Here are some facts about homes in the United States and the people who live in them. In the early 1990s, about 50% of the Americans own their homes and the rest rent(租) their homes. The rented homes are usually apartments(公寓).
74% of the people in the US make their homes in or around cities. 26% live in the country. Dogs live in about 40% of all homes in the US. About half that number have cats.
Families in the US are becoming smaller. On the average（平均）,2.64 people lived in a home in the early 1990s. In 1960, the average was 3.5.
Half of the teenagers in the US have their own bedrooms.
An American moves, on the average，twelve times in his or her life. In Japan, a person moves about five times, and in England a person moves eight times.
【小题1】According to (根据) the passage ,where do most Americans live?

There is good news for the children in the countryside. We may still remember the girl  1  big eyes. Her big eyes are   2  us her dream: I wish to   3  ! In China, there are still  4  girls and boys like her. They want to go to school, but their  5  are too poor. If the family has two or three children, it is harder to   6   the money for all the children. So the parents often ask   7   to stay at home, and boys to go to school.

Now they needn’t   8   the money. From 2006 on, children can go to school for free in some poor places. They don’t have to pay for books and other things. Some of them can even get money from the government（政府）to make their life  9   . Soon, all the children in the countryside can

go to school for free. All families are very happy with the news. It is  10  great.

(   ) 1. A. with            B. on           C. to                  D. in

(   ) 2. A. saying         B. telling      C. speaking         D. talking

(   ) 3. A. go to work      B. go to bed        C. go to school     D. go home

(   ) 4. A. few         B. a few            C. a lot of             D. some

(   ) 5. A. schools        B. home         C. houses              D. families

(   ) 6. A. pay         B. take         C. buy              D. lend

(   ) 7. A. teachers        B. girls            C. boys             D. all the children

(   ) 8. A. look up         B. turn on      C. worry about      D. make sure

(   ) 9. A. better          B. well         C. longer               D. worse

(   ) 10.A. not         B. real        C. hardly               D. really

There is good news for the children in the      . We may still remember the girl       big eyes. Her big eyes       us her dream: I wish to go to school. In China, there are still       girls and boys like her. They want to go to school,        their families are too poor. If the family has two or three children, it is harder for them to       the education for all the children. So the parents often ask girls       at home, and boys to go to school.

Now they       worry about the money. From 2006 on, children could go to school for free in some poor places. They don’t have to pay for books and other things. Some of them can even get money from the government to make their life       . Soon all the children in the countryside can go to school for free. All families are very happy with the news. It is       great. China that has changed for the better.

1.A. cities                  B. countryside            C. farm

2.A. with                     B. on                                    C. in

3.A. says                     B. tells                                  C. talks

4.A. a lot                        B. much                  C. a lot of                   

5.A. but                      B. and                            C. or

6.A. take                        B. afford                               C. spend

7.A. stay                    B. staying             C. to stay  

8.A. mustn’t                       B. needn’t                            C. can’t

9.A. better                      B. worse                         C. longer           

10.A. really                        B. never                   C. hardly  

A four-year-old girl is lying in the arms of a doctor. She has just become motherless. The bombing(爆炸) destroyed her home and killed her mother.
Every day we see pictures like this on TVs or in newspapers. We see young Iraqi children asking for food and water from American and soldiers as they move through towns and cities towards the capital, Baghdad(巴格达). We see these children following grown-ups, carrying bags of things almost at the same size as their small bodies as they leave their homes in Baghdad.
“Dad, why are the Americans fighting us? Are we going to be killed?” asks the son of Abu Sinar, an Iraqi engineer. Abu finds it hard to explain this war to his eight-year-old son.
He tries to comfort him by saying ,“The bombs（炸弹） are far away from us. The Americans are fighting the soldiers. We are going to be all right.” Even though Abu knows this isn’t always the truth, what else can he do? In Baghdad, parents give their children sleeping pills to make them sleep so that they won’t hear the sound of bombing. And all the schools are closed.
“All we do is to listen to and hear the war,” said Abu, “We, all the people and the children, have to live in fear(恐惧). We feel hopeless and helpless. We don’t know where the next bombs are going. We can do nothing but wait to be killed.”
【小题1】During the war, children are ______________.  
A.studying at school       B.safer than their parents   C.in great danger
【小题2】The children have to flee(逃离) their homes because_________.
A.it’s dangerous to stay at home because of the bombing.
B.their parents are not at home
C.they want to get food and water.
【小题3】Abu finds it hard to explain this war to his son, because___________.
A.he doesn’t want to tell him the real reason
B.he doesn’t want to tell a lie.
C.he doesn’t know how to explain it clearly.
【小题4】“sleeping pills” are __________.
A. a kind of thing to help them to be away from the war.
B.a kind of medicine to help them to fall asleep
C.a kind of food to make them strong
【小题5】According to the passage we know that__________.
A. all the children in Iraqi are looking for something to eat.
B. all the children in Iraqi are thinking about something to solve the war problem
C. the children in Iraqi are feeling fearful, helpless and hopeless during the war.

Teaching English as a foreign language is very popular for many travellers. In March I started teaching English in Thailand.

    I really love teaching. I knew it could be a lot of fun, especially with my students who are 3-5 years old. But I had no idea just how much I would actually enjoy it. The only reason I started was simple - it was an easy way to make money.

    I had no idea Thai children could speak English so well at such a young age. My children could describe colours, shapes, body parts, days of the week and classroom objects!

   Two things changed after working. The first one was in the first weeks of teaching, I liked to have my lessons planned out, but things didn't go as expected. Now I am happy to walk into a classroom with whatever I need for the subject.

   I guess the other thing would be how much the children trust me. 18 weeks ago these children were unconfident and pretty shy, but now they can't wait to get involved.

   In 6 months I have no idea where I will be, but right now I love teaching and enjoy working with the kids every day. Will I teach again - I'd like to think so!

1.Where is the writer most probably from?

A. Korea.                                           B. England.  

C. China.                                  D. Japan.

2.Which of the following is NOT the writer's student?   

A. May, 4 and a half, who can tell different shapes.

B. Wilton, 3, who can tell different colors.

C. Nick, 5, who can count from one to one hundred.

D. Leonie, 6, who is good at English grammar.

3.Which of the following is TRUE?

A. The writer might be short of money when he traveled in Thailand.

B. All the children in the writer's class are very naughty.

C. The writer will never be a teacher again.

D. The writer never has classes in the classroom.

4. What is the meaning of the underlined word "unconfident" in Chinese?

A. 粗心大意的                                                B. 缺乏信心的

C. 不切实际的                                           D. 骄傲自满的

5.What is best title for the passage?

A. Teaching is a good job.

B. How clever the Thailand children are!

C. My travel experience in Thailand.

D. First time as an English teacher in Thailand.