He was no scholar, and his classmates teased him．Rather than reading, the kid really preferred running around with an 8mm camera, shooting homemade movies of wrecks of his Lionel train set(which he showed to friends for a small fee)

In his second year of high school he dropped out．But when his parents persuaded him to return, he was mistakenly placed in a learning-disabled class, he lasted one month．Only when his family moved to another town did he land in a more suitable high school where he graduated eventually.

After being denied entrance into a traditional filmmaking school, Steven Spielberg enrolled  in English at California State University at Long Beach .Then in 1965 he recalls ,in one of those casual moments, his life took a complete turn．Visiting Universal Studios ,  he met Chuck Silvers, an executive in the editorial department．Silvers liked the kid who made 8mm films and invited him back sometime to visit.

He appeared the next day．Without a job or a security clearance ,   Spielberg(dressed in a dark suit and tie, carrying his father’s briefcase with nothing inside but “a sandwich and candy bars’’)walked confidently up to the guard at the gate of Universal Studios and gave him a casual wave．The guard waved back．He was in.

“For the entire summer,” Spielberg remembers,” I dressed in my suit and hung out with the directors and writes including Silvers, who knew the kid was not a studio employee, but winked at the deception) I even found an office that was not being used ,and became a squatter．I bought some plastic tiles and put my name in the building directory: Steven  Spielberg, Room 23C〞

It paid off for everyone．Ten years later the 28-year-old Spielberg directed Jaws, which took in $470 million, then the highest-grossing movie of all time．Dozens of films and awards have followed because Steven Spielberg knew what his teachers didn’t---talent is in the eyes of the filmmaker.

1．What is the text mainly about?

A．Dream is more important than knowledge

B．How Spielberg made his first famous film Jaws

C．Spielberg has a gift for filming

D．How Spielberg became a famous director

2．From the 4th and 5th paragraph we can know ___

A．he was confident and this won others’ admiration

B．he worked hard and got his own office

C．usually people can not come into Universal Studios freely

D．he had been accepted as a member of the company

3．What does the underlined word〝 winked〞mean?

A．shown great concern              B．became angry

C．had to be silent            D．pretended not to notice

4．Silvers helped Spielberg probably because__________

A．he was Spielberg’s father’s friend

B．Spielberg’s talent and passion for filming moved him

C．he hoped to find a good employee for Universal Studios

D．he was sure Spielberg would become a great director

When Charles Stratton was five, he stopped growing. His mother took him to see the famous showman, P. T. Barnum. Mr. Barnum thought a small person would be the perfect addition to his show. He hired Charles’ parents along with him, and they traveled the world together.

He gave the two-foot-tall Charles a name, General Tom Thumb. He taught Tom how to sing, dance, act and tell jokes. When he felt Tom was ready to perform on stage, he made up ads. To stir up great interest, he said that Tom was eleven years old and had come from England.

During the show, Tom fought battles pretendedly with tall people. He also danced upon a wooden plate held by a person who was eight feet tall. Tom’s act was very popular and brought in a lot of money. By the time Tom was an adult, he had grown very rich. He had become a billionaire at the age of twenty five.

Fortunately for Tom, Mr. Barnum added more little people to his show, and Tom became lucky in love as well. One of the little people was Lavinia Warren, a schoolteacher. Tom was able to win her love, and they married.

The ceremony and reception were the talk of the town. They were attended by many rich and famous people and by about 2000 guests. Crowds filled the streets of New York to have a look at their tiny wedding marriage. The couple even met with President on their honeymoon just before going to live in Tom’s house in Connecticut.

Their wedding, which took place during the Civil War, provided a welcome escape from the sad problems of war. Not willing to let this bit of sunshine fade, communities throughout the country sponsored (发起) “Tom Thumb” weddings. In these weddings, small boys and girls, all dressed up, went through marriage ceremony for fun.

56. Which of the statements is TRUE according to the passage?

A. Charles’ parents supported him and performed together with him.

B. Charles was found and hired by the famous showman.

C. Charles put lots of advertisements to arouse interest.

D. Charles’ success was largely due to Mr. Barnum’s help.

57. Tom would dance on a wooden plate held by an eight-foot-tall person probably because ______________.

A. the wooden plate would make it sound as if Tom was dancing

B. it made Tom look taller

C. the eight–foot–tall man was the only tall person Tom trusted

D. the difference between them would make Tom look even smaller

58. The underlined words “talk of the town” in the second paragraph from the bottom means ______________.

A. it was in the newspaper                       B. people spread bad rumors about it

C. it was the most popular topic                    D. it was discussed in a city meeting

59. What does the author think about Tom’s wedding?

A. It helped people cheer up in a dark time.              B. People gave it too much of their attention.

C. It was funny and ridiculous.                         D. Tom and Lavinia were stupid.

I was walking along the main street of a small seaside town in the north of England looking for somewhere to make a phone call. My car had broken down outside the town and I wanted to contact the AA Company. Low grey clouds were gathering across the sky and there was a cold damp wind blowing off the sea which nearly threw me off my feet every time I crossed one of the side streets. It had rained in the night and water was dripping from the bare trees that lined the street. I was glad that I was wearing a thick coat.

There was no sign of a call box, nor was there anyone at that early hour whom I could ask. I had thought I might find a shop open selling the Sunday papers or a milkman doing his rounds, but the town was completely dead. The only living thing I saw was a thin frightened cat outside a small restaurant.

