King Midas used to love gold. One day he met a fairy who allowed him to make a wish for something. The king replied at once , ‘‘I love gold . I want everything I touch to change into gold”. ‘‘Very well , tomorrow morning, everything you touch will turn into gold .”Saying this, the fairy disappeared.

The king waited excitedly till the next morning. To his joy, everything he touched changed immediately into gold. ‘‘I’m the richest man in the world now.” He shouted.

Soon Midas became hungry. He sat down at his table. All the foods and drinks turned into gold in his hand. ‘‘I’m dying of hunger.” He cried.

Just then his daughter came running in . ‘‘Why are you so sad, dad?” she asked, putting her arms around him. There and then she became a golden statue. The king loved his daughter very much .Seeing this, he began to cry. He looked up and suddenly saw the fairy before him.  ‘‘Don’t you like the golden touch?” asked the fairy. ‘‘Please take it away,” begged the king, ‘‘give me back my daughter.”  ‘‘Well, you have learned your lesson. Go and wash in the river. Then the golden touch will be gone.” The king ran quickly to the nearby river.

1.The fairy allowed the king to make a wish because              .

A．she hoped to make the king the richest in the world

B．She loved gold too

C．She wanted to teach the king a lesson

D．She wanted to turn the king’s daughter into gold

2.When the foods and drinks turned into gold the king was              .

A．excited           B．hungry            C．worried           D．happy

3.The king’s daughter became a golden statue when              .

A．she saw her father                      B．the king went to meet her

C．she put her arms around her father         D．the king loved her very much

4.Which of the following might have happened afterwards?

A．The king died in the river

B．The king’s daughter changed back from gold to a lovely girl

C．All the things the king had touched changed back into real ones

D．Both B and C

5.What do you think the story tries to tell us?

A．Gold makes people unhappy

B．More gold, more happiness

C．Gold is not the thing that makes life happy

D．People feel happy if they have not gold

Imagine landing in a foreign country where you cannot speak the language, understand the culture and don’t know anybody. Wouldn’t it be nice to have a friend who could help you out?
John Smith, an English explorer who landed in America in 1607, found the best friend ever. She was a Native American named Pocahontas (1595-1617). And she did more than teach Smith the language: she saved his life, twice.
Smith was captured(捕捉) by members of Pocahontas’s tribe(部落) and was going to be killed. But for some reason, the Chief’s daughter, Pocahontas, felt sorry for Smith (who was probably the first white man she had ever seen) and threw her body over his to protect him. Smith returned safely to the small village he was living in. During the winter the English settlers did not know how to get food from nature. Pocahontas often brought food for Smith and his friends.
A year later Pocahontas’s father tried to kill Smith again because the Native Americans were very scared the English would try to take over their land. Pocahontas warned him and he was able to escape. Later she became a Christian and eventually married an Englishman named John Rolfe. She spent the last year of her life in London. Pocahontas has become an American legend. Her life story has been re-created in many books and films, including Disney’s 1995 film, Pocahontas.
One of the reasons she is so popular is that many Europeans look at Pocahontas as an excellent example of how a minority can adjust into the majority. Pocahontas is also respected because of her selfless love. She proved that people can be kind and loving even to people of a different race or culture. John Smith was very different from Pocahontas but she could see he was a good man and that was all that mattered. No race or country owns goodness, love and loyalty.
【小题1】 What difficulties might early European settlers meet in America EXCEPT ___________?

Teresa was born in Yugoslavia on August 27,1910. Her parents were Albanians(阿尔巴尼亚人) and member of the Roman Catholic Church. When she was seven years old, her father was murdered. She decided not to be filled with hate because of this tragedy(悲剧). Instead, she would seek a life of love. This ambition led her to Ireland where she became a nun(修女) at the age of eighteen.

After only one year of training, she was sent to India to teach in a school called Loretto House, where the students were mostly from rich Indian families. After 15 years there, she left her duties as a teacher to “follow Christ into the slums(贫民窟).” Her heart led her away from the rich to the needs of the poor. She was then 36 years old.

Teresa no longer was affiliated(隶属) with the Irish nuns who sent her to Loreto House but worked independently. However, her work was recognised by the Pope in Rome for she still was a nun. He allowed her to set up her own group, which was called the Missionaries of Charity(仁爱传教修女会).

She no longer dressed as a nun in the European or Irish tradition. Instead, she put on a sari, the local dress of the Indian people. At first, people were sceptical(怀疑的) about her motives. Soon, they realised she was really interested in loving poor people, even those who were dying and had no chance of survival.

Soon, other Indian people began to spare time to help Mother Teresa. She had taught everyone that the poor and dying people need love most of all.

In 1979, she won the Nobel Peace Prize.

Why did Mother Teresa become a nun?

A. Her father was killed.                B. The hate of her father’s death.

C. She was looking for a life of love.      D. The poor life of her childhood.

Why did she leave her duties as a teacher after 15 years in Loretto House?

