“Is she still alive? Where is she? I want to see her at once!”

    Jiang Dejia，a Junior 2 student in Shifang Yinghua Middle School in Deyang，said this when she was rescued from the rubble(瓦砾) of a school building hit by the May 12 earthquake．

    “She” is a Jmlior 3 girl from the same school，called Liao Li，who was also buried in the rubble．

    Jiang and Liao didn’t know each other before the earthquake．But they encouraged each other to keep going during the two scary days．

    Later Liao was rescued too．

    “We were on the edge of death but friendship got us through．I’ll never forget it as long as I live．”said Jiang．

    Hundreds of thousands of students like Jiang and Liao were in the same situation on May l2．On that day，the biggest earthquake in China for more than 30 years hit Wenehuan，Sichuan．Several thousand middle school students and teachers ended up buried．Buildings went down and cities were leveled(夷平)．

    As from Friday the earthquake has killed about 23，000 people across the country．The number is very likely to grow．

    While people in those areas are facing death and disease，they know the whole nation is standing firmly behind them．

    Only two hours after the quake．Premier Wen Jiabao got on a plane to Chengdu，the capital of Sichuan Province．Premier Wen has been in the worst—hit areas to lead rescue work．

    Soldiers and policemen were not able to get into Wenchuan at first because of rainy weather and blocked roads．About one day after the quake．the first army group reached the epicenter(震中)on foot．Since then，soldiers have been digging with their fingers to try to find people alive．Helicopters(直升机)have been called in to airdrop food，water and medicine for people in the quake-hit areas．Medical teams have been sent in．People are racing against time to save lives．

    People outside of Sichuan．including overseas Chinese and people in other countries，are offering money，blood and materials(物资) to help．

1．The underlined word “rescued” here means “_________”．

    A．cared    B．found                  C．saved              D．called

2．What made Jiang and Liao live through the two scary days?

    A．Food．         B．Friendship．        C．Water．          D．Medicine．

3．Which of the following is true according to the passage?

    A．Jiang and Liao were rescued at the same time．

    B．Several hundred students were buried in the quake．

    C．It took Premier Wen Jiabao two hours to get to Chengdu．

    D．About one day after the quake，the soldiers got to the epicentre．

4．Soldiers and policemen were not able to get into Wenchuan at first because _________．

    A．they didn’t know the way to Wenchuan

    B．they walked there with lots of materials

    C．the weather was bad and the roads were badly damaged

    D．it was too far and they didn’t have enough vehicles

5．Where does this passage probably come from?

    A．A newspaper．                         B．A handbook．

    C．An advertisement                  D．A notice．

It was the first day of school．I had a new classmate，a little old lady with a warm smile．She said，“Hi，handsome! I'm Rose．I'm 87 years old．Can I give you a hug（拥抱）?” I said heartily，“of course!”，“Why are you in college at such an age?” I asked．She joked，“I'm here to meet a rich husband，get married，have children，and then travel around．” “No，seriously，” I asked．“I always dreamed of having a college education．Now I'm getting one!” she told me．Over the year，Rose became an icon（偶像）．She easily made friends where she went．She loved to dress up and she enjoyed the attention from other students．At the end of the term we invited Rose to speak at our party．I’ll  never forget what she taught us．

“We do not stop playing because we are old；we grow old because we stop playing．Here are the secrets of staying young．You have to laugh and find humor（幽默）every day．You've got to have a dream．When you lose your dreams，you die!” she said．“There is a big difference between growing old and growing up．Anybody can grow old．That doesn't take any talent（天赋）or ability，”she added．“But to grow up，you have to find the chance in change．Have no regrets（后悔）．We usually don’t have regrets for what we did，but rather for things we did not do．”

One week after graduation，Rose died peacefully in her sleep．She taught us by example that it's never too late to be what you can possibly be．

1．Why did the old woman go to college at such a late age?

A．Because she wanted to meet handsome young men．

B．Because she wanted to meet a rich man and get married．

C．Because she wanted to travel around the world．

D．Because she had always dreamed of a college education．

2．What did the old woman love to do?

A．She loved being an icon．

B．She loved to wear beautiful clothes．

C．She loved to pay attention to other students．

D．She loved to speak at the party．

3．What's the secret of staying young according to the old lady?

A．You have to laugh every day．                  B．You have to find humor every day．

C．You should have dreams．                          D．All above．

4．What does the underlined word “That” refer to（指代）?

A．Growing old．                                        B．Growing up．

C．Staying young．                                         D．Growing old and growing up．

5．What does the story tell us?

A．It is hard to become an icon．

B．A college education is very important．

C．The older you are，the more popular you will be．

D．Hold on to your dreams，and they will come true some day．