— How was your job interview?

— Oh, I couldn’t feel ______. I hardly found proper answers to most of the questions they asked.

“How was school, Ben?” I asked my grandson after he began kindergarten(幼儿园) this year. “The work is too long… and there’s not enough time to play,” he replied.

I couldn’t help but remember Ben’s own mother, my daughter, Jane, and her reaction(反应) to the first day of school. Julie was also disappointed with the first day of school and so was her little sister. My three-year-old daughter announced angrily after her big sister got on the big yellow school bus, “I want to go ‘sool’ and you not let me!”

When Julie returned home that afternoon, I asked her the same question that I asked Ben, “How was school, Julie?” Julie replied, “I didn’t learn to read today.”

This year as the school bus passed my house, my mind went back to those school days again. I could almost smell the chalk dust in the air. I also wonder what the children these days manage to get chosen to do in order to get out of school for a few moments since there are no erasers to clean. It was fun to be “chosen” for eraser cleaning duty. This was a task finished by going outside and beating erasers together while sneezing and coughing. No wonder so many babies now have allergies(过敏症), and it’s simply because we all have chalk dust in our lungs!

On the first day of school, the expectation was so great that I would be ready long before it was time to leave for school. We didn’t have backpacks because we had cigar boxes. We carried our small supplies inside a cigar box from one of the local stores. We saved the cigar boxes and used them from year to year until they fell apart.

The first day of school was exciting. It was a new beginning. The doors of knowledge had been opened. The first day of school is an event in our lives that most of us remember. It’s a big step for a small child toward leaving babyhood and so “there isn’t enough time to play”.

1.Why did Jane become angry according to the passage?

A．Because she didn’t learn to read on the first day of school.

B．Because there was too much work for her to do at school.

C．Because she had no time to play at school.

D．Because she was not allowed to go to school.

2.The underlined sentence in Paragraph 4 suggests that       .

A．the author was thinking of her school days jokingly

B．the author warned students against the harm of chalk dust

C．the author suffered from an allergy because of chalk dust

D．the author doubted whether her lungs had chalk dust

3.In the opinion of the author, the first day of school is        .

A．a day when a child is the happiest

B．a day when a child does much work

C．the beginning of great learning

D．the end of childhood full of toys

单词填空（共10小题；每小题0.5分，满分5分）

1.It was t______ of her to forget.

2.They finally a______ our advice on how to finish the work.

3.Check your p______ before you get off the bus.

4.She hopes to get a job on the local newspaper and e______ work for The Times.

5.He r______ losing the train to help the old lady.

6.The race organizers are trying to attract _______(赞助人).

7.We must find an _______(合适的) method to solve the problem.

8.You have put me in an _______(令人尴尬的) positions.

9.Our friendship has steadily _______(加强) over the years.

10.We can visit you on Saturday or Sunday, our plans are fairly ________(灵活的).

A lazy Susan is an addition to a table, which is designed to assist in moving food from one person to another while dining. This is accomplished through the use of a turntable(转盘), which usually moves the food in a circle when pushed by those at table. In this way, the food never has to be picked up and passed around the table. Instead, it remains in place as the lazy Susan is turned about.
A lazy Susan may also be a part of a kitchen cabinet. One may spin the lazy Susan in order to find certain goods stored in it. From the outside, a lazy Susan appears to be two cabinets. When one of these cabinets is pushed, however, both doors move and the lazy Susan is revealed inside.
Whether the lazy Susan is on a tabletop or within a cabinet, it can be made of a variety of materials. Most commonly, a lazy Susan is made of either plastic, wood or glass. Some people believe that Thomas Jefferson invented the lazy Susan, though it was referred to as a dumb waiter(上菜升降架) at that time. It is said that Jefferson invented the lazy Susan because his daughter complained she was always served last at table and, as a result, never found herself full when leaving the table. Others believe that Thomas Edison was the inventor, as he is believed to have invented the turntable for his phonograph(留声机), which later developed into the lazy Susan.
Regardless of who invented it, it wasn’t until 1917 that the term lazy Susan was created in an advertisement for the invention. In Britain, however, the term dumb waiter is still used rather than the term lazy Susan. The reason for the name lazy Susan remains a mystery. One theory is that it was named after either Jefferson’s or Edison’s daughter, both of whom were named Susan.
【小题1】 According to the passage, a lazy Susan _____.

A．is a person who serves food at table

B．is a waitress who helps move dinner tables

C．is an additional round table in a dining room

D．is a turntable that passes food around the table

A．the lazy Susan was invented earlier than the phonograph

B．Susan was the name of Jefferson’s and Edison’s daughter

C．Jefferson and Edison invented the lazy Susan at the same time

D．When people talk about a lazy waitress they use the term “Susan”

There lived a king who liked art. One day an artist offered to paint the most

beautiful picture in the world on the wall of his palace.

So the king said, “All right, you may work on one of the walls in the new hall.” Just then, another artist said, “ Please allow me to work on the opposite wall. I shall make exactly what that man will make on the opposite wall. Moreover, I shall do so without looking at his work. I would even request you to have a thick curtain put up between the two walls so the either of us cann’t see the other.”

Everyone in the king’s court, including the king and the first artist was surprised. So the king decided to give the man a chance.

The following day a thick curtain was put into place and both the artists got to work. The first artist brought in a regular supply of paint, oil and water. But the second one would come with a cloth and a bucket of water every day.

A month later the first artist said that his work was completed and invited the king to come.

So the king sent the message to the second artist, saying he was coming to see their works that evening.

After seeing the first artist’s wall, the king was very impressed with the painting and gave him a huge sum of money as a reward. He then asked for the curtain to be opened up.

The same painting was seen on the opposite wall too! It was exactly like the one on the first wall. But this man had not seen what was going on, on the other side of the curtain.

The man said simply, “It’s very easy I just polished the wall every day!”

It was a wall made of white marble. The fellow polished it till it shone like a mirror.  

The reflection of the painting across the room showed up in it!

1.A thick curtain was put up between the two walls in order to _____________.

A．help them concentrate on their work.

B．keep the first artist’s painting a secret.

C．prevent their painting from being seen.

D．make it hare for them exchange ideas.

2.Why did the first artist receive a large sum of money from the king?

A．His painting satisfied the king.

B．His painting was the best the king has ever seen.

C．He painted better than the second artist.

D．The king promised to give him a reward.

3.How was the king feeling when he saw second wall?

A．Surprised and excited.                   B．Fascinated and doubtful.

C．Satisfied and curious.                    D．The paintings on the wall.

4.What would be the best title of the text? _____________

A．A king who loved art.                    B．Two artists and the king.

C．Whose painting is better?                 D．The painting on the wall.