A. To be a teacher was too tired       B. The students in Loretto House were rich.

C. She was tired of teaching.         D. The poor in the slums needed her care.

Which of the following is WRONG?

A. Mother Teresa was a Catholic.

B. “Sari” is an Indian word that means clothing.

C. At first people didn’t believe her motives.

D. She served poor people in the slums as a teacher.

Perhaps the most important lesson the world has learned from Mother Teresa is     .

A. regular assistance               B. food and shelter

C. to care for the poor of the earth    D. protection

Women had a significant part to play during World War Ⅱ，which was the time when women also made their own contributions.Some women’s great efforts and their names have been recorded in history.Here’s a look at some of the strong figures of women in World War Ⅱ.

Tatiana Nikolaevna Baramzina was born in Glazov of Russia on December 12,1919.In 1943，she was sent to the Central Women’s Sniper Training School and upon her graduation in April，she was further sent to the front.She managed to kill around 16 enemies in the first three months！Unfortunately，she was captured(俘虏) by the enemies and was killed on the fifth of July in 1944.Today，the street where she grew up has been renamed in her memory.

Anne Frank was a German?born Jewish girl who was well?known for the publication of her diary that described all her experiences when the Germans occupied Holland in World War Ⅱ.Anne was born on June 12,1929 and she，along with her family，went into hiding in July 1942.Two years later，her family was captured and seven months from her arrest，Anne Frank died of illness in early March 1945.

Margaret Ringenberg was born on 17 June,1921，in Indiana of America.She began her career during World War Ⅱ when she became a ferry pilot for the Women Airforce Service Pilots.After that she turned a flight instructor in 1945.She even wrote her own book named Girls Can’t Be Pilots.She passed away on 28 July,2008，after flying for 40,000 hours in the air.

Hannah Szenes was born on 17th July,1921 and was trained to parachute(用降落伞空投) by the British army into Yugoslavia during World War Ⅱ.This task was given in order to save the Jews of Hungary.Her secret mission was not revealed even when she was tortured(折磨) following her arrest at the Hungarian border.Hannah Szenes had to brave immense tortures，yet she did not lose heart.She bravely battled it out and tried to sing to keep her spirits high！She also kept a record of events in her diary till 7th November,1944，when she was finally killed.

These names are just a few of the women who played a significant part in World War Ⅱ.Their stories go a long way in showing the kind of lifestyles they led and their struggles and sacrifices.

1. What is mainly discussed in the text?

A．Women were braver than men in World War Ⅱ.

B．Women and men made equal contributions in World War Ⅱ.

C．Women played a significant role in World War Ⅱ.

D．Women’s death rate was high in World War Ⅱ.

2.Which of the four women heroes died the youngest?

A．Tatiana Baramzina.

B．Anne Frank.

C．Margaret Ringenberg.

D．Hannah Szenes.

3. Who were killed by the enemy in the war?

A．Tatiana Baramzina and Anne Frank.

B．Hannah Szenes and Tatiana Baramzina.

C．Anne Frank and Margaret Ringenberg.

D．Margaret Ringenberg and Hannah Szenes.

4. It can be learned from the text that ________.

A．Tatiana Baramzina was once a flight instructor

B．Margaret Ringenberg was the best at writing about the war experiences

C．Anne Frank and her family were arrested by Germans in 1944

D．Hannah Szenes was arrested by Germans because of her diary

Brenda Bongos was a happy, artistic girl. She had one big ambition—to play the drums in a band. But one big obstacle lay in her way. To be good enough to play in a band, Brenda had to practice a lot, but she lived next-door to a lot of old people. Many of them are sick. She knew that the sound of beating drums would really get on their nerves. So, she had tried playing in the strangest places: a basement, a kitchen, and even in a shower. But there was always someone it would annoy.

One day, while watching a science documentary on TV, she heard that sound cannot travel in space, because there's no air. At that moment, Brenda Bongos decided to become a sort of musical astronaut.

With the help of a lot of time, books and work, Brenda built a space bubble. This was a big glass ball connected to a machine which sucked out all the air inside. All that would be left inside was a drum kit（成套设备） and a chair. Brenda got into the space suit she had made, entered the bubble, turned on the machine, and played those drums like a wild child.

It wasn't long before Brenda Bongos came very famous. Many people came to see her play in her space bubble. Shortly afterwards she came out of the bubble and started giving concerts. Her fame spread so much that the government suggested that she be part of a unique space journey. Finally, Brenda was a real musical astronaut, and had gone far beyond her first ambition of playing drums in a band.

Years later, when asked how she had achieved all this, she thought for a moment, and said: ''If those old people next – door hadn't mattered so much to me, I wouldn't have found a solution, and none of this would have ever happened.''

1.Why did Brenda try to play in the strangest places?

2.Brenda started to give concerts _______.

3.Brenda became famous because _______.

4.Which of the following can be used to describe Brenda?

5.It can be inferred from the text that: " _______".