“Fire! Fire!” What terrible words to hear when one wakes up in a strange house in the middle of the night! It was a large, old, wooden house and my room was on the top floor. I jumped out of bed, opened the door and stepped outside the house. There was full of thick smoke.

I began to run, but as I was still only half-awake, instead of going towards the stairs I went in the opposite direction. The smoke grew thicker and I could see fire all around. The floor became hot under my bare feet. I found an open door and ran into a room to get to the window. But before I could reach it, one of my feet caught in something soft and I fell down. The thing I had fallen over felt like a bundle of clothes, and I picked it up to protect my face from the smoke and heat. Just then the floor gave way under me and I crashed to the floor below with pieces of burning wood all around me.

I saw a doorway in fire, then I put the bundle over my face and ran. My feet burned me terrible, but I got through. As I reached the cold air outside, my bundle of clothes gave a thin cry, I nearly dropped it in my surprise. Then I was in a crowd gathered in the street. A woman in a night-dress and a borrowed man’s coat screamed as she saw me and came running madly.

She was the Mayor’s wife, and I had saved her baby.

1.When the fire arose in the middle of the night, the author was _______.

A．at home          B．sleeping           C．sitting in bed       D．both A and B

2.The author saved the baby _____.

A．because he was very brave.

B．because he liked the baby very much.

C．but he just happened to save it.

D．because it was the Mayor’s baby.

3.He ran in the wrong direction because he _______.

A．was a stranger there                     B．could see nothing

C．was not completely awake                 D．Both A and C

4.He put the bundle over his face and ran in order to ______.

A．save the baby                          B．call for help

C．protect his face                         D．run quickly

5.Form which group of words, we can learn the fire took place out of people’s surprise?

A．old and wooden house, a bundle

B．crashed to, fell down

C．terrible, half-awake

D．bare feet, a borrowed man’s coat

“Fire! Fire!” What terrible words to hear when one wakes up in a strange house in the middle of the night! It was a large, old, wooden house and my room was on the top floor. I jumped out of bed, opened the door and stepped outside the house. There was full of thick smoke.
I began to run, but as I was still only half-awake, instead of going towards the stairs I went in the opposite direction. The smoke grew thicker and I could see fire all around. The floor became hot under my bare feet. I found an open door and ran into a room to get to the window. But before I could reach it, one of my feet caught in something soft and I fell down. The thing I had fallen over felt like a bundle of clothes, and I picked it up to protect my face from the smoke and heat. Just then the floor gave way under me and I crashed to the floor below with pieces of burning wood all around me.
I saw a doorway in fire, then I put the bundle over my face and ran. My feet burned me terrible, but I got through. As I reached the cold air outside, my bundle of clothes gave a thin cry, I nearly dropped it in my surprise. Then I was in a crowd gathered in the street. A woman in a night-dress and a borrowed man’s coat screamed as she saw me and came running madly.
She was the Mayor’s wife, and I had saved her baby.
【小题1】 When the fire arose in the middle of the night, the author was _______.

Like any good mother, when Karen found out that another baby was on the way, she did what she could to help her 3-year-old son, Michael, prepare for a new baby. They find out that the new baby is going to be a girl, and day after day, night after night, Michael sings to his sister in Mommy's stomach.

In time, the labor pains come. But complications arise during delivery. Finally, Michael's little sister is born. But she is in serious condition. With alarm in the night, the ambulance rushes the infant to the neonatal intensive care unit at St. Mary's Hospital, Knoxville, Tennessee. The days go by. The little girl gets worse. The pediatric (儿科的) specialist tells the parents, “There is very little hope. Be prepared for the worst.”

Karen and her husband contact a local cemetery about a burial plot. They have fixed up a special room in their home for the new baby, but now they plan a funeral. Michael keeps begging his parents to let him see his sister, "I want to sing to her," he says. But kids are never allowed in Intensive Care.

Karen makes up her mind. She will take Michael whether they like it or not. If he doesn’t see his sister now, he may never see her alive.

She dresses him in an oversized suit and marches him into ICU. He looks like a walking laundry basket, but the head nurse recognizes him as a child and shouts, "Get that kid out of here now. No children are allowed. Never disturb patients here.” The mother rises up strongly and said," He is not leaving until he sings to his sister!"

Karen leads Michael to his sister's bedside. He gazes at the tiny infant losing the battle to live. And he begins to sing. In the pure hearted voice of a 3-year-old, Michael sings:" You are my sunshine, my only sunshine, you make me happy when skies are gray......" Instantly the baby girl responds. The pulse rate begins to calm down and becomes steady.

“Keep on singing, Michael." encouraged Karen with tears in her eyes. "You never know, dear, how much I love you, please don't take my sunshine away."

The next day, the very next day, the little girl is well enough to go home! Woman's Day magazine called it "the miracle of a brother's song". The medical staff just called it a miracle. Karen called it a miracle of Gods love!

