Bringing a giraffe into the world is a tall order. A baby giraffe is born 10 feet high and usually lands on its back. Within seconds it rolls over its legs under its body. Then the mother giraffe rudely introduces its children to the reality of life.

In his book, A View from the Zoo, Gary Richmond describes how a new-born giraffe learns its first lesson.

The mother giraffe lowers her head long enough to take a quick look. Then she puts herself directly over her child. She waits for about a minute, and then she does the most unreasonable thing. She throws her long leg and kicks her baby, so that it’s sent sprawling(四脚朝天).

When it doesn’t get up, the process is repeated again and again. The struggle to rise is important. As the baby giraffe grows tired, the mother kicks it again. Finally, it stands for the first time on its shaky legs. Then the mother giraffe kicks it off its feet again. Why? She wants it to remember how it got up. In the wild, a baby giraffe must be able to get up as quickly as possible to stay with its group, where there’s safety.

Another writer named Irving Stone understood this. He spent a lifetime studying greatness, writing stories about such men as Michelangelo, Vincent van Gogh, Sigmund Freud, and Charles Darwin.

Stone was once asked if he had found something that runs through the lives of all these great people. He said, “I write about people who sometime in their life have a dream of something. They’re beaten over the head, knocked down and for years they get nowhere. But every time they stand up again. And at the end of their lives they’ve realized some small parts of what they set out to do .”

1.What does the underlined part “a tall order” in Paragraph 1 mean?

A．A happy thing.                          B．A difficult task.

C．A big dream.                           D．A beautiful scene.

2.Which of the following statements is True according to the passage?

A．This passage is a description of giraffes’ living habits.

B．Baby giraffes can’t stand up until three months old.

C．Irving Stone spent a lifetime studying and writing stories about great people.

D．The great people can’t stand up after they’re knocked down for years.

3.What would be the best title for the passage?

A．How to keep a baby giraffe.

B．Learning to Get Back Up.

C．Stories about the great people.

D．A mother giraffe and its baby giraffe.

It was a beautiful spring morning. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky, and the sun was warm but not too hot. Mr. White saw an old man at the bus stop with a big and black umbrella in his hand.
Mr. White said to him, “Do you think it’s going to rain today?”
“No,” said the old man, “I don’t think so.”
“Then are you carrying the umbrella because the sun is too hot?”
“No, the sun is not very hot in spring.”
Mr. White looked at the big umbrella again, and the man said, “I am old man, and my legs are not very strong. I must have a walking-stick. But people will say, ‘Look, the man is so old, and I don’t like that.’ When I carry an umbrella in fine weather, people only say, ‘look at that stupid man.’”
【小题1】The story happened         .

His      are big and his hands are small.

A.foot                 B.feet                         C. foots

Bringing a giraffe into the world is a tall order. A baby giraffe is born 10 feet high and usually lands on its back. Within seconds it rolls over its legs under its body. Then the mother giraffe rudely introduces its children to the reality(现实) of life.
In his book, A View from the Zoo, Gary Richmond describes how a new-born giraffe learns its first lesson.
The mother giraffe lowers her head long enough to take a quick look. Then she puts herself directly over her child. She waits for about a minute, and then she does the most unreasonable(不合情理的) thing. She throws her long leg and kicks her baby, so that it’s sent sprawling(四脚朝天).
When it doesn’t get up, the process is repeated again and again. The struggle to rise is important. As the baby giraffe grows tired, the mother kicks it again. Finally, it stands for the first time on its shaky(摇晃的) legs. Then the mother giraffe kicks it off its feet again. Why? She wants it to remember how it got up. In the wild, a baby giraffe must be able to get up as quickly as possible to stay with its group, where there’s safety.
Another writer named Irving Stone understood this. He spent a lifetime studying greatness, writing stories about such men as Michelangelo, Vincent van Gogh, Sigmund Freud, and Charles Darwin.
Stone was once asked if he had found something that runs through the lives of all these great people. He said, “I write about people who sometime in their life have a dream of something. They’re beaten over the head, knocked down and for years they get nowhere. But every time they stand up again. And at the end of their lives they’ve realized some small parts of what they set out(着手) to do .”
【小题1】What does the underlined part “a tall order” in Paragraph 1 mean?

I was woken up by a strange sound. I saw something moving by my window. I was terrified and ran downstairs. I found my mom in the kitchen, getting my brother ready for school.

"Mum, did you hear anything? I, uh. I thought I saw an alien."

"Are you all right? Just a dream ! "Mum answered.

Then I went back to my room. As I walked to the window, I cried, I saw a little alien, no more than three feet tall, with big and black eyes. It tried to run between my legs and escape through the window. Although I was scared, for some reason, I squeezed (挤) my legs together in time to catch it. It took out something and hurt me. I felt a terrible sense of nothingness and fainted (晕倒). Then I woke up.

At first, I could hardly move. I wasn't sure whether it was a dream or not. I pulled myself out of the bed and walked downstairs. I saw my mum in the kitchen. She was really getting my brother ready for school, wearing her pink clothes. Then I realized it was just a dream because in my dream she was wearing her work clothes.

From then on, I always dreamt about aliens and all the dreams felt so real. At that time, I really thought maybe I had some kind of relationship with aliens. About two months later, I stopped having such dreams. Later I realized that l used to have those dreams because I always read books or watched TV programs about aliens before I fell asleep!

1.What did the writer first do when he saw the alien?

A．He was too scared to move.

B．He knew it was a dream and wasn't afraid.

C．He was so scared that he fainted.

D．He thought against the alien.

2.The writer found that it was just a dream _____.

A．as soon as he woke up

B．before he went downstairs

C．when he saw his mother

D．when he was hurt by the alien

3.Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?

A．The writer had the dream at night.

B．The writer's mother's work clothes might not be pink.

C．The writer's mother was worried about his dream.

D．When the writer had the dream, his family were sleeping.

4.Why did the writer use to have dreams about aliens?

A．He had some kind of relationship with aliens.

B．He was terribly ill.

C．He often did something about aliens before going to bed.

D．The dreams were all about the writer's real experiences.