I just finished the household chores for the night and was preparing to go to bed, when I heard a noise in the front of the house. I opened the door to the front room and to my surprise, Santa himself stepped out from behind the Christmas tree.

    He placed his finger over his mouth so I would not cry out. “What are you doing?” I started to ask. The words choked up in my throat, and I saw he had tears in his eyes. His usual jolly manner was gone. Gone was the eager, boisterous soul we all know.

    He then answered me with a simple statement“TEACH THE CHILDREN！”

    I was puzzled; what did he mean?

    Santa then reached in his bag and pulled out a FIR(杉木) TREE .“Teach the children that the pure green color of the stately fir tree remains green all year round，describing the everlasting hope of mankind，all the needles point heavenward, making it a symbol of man's thoughts turning toward heaven.”

He again reached into his bag and pulled out a brilliant STAR. “Teach the children that the star was the heavenly sign of promises long ago. God promised a savior(救世主) for the world, and the star was the sign of fulfillment of his promise.”

    He then reached into his bag and pulled out a CANDLE. “Teach the children that the candle symbolizes that Christ is the light of the world, and when we see this great light we are reminded of he who displaces(取代) the darkness.”

    Suddenly I heard a soft twinkling sound, and from his bag he pulled out a BELL. “Teach the children that as the lost sheep are found by the sound of the bell, it should ring mankind to the fold. The bell symbolizes guidance and return.”

    Santa looked back and was pleased. I saw that the twinkle was back in his eyes. He said, “Remember, teach the children the true meaning of Christmas and do not put me in the center, for I am but an humble servant of the one that is, and I bow down to worship HIM, our LORD, our GOD.”

1.Author opened the door when he was going to sleep because________.

A. he heard something unusual

B. he was not sleeping at the moment

C. he saw the Santa at the moment

D. he wanted to step out of the room

2.According to Santa, the star was ________.

A. a symbol of man's thoughts turning towards heaven

B. the sigh of fulfillment of the Santa's promise

C. the symbol of the light of the world

D. the sound of the bell which ring mankind to the fold

3.What does the underlined word “twinkle” refer to?

A. Tears.　　B. Smiles.　　C. Glasses.　　D. Eyes.

A traveler lost his way and got off the highway to see where he was. As he drove by, he saw rows and rows of pigpens and pigs running in fields. Suddenly, his eyes caught something really strange. It looked like a pig with a wooden leg.

   He drove up into the arm, where he met the farmer. “ Excuse me, ” the traveler said. “ I was just driving by and looking at all your pigs, and I just had to stop and ask about it. Tell me, is there really a pig out there with a wooden leg?” The farmer smiled. “ Oh, that would be old Caesar you saw. He’s the finest pig I’ve ever had ---and smart! Well, let me tell you a little about that pig.”

   “ One night a couple of years ago I got to drinking and I guess I had more than I should have. I fell down and knocked over a lamp. That started a fire in the house and old Caesar smelled the smoke. He came in the back door, got the wife and kid out, roused me up and got me out. There is no question about it ---- that night old Caesar saved all our lives. You know that I’m not going to forget it too easily.”

   “ Why,” the traveler said, “ this is amazing! I have never heard of a pig like this before! This is fantastic! But tell me, how did he get that wooden leg?”

   The farmer laughed and said, “ Well, when you have a pig so smart, you don’t want to eat him all at one time!”

1.The farmer thought the pig _______.

A. very fat    B. very clever    C. very kind    D. very strange

2.The passage indicates that _______.

A. the pig lost a leg in the fire

B. the farmer deeply thanked the pig

C. the pig had a very good keeper

D. the real leg had been eaten by the farmer

3.The author wants to _______.

A. report a piece of news

B. tell us a moving story

C. tell us a humorous story

D. have a joke with us

This year I decided to do something to regain my good name as a kindly uncle. My  36    Tony,had never forgiven me for the dictionary I had bought him as a birthday present last year. His  37  had no reason to be thankful to me either,because the year before, I had   38   their dear son with a pot of paste(浆糊) and some funny pictures. Instead of   39    them into a book, Tony had naturally covered every wall in the house with them. This year,   40  , I decided to let him  41   for himself.

  We went into a big shop,but Tony was very particular about   42   . Although I tried to show him toy after toy,he was not to be   43  . Then I saw he suddenly became  44  ; he had discovered something he really liked: a large tin dram. I was quite happy too   45     I thought what Tony’s mother would say when she saw it. Nobody would get any    46    for weeks! I led Tony away   47  , saying that the dram was too expensive.

