Theodor Seuss Geisel was born in Springfield, Massachusetts in 1904. He was famous because of the books he wrote for children. They combine funny words, pictures, and social opinions.

Dr Seuss wrote his first book for children in 1937. It is called And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street. A number of publishers refused to publish it. They said it was too different. A friend finally published it. Soon other successful books followed. Over the years, he wrote more than forty children’s books. They were fun to read. Yet his books sometimes dealt with serious subjects.

By the middle 1940s, Dr Seuss had become one of the best-loved and most successful writers of children’s books. He liked helping children. In 1954, Life magazine published a report about school children who could not read. The report said that many children’s books weren’t interesting. Dr Seuss decided to write books that were interesting and easy to read.

In 1957, Dr Seuss wrote The Cat in the Hat. He used less than 225 words to write the book. This was about the number of words a six-year-old should be able to read.

The story is about a cat who tries to entertain two children on a rainy day while their mother is away from home. The cat is not like normal cats. It talks. The book was an immediate success. It was an interesting story and was easy to read. Children loved it. Their parents loved it, too. Today many adults say it is still one of the stories they like best.

1.What’s the best title for this passage?

A. Some of Dr Seuss’ books for children.

B. What are Dr Seuss’s books mainly about?

C. Dr Seuss — a famous writer of children’s books.

D. Why are Dr Seuss’ books different?

2.What do we know about Dr Seuss’s first book for children?

A. It was Dr Seuss’ worst book.

B. It dealt with a very serious subject.

C. Neither children nor adults like it.

D. Many publishers didn’t accept his book at first.

3.How did Dr Seuss help children according to Paragraph 3?

A. By asking others to help them in magazines.

B. By writing interesting and simple books.

C. By changing his old books into simpler ones.

D. By giving them books for free.

4.Adults most probably think that Dr Seuss’ The Cat in the Hat is _________

A. interesting        B. serious       C. difficult       D. boring

Speaking in public is most people's least favorite thing．The reason is that we are all afraid of making fools of ourselves．The more important the speech is, the more frightened we become．In fact, public speaking is not a "gift" like musical talent （天赋） ．Anybody who can talk can speak in public．Here are some of the lessons I have learned:

Try to make your idea clear and brief．If you can't express what you intend to get across in a sentence or two, and then your speech is not focused well enough．If you don't have a clear idea of what you want to say, your audience will make no sense．After all, what you can impress your audience in your speech is one or two of your main ideas．One or two．Not ten or twenty．

No matter how long or short your speech is, you've got to organize it well-how you are going to open, what major points you want to make and how you're going to close．A strong close is critical: the last thing you say is what your audience will most likely remember．When I do a radio or TV piece, I often write the last sentence first．When you know where you're headed, you can choose any route to get there．

Finally, you'd better limit the time of your speech as properly as you can to hold the audience's curiosity．Take a vaudeville act （杂耍） for example．The standard length of one is usually 12 minutes．Just imagine how you are feeling if you have been watching all the performers singing and dancing their hearts out for more than the standard time!

Whether you’re taking a trip alone or with your family, it’s easier to get sick when you’re in a new place because your body hasn’t had a chance to adjust to the food, water, and air in a new environment. Read the following tips on keeping your travel experience as healthy as possible.

Safe foods and drinks

What foods are safe to eat? Foods that have been boiled are generally safe, as well as fruits and vegetables that have to be peeled before eating. Avoid eating uncooked or undercooked meat.

Stay away from foods that require a lot of handling before serving.

Drink only bottled water when traveling. If you have to use the tap water, you should boil it first.

You can take it with you

When you’re packing, taking some painkiller and diarrhea medicine is a good idea. It’s also a good idea to pack some allergy (过敏) medicine even if you don’t take it at home, because people sometimes unexpectedly develop allergic reactions in a new environment.

Write it all down

Before you leave your sweet home, create a medical history form that includes the following information:

your name, address, and home phone number as well as a parent’s daytime phone number

your blood typea list of any ongoing health problems, such as heart disease, diabetes, or AIDS a list of current medicines you are taking a list of allergies to medicine, food, insects, and animals the name, address, and phone number of a relative other than your parent It also helps if you have some basic emergency medical knowledge, not only for yourself but also for helping others you may be traveling with. A great way to prepare for your trip is to take a first-aid or basic life support course before you go; if you’re traveling with a group, you should know where the first-aid kit is and what’s in it.

1. Which of the following word can replace the underlined word in Para.1?

A. adapt        B. just         C. adopt         D. correct

2.What does the passage mainly talk about?

A. Some travel tips     B. Danger of travel     C. Travel experience    D. First aid in travel

3. According to the passage before you travel you’d better write the phone number of the following EXCEPT ______.

A. your own   B. one of your parents   C. one of your relatives   D. one of your friends

4.Which of the following is not mentioned in the passage?