Never give up on the people you love.

1.What may the underlined words "the infant" refer to?

2.What do we know about the little sister after she was born?

3.Why did Karen firmly let little Michael see his sister in ICU?

4.What do we know about the head nurse?

5.What is the general idea of the text?

Watching some children trying to catch butterflies one hot August afternoon, I was reminded of an incident in my own childhood．When I was a boy of 12 in South Carolina, something happened to me that cured me forever of wanting to put any wild creature in a cage.

We lived on the edge of a wood, and every evening at dusk the mockingbirds would come and rest in the trees and sing. There isn’t a musical instrument made by man that can produce a more beautiful sound than the song of the mockingbird.

I decided that I would catch a young bird and keep it in a cage and in that way would have my own private musician.

I finally succeeded in catching one and put it in a cage. At first, in its fright at being captured, the bird fluttered about the cage, but eventually it settled down in its new home. I felt very pleased with myself and looked forward to some beautiful singing from my tiny musician.

I had left the cage out on our back porch, and on the second day of the bird’s captivity my new pet’s mother flew to the cage with food in her mouth. The baby bird ate everything she brought to it. I was pleased to see this. Certainly the mother knew better than I how to feed her baby.

The following morning when I went to see how my captive was doing, I discovered it on the floor of the cage, dead. I was shocked! What had happened! I had taken excellent care of my little bird, or so I thought.

Arthur Wayne, the famous ornithologist, happened to be visiting my father at the time, hearing me crying over the death of my bird, explained what had occurred. “A mother mockingbird, finding her young in a cage, will sometimes bring it poison berries. She thinks it better for her young to die than to live in captivity.”

Never since then have I caught any living creature and put it in a cage. All living creatures have a right to live free.

1.Why did the writer catch a mockingbird when he was a boy of 12?

A．He wanted it to sing for him                B．He had just got a new cage.

C．He liked its beautiful feather.               D．He wanted a pet for a companion.

2.The mockingbird died because it ______.

A．was frightened to death

B．drank the poisonous water by mistake

C．ate the poisonous food its mother gave it

D．refused to eat anything

3.An ornithologist probably means ______.

A．a religious person   B．a kind person       C．an expert in birds   D．a schoolmaster

4.What is the most important lesson the writer learned from the incident?

A．Be careful about food you give to baby birds.

B．All birds put in a cage won’t live long.

C．You should keep the birds from their mother.

D．Freedom is very valuable to all creatures.

Like any good mother,when Karen found out that another baby was on the way,she did what she could to help her 3-year-old son,Michael,prepare for a new baby.Day after day,night after night,Michael sang to his mommy’s tummy(肚子).

Finally,Michael’s little sister was born.But she was in serious condition.With sirens (警报) howling in the night,the ambulance rushed the baby to St.Mary’s Hospital.The days inched by.The little girl became worse.The pediatric(儿科的) specialist told the parents to prepare for the worst.

Michael kept begging about singing to his sister,but kids are not allowed in pediatric department at St.Mary’s Hospital.Karen made up her mind to take Michael to see his sister.She dressed him in an oversized suit and marched him into the hospital.He looked like a walking laundry basket,but the head nurse recognized him as a child and shouted,“Get that kid out of here now!”Karen rose up strong,and the usually mild-mannered lady glared steel-eyed into the head nurse’s face.“He is not leaving until he sings to his sister!”

Karen towed Michael to his sister’s bedside.He gazed at the tiny baby losing the battle to live.And he began to sing.In the pure-hearted voice of a 3-year-old,Michael sang,“You are my sunshine,my only sunshine.You make me happy when skies are grey.”Instantly the baby girl responded.Her pulse rate became calm and steady.Her strained breathing became smoother.

“Keep on singing,Michael.”“The other night,dear,as I lay sleeping,I dreamed I help you in my arms…”Michael’s little sister relaxed as healing rest seemed to sweep over her.“Keep on singing,Michael.”Tears conquered the face of the nurse.“You are my sunshine, my only sunshine.Please don’t take my sunshine away.”

The next day—the very next day—the little girl was well enough to go home!

1.Which of the following can be the best title for the passage?

A.It’s Hard to Raise a Baby????????????? B.Mother’s Love???

C. The Miracle of a Brother’s Song??????? D.An Unforgettable Day

2.From Karen’s action in the first paragraph we know that??????? .

A.mothers often pay much attention to their newly-born babies

B.it often takes some time for a child to accept his/her newly-born brother or sister.

C.it is good for children to learn to sing songs to babies

D.mothers often tell their children how to look after their younger brothers or sisters

3.The underlined word“strained”means“???????? ”.

A.unnatural????????? B.exciting?????? C.deep????????? D.blocked

4.Which words can describe Michael?

A.Naughty and annoying.????????????? B.Strong and brave.

C.Active and careless.???????????????? D.Concerned and determined.