A Nobel Prize(诺贝尔奖) is considered by most people one of the highest international honors a person can receive. As you know, the prizes were started by a Swede(瑞典人) called Alfred Nobel. He was born in Stockholm, the capital of Sweden. Alfred Nobel was a great scientist. He made two important inventions, and so he became very rich. Although he was rich, Nobel was not a happy man. He never married or had children. Also, he was a sick man during his large part of life. When he died at the age of 63, he left a fund(资金) of $9,000,000. The money was to be used in giving prizes to those who made great achievements in physics, chemistry, medicine and literature(文学), and for world peace.

     The first Nobel Prizes were given on December 10, 1901, five years after Nobel’s death. Since then many famous people from all over the world have been given Nobel Prizes for their achievements.

      Each prize has three parts. The first part is a gold medal. Second, a winner of a Nobel Prize is given a diploma saying that he has been given the prize. The third part of the prize is a large amount of money-about $40,000.

    Often a prize is given to just one person, but not always. Sometimes a prize is shared. It may be given to two or more people who have worked together. It is also sometimes true that a prize is not given at all if there is no great achievement. In 1972, for example, no Nobel Peace Prize was given.

1.When was Alfred Nobel born?

A. In 1938.                  B. In 1833.         C. In 1896.        D. In 1906.

2.What kind of person would you say Alfred Nobel was?

A. He was a rich, happy and lucky man.

B. He was a poor, unhappy and unlucky man.

C. He was a rich, but unhappy and unlucky man.

D. He was a poor, but happy and lucky man.

3.When he died, Nobel left a large amount of money ________.

A. to his wife                           B. to his children

C. for helping the poor people in Sweden       D. for setting five prizes

4.The underlined word “diploma” in the passage most probably means_________ .

A. certificate(证书)       B. letter           C. ticket          D. card           

5.How many persons is a Nobel Prize given to?

A. Not always one person.                        B. Two persons. 

C. Only one person.                   D. Three persons.

Mrs. Herry lived in a city of America. Her husband had a few big stores. Two years ago the rich shopkeeper was hit(被撞) in a traffic accident. He was taken to a hospital at once, but the doctors could not save him and he soon died. He left his wife plenty of money, but the woman was very sad. She sent(打发) all servants(佣人), cooks and drivers away and began to live alone. But she took good care of Bobby, her husband’s dog. And she can’t leave him now.

One summer afternoon, Mrs. Herry went to do some shopping. Suddenly it began to rain, so she had to take a bus. As soon as she got on, she said to the driver, “Can you look for a seat for my dog if I buy a ticket for him, Sir? ”

The driver had a look at the dog and found its legs were very dirty. He said, “Of course I can, Madam. But he must sit on the seat like you do!”

根据短文内容，回答问题。

1.When was the rich shopkeeper hit in a traffic accident?

_______________________________________________________

2.Did Mr. Herry leave his wife plenty of money?

_______________________________________________________

3.How did Mrs. Herry go home when it began to rain?

________________________________________________________

4.What did Mrs. Herry look for her dog?

_________________________________________________________

5.Why must the dog sit on the seat like Mrs. Herry did?

__________________________________________________________

Helen Monson has always been interested in helping her community. Her first volunteer experience was for the American Red Cross when she was in high school. When she was a school teacher, she also found time to volunteer. One year, she organized a Super Saturday fun day for kids in the community. She also used to volunteer at the mint festival every year, One summer she served food, another year she organized an art programme.

After she retired, she started volunteering to help the old. When her father was older, he was not able to see as well as he used to, which made her sad because he had always enjoyed reading.

She decided it would be fun to read to elderly people in her community. She also helped one woman write her stories. Ann was almost 100 years old, and Helen wrote down information about her life when she visited her. She put the information in a book and got it published. Ann was very excited to share her life story with her children and grandchildren.

  After a hurricane( 飓风 ) destroyed some southern cities, Helen volunteered again for the American Red Cross. She prepared food and answered phones in a care centre. She says,” I have always liked the Red Cross because the organization helps people in need no matter what.”

  One day Helen read an article in the newspaper about refugees( 难民 ) who needed to learn English. Now, she meets once a week with Sahra, a 38-year-old woman from Somalia. Sahra is reading and writing skills. Helen gave Sahra a camera and asked her to take pictures of her daily life. She developed the pictures, and then asked Sahra questions about them. In the end, they wrote a book  together and used the photos in the book. This helped Sahra learn many new words about

her everyday life.

