Basketball is still a young game. It's over a hundred years old. In the winter of 1891, a certain college was having some trouble with its boy students. The weather was bad and the students had to stay indoors. As they couldn't play outdoors, they were unhappy, and some even got into fights from time to time.

　　Some of the teachers, at the college asked Dr. Naismith to invent a game so that the students might have something to play with. It was not easy to invent such a game because it had to be played indoors , and the court (球场) was not very large.

　　Dr. Naismith thought for a few days and invented a kind of ball game. It was a fast, wonderful game with much moving and passing of the ball. It was played between two teams. To make a score , the ball had to be thrown into the basket ten feet(英尺) above the floor on the wall . At each end of the court there was such a basket. At first, Dr. Naismith wanted to throw the ball into a box. As he could not find boxes of the right size, he had to use fruit baskets instead. That is how the game got its name.

1. How long is it since basketball was invented?

　　A. 1000 years                      　　　　　　　　　　B. More than 100 years

　　C. 1100 years                       　　　　　　　　　　D. Less than 100 years

2. The students felt unhappy because _______.

　　A. they had much homework to do

　　B. they often got into fights

　　C. they couldn't play outdoors 

　　D. they had little time to study

3. Who asked Dr. Naismith to invent a game?

　　A. Some students                    　　　　　　　　B. Some teachers

　　C. Some students' parents           　　　 D. Some of his friends

4. When a student ______ , he makes a score.

　　A. receives the ball.               　　　　　　

　　B. throws the ball to another student

　　C. runs quickly with the ball in his hand  

　　D. throws the ball into the basket

5. Which sentence is right?

　　A. Dr. Naismith had to use fruit to throw the ball.

　　B. It was easy to invent the game.

　　C. The students could go outdoors when the weather was bad.

　　D. The ball had to be thrown into the basket five feet above the floor.

American Schools
American schools begin in September after a long summer holiday. There are two terms(学期) in a school year. The first term is from September to January, and the second is from February to June. Most American children begin to go to school when they are five years old. Most students are seventeen or eighteen years old when they finish high school.
High school students take only four or five subjects(学科) each term. They usually go to the same classes every day, and they have homework for every class.  After class they do many interesting things.
After high school, many students go to college(大学). They can go to a small one or a large one. They usually have to give a lot of money. So many college students work after class to get the money for their studies.
【小题1】How long is each term?