Onceupon a time there was a wise man that used to go to the sea to do his writing. Hehad a habit of walking on the beach before he began his work.One day he waswalking along the shore. As he looked down at the beach, he saw a human figuremoving like a dancer. He smiled to himself at the thought that someone woulddance on the beach. So he began to walk faster to catch up. As he got closer, hesaw that it was a young man and the young man wasn’t dancing, but instead he wasreaching down to the shore, picking up something and throwing itinto the ocean. As he got closer, he called out, “Good morning! What are youdoing?’’

Theyoung man paused, looked up and replied, “Throwingstarfishes(海星)in theocean.”

“I guess I should have asked, why are you throwing starfishes in the ocean?”

“The sun is up and the tide is going out.And if I don’t throw them in, they’ll die”

“But, young man, don’t you realize thatthere are miles and miles of beach and starfishes all along it. You can’tpossibly make a difference!”

Theyoung man listened politely. Then he bent down, picked another starfish andthrew it into the sea, and said, “It made a difference for that one.”Thereissomething very special in each and every one of us. We have all beengifted with the ability to make a difference. And if we can know that gift, wewill gain through the strength of our vision the power(力量) toshape the future.

We musteach find our starfish. And if we throw our starfish wisely and well, the worldwill be better. 

1.One day, the wise man saw a young man _______.

2.The underlined words “something very special” refers to ________. 

3.From the last two paragraphs, we can learn that ________.

4.The writer told this story to show us _____.      

Looking out of the window, my son saw a tree whose branches were strongly swaying back and forth. “How does the tree move its branches like that?” He asked.

Without rising from my chair, nor looking up from my book, I started to answer, “The tree is not moving the branches, son. The wind is…” But before the words were out, I caught myself. Instead I rose from my chair and moved to the window to join my son. I looked at the tree. From inside our room, from behind the window, I could neither feel nor hear the wind. I saw instead a tree with its branches silently moving and thought to myself, from inside this room, how could I possibly be sure that the branches were moving because of the wind rather than from the tree’s own willing?

        As I stood there with my son watching the tree, I became struck by the movement of the branches, the shimmer of the leaves. My mind quieted and I became less sure myself of what was causing the branches to move. Was it the wind, or was it some expressive, independent movement of the tree? “I see what you mean,” I said to my son. “The movement of the tree is very beautiful.”

         “Do you think the tree is dancing?” asked my son. “Why would it be dancing?” I asked. “Maybe it is happy because the sun is shining,” he said. “Perhaps,” I said. “Or because it’s spring,” he added, “and it’s not cold any more.” “Perhaps,” I said.

         As we continued to watch the tree together, I, too, began to appreciate the dance of the tree. I enjoyed the movement and sway of the branches, seeing little nuances(微妙之处) that I hadn’t noticed before. There seemed to be a rhythm to the movement, first strong and forceful, then light and gentle, then more vigorous, sometimes nearly violent.

         “Are trees alive?” my son asked. “Yes, they are alive. Why do you ask?” “Because this tree looks happy,” he answered. “Can a tree be happy or sad?” “What do you mean?” I asked.

         “In the winter, trees seem sad,” he said. “Their branches hang down, and they look cold and lonely. But now with the leaves on the tree and the sun shining and the birds flying, it looks happy.”

1.What is the meaning of the underlined word “caught” in Para 2?

A. stopped                  B. grasped                   C. seized                      D. held

2.What on earth caused the tree to move?

A. The tree itself felt happy and was dancing.

B. The tree was too sad to sway as if to get rid of all trouble.

C. It was the warm spring.

D. The wind did so.  

3. What do you think of the boy?

A. Naughty.                 B. Imaginative.    C. Clever.                 D. Foolish.

--- Learning a language is not easy. It takes time.

   --- I can’t agree more. __________. There is no short cut.

A.  Make hay while the sun shines       B. All roads lead to Rome

C.  Rome wasn’t built in a day          D. Practice makes perfect

Move Earth—it’s no science fiction

LONDON-Scientists have found an unusual way to prevent our planet from overheating: move it to a cooler spot. All you have to do is send a few comets（彗星）in the direction of Earth, and its orbit will be changed. Our world will then be sent spinning into a safer, colder part of the solar system.

This idea for improving our climate comes from a group of US National Aeronautics and Space Administration（NASA） engineers and American astronomers. They say their plan could add another six billion years to the useful lifetime of our planet—effectively doubling its working life.

