When I was a child, my parents often took me to an old house in a thick forest. No other children ever stayed there. I didn’t even have the choice of playing with a brother or sister.
I could never understand what the attraction(吸引) of the house was, even for my parents, who enjoyed nothing better than to sit in silence with a good book. The woman in the house, my father’s distant cousin, was a terrible cook and her food was inedible.
One day, when I was wandering around the garden behind the house, I noticed a wooden house which had clearly been abandoned(被遗弃的). As I walked towards it, I heard a noise, like an animal moving hurriedly away. Then I saw a man with a long beard standing at the door. I was greatly surprised.
“Please don’t tell them you saw me,” he said. “They never use this place, and I have nowhere else to live.” “Don’t worry,” I said. “I won’t tell anyone. But are you all right out here? I mean—do you have enough to eat?” The old man shook his head.
The same evening, I took a small plastic bag into the dining room and, while no one was looking, emptied some of the food into it. Later, I got out of the back door secretly and gave the food to the old man, whose name I had discovered was Taff.
I had never seen anything else as lovely as the smile of satisfaction on Taff’s face when he ate the food. From then on, my visits to the old house had a purpose, and I enjoyed every minute of the rest of my stay.
【小题1】 How did the writer feel about staying in the old house at first?

Katie wrote a letter to her Chinese teacher and got a reply from him. Read their letters and answer the questions.

Dear Mr. Hu,

My family moved here from England three months ago. I can’t speak Chinese well, and it’s difficult for people to understand me. I’m losing confidence.

Could you please tell me what I should do?

Katie

Dear Katie,

I’m glad that you let me know about your problem. Here are some things you can do：

1. Your class is going to have a Story Time this month. All of you should tell stories. You should tell one, too. I’m sure you can learn a lot from doing so.

2. Try to practise speaking with your teachers and classmates. Don’t be afraid.

3. Talk to Nanako and Yu­kim. Nanako is from Japan，and Yu­kim is from Korea. They might be able to give you some advice.

4. Some foreign students told me that watching Happy Times on TV can help. The language is easy.

Please try these ideas and see if you can do better. Don’t worry too much. I have confidence in you.

Mr. Hu

36. Katie’s family has been here for ________.

A. 3 years              B. 3 months                C. 6 years            D. 6 months

37. What is Katie’s problem?

A. She misses her parents.   B. She can’t speak Chinese well.  

C. She is taking too many classes.  D. She thinks the teachers are too serious.

38. Happy Times can help students with their ________.

A. Chinese               B. English            C. Japanese          D. Korean

39. Which is NOT Mr. Hu’s suggestion in his letter?

A. Telling stories in class.                B. Watching a TV program.

C. Writing a letter every day.                 D. Talking to other foreign students.

40. From the letter we know that ________.

A. Mr. Hu is Katie’s English teacher  B. Katie’s family came from Australia

C. Katie's going to have a Story Time next month   D. Mr. Hu tries to help Katie to learn Chinese well

A lady has a problem with her daughter:
My nine-year-old daughter, Maria, is in Year Four. Every evening we get into homework battles(争执). Three afternoons a week, she has activities(netball, singing) after school and by the time we get home early, we argue(争论) about whether she should do her homework right after school, or if she should have some time to rest and play first. When Maria at last sits down to do her homework, she seems to want me there helping all the time, I do want to help her, but I’m sure that she is going to need to be able to do it on her own. And in fact, most of the time, I have other things I need to be doing. It seems that children these days have much more homework than we did, and some of it is really beyond(超越) their abilities(能力). As you can see, I’m really worried about homework and I really don’t know what I should do. Any ideas?
【小题1】The woman’s daughter is          .