The Touchstone

    When the great library of Alexandria burned, the story goes, one book was saved. But it was not a valuable book; and so a poor man, who could read little, bought it for very little money.

The book wasn't very interesting, but between its pages there was something very interesting indeed. It was a thin strip of vellum on which was written the secret of the "Touchstone"! The touchstone was a small pebble that could turn any common metal into pure gold.

The writing explained that it was lying among thousands and thousands of other pebbles that looked exactly like it. But the secret was this: The real stone would feel warm, while ordinary pebbles are cold.

So the man sold his few belongings, bought some simple supplies, camped on the seashore, and began testing pebbles. He knew that if he picked up ordinary pebbles and threw them down again because they were cold, he might pick up the same pebble hundreds of times. So, when he felt one that was cold, he threw it into the sea. He spent a whole day doing this but none of them was the touchstone. Yet he went on and on this way. Pick up a pebble. Cold - throw it into the sea. Pick up another. Throw it into the sea. Pick up another. Throw it into the sea. The days continued over a long period if time.

One day, however, about mid-afternoon, he picked up a pebble and it was warm. He threw it into the sea before he realized what he had done. He had formed such a strong habit of throwing each pebble into the sea that when the one he wanted came along he still threw it away.

    So it is with opportunity. Unless we are cautious, it’s easy to fail to recognize an opportunity when it is in hand and it’s just as easy to throw it away.

The man bought the book because          .

      A．he wanted to read it B．it was very interesting

       C．there was a secret in the book  D．he wanted to find the touchstone

We can learn from the passage that the touchstone is         .

       A．pure  B．cold  C．magic       D．big

Why did the man throw the pebbles into the sea?

       A．Because he didn’t want to get the same pebbles.

       B．Because he didn’t want others to pick them up.

       C．Because he didn’t like their ordinary looks.

       D．Because he didn’t like the cold feelings.

What does the author want to tell us in the passage?

       A．We about orate opportunities in our life.

       B．We should seek for opportunities in the world.

       C．We may seize opportunities when we are watchful

       D．We may discover opportunities when forming habits.

I feel very excited at the thought that in another week I shall be with you again on holiday. I have enjoyed my stay in England very much indeed. Mr Brown and classmates are nice to me, but, as they say in England, “There’s no place like home.” and I think you feel this above all at Christmas time.

I am leaving here early on Thursday, the 23rd, and I shall arrive in Basle on Friday morning, so I shall be home somewhere about lunchtime. Can you meet me at the station, as I shall have a lot of luggage?

In some of my earlier letters I have told you all about the other students here. Well, I want to ask my Polish friend Jan to come and spend Christmas with us. Will that be all right? His father and mother died last year, he can go home for Christmas, and he has no friend in England except the Browns. He is a nice boy. I know you all like him, and I feel sure he will enjoy Christmas with us. It is very short notice, but you are always pleased, I know, if we bring our friends home. however, I have not yet invited him, as I thought it was better to ask you first. Please let me know as soon as possible if it will be all right.

The writer was very excited at the thought that ________.

A. she would be back home with her new friend

B. she would be with her parents in another week

C. her parents wanted to see her very much

D. she would go on staying in England

She wanted some one to meet her because ________.

A. she was told to do so                          B. she would be tired out after the trip

C. she would carry a pile of things            D. she didn’t know where the station was

The underlined sentence “There’s no place like home” means ________.

A. There is not a place that the writer likes     

B. There is no place that the writer can live in

C. The writer’s home is not in London in fact   

D. East and west, home is best

These paragraphs are taken out of a ________.

A. magazine              B. letter                  C. book                  D. newspaper

　The dream of flying into outer space, cherished by the Chinese people for centuries, will soon come true.

　　China launched its fourth unmanned spacecraft （飞船）“Shenzhou Ⅳ” on December 30 at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in Gansu Province. It was the 27th consecutive（连续的 ）and successful launch of China - made rockets since October 1996. This launch has made it more realistic for China to send a person into space on its own following Russia and the USA.

　　Qi Faren，leading designer of the spacecraft system, said all the functions （功能） designed for manned flights have withstood （经受住）the test of three previous, successful launches and return landings of the “Shenzhou” spaceships.

　　China launched the “Shenzhou Ⅰ ”, “Shenzhou Ⅱ ”and “Shenzhou Ⅲ ”spacecrafts in 1999,2001 and 2002 respectively.

　　“Shouzhou Ⅳ” was to make it a more comfortable place in which astronauts can live and work. All parts of the application system for manned flight are aboard the “Shenzhou Ⅳ”craft in all test flights.

　　China’s manned flight programme began in 1992. A number of unmanned test flights will be launched before Chinese astronauts are sent into space.

　　Leading scientists in charge of China’s manned space programme said the successful launch of the “Shenzhou Ⅳ” laid a solid foundation for the country’s future task of sending Chinese astronauts to outer space.

　　The spacecraft returned to the earth on January 5, after completing seven experiments in space.

　　Officials at the centre said that“ Shenzhou Ⅴ”, a manned spacecraft, is expected to be launched later this year.

