阅读下列短文，从所给的四个选项中，选出最佳答案

　Long, long ago there 　1　 in a small village a poor young boy. He was about ten years old. Every afternoon, he walked around the village selling his cooking oil. He carried the oil in a small wooden basin （盆）.

　After he sold all of his oil one afternoon, he was very tired. He thought that he 　2 　a rest.

　He left his wooden basin on a stone, put the money in it and 　3 　asleep.

　About two hours later, he woke up. He looked into the basin and found that his money 　4 　gone.

　He went at once to see a woman judge. The judge listened to the boy's story very 　5　 . She thought for a while, and then said to the men in her office, “ 　6 　and get all the village people here.”

　When all the village people came, she ordered that every one should put a coin （硬币）into a pail（桶）of water. About half of the people 　7 　their coins in before a young man came up. He also put his coin into the water. “Wait a minute,” the judge said, “you stole the boy's money, 　8　 ?”

　The young man's face 　9 　red.“Yes—ye—yes,” he said, “How did you know that?”

　The judge explained, “You see, after you had put your coin into the water, some oil came up to the top. Your money must have 　10 　from the boy's oil basin.”

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 The Inventions

　 Paper was first made in the year 105. It was made by a Chinese named Cai Lun.

　 For over 500 years paper was made only in China. People in Japan learned of paper around the year 600. As years went by, people in other places began to make paper.

　 The lead（铅）pencil is not made of lead. It is made of graphite（石墨）. People found graphite in 1564. They thought it was a kind of lead. Today we still call pencils “lead pencils”. The first pencils were made by putting strings（线）around sticks of graphite.

　 The first wooden pencils were made by Kasper Faber in Germany in 1761.

　 Erasers（橡皮）like those we use today were first made in France by a man named Magellan in 1752. It was Hyman L. Lipman who first put eraser on the ends of pencils. And that is how the pencils came to be.

1. How many years earlier was paper made in China than in Japan?

　 A. About 100 years.　　　　　　　 B. About 400 years.

　 C. More than 500 years.　　　　　　 D. 495 years

2. Germans made paper _________.

　 A. earlier than Japan　　　　　　　 B. later than Japan

　 C. as early as Japan　　　　　　　　 D. as late as Japan

3. At first pencils were made of ________.

　 A. wood　　　　 B. lead　　　　 C. sticks　　　　 D. string and graphite

4. Kasper Faber was ________.

　 A. an Englishman　　　　　 B. a Frenchman

　 C. a German　　　　　　 D. an American

5. Which of the following statements is NOT true?

　 A. Paper was first made in China.

　 B. Graphite isn’t a kind of lead.

　 C. The first wooden pencils were made in Germany.

D. Hyman L. Lipman made the first erasers.

　　　 Bestsellers(最畅销)of the Year

　　　　　　　　　 The Longest Night

This is William Smith’s last book in his life. William become a writer after teaching English for a few years.

Susan is a nurse in southern England, where she works in a small hospital. One day a baby is so ill that Susan has to drive all night to get her to the nearest big city. They have a lot of problems getting there and when they reach the hospital…

　　　　　　　　 No Pains No Gains(收获)

This exciting story is Emma Brown’s twentieth.

No Pains No Gains is about Harry, who works with his father, a carpenter, in America.They work long, hard hours making tables and chairs, but they do not have any money. Then one day a man dressed all in black buys the most beautiful table in the shop and…

(　 )56. ___________ wrote the book The Longest Night.

　　　　 A. Susan　 B. William Smith　 C. Emma Brown　 D. Bestseller

(　 )57. From The Longest Night we know ________.

A. William Smith was once a teacher of English

B. William Smith is the baby’s father

C. William Smith is Susan’s husband

D. William Smith helped Susan and the baby

(　 )58. The Longest Night is about __________.

　　　　 A. William Smith’s life　　 B. William Smith’s last book

　　　　 C. William Smith’s job　　 D. the nurse Susan and a sick baby

(　 )59. From the story we know the meaning of the underlined word “carpenter” is ______.

　　　　 A. a bestseller　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 B. a hard-working man

C. a person who makes wooden(木制的) things　 D. a business man

(　 )60. From the title No Pains No Gains, we may know that Harry ___________ at last.

　　　　 A. is still very poor　　　 B. has become friends with Emma Brown

　　　　 C. is very successful　　　 D. has forgotten the man dressed in black