   Helen says, “The most rewarding( 有益的 ) part of volunteer work is becoming friends with the people I help, They enrich my life as well as I enrich theirs.”

1.When was Helen’s first volunteer experience for the American Red Cross?

2. What did Helen do after she retired?

3. Why was Ann excited when her book got published?

4.Where did Helen work when she volunteered again for the American Red Cross?

5. How far is Sahra living and working from Helen’s home?

6.Did Helen help Sahra to learn English?

7. What can you learn from Helen?

1Answer the questions (根据短文内容回答下列问题)

1．Helen Monson has always been interested in helping her community. Her first volunteer experience was for the American Red Cross when she was in high school. When she was a school teacher, she also found time to volunteer. One year, she organized a Super Saturday Fun Day for kids in the community. She also used to volunteer at the Mint Festival every year. One summer, she served food, another year she organized an art programme.

2．After she retired, she started volunteering to help the old. When her father was older, he was not able to see as well as he used to, which made her sad because he had always enjoyed reading. She decided it would be fun to read to elderly people in her community. She also helped one woman write her stories. Ann was almost 100 years old, and Helen wrote down information about her life when she visited her. She put the information in a book and got it published. Ann was very excited to share her life story with her children and her grandchildren.

3．After a hurricane(飓风) destroyed some southern cities, Helen volunteered again for the American Red Cross. She prepared food and answered phones in a care centre. She says, “I have always liked the Red Cross because the organization helps people in need no matter what.”

4．One day, Helen read an article in the newspaper about refugees(难民) who needed to learn English. Now, she meets once a week with Sahra, a 38-year-old woman, from Somalia. Sahra is living and working in a town about 30 minutes’ walk from where Helen lives. They work on reading and writing skills. Helen gave Sahra a camera and asked her to take pictures of her daily life. She developed the pictures, and then asked Sahra questions about them. In the end, they wrote a book together and used the photos in the book. This helped Sahra learn many new words about her everyday life.

5．Helen says, “The most rewarding(有益的) part of volunteer work is becoming friends with the people I help. They enrich my life as well as I enrich theirs.”

1.When was Helen’s first volunteer experience for the American Red Cross?

2.What did Helen do after she retired?

3.Why was Ann excited when her book got published?

4.Where did Helen work when she volunteered again for the American Red Cross?

5.How far is Sahra living and working from Helen’s home?

6.Did Helen help Sahra to learn English?

7.What can you learn from Helen?

Steve Jobs was one of the fathers of the personal computer times and the founder of Apple. He was also one of the giants of the information age. Here are some of his greatest contributions.

AppleⅡ

Jobs and Steve Wozniak founded Apple Computers inc.in 1976. A year later, the AppleⅡwas invented. This production was the world’s first mass-market personal computer.

The iMac

Under Job’s leadership, Apple introduced the all-in-one iMac computer in 1988. The iMac became the first machine which offered only a CD-ROM slot (插槽).

The iPad

By 2010, Steve Jobs was confident that the world was ready to have a tablet computer that would be great for watching movies and playing games. The touch-sen-sitive iPad was a great success.

The iPhone 4s

The iPhone 4s came out on October 4, 2011, in America. It looks like the iPhone 4. It has a larger and wider screen and a slimmer yet wider case. It has a better camera and faster data transfer (数据传输) speeds.

1.When was the AppleⅡinvented?

A．In 1976           B．In 1977.           C．In 1998.           D．In 2010.

2.Which of the following was the iMac which came out in 1988 different from others?

A．People could play games on it.

B．It offered only one CD-ROM slot.

C．It had one camera in it.

D．It had a larger screen.

3.What was the latest product?

A．The iPhone 4s.

B．The AppleⅡ.

C．The iPad.

D．The iMac.

4.From the passage, we can know that the iPad           .

A．has a better camera

B．is the first personal computer

C．has a CD-ROM slot

D．is great for watching movies

5.According to the passage, which of the following about the iPhone 4s is TRUE?

A．Its screen is the same size as the iPhone 4.

B．It has a smaller screen and slimmer case than the iPhone 4.

C．It has a larger screen and a better camera than the iPhone 4.

D．It uses more time to transfer the same date than the iPhone 4.