A. Taking a first-aid course.          B. Writing down your blood type.

C. Taking some necessary medicine.   D. Telling your parents’ your plan.

Hidden in our subconsciousness (潜意识) is a perfect mental picture. We see ourselves on a long trip that goes across the continent. We are traveling by train. Out the windows, we think in the passing scene of cars on nearby highways, of children waving at a crossing, of cattle feeding on a distant hillside, of smoke pouring from a power plant, or row upon row of corn and wheat, of flat lands and valleys, of mountains and rolling hills, of city skylines and village halls.

But uppermost in our minds is the final destination. On a certain day at a certain hour, we will pull into the station. Bands will be playing and flags waving. Once we get there, so many wonderful dreams will come true and the pieces of our lives will fit together like a completed jigsaw（拼图玩具） puzzle. How restlessly we pace the aisles(通道), condemning the minutes for loitering --waiting, waiting, waiting for the station.

“When we reach the station, that will be it!” we cry. “When I’m 38.” “When I buy a new 450SL Mercdes Benz!” “When I put the last kid through college.” “When I have paid off the!” “When I get a promotion.” “When I reach the age of retirement, I shall live happily ever after! ”

Sooner or later, we must realize there is no station, no one place to arrive at once and for all. The true joy of life is the trip. The station is only a dream. It constantly outdistances us.

“Relish(appreciate) the moment” is a good motto, actually it isn’t the burdens of today that drive man mad. It is the regret over yesterday and the fear of tomorrow. Regret and fear are twin thieves who rob us of today.

So stop pacing the aisles and counting the miles. Instead, climb more mountains, eat more ice cream, swim more rivers, watch more sunsets, laugh more and cry less. Life must be lived as we go along. Then the station will come soon enough.

1.Why does the author describe the mental picture?

A．To lead us into a perfect world.                    B．To let people enjoy the scenery.

C．To introduce an actual trip of his.                 D．To compare it to our life’s journey.

2.How do people feel when they’re on their trip?

A．Puzzled.                     B．Happy.                C．Relaxed.              D．Impatient. 

3.What does the author mean by “Regret and fear are twin thieves who rob us of today” in Line 2 Paragraph 5?

A．Regret and fear are responsible for the loss of today.

B．We must be careful of the two thieves: regret and fear.

C．regret and fear stop us from enjoying our present life.

D．We’re frequently challenged by the two : regret and fear.

4.Why does the author write the passage?

A．To teach us a good lesson.                           B．To tell us the right attitude to life.

C．To advice us to forget our worries.               D．To stop us wandering along the aisles.

The practice of students endlessly copying letters and sentences from a blackboard is a thing of the past. With the coming of new technologies like computers and smartphones, writing by hand has become something of nostalgic(怀旧的)skill. However, while today’s educators are using more and more technology in their teaching,many believe basic handwriting skills are still necessary for students to be successful-----both in school and in life.

Virginia Berninger, professor of educational psychology at the University of Washington, says it’s important to continue teaching handwriting and help children acquire the skill of writing by hand.

Berninger and her colleagues conducted a study that looked at the ability of students to complete various writing tasks----both on a computer and by hand. The study, published in 2009, found that when writing with a pen and paper, participants wrote longer essays and more complete sentences and had a faster word production rate.

In a more recent study, Berninger looked at what role spelling plays in a student’s writing skills and found that how well children spell is tied to how well they can write. “Spelling makes some of the thinking parts of the brain active which helps us access our vocabulary, word meaning and concepts. It is allowing our written language to connect with ideas.” Berninger said.

Spelling helps students translate ideas into words in their mind first and then to transcribe (转换) “those words in the mind written symbols on paper or keyboard and screen,” the study said. Seeing the words in the “mind’s eye” helps children not only to turn their ideas into words, says Berninger, but also to spot(发现) spelling mistakes when they write the words down and to correct them over time.

“In our computer age, some people believe that we don’t have to teach spelling because we have spell checks,” she said. “But until a child has a functional spelling ability of about a fifth grade level, they won’t have the knowledge to choose the correct spelling among the options given by the computer.”

1.What makes writing by hand a thing of the past? 

A. The absence of blackboards in classrooms. 

B. The use of new technologies in teaching. 

C. The lack of practice in handwriting. 

D. The popular use of smartphones. 

2.Berninger’s study published in 2009 ___________. 

A. focused on the difference between writing by hand and on a computer. 

B. indicated that students prefer to write with a pen and paper. 

C. found that good essays are made up of long sentences. 

D. discussed the importance of writing speed. 

3.Which of the following best shows the role of spelling? 

A. Spelling improves one’s memory of words. 

B. Spelling ability is closely related to writing ability. 

C. Spelling benefits the translation from words into ideas. 

D. Spelling slows down finding exact words to express ideas. 

4.What does “mind’s eye” in paragraph 5 mean? 

A.  Window.     B. Soul      C. Picture.      D. Imagination. 

5.What conclusion could be drawn from the passage 

A. Computers can help people with their choice of words. 

B. Spell checks can take the place of spelling teaching. 

C. Handwriting still has a place in today’s classrooms. 

D. Functional spelling ability develops fast in the fifth grade.