parents make. Generally, the child will understand very well what the parents expect. and will fall. Unrealistic（不现实）expectations of the parents can cause great damage to children.

    However, if parents are not unrealistic about what they expect their children to do, but are hopeful in a sensible（明智）way, the child may succeed in doing very well—especially if the parents are very supportive（支持的）to their children.

    Michael Li is very lucky. He likes music and his parents help him a lot by taking him to concerts and let him attend piano and violin lessons. Although Michael's mother knows very little about music, his father is a good musician. However, he never makes Michael enter music competitions if he is unwilling.

    Michael's friend, Winston Chen, however, is not so lucky. Although both his parents are successful musicians, they set too high a standard（水平）for Winston. They want their son to be as successful as they are and so they enter him in every piano competition held. They are very unhappy when he does not win. “When I was your age I used to win every competition I enter.” Winston's father tells him. Winston is always afraid that he will disappoint his parents and now he always quiet and unhappy.

1.The main idea of the passage is _________.

A. how parents should make a child a musician

B. how parents should bring up a child

C. what differences there are between the two boys

D. what aim is easier for a child to reach

2.Winston's parents set so high a standard for him that _______.

A. he has to do his best to win every competition

B. he has made greater progress in music

C. he is afraid he may disappoint them

D. he often wants to kill himself someday

3.It is one of the parents’ worst mistakes if ______.

A. they want their child to be a musician

B. they help their child to win music competition

C. they don't care for their child's education much

D. they make their child try to achieve too much

4. According to the writer's opinion, _________.

A. it's unimportant to let the children develop（=grow）in the way they want

B. sensible parents can train their children to succeed in everything

C. parents should be realistic and supportive to their children

D. unrealistic parents should arrange（安排）private lessons for their children

Old George bought the black gloves for just $35 ten years ago. They were made of lamb skin, soft and warm and very strong. Until then, he had worn cheaper man-made material. Those gloves never lasted longer than three years. He first decided to buy the expensive gloves, because they would make him feel nice in front of others.

George never let a drop of water or rain touch his expensive gloves, so they looked new. Losing this favourite thing was almost like losing a child to him.

Bad luck! George lost his expensive gloves on New Year's Day.

…

Back home. George was at a loss. In deep winter, he could not do without a pair of gloves. If he bought cheap ones again, he would have to replace (更换) them very soon. If he bought a new leather pair, it would cost $50 now. He was upset that people no longer returned things they found on the road.

After the holiday, poor George decided to buy another leather pair. Before boarding the subway, he went into Value Mart again to see if his gloves had been returned to the Lost and Found Office (失物招领处).

"What colour are they?" the woman in the office asked again.

"Black," he gave the same answer. She looked into her drawer and drew out a pair of men's leather gloves. "Are they?"

"Yes! Those are mine!" George explained, with great joy in his eyes.

1.When did George buy the leather gloves?

A. On New Year's Day.             B. Before the holiday.

C. Ten years ago.                  D. In the winter.

2.Why did George decide to buy the expensive gloves?

A. Because they were black.          

B. Because they made him feel good before others.

C. Because they had a long history     

D. Because they were much cheaper.

3.The leather gloves looked new after years because _______.

A. George took very good care of them.  

B. they were soft and warm.

C. they were expensive.               

D. George washed them with water.

4.How did George feel when he got home on New Year's Day?

A. He was happy.     B. He felt nice     C. He was thankful    D. He felt upset

5.About old George, which of the following is true?

A. He was a very rich man

B. He never bought cheap gloves

C. He believed somebody would return the gloves to him

D. He hadn't ecpected to get his gloves back.

Saturday morning was bright and fresh. There was a song in every heart, cheer on every face, and a spring in every step.

Tom appeared with a bucket（桶）of white paint in one hand and a brush in the other. His Aunt Polly told him to paint the fence（篱笆）around the garden. It was ninety feet long and nine feet high. He felt very blue.

Then he had a wonderful idea. He picked up his brush and started to work.

Soon Ben came along the road. He was happily eating an apple. He stopped to look at Tom. Tom went on painting and pretended（假装）not to see Ben.

“I’m going swimming,” said Ben. “Do you want to go swimming, Tom? But I guess you can’t. You have to stay and work, don’t you?”

 “Work?” Tom said. “This isn’t work. I’m enjoying myself. Does a boy get a chance to paint a fence like this every day?”

Ben thought about this. Tom continued painting carefully. Sometimes he stopped, stood back to look at the fence like an artist, and then added（增加）a bit more paint in just the right place. Ben was watching Tom paint with great interest. He was getting more and more eager（渴望的）to have a try himself.

After a while, Ben asked Tom if he would let him paint a little. Tom thought about it, and said, “No, Ben, I can’t. You see. Aunt Polly wants it to be done well. Aunt Polly said that I must paint it with great care.”

“Oh, please, Tom,” begged Ben. “I can do it. I’ll be really careful. Just let me try. I’ll give you half of my apple. Well, I’ll give you all of it!”

“Well, all right, Ben,” said Tom. “You must be very careful.”

He gave Ben his brush with worry on his face but joy in his heart. He sat down under the tree, and started to eat Ben’s apple. All day, boys came to make fun of Tom, but they ended up staying to paint. When Ben got tired, Billy was waiting. He gave Tom a kite for a chance to paint. Then Johnny offered him a basketball, and so on.

By late afternoon Tom had got all kinds of toys, and the fence had got three coats of paint. Later Aunt Polly came to look at the painted fence. She was so pleased with Tom’s work that she gave Tom a large cake!

1.Why did Tom pretend not to see Ben when he came and watched him painting?

A. He saw Ben eating an apple happily.

B. He tried to make Ben interested in it.

C. He didn’t want to go swimming with Ben at all.

D. He didn’t want Ben to share the chance to paint the fence.

2.What does the underlined word “spring” probably mean in Chinese?

A. 春天           B. 弹簧           C. 泉                            D. 活力

3.What do you think of Tom?

A. Honest.           B. Smart.             C. Shy.                   D. Stubborn.

根据首字母提示写出单词。

1.Look! A little dog is l    on the ground.

2.You must s      your ticket if you want to see the film.

3.Taking a hot bath is r        .

4.Many t        come to China to visit the Great Wall every year.

5.My sister works as an i         in our local Tv station.

6.A         he is poor, he likes to help others.

7.A kangaroo(袋鼠) has a pocket in front of its s        .

8.You can get much information（信息）on the I        .

9.I want to r       some CDs tonight.

10.I often get different p        from my aunt. She often goes to different countries.