This is the third book that he has written in the past five years, the first of       I really enjoyed.

A．which B．that    C．those        D．them

I had the meanest mother in the world. While other kids ate candy for breakfast, I had to have eggs and toast. Others had cokes and candy for lunch while I had to eat a sandwich. As you can guess, my supper was different from the other kids’. But at least I was not alone in my suffering. My sister and two brothers had the same mean mother as I did.

My mother insisted on knowing where we were at all times. She had to know who our friends were and what we were doing. We had to wear clean clothes every day. Other kids always wore their clothes for days. We reached the height of disgrace(丢脸) because she made our clothes herself, just to save money.

The worst is yet to come. We had to be in bed by 9:00 each night and up at 7:45 the next morning. So while my friends slept, my mother actually had the courage to break Child Labor Law. She made us work. I believed she lay awake all night thinking up mean things to do to us. Through the years, our friends’ report cards had beautiful colors on them, black for passing, red for failing. My mother, however, would merely be content with black marks. None of us was allowed the pleasure of being a dropout.

She forced us to grow up into educated and honest adults. Using this as a background, I’m now trying to bring up my three children. I’m filled with pride when my children think I am mean because now I thank God every day for giving me the meanest mother in the world.

1.From the passage we can learn that the writer’s mother was          .

2.Which of the following things did the writer hate to do most?

3.It can be inferred from the passage that        .

4.The passage was written in a        tone.

5.Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the passage?

The idea of sailing west to reach the riches of the East Indies and the Asian mainland was much in fashion with cultured Europeans during the late fifteenth century. Learned people agreed that the earth was round: their only questions were how long and how dangerous would be a trip to reach the Orient. Christopher Columbus, the son of an unknown weaver, and himself a weaver of ambitious dreams, made his historic voyage to the New World in 1492. He didn't go to school very much, but be learned to read and write Spanish during his travels. He also taught himself Latin because all the geography books were written in Latin. Sailing with a tiny fleet of three ships, the Santa Maria and two smaller ships, the Pinta and the Nina and a crew of ninety sailors, be found the thirty-three-day crossing easier than his nearly-decade-long effort to find royal sponsors willing to support it. The trip drew not only on his own skills as an expert ship's captain, but also on his ability to plan such an expedition, obtain governmental approval and financing, and finally, demonstrate its success so that such explorations could continue. He tried for years to get King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella to supply him with ships and money. Finally they agreed, but he made more demands. He wanted to be made a knight, admiral of the Ocean Sea. He wanted to be the viceroy(总督)and governor general of all lands he would discover. Also he wanted one-tenth of everything he found of value in the new lands. The explorations that followed Columbus-those of Cabot, Verrazano, Cartier, and many others-benefited from a new maritime technology borrowed from Arab sailors and from a variety of new vessels (船，舰) such as the light-weight caravels employed by Columbus. Sailors also perfected sails and various types of riggings that gave ships added stability and greater maneuverability(可操作性)on the open seas. And when leaving sight of the coast, new navigational aids-charts, compasses, and astrolabes-permitted them to determine their position with some, though not perfect, accuracy. Columbus himself made a total of four voyages to the New World but he did not become rich as he had hoped. At the end of his life he only had a pension the king and queen had given him because he was the first to reach the New World. He spent the last few months of his life in bed because of the pain of arthritis(关)． Columbus not only discovered a New World, but led the way for other explorers.

1.What was the dream destination of Europeans in the late fifteenth century?

2.What preparations did Columbus make for his first voyage to the New World?

①He planned the expedition thoroughly.

②He spent almost ten years in looking for sponsors.

③He gathered a great many ships.

④He hired 90 sailors.

⑤He demonstrated his success of former far-reaching explorations.

3.We can learn from the passage that ________.

4.What equipment aided the sailors in locating relatively more accurately?

5.In the passage, the author mainly tells us ________.

