One day I got a duck from a friend who lived two miles south of my house. I brought the duck home in a bag. It was obvious that the duck missed his family very much upon his arrival. Left to himself, he would at once turn his head homeward. I tried to shut him together with other ducks for several days, but with no use at all. There seemed to be but one thought in the mind of him, and that was home.

So I decided to let him out, but I kept about fifty yards behind him. I followed, thinking he would soon lose his way and came back. But he seemed to have an exact map of the country in his mind. Soon he met a dog. He paused and looked at the animal for a moment, and then turned to the right along a road which led to a railroad station. He had now gone about half the distance, and was getting tired. A little pool of water by the roadside caught his eye. Into it he bathed, drank, and rested for a few moments, and then started homeward again. For a while, he realized that he had got into the wrong direction, and turned his face southward again. Finally we came in sight of the home path, which led up to the farmhouse.

It was now nearly night and I had no time to watch the experiment further. But as he neared the path he seemed suddenly to see some familiar things, and rushed at the top of his speed. I followed close behind. Into the house yard he rushed with uplifted wings as if he was eagerly telling his partners the story of his adventures.

1.What does the author think about the duck?

A. Interesting and careful.

B. Curious and enthusiastic.

C. Intelligent and determined.

D. Brave and experienced.

2.As soon as the duck arrived at a new place, he seemed________.

A. glad      B. nervous      C. tired        D. homesick

3.The underlined part “the experiment” in the last paragraph refers to “__________”.

A. if the duck had the ability to get on well with other ducks.      

B. if the duck was born with a good sense of direction.

C. if the duck could discover the author.         

D. if the duck could find his way home.

4.What’s the purpose of the writer’s writing the text?

A. To share us a duck’s interesting trip.

B. To present his opinions about a duck’s remarkable experience.

C. To express his curiosity about a duck’s interesting trip.

D. To examine why a duck would like to rush on it’s own.

    One day I got a duck from a friend who lived two miles south of my house. I brought the duck home in a bag. It was obvious that the duck missed his family very much upon his arrival. Left to himself, he would at once turn his head homeward. I tried to shut him together with other ducks for several days, but with no use at all. There seemed to be but one thought in the mind of him, and that was home.

So I decided to let him out, but I kept about fifty yards behind him. I followed, thinking he would soon lose his way and came back. But he seemed to have an exact map of the country in his mind. Soon he met a dog. He paused and looked at the animal for a moment, and then turned to the right along a road which led to a railroad station. He had now gone about half the distance, and was getting tired. A little pool of water by the roadside caught his eyes. Into it he bathed, drank, and rested for a few moments, and then started homeward again. For a while, he realized that he had got into the wrong direction, and turned his face southward again. Finally we came in sight of the home path, which led up to the farmhouse.

It was now nearly night and I had no time to watch the experiment further. But as he neared the path he seemed suddenly to see some familiar things, and rushed at the top of his speed. I followed close behind. Into the house yard he rushed with uplifted wings as if he was eagerly telling his partners the story of his adventures.

56. What does the author think about the duck?

A. Interesting and careful.

B. Curious and enthusiastic(热情的).

C. Intelligent（聪明的） and determined（意志坚定的）.

D. Brave and experienced.

57. As soon as the duck arrived at a new place, he seemed ________ .

A.glad   B.nervou   C.tired     D. homesick

58. The underlined part“the experiment” in the last paragraph refers to“________ ”.

A. if the duck had the ability to get on well with other ducks.

B. if the duck was born with a good sense of direction.

C. if the duck could discover the author.

D. if the duck could find his way home.

59. What’s the purpose of the writer’s writing the text?

A. To share us a duck’s interesting trip.

B. To present his opinions about a duck’s remarkable （非凡的）experience.

C. To express his curiosity about a duck’s interesting trip.

D. To examine why a duck would like to rush on its own.

This childhood intention is described in her novel, A Sound of Chariots, which although written in the third person is clearly autobiographical (自传体的)and gives a picture both of Mollie’s ambition and her struggle towards its achievement. Thoughts of her childhood inevitably(不可避免的)brought thoughts of the time when her home was still a village with buttercup meadows and strawberry fields-sadly now covered with modern houses. “I was once taken back to see it and I felt that somebody had lain dirty hands all over my childhood. I’ll never go back,”she said.“Never.”“When I set one of my books in Scotland,”she said,“I can recall my romantic feelings as a child playing in those fields, or watching the village blacksmith at work. And that’s important, because children now know so much so early that romance can’t exist for them, as it did for us.”

1. 1.

   What does Mollie Hunter feel about the nature of a good book?

   1. A.
      It should not aim at a narrow audience.
   2. B.
      It should be attractive to young readers.
   3. C.
      It should be based on original ideas.
   4. D.
      It should not include too much conversation.
2. 2.

   In Mollie Hunter’s opinion, which of the following is one sign of poor writer?

   1. A.
      Being poor in life experience
   2. B.
      Being short of writing skill.
   3. C.
      The weakness of description
   4. D.
      The absence of a story.
3. 3.

   What do we learn about Mollie Hunter as a young child？

   1. A.
      She didn’t expect to become a writer.
   2. B.
      She didn’t enjoy writing stories.
   3. C.
      She didn’t have any particular ambition.
   4. D.
      She didn’t respect her teacher’s view.
4. 4.

   In comparison with children of earlier years, Mollie feels that children now are _____.

   1. A.
      more intelligent
   2. B.
      better informed
   3. C.
      less eager to learn
   4. D.
      less interested in reality
5. 5.

   What’s the writer’s purpose in this text?

   1. A.
      To share her enjoyment of Mollie Hunter’s book.
   2. B.
      To introduce Mollie Hunter’s work to a wider audience.
   3. C.
      To provide information for Mollie Hunter’s existing readers.
   4. D.
      To describe Mollie Hunter’s most successful books.

We find that bright children are seldom held back by mixed-ability teaching. On the contrary, both their knowledge and experience are enriched. We feel that there are many disadvantages in streaming(按能力分班) pupils. It does not consider the fact that children develop at different rates. It can have had effect on both the bright and the not-so-bright children. After all, it can be quite discouraging to be the bottom of the top grade.

Besides, it is rather unreal to grade people just according to their intellectual(智力) ability. This is only one aspect of their total personality. We care much about the development of all the pupils’ abilities to the full, not just their study ability. We also value personal qualities and social skills, and we find that mixed-ability teaching does good to these aspects of learning.

In our classrooms, we work in various ways. The pupils often work in groups; this gives them the chance to learn to work together, to share, and to develop leadership skills. They also learn how to deal with personal problems as well as learning how to think, to make decisions, to analyze(分析) an devaluate(评价) and to communicate effectively. The pupils learn from each other as well as from the teachers.

Sometimes the pupils work in pairs; sometimes they work on individual(个人) tasks, and they can do this at their own speed. They also have some formal class teaching when this is proper. We encourage our pupils to use the library, and we teach them the skills they need in order to do this well. An advanced pupil can do advanced work and it does not matter what age the child is. We expect our pupils to do their best, not their least, and we give them every encouragement to achieve this goal.

By “held back” in the first paragraph, the writer means “________”.

A. made to remain in the same class            B. forced to study in the lower class

C. drawn away form their studies        D. prevented from advancing

The writer’s purpose of writing this passage is to ________.

A. argue for teaching bright and not-so-bright pupils in the same class

B. advise pair work and group work for classroom activity

C. offer advice on the proper use of the library

D. tell us the importance of proper formal classroom teaching

What would be the best title for the text?

A. Pair work.      B. Group work.    C. Mixed-ability teaching    D. Individual tasks.