The plan put forward by Dr Laughlin, and his colleagues Don Korycansky and Fred Adams

,needs carefully directing a comet or asteroid so that it passes close by our planet and sends some of its gravitational energy to Earth.

“Earth’s orbital speed would increase as a result and we would move to a higher orbit away from the Sun,”Laughlin said.

Engineers would then direct their comet so that it passed close to Jupiter or Saturn. The comet would pick up energy from one of these giant planets. Later its orbit would bring it back to Earth, and the process would be repeated.

In the short term, the plan provides an ideal way to global warming, although the team was actually concerned with a much greater danger. The sun is certain to heat up in about a billion years and so “seriously compromise” our biosphere（生物圈）—by cooking us.

That’s why the group decided to try to save Earth.

The plan has one or two worrying aspects, however. For a start, space engineers would have to be very careful about how they directed their asteroid or comet towards Earth. The smallest miscalculation（误算）in orbit could fire it straight at Earth—with deadly consequences.

There is also the question of the Moon. As the current issue of Scientific American magazine points out, if Earth was pushed out of its current position it is “most likely the Moon would be stripped away from Earth,” it states. This would greatly change our planet’s climate.

1. What makes the scientists plan to move Earth?

A. A few comets are moving to the direction of Earth.

B. Earth’s working life is coming to an end soon.

C. Earth will become too hot for mankind to keep alive.

D. The moon is moving farther and farther away from Earth.

2.If the plan is successful, Earth will have a working life of ______years.

A.12 billion                  B.6 billion                    C.18 billion                  D.24 billion

3.What serious problems might the plan cause according to the passage?

A. The comet might hit Earth and man might lose the moon.

B. Earth might be moved too far away and man might be frozen to death.

C. The comet might hit Jupiter or Saturn and never return to Earth.

D. Earth’s working life might be greatly shortened.

4.What does the underlined word “compromise” mean?

A. provide                    B. benefit              C. share     D. endanger

5.Which of the following best shows how the plan would work?

Outside her shabby cottage, old Mrs. Tailor was hanging out laundry on a wire line, unaware that some children lay hidden in the leaves of a nearby tree watching her every move. They were determined to find out if she really was a witch.

They watched as she took a broomstick to clean the dirt from her stone steps. But, much to their disappointment, she did not mount the broomstick and take flight. Suddenly, the old lady’s work was interrupted by the cackling of her hen—a signal that an egg had been laid in the warm nest on top of the haystack.

The old broomstick was put aside as she hobbled off towards the haystack followed by Sooty, a black cat she had rescued from a fox trap some time back. With only three legs, it was hard for Sooty to keep up with the old lady. The cat provided proof—the children were sure that only a witch could own a black cat with three legs.

There, standing on a wooden box, was Mrs. Tailor, stretching out to gather her precious egg. Taking the egg in one of her hands, she began to climb down when, without warning, the box broke and the old lady fell.

 “We have to got and help her,” whispered Amy.

 “What if it is a trick?” replied Ben.

 “Don’t be silly, Ben. If she were a witch, she would have turned us into frogs already,” reasoned Meg. “Come on Amy, let’s go.” The girls climbed down the tree and ran all the way to the haystack.

Approaching carefully, they could see a wound on the old lady’s face. She had knocked her head on a stone and her ankle was definitely broken. “Go and get Dad,” Amy yelled to her brother. “Tell him about the accident.”

The boys did not need another excuse to leave. They ran as fast as thy could for help, hoping that Mrs. Tailor would not wake and turn the girls into frogs.

1.Were the children hiding in the tree?

A. They wanted to watch Mrs. Tailor do her housework closely.

B. They were playing a hide-and-seek game

C. They wanted to find out if the rumors about Mrs. Tailor were true

D. They were pretending to be spies

2.Mrs. Tailor stopped sweeping when____

A. her front steps were clean             B. she noticed the children in the tree

C. she was ready to take a flight          D. she heard the hen cackling

3.Ben did not rush in help Mrs. Tailor because_____

A. he thought that she could be necking them

B. he knew that they could not have been in the tree

C. he did not the old lady fall down

D. he was afraid of the three-legged cat

4.Which of these old sayings best suits the story’s lesson for us?

A. Make hay while the sun shines.

B. Never judge a book by its cover.

C. People in glasshouses should not the stones.

D. A bird in the hands worth two in the bush.