   Tony asked for permission to go off    48     and I made the most of my chance to sit down end    49    my aching feet. Fifteen minutes passed but there was still no sign of Tony. I began to get   50    and got up to look for him. I asked a young lady if she had seen a little boy in a grey suit. She looked    51    her helplessly and pointed out that there were so many   52

in grey suits. I was just going to call the police for help,when I saw a strange   53   dressed in strange orange clothes. He was wearing a false beard and had a caveman’s axe(斧子)in one hand,and a space gun in the other. It was, of course,Tony, who informed me  54    that he was the first   55   to fly into space.

1.A. cousin         B. daughter          C. grandson          D. nephew

2.A. friends       B. parents           C. classmates       D. brothers

3.A. presented      B. annoyed          C. confused         D. occupied

4.A. entering       B. dividing         C. sticking          D. drawing

5. A. anyhow       B. though          C. again             D. therefore

6.A. guess        B. choose           C. pay             D. see

7.A. sweets        B. toys           C. clothes          D. books

8. A. pleased   B. disturbed        C. accepted         D. disappointed

9. A. surprised     B. hopeful          C. patient          D. excited

10. A. after            B. until            C. unless           D. since

11.A. shock           B. trouble          C. peace           D. time

12.A. happily         B. eagerly        C. cautiously       D. quickly

13.A. on his own   B. in his way      C. now and then      D. more or less

14.A. drag           B. rest.           C. lay              D. step

15. A. 8shamed        B. angry           C. worried          D. doubtful

16.A. about           B. to             C. at               D. across

17.A. young ladies  B. new customers   C. loving parents     D. small boys

18.A. figure          B. actor           C. man            D. doll

19.A. on time        B. at once          C. just now         D. once again

20.A. policeman       B. spaceman        C. caveman       D. postman

Mr. Smith doesn’t like all that empty talk between Susan and Joan, which he thinks will definitely get them ________.

   A. anywhere      B. anything     C. nowhere      D. nothing

The first Starbucks coffee shop opened in 1971 in downtown Seattle, Washington, in the United States. It was a small coffee shop that roasted its own coffee beans. The coffee shop’s business did well, and by 1981 there were three more Starbucks stores in Seattle.

Things really began to change for the company in 1981. That year, Howard Schultz met the three men who ran Starbucks. Schultz worked in New York for a company that made kitchen equipment. He noticed that Starbucks ordered a large number of special coffee makers, and he was curious about the company. Schultz went to Seattle to see what Starbucks did , and he liked what he saw. He wanted to become part of the company. In 1982, the original Starbucks owners hired Schultz as the company’s head of marketing.

In 1983, Schultz traveled to Italy. The unique atmosphere of the espresso(浓咖啡) bars there caught his eye. To Schultz it seemed that Italians spent their daily lives in three places: home, work , and coffee bars . His experience in Italy gave Schultz a new idea for Starbucks back in Seattle.

Schultz created an atmosphere for Starbucks coffee shops that was comfortable and casual, and customers everywhere seemed to like it. Between 1987 and 1992, Starbucks opened 150 new stores---and that was only the beginning. As a matter of fact, by the year 2000, three new Starbucks stores opened somewhere around the world every day!

Today, Starbucks has thousands of stores, including stores in twenty-six countries. One thing that helps make Starbucks succeed in cities outside the United Stateds is the way Starbucks works with local stores and restaurants. By working together with a store already in the city, Starbucks gains an understanding of customers in the city.  This understanding helps Starbucks open stores in the right locations for their customers.

1.What is the main topic of the reading?

A. how Starbucks has grown       B. Starbucks’ customers

C. what Starbucks makes          D. how Starbucks makes its coffee

2.Which is true about Starbucks’ first ten years of business?

        A. It grew very quickly           B. It was run by Howard Schultz

        C. It was a small company        D. It made special coffee makers

3.Who is Howard Schultz?

        A. a coffee seller from New York      B. the man who changed the company

        C. an Italian coffee maker       D. one of the original owners of the company

4.About how many new Starbucks opened in 1999?

        A. 3     B. 150       C. 300      D. more than 1000

5.What helps Starbucks succeed in places outside the United States?

A. opening restaurants in just a few locations each year.

B. only selling locally produced coffee beans

C. working with other major coffee-making companies

D. learning about local customers.