A man hated his wife’s cat and decided to throw it away.

      One day, he drove it over one mile from his home and left it in a park. But when he got home, he saw that his wife was playing with the cat.

      The next day he drove the cat about three miles away. He put the cat out of the car and went home. Driving back his driveway（私人车道）, the cat was there already.

      The man keep taking the cat further and further away and the cat would always get home before him. At last he decided to drive more than ten miles away. He turned right, then left, past a bridge, then right again and another right until he thought he was far enough from home and left the cat there.

      Hours later the man was still driving home. He was lost! He called home and asked his wife, “Jen, is the cat there?”

      “Yes,” his wife answered, “why do you ask?”

      The man answered, “Put it on the phone. I’m lost and need directions.”

1.The first time the man drove out, he _____.

      A. sold the cat

B. took the cat home

C. left the cat in the park

2.Which of the following is TRUE?

      A. The man liked his wife’s cat and often played with it.

      B. Every time the man threw the cat away, it came home earlier than the man.

      C. The last time the man threw the cat away, it lost its way and didn’t come back.

3. Why did the man call home?

      A. Because he was lost.

B. Because he missed his wife very much.

      C. Because he wanted to know if the cat was at home.

4.How far away did the man take the cat the last time?

      A. Over 1 mile.            B. About 3 miles.          C. More than 10 miles.

We’ve talked about snails (蜗牛) and their slow move. But much of the time snails don’t move at all. They are in their shells (壳) —sleeping.

Hot sun will dry out a snail’s body. So at the least sign of hot sun, a snail draws its body into his shell. A snail will die in a heavy rain. So when it rains, a snail does the same thing, too. A snail can sleep for as long as it needs to. It spends all the winter months in its shell, asleep.

In the spring the snail wakes up. Its body, about three inches long, comes out from the shell. When hungry, the snail looks for food. Its eyes, at the end of the top feelers (触角), are very weak. But its sense (感觉) of smell is very strong. It helps the snail to find food and the new greens.

A snail’s mouth is no bigger than the point of a pin (大头针). Yet it has 256,000 teeth! The teeth are very small, and you can’t see them. If you put a snail in a hard paper box, it will eat its way out! And if a snail wears out its teeth, it will grow new ones.

1. A snail _________.

　 A. moves more slowly at night　　B. has thousands of feet

C. doesn’t move at all   　　      D. sleeps much of the time

2. In the sentence “A snail draws its body into its shell”, the word “draw” means _____.

　 A. to make with a pencil     B. to push　　C. to pull      D. to move away

3. From the story, we know _________.

　 A. a snail’s shell is very thin     B. a snail can’t see well

　 C. a snail’s nose is quite short    D. a snail’s body changes in different seasons

4. A snail goes to sleep when _____.

　 A. it feels hungry   B. it is put into a paper box  C. spring is coming   D. it rains heavily

5.Which of the following is wrong?

A. In winter the snail doesn’t eat or move.　　B. A snail doesn’t like living under the sun

C. The snail’s teeth can’t be worn out.       D. The snail’s nose helps to find food.

Sitting on a chair all day in school can make anyone want to move around. So, more and more teachers are letting students have a ball. By sitting on exercise balls instead of chairs, teachers find students' posture (姿势) and attention improve.

Dottie Pownall, a fifth-grade teacher in West Virginia, USA, has been using balls as chairs since December 2008. "The students love them", she says. Pownall took a survey of her students. She found that 80% of the students thought sitting on the balls helped them pay more attention to what they were learning.

The teacher, Pisa Witt, felt so strongly about the use of balls as chairs, she started Witt Fitt. This company encourages the use of the balls. And the company educates not only teachers but also students on how to use them. "Our products are used in 24 states, three provinces in Canada, Puerto Rico ('波多黎各) and Japan," says Witt. "Research shows that sitting on the balls makes them sit up straighter. You can slouch (低头垂肩地坐) on a ball," says Witt, "but it feels awful." Because the students are moving, their blood (血液) increases. That carries more oxygen (氧气 to the brain (大脑), so the kids have more energy and can focus longer.

"Furthermore, they're fun." says Pownali.

1. What will happen if a student sits on a chair all day in school? The student will _________.

A. pay more attention to his lessons                B. be fun

C. like to move around                         D. sit up straighter

2. How long has Dottie Pownall used the balls?

A. About three years.                       B. Only one year.

C. In 2008.                                 D. Since he was a fifth-grade teacher.

3. In how many countries are the balls used as the students' chairs?

A. Four.        B. Three.           C. Two.         D. One.

4.Teachers choose balls instead of chairs because sitting on balls helps the kids___________.

A. improve the students' posture and attention         B. slouch on the chairs

C. have fun                                    D. Both A and C are correct answers.

5.Which is better for kids to study in class, sitting on a chair or sitting on a ball?

 A. Sitting on a chair.     B. Sitting on a ball.

C. They are the same.    D. We don't know.

I watched a little girl playing basketball every day from my bedroom window. One day, I asked her why she practiced so much. She said, “I want to go to college. The only way I can go is to get a scholarship(奖学金). I like basketball and I want to be the best player in college. My dad told me, “If the dream is big enough, the facts don’t count.” She never changed her mind. Whenever she was in junior high school or senior high school. One day, before she graduate from senior high school, I saw her sitting on the grass sadly. I asked her what was wrong. She told me that her coach said she was too short to be a good basketball player, so she should stop dreaming about going to college. She was heartbroken and it made me feel bad, too. Then she smiled and told me her father said to her, “If you really want to play for the scholarship of a good college, nothing but yourself can stop your dream.” The next year, she and her team went to a big game she was seen by a coach of a famous college team and was offered a scholarship to the women’s basketball team of their college. She was getting the college education that she had dreamed of. “If the dream is big enough, the facts don’t count.” It is true.

1.What’ s the girl’s dream!

A．to be a super basketball player

B．to get a scholarship

C．to go to college.

D．to play for NBA

2.How long has the little girl practiced the basketball until she was seemed by a coach of a famous college team?

A．about three years                       B．About four years

C．About five years                        D．More than six years

3.Did the girl’s family have a lot of money?

A．Yes, it did.                             B．No, it didn’t.

C．We don’t know.                       D．It isn’t mentioned(提及).

4.Why did the little girl look sad one day?

A．She failed in test.

B．She was late for training.

C．She was blamed(责备) by her coach.

D．Her coach said she was too short to be a good player.

5.Put the sentence “If the dream is big enough, the facts don’t count” into Chinese.

A．志存高远         B．任重道远          C．梦想成真         D．梦寐以求