Dear Mom and Dad,
I'm afraid I have some very bad news for you. I have been very naughty and the school master is very angry with me. She is going to write to you. You must come and take me away from here. She does not want me in the school any longer. The trouble started last night when I was smoking a cigarette in bed. As I was smoking, I heard footsteps coming towards the room .I did not want a teacher to catch me smoking, so I threw the cigarette away. Unfortunately, the cigarette fell into the waste-paper basket. It caught fire.
There was a curtain near the waste-paper basket. It caught fire too. Soon the whole room was burning. The master phoned the fire brigade. The school is a long way from the town and before the fire brigade arrived, the whole school was on fire. The master said that the fire was all my fault and I must pay for the damage. She will send you a bill for about a million dollars.
I'm very sorry for this.
Much love   
Sarah     
【小题1】Why did Sarah write to his parents?

A．He missed them very much for they hadn’t seen each other for a long time.

B．He told his parents what he had done in school.

C．He was tired of studying, and wanted to leave school.

D．He thought he was old enough to help them do something.

Baths and bathing have been considered of an important medical therapy to man. In Greece there are the ruins of a bath tub and water system built over 3 000 years ago. The Romans had warm public baths. In some public baths as many 3 000 persons could bathe at the same time.
Treating diseases by bathing has been popular for centuries. Modern medical bathing, or hydrotherapy, first became popular in Europe and by the late 1 700’s also became popular in the United States.
For many years frequent bathing was believed to be bad for one’s health. Ordinary bathing just to be clean was avoided, and perfume(香水) was used to cover up body and smell.
By the 1 700’s doctors began to say that soap and water were good for health. They believed that it was good for people to be clean. Slowly, people began to bathe more frequently.
In the United States ordinary bathing was slow to become popular. During the 18th and early 19th centuries, many Americans were known as “the great unwashed”. In one American city, for example, a person could only take a bath every 30 days! That was a law.
Frequency of bathing today is partly a matter of habit. People know that bathing for cleanliness is important to health. Doctors know that dirty bodies increase that chance of disease.    
Therefore in the United States people generally bathe often.
【小题1】What does the word “hydrotherapy” underlined in the second paragraph refer to?

Dr. Martinez put on a false smile (假笑) as she entered Janet Eslin’s hospital room. She couldn’t let Janet see that she was worried. Yet she had been searching for the cause of Janet’s illness and hadn’t found a clue（线索）.
“How are you feeling today?” Dr. Martinez asked her patient. Janet replied that she felt about the same----terribly uncomfortable.
The doctor tried to get Janet’s mind off her health by talking about Janet’s vacation at Lake Winnow. But Dr. Martinez couldn’t keep her own mind on the conversation. She kept wondering what could be wrong with her patient.
Suddenly Janet’s words interrupted Dr. Martinez’s thoughts: “… the vacation was really perfect, except for the food. The last meal I ate was especially terrible.”
Dr. Martinez quickly snapped back into the conversation, “Janet, when did you eat that meal?” Janet said that it had been the day before yesterday.
“I think we’ve discovered your problem,” Dr. Martinez said as she left. Several hours later, Dr. Martinez was back with the answer. “Janet, the food you ate made you ill. You’re suffering from food poisoning. Now that we know what’s wrong, we can take care of your problem.”
【小题1】What made Janet sick?