Then suddenly I found what I was looking for. There was a small post office, and almost hidden from sight in a dark narrow street. Next to it was the town’s only public call box, which badly needed a coat of paint. I hurried forward, but stopped in astonishment when I saw through the dirty glass that there was a man inside. He was fat, and was wearing a cheap blue plastic raincoat. I could not see his face and he didn’t raise his head at the sound of my footsteps.

Carefully, I remained standing a few feet away and lit a cigarette to wait for my turn. It was when I threw the dead match on the ground that I noticed something bright red trickling from under the box call door

1. At what time was the story set?

    A. An early winter morning          B. A cold winter afternoon

    C. An early summer morning          D.A windy summer afternoon

2. Which of the following words best describe the writer’s impression of the town?

    A. cold and frightening             B. dirty and crowded

    C. empty and dead                   D. unusual and unpleasant

3. The underlined word “ trickling” in the last paragraph means_______________

    A. rushing out suddenly             B. shining brightly

    C. flowing slowly in drops          D. appearing slowly

4. Why didn’t the man raise his head when the writer came near?

    A. He was annoyed at being seen by the writer.

    B. He was angry at being disturbed by the writer.

    C. He was probably fast asleep.

    D. He was probably murdered.

Every time you go shopping, the vegetables and fruit look so tempting that you wish you could buy all of them. Some people are lucky and can grow the fruit and vegetables in the gardens that they have. While getting fresh vegetables, they can also achieve great cost cutting.

Mushrooms are expensive and can also go bad very quickly. Mushrooms can also be grown easily in a dark environment. In fact it’s better than growing other vegetables since you really don’t need an outdoor space. A special type of soil that is good for growing mushrooms is easily available.

Actually mushrooms aren’t even vegetables; they are fungi(菌类) and for this reason, you don’t even require sunlight to grow them. Well how does one go about growing mushrooms? You could always Google “growing mushrooms” and you will find a number of mushroom growing kits(工具) available online that area effective and not very expensive either.

Mushrooms can be added to any dish that you cook. Simply use them in pizzas, salads and anything that you pretty much fancy. Grow mushrooms in your own house and use them whenever you want. Fresh mushrooms are tastier than the ones that are stored in your refrigerator.

If you have had a really good crop of mushrooms, then you can even store them. Ideally you should use the white variety of the mushrooms. Simply pick them, slice them and put them on a cookie sheet in a freezer. When they area frozen, just put them in a zip lock and you can use them when you want to. They give a really great taste to the dish that you are making. Thaw them before you use them.

You should try growing mushrooms, since it’s cost-effective. Furthermore, you can eat the fresh mushrooms any time that you want.

1.What is an advantage of growing vegetables according to the passage?

A．You can eat all kinds of vegetables

B．You are lucky to eat what you like

C．You can save lots of money

D．You can satisfy your desire

2.Mushrooms are different from other vegetables in that    .

A．they can be grown where there is no light

B．they can grow well in an outdoor space

C．it is easy for them to go bad in a few days

D．they can grow without soil

3.The third paragraph is mainly to tell us that        .

A．mushrooms are not vegetables

B．Internet helps us a lot

C．mushrooms are available online

D．it is easy to grow mushrooms

4.Which of the following is the right order of storing mushrooms?

a. put them on a cookie sheet in the refrigerator

b. place frozen mushrooms in a zip lock

c. cut them into slices

d. choose the white mushrooms

A．a-b-c-d           B．d-c-a-b            C．a-d-c-b           D．d-a-c-b

5.What would be the best title for this passage?

A．It is easy and fun to grow mushrooms

B．We should eat more fruit and vegetables

C．Mushrooms online are very expensive

D．Mushrooms—tasty and healthy vegetables

Susannah was a shy but clever girl. She had worn     1   for as long as she could remember. And again, for as long as she could remember, some of her classmates had always made fun of her. The worst thing was that Lewis    2   her “Four Eyes”. She acted like she didn’t     3    but in fact Susannah couldn’t stand it.

One day, the class went on a school outing to visit some famous     4   . The children were walking towards the caves when Lewis   5    . While falling, he got   6    of Susannah, who walked next to him, and both     7    down the hole.

They landed in a dark cave. Susannah and Lewis shouted for   8   , but no one came. The next morning they still hadn’t been found and Lewis continued shouting for help, but no       9        and he started feeling     10 .

It must have been noontime, because Susannah    11   that the ray of light just landed on the floor in front of her.   12   , she took a piece of wood that had fallen into the cave, and, using her glasses as a magnifying glass, she focused the ray of light onto the    13    . Now they had a torch. Lewis watched with surprise and    14    and off they went to explore the cave.

It took them some time, and they had to burn quite a few torches, but finally they found a way out. On top of hugs and cries of    15  , Lewis gave Susannah his heartfelt thanks.

1.                A．glasses         B．necklaces       C．earrings  D．watches

2.                A．teased         B．laughed         C．warned   D．called

3.                A．care           B．mind           C．object    D．offend

4.                A．villages         B．hills            C．caves D．parks

5.                A．wandered       B．waved          C．smiled    D．slipped

6.                A．hold           B．touch          C．support   D．place

7.                A．walked         B．moved         C．fell  D．flew

8.                A．praise          B．water          C．food D．help

9.                A．feedback       B．response        C．reaction  D．effect

10.               A．scared         B．shocked        C．disturbed  D．annoyed

11.               A．doubted        B．concluded      C．admitted  D．noticed

12.               A．Slowly         B．Quickly         C．Unexpectedly   D．Obviously

13.               A．glass           B．torch          C．wood D．floor

14.               A．sorrow         B．trouble         C．excitement D．curiosity

15.               A．loss           B．relief          C．justice D．return