What is the sky(天空)? Where is it? How high is it? What lies above it? These questions are hard to answer, aren’t they?

    Is the sky blue? The sky has no color. We know that there is air around the world. When planes fly, they need air to lift their wings(翼) . Planes cannot fly very high because when they go high, the air gets thinner. If we go up about 1,200 kilometers from the earth, we find there is no air.

    Perhaps(也许) we can answer some of our questions now. The sky is space(空间). In this space there is only the sun, the moon and all the stars.

6.What is the sky?

A. It’s the clouds       B. It’s space.     C It’s air      D It’s nothing

7. The sky _____

A. is blue        B. is white        C. is black     D. has no color

8. Planes cannot fly very high because _________.

A. the air becomes thinner                         B. the flying machine is not good       

C. people will be afraid if the planes fly too high      D. it is not necessary for planes to fly so high

9 If we go up about 1,200 kilometers from the earth, we find ___________.

A. there is more air   B. there is less air   C .there is nothing but air   D there is no air

10. In space there is _________.

A. nothing       B. air everywhere       C. everything       D. only the sun , the moon and all the stars

What is the sky？ Where is it？ How bright is it？ What lies above it？ These questions are difficult to answer, aren’t they？

　　Is the sky blue？ The sky has no color. We know that there is air around the world. When planes fly, they need air to lift their wings. Planes can’t fly very high because the air gets thinner when they go up higher. If we go up about 1,200 kilometers from the earth, we’ll find no air there.

　　When we talk about the sky, we usually mean the atmosphere around the earth. It is like a very thick “cover” over the earth and keeps it warm. Without the “cover”, the earth would be a very cold place and nothing could live on it.

　　Looking up above us, you will see the blue sky with white clouds. It is usually light blue, but the sky would be dark blue if you go to the top of the highest mountains. And you will see fewer clouds between you and the sun.

　　And if you sit in a spaceship high above the earth, there is no air at all. The sky would be so dark that its color would be black.

　　Sometimes the sky doesn’t look blue. When the sun rises and falls, you will see red, orange, and other colors in the sky. These are the most beautiful moments of the day.

　　Now you may understand that we see colors because the air scatters (散射) the sunlight. Light travels through the air. Without air, there would be no light and no colors.

1.Planes can’t fly very high because ____________.

A．there is air around the world

B．the air gets thinner when they go up higher

C．it’s warmer in the sky

D．the air gets thicker when they go up higher

2.We can see colors of the sky because ____________.

A．the sun rises and falls every day

B．the sky has lots of colors

C．the air scatters the sunlight

D．the sunlight has many colors

3.Which of the following is TRUE？

A．There is little air without light and colors in the sky.

B．The sky will look red, orange and other colors at noon.

C．The sky has only one color when the sun rises and falls.

D．The sky is dark blue if you go to the top of the highest mountains.

I’m lying on my back in my grandfather’s orchard (果园)，looking up at the branches above me.It is one of the last days of summer.Already the days are shorter and the nights are cooler.Some kinds of apples are already ripe (成熟的)．Others will be ready to pick soon.I think of my grandmother’s apple pie，and how I used to make it with her.She died last year，before the apple harvest，and I have not had her pie since.I really miss her.I hear bees busily humming about，visiting the late summer flowers.The gentle hum of their wings nearly sends me to sleep.

The sky is as blue as my grandfather’s eyes.Above me，big white clouds race across the sky like pieces of cotton blowing in the wind.School starts in another week，and time seems to have slowed down.

“Sophie！” calls my grandfather.“Is that you？” I stand up，take his hand，and tell him all about my day as we walk through the orchard.We talk about apples，and bees，and Grandma.He tells me that he misses her too.

He puts his rough，brown farmer’s hand around my shoulder and pulls me close.“You know，Sophie，” he says，“I spent the morning in the attic (阁楼)，and you’ll never guess what I found.It’s the recipe (烹饪法) for Grandma’s apple pie.I used to help her make it sometimes.I can’t do it all alone，but you used to help her too.Maybe between the two of us，we can work it out.Want to try？”

“But it won’t be the same without Grandma，” I tell him.

“That’s true，” he says，“but nothing_is_the_same_without_Grandma.Still，I don’t think that she would want us never to have another apple pie.What do you say？” I nod yes，and we walk towards home...towards an afternoon in the farmhouse kitchen，making Grandma’s famous apple pie.