Pete took his seat this day on his usual bench in Union Square．Every Thanksgiving Day for nine years Pete had taken this same seat exactly at one o'clock, and each time the same pleasant thing had happened．But this time Pete had come here more from habit than from hunger．Certainly today Pete was not hungry．Two rich old ladies gave him a Thanksgiving dinner of everything he could eat．
Pete sat on the bench now, hardly able to move．The buttons on his ragged shirt and coat were about to burst．The November breeze and the first light fall of snow felt cool and pleasant to his face．He happened to look to the left and there in the distance he saw the old Gentleman coming toward him．He wanted to get up and run, but he was so full of food he stayed right there．Every Thanksgiving Day for nine years, the Old Gentleman had come there, found Pete on this same bench, and then taken him to a restaurant and bought him a Thanksgiving dinner．It was a kind of tradition which the Old Gentleman, who had no family and lived alone, had tried to continue．
"How do you do' "said the Old Gentleman．" Glad to see that the changes of another year have permitted you to move in health through this beautiful world．"
Each time the Old Gentleman had said exactly this same thin? It was part of the tradition．Pete, too, began to feel as though he himself was now a part of the tradition, and he therefore did not have the courage to tell the old man that he had already eaten．This dinner seemed to mean so much to the Old Gentleman.
"Thank you, sir, " said Pete at last. “I’ll go with you gladly. I’m very hungry, sir.” Together the Old Gentleman and Pete walked south to the same restaurant where each year Pete had his Thanksgiving dinner. The Old Gentleman seemed pleased and happy. When the waiter brought dish after dish of food to Pete, the Old Gentlenman sat quietly and smiled．Under the circumstances, Pete had to eat．It was part of the tradition, and so he ate like a hero, although when he entered the restaurant even the smell of food almost made him sick．At last Pete leaned back with the battle won．
" Thank you, sir, " he said, with some effort, " for a fine dinner．"
They parted as they did each year at the door, the Old Gentlemen going south, Pete north．
Around the corner, Pete stopped for a moment, felt a terrible pain in his stomach, and then fell to the sidewalk unconscious．A little time later an ambulance came．In the hospital they discovered that he had had an attack of indigestion （消化不良）.
An hour later, another ambulance brought the Old Gentleman to the same hospital．At first they thought it was also indigestion but later one of the nurses said, "That nice old gentleman over there—you wouldn't think that it was a case of hunger．"
【小题1】Where did Pete and the Old Gentleman meet every Thanksgiving Day?

A．Pete sat on the bench now, hardly able to move．

B．The buttons on his ragged shirt and coat were about to burst．

C．Glad to see that the changes of another year have permitted you to move in health through this beautiful world．

D．When he entered the restaurant even the smell of food almost made him sick．

A．Pete didn't have the heart to refuse the offer

B．Pete was so greedy that he wanted to have another dinner

C．Pete was suffering from hunger

D．Pete enjoyed having the Thanksgiving dinner for free

I began working in journalism(新闻工作)when I was eight. It was my mother’s idea. She wanted me to “make something” of myself, and decided I had better start young if I was to have any chance of keeping up with the competition.

With my load of magazines I headed toward Belleville Avenue. The crowds were there. There were two gas stations on the corner of Belleville and Union. For several hours I made myself highly visible, making sure everyone could see me and the heavy black letters on the bag that said THE SATURDAY EVENING POST. When it was suppertime, I walked back home.

“ How many did you sell, my boy?” my mother asked.

“ None.”

“ Where did you go?”

“ The corner of Belleville and Union Avenues.”

“ What did you do?”

“ Stood on the corner waiting for somebody to buy a Saturday Evening Post.”

“ You just stood there?”

“ Didn’t sell a single one.”

“ My God, Russell!”

Uncle Allen put in, “ Well, I’ve decided to take the Post.” I handed him a copy and he paid me a nickle(五分镍币). It was the first nickle I earned.

Afterwards my mother taught me how to be a salesman. I would have to ring doorbells, address adults with self-confidence(自信), and persuade them by saying that no one, no matter how poor, could afford to be without the Saturday Evening Post in the home.

One day, I told my mother I’d changed my mind. I didn’t want to make a success in the magazine business.

“ If you think you can change your mind like this,” she replied, “ you’ll become a good-for-nothing.” She insisted that, as soon as school was over, I should start ringing doorbells, selling magazines. Whenever I said no, she would scold me.

My mother and I had fought this battle almost as long as I could remember. My mother, dissatisfied with my father’s plain workman’s life, determined that I would not grow up like him and his people. But never did she expect that, forty years later, such a successful journalist as me would go back to her husband’s people for true life and love.

1.Why did the boy start his job young?

  A. He wanted to be famous in the future.

  B. The job was quite easy for him.

  C. His mother had high hopes for him.

  D. The competiton for the job was fierce.

2.From the dialogue between the boy and his mother, we learn that the mother was _______.

  A. excited B. interested     C. ashamed    D. disappointed

3.What did the mother do when the boy wanted to give up?

  A. She forced him to continue.       B. She punished him.

  C. She gave him some money.       D. She changed her plan.

4. What does the underlined phrase “this battle”(last paragraph) refer to?

  A. The war between the boy’s parents.

  B. The arguing between the boy and his mother.

  C. The quarrel between the boy and his customers.

  D. The fight between the boy and his father.

5. What is the text mainly about?

  A. The early life of a journalist.

  B. The early success of a journalist.

  C. The happy childhood of the writer.

  D. The important role of the writer in his family.