The publication of "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" gladdens booksellers across China．The British and American editions were No．1 and No．3 respectively on the sales chart of the Beijing Xidan Book Building last week．The book's poster is highlighted and news about the book can often be heard on the radio．

Why is the book so attractive to children? With curious mood, the author got a copy of "Harry Potter"．Originally, I wanted to glance over it and made some criticisms．But, out of expectation, the author has been deeply attracted by the magic world．On the other hand, one cannot help asking: where is our own "Harry Potter"?

The Chinese nation has a history of 5,000 years, which cannot be regarded as short and its culture as not profound．With a vast market of youngsters, China did publish many books popular among children．However, why are the present works not as good as those imported?

There come two major reasons: Firstly, quite a number of children's books are of strong sense of teaching, and lack interest and entertainment．Children often have a feeling of being "educated"．No wonder they don't like them．Secondly, children's reading materials involving "idiom stories" and "Chinese talents' stories", though always in different covers, are usually much the same or plagiarized．One knows the ending as early as in the beginning．In final analysis, the authors of the books seldom take children's requirements into consideration．

As a matter of fact, each child has his own wonderful imagination．They long to understand the world and nature．Similarly they have their own choices．They dislike similar stories, even if the stories are excellent．First-class reading for children should be very interesting, which contains knowledge and the essence of national culture, which are presented in children's language．

Market is a touchstone for products．The theory also holds true for cultural products．It is hoped that the authors of children's books can learn something from the good market of "Harry Potter" and write out more and better books loved by children．

1．The disadvantages of our books are the following except____

A．they have little sense of interest and entertainment

B．many of our books are of the same

C．the authors didn’t pay much attention to the children’s tastes．

D．Our authors never know what our children need．

2．The reason why the imported book is so popular is that _____．

A．it has no sense of teaching                                                                           

B．it opens a wonderful world for children to explore

C．it is only written in children’s language  

D．it is advertised more on TV or poster．

3．What’s the feeling of the writer when he finishes reading “Harry Potter”?

A．He is so angry that he wants to criticize the book

B．He is also attracted by the book

C．He is shocked by the book, meanwhile he is worried about our books．

D．He can’t help looking for Harry Potter．

4．What does the writer mean by writing “where’s our own Harry Potter”?

A．We are short of books for children

B．We Chinese must produce books as popular as “Harry Potter”．

C．Authors should write books in the same way as “Harry Potter”

D．Our authors are hoped to make the market of our books for children take off

Everybody may have seen the film “Death on the Nile (n. 尼罗河)”, but nobody can imagine that the writer of the story, Agatha Christie, saved a baby in a most unusual way.

In June 1977, a baby girl became seriously ill in Deleville. Doctors there were unable to find out the cause of her illness, so she was sent to a famous hospital in London, where there were many excellent doctors. The baby was so seriously ill that a team of doctors hurried to examine the baby without delay. The doctors, too, were puzzled by the baby’s illness and they also became discouraged. Just then a nurse asked to speak to them.

“I think the baby is suffering from thallium (n. 铊) poisoning. ” said the nurse. “A few days ago, I read a story ‘A Pale Horse’ written by Agatha Christie. Someone uses thallium poison, and all the symptoms are written in the book. They are exactly the same as the baby’s.”

“You’re very good at observing things,” said a doctor, “and you may be right. We’ll carry out some tests and find out whether the cause is thallium poisoning or not.”

The tests proved that the baby had indeed been poisoned by thallium. Once they knew the cause, the doctors were able to give her correct treatment. The baby soon got well and was sent back to Deleville A week later, it was reported that the poison might have come from an insecticide (n. 杀虫剂) used in Deleville.

1.The baby was sent to a hospital in London because __________.

2.When the baby was first sent to the hospital in London, her illness was considered to be ____________.

3.From this passage it seems that the baby’s illness had something to do with __________.

4.As far as we can tell from the story, Agatha Christie ____________.