1．We learn from the passage that Sophie________.

A．likes to watch clouds in the attic

B．comes to the orchard after school

C．enjoys Grandma’s apple pie very much

D．picks many apples in the orchard

2．Sophie’s grandfather spent the morning in the attic________.

A．looking for Grandma’s recipe for apple pie

B．helping Sophie’s grandmother make apple pie

C．trying to make apple pie all alone for Sophie

D．talking about apples，and bees，and Grandma with Sophie

3．Both Sophie and her grandfather used to________.

A．help Grandma make apple pies

B．spend summer afternoons in the orchard

C．enjoy fresh fruit in the farmhouse kitchen

D．walk alone among the apple trees

4．The underlined part in the last paragraph shows________.

A．how much Sophie’s grandmother loved Sophie

B．how much Sophie’s grandfather likes apple pies

C．how much Sophie loves her grandfather’s orchard

D．how much Sophie’s grandfather misses Grandma

5．Which of the following might be the best title for the passage?

A．My grandfather’s orchard 　　　　　　　　 B．My grandmother’s apple pie

C．A morning in the attic 　　　　　　　　　　　 D．The last days of summer

Have you ever complained why life is so tiring? Does the sky sometimes seem dark to you? Are your studies sometimes not successful? Well, friends, cheer up and smile all the time. If you see the world with your warm heart, you will find the whole world smiles to you.
While in school, sometimes you are tired of your lessons, but have you ever noticed the happy smile on your teacher’s face when you did a good job?
One day it is fine. Just before you want to go out, it suddenly starts to rain. Maybe you would feel very sad and start complaining about the weather. But dear friends, why don’t you sit down and listen to the concert that the nature offers you? And with the timely rain, crops in the fields will grow better and better and farmers will have a good harvest.
Although everyone wants to succeed in what he tries to do, sometimes failure can’t be avoided. I think failure is not terrible, and the terrible thing is what we are afraid of it and give up hope. When we face failure, we must be confident in ourselves, draw a useful lesson from it and try our best to finish what we have decided to do. As a popular saying goes, “Failure is the mother of success.”
Attitude decided everything. With an optimistic(乐观) attitude life is easy and pleasant. Let’s smile whatever we meet and the whole world will smile to us.
【小题1】People sometimes complain_______.

Have you ever complained why life is so tiring? Does the sky sometimes seem dark to you? Are your studies sometimes not successful? Well, friends, cheer up and smile all the time. If you see the world with your warm heart , you’ll find that the whole world smiles to you. While in school, sometimes you are tired of your lessons, but have you ever noticed the happy smile on your teacher’s face when you did a good job?

One day it is fine. Just before you want to go out, it suddenly starts to rain . Maybe you would feel very sad and start complaining about the weather. But dear friends, why don’t you sit down and listen to the free concert that the nature offers you? And with the timely rain , crops in the fields will grow better and better and farmers will have a good harvest.

Although everyone wants to succeed in what he tries to do, sometimes failure can’t be avoided（避免）. I think failure is not terrible, and the terrible thing is that we are afraid of it and give up hope .

When we face failure , we must be confident in ourselves, draw a useful lesson from it and try our best to finish what we have to do. As a popular saying goes , “ Failure is the mother of success .”

Attitude decides everything . With an optimistic(乐观) attitude life is easy and pleasant . Let’s smile to whatever we meet and the whole world will smile to us .

1.People sometimes complain____________.

A. the sky is always dark                 B. their studies are successful

C. they see the world with their heart        D. life is tiring

2.According to the passage , in school , ______________ .

A. the students don’t like their lessons     

B. the teacher will be happy if the students do the good jobs

C. the teachers don’t like their teaching    

D. the teachers are tired of their work

3.If there is a timely rain ,___________.

A. you want to go out                    B. you can listen to a concert 

C. crops in the fields will grow better       D. farmers can’t have a good harvest

4.When we face failure , what should we do ?

A. We must be confident in ourselves .       B. We shouldn’t be afraid of it .

C. We shouldn’t give up hope .             D. All of the avbove .

5.The best title of this passage is______________.

A .Smile and the World Smiles to You        B .Complaining about life

C. Failure is the Mother of Success          D. It is Very Hard to Success