C

It was at least tow months before Christmas, when nine-year-old Almie Rose told her father and me that she wanted a new bike. Her Barbi bike was just too old, and it needed repairing as well.

As Christmas came nearer, her dream for a bike seemed to disappear, so we thought, for she didn’t mention it again. We were busy buying some beautiful storybooks, a doll house, a holiday dress and toys. Then much to our surprise, on December 24, she said she really wanted a bike more than anything else.

Now we didn’t know what to do. It was just toot late. We were busy with Christmas dinner and packing children’s presents, parents’ presents, a brother’s present and friends’ presents till midnight.So there was no time to take to buy the “right bike” for our little girl. Thinking that we were parents who would make their children unhappy, we felt guilty and sad.

Suddenly my husband came up with an idea. “What if I make a little bike out of clay(泥土) and write a note(便条) that she could trade in(交换) the model bike for a real one?” So he spent the next five hours carefully working with the clay to make a small bike.

On Christmas morning, we were so excited for Almie Rose to open the little box with the beautiful red and white clay bike and the note. She opened and read the note loudly.

She looked at me and Ron and said, ”So does this mean I can trade in this bike for a real one?” Smiling, I said, “Yes.”

Almie Rose had tears in her eyes when she replied, “I would never trade in this beautiful bike that Daddy made me. I prefer to keep it rather than get a real bike.” At that moment, we would have moved the God to buy her every bike on the Earth.

1.Rose’s wish was to____ on Christmas Day.

A．get a new bike                         B．make a clay bike

C．receive a doll house                     D．repair her old Barbi bike

2.Rose’s parents didn’t buy her a bike because she____.

A．didn’t want a bike any more

B．changed her idea to some story books

C．didn’t mention it in the last tow months

D．asked for it only on December 24

3.The word “guilty” in the third paragraph(段落) means____.

A．unhappy          B．worried           C．happy            D．sorry

4.Rose’s father got a good idea to____.

A．spend five hours finishing making a small bike with clay

B．make a small bike red and white

C．make her old bike red and white

D．put the present in the box

5.From Rose’s words in the last passage , we know that she____

A．still wanted to get a real bike

B．didn’t know the meaning of the note

C．preferred a real bike to a model bike

D．was greatly moved by what her father had done

B

Sun Liping, 6 , lives in a small village in Yunnan. Her biggest wish is to have running water in her home. All 35 families in Sun’s village have a serious problem--- they don’t have enough water. Every day, the villagers have to walk 20 minutes to get water.

Last year, the worst drought since the 1950s hit Yunnan, making more than 2 million people short of drinking water. This year, the drought is even worse.

Not only Yunnan, but many other provinces in China are short of water as well, such as Gansu and Qinghai.

According to a report on February 17, each Chinese person has about 28% of the world’s average（平均的） person’s amount of available(可用的) water. Two thirds of China’s cities are short of water and nearly 300 million people in rural areas don’t have safe water for drinking.

Every drop of water is important. Waste a drop of water a day and you lose a bucket(桶) a year. How can we use water in a smart way? Here are some tips for you to save water in your daily life:

1. Put plastic bottles of water in your toilet to cut down the water waste when you flush (冲洗) your toilet.

2. Don’t keep the water running while you’re brushing your teeth or washing your face and hands.

3. Use low-flow(低流量) shower heads .

4. Use a bucket to collect shower water while you wait for it to warm up.

5. Make your shower time shorter.

6. Set up a rain bucket to collect rainwater for watering plants or flowers.

1. What is the problem in Sun’s village?

2. What does the underlined word drought mean in the second paragraph?

3. According to the report, __________________________________.

A. China has just 28 percent of the world’s available water.

Each Chinese person can use more water than the world’s average person.

There is not enough water in two thirds of China’s cities.

D. There are about 300 million people in China’s cities who don’t have enough water.

4.Which of the following would lead to a waste of water?

I keep a two-dollar bill (纸币) in my wallet． My mother gave it to me when I was six years old．The bill goes with me wherever I go because I believe luck would    1    me everywhere．

Whenever I felt there was a trouble, I would reach my two-dollar bill and put it on the table，I would watch it for several hours and could always come up with    2    ．

When I began to look for my first job, I was thirty years old and very    3   ．The thought of being interviewed for a job was scary but I had to work．Mrs. Martin, the office manager, asked me some questions and the interview was over．As I got    4    her office, I said, "Mrs. Martin, I know that I am not the best applicants (申请者), but please give me a chance．I learn quickly and can be a very able member of your team．"

That evening I received a phone call from Mrs. Martin．"Gina," she said．"You were not the best applicant, but you have so much confidence in yourself that we have    5   to give you a chance．" "Thank you so much, Mrs. Martin!" I said．I was so excited that I forgot to say   36  to Mrs. Martin．

I took out my two-dollar bill．"Thanks, Mom．I am going to    7    it, "I said out loud so my mother could hear me．

At that moment, I remember the time she pulled all of us into the living room and said, "You are all clever in my    8    , but if you fail once, don't give up．You will be successful．" I still think of Mom every day and keep my two-dollar bill in my wallet． At a family reunion (团聚) years later, I found that my brothers and sisters    9    had two-dollar bills in their wallets．We laughed and talked about how    10    this gift from Mom had been to each of us．

1．A．bring                 B．take                 C．follow                    D．find

2．A．an answer          B．a chance          C．an idea                    D．a decision

3．A．sad                   B．lonely              C．weak                   D．shy

4．A．out of                B．into                 C．from                      D．around

5．A．liked                  B．decided            C．offered                D．needed

6．A．hello                  B．sorry               C．goodbye                 D．thanks

7．A．get           B．do                    C．have                       D．make

8．A．head                  B．eye                  C．mind                   D．thought

9．A．each                  B．all                    C．most                   D．both

10．A．special             B．surprised          C．cheap                         D．expensive

Napoga is a 12-year-old girl in Ghana(加纳)，Africa. It is hard for her family to get clean water. Every morning，she leaves home at half past five to get clean water for her family in a village far away. It takes her six hours to get enough clean water for daily cooking and drinking. She has no time to go to school or to play with her friends. Millions of people in the world are like Napoga. They can't get enough clean water to keep healthy.
Earth Day is April 22. But on all other days，we must also remember it. The water we use is the most important natural resource(自然资源) on the earth.
Water covers 70% of the earth's surface. But most of that is sea water. We can't use it for very many things. Fresh water covers only 1% of the earth's surface.
You probably feel lucky that your life isn't as hard as Napoga's. But that doesn't mean you don't have to worry about water. We all face serious water problems. One of them is water pollution. All kinds of things from cars，factories，farms and homes make our rivers，lakes，and oceans dirty. Polluted water is very bad for people to drink. And dirty water is bad for fish，too. Now, 34% of all kinds of fish are dying out.
How do cars and factories make our water dirty？First，they pollute the air. Then，when it rains，the rain water comes down and makes our drinking water dirty. Dirty rain，called acid rain(酸雨)，is also bad for plants，animals and buildings.
Scientists say that in 30 years，more than half of the people in the world won't have enough clean water. We have to learn how to save more water for ourselves and our children. Here is some advice for saving water：
●Turn off the water while you brush your teeth. You can save as much as 450 liters(升) each month.
●Leaky taps(漏水的龙头) waste a lot of water. Fix them right away！
●You can easily cut your 10-minute showers in half----and you'll be just as clean.
●When you wash dishes，don't let the water run.
●Only wash clothes when you have a lot to wash. If your washing machine isn't full，you're  wasting water！
【小题1】On the earth，_______.