　How many countries can send a person into space on its own by now？

　　A. 2.　　　　　　　　　　　　　　B. 3.

　　C. 4.　　　　　　　　　　　　　　D. Not mentioned.

　China’s manned flight programme began in ________.

　　A. 1992　　　　　　　　　　　　 B. October 1996.

　　C. 1999　　　　　　　　　　　　 D. January 2003

　As a matter of fact, ________ .

　　A. “Shenzhou Ⅴ ”has been launched

　　B. “Shenzhou Ⅳ” was a manned spacecraft

　　C. “Shenzhou Ⅲ ”and“ Shenzhou Ⅳ” were not launched in the same year

　　D. the dream of man flying into outer space has come true in China

　　Which is the most suitable title for the passage?

　　A. The Successful Launching of “Shenzhou Ⅳ ”.

　　B. The Landing of “Shenzhou Ⅳ ”.

　　C. Chin a’s Manned Flight Programme.

　　D. The Third Country Sending a Person into Outer Space.

It was early spring. The sun was strong and warm. I went over the hillside fields behind my village,    36    buntings and linnets, the birds I loved most.

I turned along a bush between two fields where I had seen the birds before, but on this fine day almost the first birds that I saw were winter visitors. I was    37    not to see a bunting straightaway, but I went on, stopping occasionally to look at the black-thorn (黑刺李) flowers in the bush, and    38    I did hear a bunting singing. Or was it? Was I not perhaps turning a note of skylark (云雀) song into that of the song I was hoping to hear?

But the bunting’s song was pretty clear, and within a few minutes I was proved

   39   . The song was coming from the bush, and as I approached    40    I saw the brown bird resting in a small tree. It opened its mouth, and    41    once more. Then it flew off. It was the only one I saw that day, but at least I had found one of the birds I had

   42   .

It was not until I was on my way back home that I caught sight of some    43   . I saw five of them gathering on the ground when I was just coming back beside the

   44    where I had found the bunting. As I came nearer, they flew up, spreading their tails so that their white edges    45    to look like a white fan in the sky. Then, to my

   46   , some big pigeons suddenly came flying and joined the linnets.

A moment later they had all    47   — but I had fulfilled my hopes for the day.

A. looking at  B. looking for C. looking up  D. looking after

A. disappointed      B. dismissed   C. dissatisfied D. disturbed

A. directly      B. gradually   C. suddenly    D. immediately

A. proper       B. right C. useful        D. true

A. sadly  B. hurriedly   C. proudly     D. quietly

A. danced       B. ate      C. sang    D. shouted

A. observed   B. noticed       C. expected     D. described

A. linnets       B. skylarks     C. pigeons     D. buntings

A. bush B. road   C. grass   D. black-thorn

A. widened     B. enlarged     C. lengthened  D. expanded

A. knowledge        B. pleasure     C. amusement       D. honour

A. gathered     B. lost     C. missed       D. gone

Driving to a friend's house on a recent evening, I was attracted by the sight of the full moon rising just above my friend’s rooftops. I stopped to watch it for a few moments, thinking about what a pity it was that most city people? Myself included? Usually miss sights like this because we spend most of our lives indoors.　　

My friend had also seen it. He grew up living in a forest in Europe, and the moon meant a lot to him then. It had touched much of his life.

I know the feeling. Last December I took my seven-year-old daughter to the mountainous jungle of northern India with some friends. We stayed in a forest rest-house with no electricity or running hot water. Our group had campfires outside every night, and indoors when it was too cold outside. The moon grew to its fullest during our trip. Between me and the high mountains lay three or four valleys. Not a light shone in them and not a sound could be heard. It was one of the quietest places I have ever known, a bottomless well of silence. And above me was the full moon, which struck me deeply.　　  

Today our lives are filled with glass, metal, plastic and fibre-glass. We have televisions, cell phones, pagers, electricity, heaters and ovens and air-conditioners, cars, computers.

Struggling through traffic that evening at the end of a tiring day, most of it spent indoors, I thought: before long, I would like to live in a small cottage. There I will grow vegetables and read books and walk in the mountains And perhaps write, but not in anger. I may become an old man there, and wear the bottoms of my trousers rolled and measure out my life in coffee spoons. But I will be able to walk outside on a cold silent night and touch the moon.

【小题1】The best title for the passage would be______.

A. Touched by the moon        B. The pleasures of modern life

C. A bottomless well of silence   D. Break away from modern life

【小题2】 What impressed the writer most in the mountainous jungle of northern India?

A. No modern equipment       B. Complete silence.

C. The nice moonlight          D. The high mountains

【小题3】Modern things (Paragraph 4) are mentioned mainly to______.

A. show that the writer likes city life very much

B. tell us that people greatly benefit from modern life

C. explain that people have less chances to enjoy nature

D. show that we can also enjoy nature at home through them

【小题4】The author wrote the passage to_______.

A. express the feeling of returning to nature

B. show the love for the moonlight

C. advise modern people to learn to live

D. want to communicate longing for modern life