People in the United States honor their parents with 2 special days: Mother’s Day on the second Sunday in May and Father’s Day on the 3rd Sunday in June. These days are to show love and respect for parents. They raise their children and educate them to be responsible citizens. They give love and care. These two days offer an opportunity to think about the changing roles of mothers and fathers. More mothers now work outside the home and more fathers must help with childcare.

These two special days are celebrated in many different ways. On mother’s Day, people wear carnations. A red one symbolizes a living mother. A white one shows that the mother is dead. Many people attend religious services to honor parents. It’s also a day when people whose parents are dead visit the cemetery(grave). On these days families get together at home as well as in restaurants. They often have outdoor barbecue for Father’s Day. These are days of fun and good feelings and memories.

Another tradition is to give cards and gifts. Children make them in school. Many people make their own presents. These are more valued than those bought in stores. It’s not the value of the gift that is important, but “the thought that counts”. Greeting card stores, florists, candy makers, bakers, phone companies and other stores do lots of business during these holidays.

1.Which is NOT a reason for children to show love and respect for parents?

2.What do you know from the passage?

3.Which do you know about “carnation”?

4.On Mother’s Day and Father’s Day ___________.

5.What do you think “florists” do ?

Bicycles for rent could become as common as newspaper stands and mail boxes on Germany’s street corners if a scheme launched by Deutsche Bahn is successful.

The German rail operator has launched a bicycle-hire scheme designed for simple one-way trips.

“It’s a new concept,”said Andreas Knie, head of the project.

Users must first register with Call-A-Bike at a cost of 15 euros（US$14.7）. With a simple phone call, they can hire one of the many bikes parked outside stations, at a cost of 3 to 5 cents per minute. At the end of their journey, they ring a computer and tell it where the bike is parked.

The bikes are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

No one will be breaking speed records with Call-A-Bike bicycles. They weigh in at 25 kilograms, at least double the weight of a normal bicycle, though they do have eight gears（齿轮）.

“They are pretty heavy, but we don’t want people taking them on the train or into the subway,” Knie said.

They are also designed with parts that do not fit a normal bicycle. Even the screws are irregular and the bike looks so odd that thieves would stand out.

Vandalism and theft have led to the downfall of previous schemes which date back to Amsterdam’s 1966“White Bike”scheme.

In that short-lived experiment, anti-establishment groups painted bikes white and left them around the Dutch capital.

However, many were taken permanently and repainted, while the police took away others on the basis that ownerless bikes were street rubbish.

Copenhagen, Vienna and Helsinki also have free bike schemes, in which users deposit a coin in Copenhagen’s case 20 crowns（US$2.50）—to free a bike from a rack.

“The advantage these schemes have is ease of use. But because they’re so cheap, people tend to hold on to the bikes and then there are none on the streets,”the person in charge said.

Oslo is also planning a bike-hire system where users will pay a symbolic fee of 50 Norwegian crowns（US$6.50）for unlimited use in the city for a year.

Users will buy an electronic identity card as a key that will register when the bike is parked or taken from a rack.

59. How many European countries have already launched the free bike schemes?

A. Four.                                B. Five.                                C. Six.                                   D. Seven.

60.What can be learned about Amsterdam’s 1966“White Bike”scheme?

A. The bicycles were twice as heavy as a normal bicycle.

B. A heavy rain stopped the scheme from being carried out.

C. Some bicycles were damaged or stolen and the scheme failed.

D. The police ended the scheme for traffic safety

61.What can be inferred from the text?

A. Bicycles for rent have become as common as newspaper stands and mail boxes on Germany’s street corners.

B. The bikes in Germany are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

C. German bicycles for rent are designed specially so that they will draw people’s attention.

D. Germany has taken some measures to stop the bicycles for rent from being taken away.

62.Which do you think is the best title?

A. Free Bicycles for Europeans.                                  

B. Tough Transporters.

C. Customer is King.                                                      

D. Unpractical Scheme.

When I was about 12, I had an enemy, a girl who liked to point out my shortcomings.
Week by week her list grew: I was very thin, I wasn’t a good student, I talked too much, I was too proud, and so on. I tried to hear all this as long as I could. At last, I became very angry. I ran to my father with tears in my eyes.
He listened to me quietly, then he asked. “Are the things she says true or not? Janet, didn’t you ever wonder what you’re really like ? Well, you now have that girl’s opinion. Go and make a list of everything she said and mark the points that are true. Pay no attention to the other things she said.”
I did as he told me. To my great surprise, I discovered that about half the things were true. Some of them I couldn’t change (like being very thin), but a good number I could—and suddenly I wanted to change. For the first time I go to fairly clear picture of myself.
I brought the list back to Daddy. He refused to take it.“That’s just for you,” he said.“You know better than anyone else the truth about yourself. But you have to learn to listen, not just close your ears in anger and feeling hurt. When something said about you is true, you’ll find it will be of help to you. Our world is full of people who think they know your duty. Don’t shut your ears. Listen to them all, but hear the truth and do what you know is the right thing to do.”
Daddy’s advice has returned to me at many important moments. In my life, I’ve never had a better piece of advice.
【小题1】Which do you think would be the best title for this passage?

A．Week by week she discovered more shortcomings of mine and pointed them out to me.

B．She had made a list of my shortcomings and she kept on adding new ones to it so that it was growing longer and longer.

C．I was having more and more shortcomings as time went on.

D．Week by week, my shortcomings grew more serious.

People in the United States honor their parents with two special days：Mother’s Day, on the second Sunday in May, and Father’s Day, on the third Sunday in June. These days are set aside to show love and respect for parents. They raise their children and educate them to be responsible citizens. They give love and care. These two days make us think about the changing roles of mothers and fathers. More mothers now work outside the home. More fathers must help with child care.

These two special days are celebrated in many different ways. On Mother’s Day people wear carnations. A red one symbolizes a living mother. A white one shows that the mother is dead. Many people attend religious services to honor parents. It is also a day when people whose parents are dead visit the cemetery(墓地).On these days families get together at home, as well as in restaurants. They often have outdoor barbecues for Father’s Day. These are days of fun and good feelings and memories.

Another tradition is to give cards and gifts. Children make them in school. Many people make their own presents. These are valued more than the ones bought in stores. It is not the value of the gift that is important, but it is “the thought that counts”. Greeting card stores, florists, candy makers, bakeries, telephone companies, and other stores do a lot of business during these holidays.

1.Which of the following is NOT a reason for children to show love and respect for parents?

2.Which do you think is right about “carnation”?

3.What do you know from the passage?

4.On Mother’s Day and Father’s Day, _______.

—Which do you like , tea or coffee  ?

—_____________.

A．I like it very much    B．Yes , I like coffee

C．Tea , please                  D．Thank you