Born into a farmer’s family, life was not easy when I was a kid. We were so poor that we often did not know where our next meal was coming from. I had to sell cabbages at the marketplace to support my family.

A storyteller once came to the marketplace, and I went to listen to him. My mother was unhappy with me for forgetting my job. But that night, while she was making clothes for us under the weak light of an oil lamp, I couldn't help retelling stories I'd heard that day. She listened impatiently at first, since in her eyes professional（职业的） storytellers were smooth-talking men—nothing good ever came out of their mouths. But slowly she was attracted by my retold stories, and from that day on, she never gave me any task on market days, unspoken agreement to enjoy new stories. As a repayment（回报）for Mother's kindness and a way to show off my memory, I'd retell the stories for her in lively detail. Soon, she wasn't the only member of my audience, which later included my elder sisters, my aunts, even my stubborn grandmother.

I knew she was worried about me. Talkative kids are not well thought of in our village, for they can bring trouble to themselves and to their families when they talk too much. Mother often reminded me not to talk so much, wanting me to be a silent and modest teenager. However, my natural desire（渴望）to talk never went away, and that is what makes my name – Mo Yan, which means ‘no speaking’. This strong wish to talk also improved my ability to express myself, which is important for writers who are also considered as storytellers.

1.Mo Yan lived a/an ________ life when he was young.

A．hard             B．colourful          C．easy             D．rich

2.From the second paragraph, we can learn that ________

A．little Mo Yan was interested in selling vegetables

B．his mother was attracted by the retold story at first

C．his mother didn’t let him listen to the new stories again

D．little Mo Yan had quite a good memory

3.Why did his mother dislike the professional storytellers?

A．Because she thought they never said anything good.

B．Because she thought they couldn’t make much money.

C．Because she thought they would affect Mo Yan’s schoolwork.

D．Because she thought most people didn’t like listening to stories.

4.In Mo Yan’s opinion, a writer should be a ________ child when they were young.

A．silent             B．modest           C．talkative          D．trouble-making

5.Which is the best title（标题）of the passage?

A．My Unlucky Childhood                   B．A Storyteller’s Childhood

C．My Kind Grandmother                    D．More talking leads to success

阅读下面短文，从文后各题所给的四个选项中选出一个最佳答案。

On a snowy evening, a rich lady was standing by the road. She was very worried. Her ? ?? had broken down. Just then a poor man named Robert came. He was on his ?? back home from work as usual.

The lady wondered, “Is the man going to ??? me? He looks very cold and hungry." But to her surprise, ? ???? stopped and said with a smile, “Can I help you, madam?"

After forty ? ??? , the car was at last fixed by Robert. The lady wanted to pay him.

“No, that's ???? , madam." he said, “I was just helping someone in ??? . If you really want to pay me back, I hope ???? you see someone in need, you should give him a hand."

A few minutes later, the lady ???? a shabby (破旧的)house by the road. She remembered Robert's words, so she stopped.

The hostess(女主人) warmly asked her ???? . The lady could see that was a ???? family and that they needed help. When the hostess was making tea in the kitchen, the lady ???? on a table 500 dollars and went away quietly.

Robert came home later than before, thinking how ???? their life was. His wife was pregnant(怀孕) and the baby was to be born the next month but there was not ???? money. His wife went up to him, gave him a kiss and said softly, “Don't worry, dear! Everything's going to be all ???? . A stranger has helped us out."

Let's always be ready to help others because helping others is helping ourselves.

1.A. bike?????????? ????????????? ??? B. motorbike?????? ????????????? C. bus?????????? ????????????? D. car

2.A. step???????????? ????????????? B. way??????????? ????????????? C. road??????????? ????????????? D. life

3.A. help??????????? ? ????????????? B. save??????????? ????????????? C. kill?????????? ????????????? D. find

4.A. she??????????? ????????????? ??? B. he?? ?????????? ????????????? C. I?????????? ????????????? ????????????? D. they

5.A. days??????????? ????????????? ??? B. hours?????????? ????????????? C. minutes??????? ????????????? D. years

6.A. nothing????????? ????????????? B. something?????? ????????????? C. everything???? ????????????? ????????????? D. anything

7.A. picture?????????? ????????????? B. rain??????????? ????????????? C. need????????? ????????????? D. danger

8.A. whatever???????? ????????????? B. whenever?????? ????????????? C. however??????? ????????????? D. whichever

9.A. saw???????????? ????????????? B. heard?????????? ????????????? C. smelt?????????? ????????????? D. felt

10.A. out????????????? ????????????? B. away??????????? ????????????? C. in??????????? ????????????? ????????????? D. along

11.A. terrible????????? ????????????? B. sad???????????? ????????????? C. rich??????????? ????????????? D. poor

12.A. dropped???????? ????????????? B. forgot?????????? ????????????? C. lay???????????? ????????????? D. left

13.A. exciting????????? ????????????? B. hard??????????? ????????????? C. happy????????? ????????????? D. interesting

14.A. many?????????? ????????????? B. some???????? ? ????????????? C. enough???????? ????????????? D. few

15.A. right??????????? ????????????? B. wrong????????? ????????????? C. glad?????????? ????????????? D. well

I came to Australia last year and I   56   (落下) in love with it. I can see the   57  （明亮的）sunshine everywhere. At the beginning of this  58   (学期), I couldn’t understand the teacher in class. Her English was quite different from what I’d heard in class at home. I’m  59 (幸运的) enough because my classmates are really friendly and helpful . It’s  60  (令人惊讶的) that I got an A last week. My science teacher is  61 （也）good. She said that I was    62   （勤勉的）. I dedided to work harder and get good  63  （成绩）.After class I always play soccer with   64   (他们).  This is a great  65 （机会）for me to study in Australia .

My teenage son Karl became withdrawn after his father died. As a single parent, I tried to do my best to talk to him. But the more I tried, the more he pulled away. When his report card arrived during his junior year, it said that he had been absent 95 times from classes and had six falling grades for the year. In this way he would never graduate. I sent him to the school adviser, and I even begged him. Nothing worked.

One night I felt so powerless that I got down on my knees and asked God for help. “Please God, I can’t do anything more for my son. I’m at the end of my rope. I’m giving the whole thing up to you.”

I was at work when I got a phone call. A man introduced himself as the headmaster. “I want to talk to you about Karl’s absences.” Before he could say another word, I choked up（哽咽）and all my disappointment and sadness over Karl came pouring out into the ears of this stranger. “I love my son, but I just don’t know what to do. I’ve tried everything to get Karl to go back to school and nothing has worked. It’s out of my hands. ” For a moment there was silence on the other and of the line. The headmaster seriously said, “Thank you for your time”, and hung up.

　　Karl’s next report card showed a marked improvement in his grades. Finally, he was even on the list of the best students at school. In his fourth year, I attended a parent –– teacher meeting with Karl. I noticed that his teachers were surprised at the way he had turned himself around. On our way home, he said, “Mum, remember that call from the headmaster last year?” I nodded. “That was me. I thought I’d play a joke but when I heard what you said, it really hit me how much I was hurting you. That’s when I knew I had to make you proud.”

1.Which of the following has the similar meaning as the underlined word “withdrawn” in the  first paragraph?

2.There was silence on the other end of the line because _ _________.

3.Who was it that telephoned Karl’s mother that day?

4.From the passage we can learn that _____________.