Some time ago I discovered that one of my chairs had a broken leg. I didn't think there would be any difficulty in getting it repaired, as there are a lot of antique (古董) shops near my home. So I left home one morning carrying the chair with me. I went into the first shop expecting a friendly reception（接待）． I was quite wrong. The man wouldn't even look at my chair.

    The second shop, though slightly more polite, was just the same, and the third and the fourth -- so I decided that my approach must be wrong.

    I entered the fifth shop with a plan in my mind. I placed the chair on the floor and said to the shopkeeper, "Would you like to buy a chair?"

    He looked it over carefully and said,- "Yes, not a bad chair. How much do you want for it, sir?"

    “Twenty pounds," I said.

    “OK," he said, "I'll give you twenty pounds."

    “It's got a slightly broken leg," I said.

    ‘'Yes, I saw that, it's nothing."

    Everything was going according to my plan and l was getting excited. "What will you do with it?" I asked.

    “Oh, it will be easy to sell once the repair is done."

    “I'll buy it," I said.

    “What do you mean? You've just sold it to me," he said.

    "Yes, I know but I've changed my mind. I am sorry. I'll give you twenty-seven pounds for it."

    “You must be crazy," he said. Then, suddenly the penny dropped. “I know what you want. You want me to repair your chair."

    “You're right," I said. "And what would you have done if I had walked in and said, 'Would you repair this chair for me?"'

    “I wouldn't have agreed to do it," he said. "We don't do repairs, not enough money in it and too much trouble. But I'II repair this for you. Shall we say for five pounds?" He was a very nice man and was greatly amused by the whole thing.

1.We can learn from the text that in the first shop the writer_______.

A. was rather impolite                                                  B. was warmly received

C. asked the shopkeeper to buy his chair       D. asked the shopkeeper to repair his chair

2. The underlined word "approach" in the second paragraph means_______.

A. plan for dealing with things                           B. way of doing things

C. idea of repairing things                                  D. decision to sell things

3.The expression "the penny dropped" in the last paragraph means the shopkeeper_______.

A. changed his mind                                            B. accepted the offer

C. saw the writer's purpose                                         D. decided to help the writer

4.How much did the writer pay?

A.￡5.                               B.￡7.                                C. ￡20.                  D. ￡27.

5.From the text, we can learn that the writer was_______.

A. honest                B. careful                          C. smart                   D. funny

Do your kids ask a lot of questions? If they do, that’s great. Because that’s how children learn. Some of these questions may be easy to answer. Others may be hard. And they want to get the right answers. Do your kids ask such questions?
●Why is the sky blue? Why is the sunset red?
●Why are leaves green?
●Why do leaves change color in autumn?
●How do airplanes fly?
Can you answer these questions? If not, don’t worry. Though Science Made Simple can’t help with all of life’s important questions, it can help with those. In this fast changing world, the more your children know about science, the better.
Get the help you need now, and every month you can get Science Made Simple online for only ＄11.95 for 10 issues(期). Click here: questions @sciencemadesimple. Com for more information. Remember, if you are not happy with your first issue, we will give back all your money.
【小题1】What do we know about the kids who like asking questions?

There was a man who had four sons. He wanted his sons to learn to not judge things too quickly. So he sent them each on a quest, in turn, to go and look at a pear tree that was a great distance away. The first son went in the winter, the second in the spring, the third in the summer, and the youngest son in the fall.

When they had all gone and come back, he called them together to describe what they had seen. The first son said that the tree was ugly, bent, and twisted. The second son said no - it was covered with green buds and full of promise. The third son disagreed, he said it was laden with blossoms that smelled so sweet and looked so beautiful, and it was the most graceful thing he had ever seen. The last son disagreed with all of them; he said it was ripe and drooping with fruit, full of life and fulfillment.

The man then explained to his sons that they were all right, because they had each seen but one season in the tree's life. He told them that they cannot determine a tree, or a person, by only one season, and that the nature of who they are - and the pleasure, joy, and love that come from that life - can only be measured at the end, when all the seasons are over.

If you give up when it's winter, you will miss the promise of your spring, the beauty of your summer, fulfillment of your fall. Don't let the pain of one season destroy the joy of all the rest.

Don't judge a life by one difficult season.

46．Why did the man send his four sons to look at the pear tree in four seasons?

A．Because the sons didn’t get well on with each other.

B．Because the sons wanted to enjoy the different sights.

C．Because the man wanted his sons to learn to not judge things too quickly.

D．Because the man knew the pear tree completely.

47．What does the underline word “determine” mean according to the passage?

A. decide           B. believe           C. think           D. judge

48．If you give up when it’s winter, what you will get?

A．the promise of your spring　　B．the beauty of your summer

C．fulfillment of your fall       D．nothing

49．Which season is “the pain of the season” in Paragraph 4?

A．winter          B．spring           C．summer        D．fall

50．According to the passage, the main idea is that ________.

A．the pear tree had four seasons

B．the man loved his sons very much

C．don't judge a life by one difficult season

D．the youngest son is the cleverest man

She is a cute，quiet girl．As a daughter，she has no secrets from her mother，who is very pleased with her．But these days she has become not so open as before．She has a diary that she keeps under lock and key．Her mother cannot help worrying about her：What will I do if she fails in love，which is too early of her age? After all she is reaching the “dangerous time”．These thoughts have caused trouble in the mother's mind．

One weekend the girl came to tell her mother that she was going to the cinema with her schoolmate and would return late．This was the first time her mother agreed，and she couldn’t help worrying because her daughter had never been away at night before．The mother waited till nine．She decided to go out to meet her daughter．Just at that time，she heard the noise of a car parking．She went to the window and saw her daughter waving goodbye to a boy．Her heart missed a beat．When the girl came in，the mother was watching TV，just like nothing had happened．“Mum，I’ll going to bed．”

“All right．Go to sleep early．”

Next morning when the mother went to the daughter's room to do some cleaning，she found her diary left on the bed．After a few minutes' thinking，she at last opened it to the page of the night before．It reads：Mum，it's love that made you ask，but it would show your understanding of me if you hadn't．

1．When did the daughter's mother find her diary left on the bed?

A．one weekend．     B．Next morning．   C．The night before．

2．Which is the correct order according to the story?

a．Her mother was watching TV．

b．She wrote a diary to her mother．

c．She came back in her classmate's car．

d．She went to see a film with her classmate．

e．Her mother worried about her daughter's returning late．

A．d，e，c，a，b      B．d，c，e，a，b     C．d，c，e，b，a

3．Both of the following are wrong according to the story EXCEPT ________．

A．The girl's diary was always on her bed

B．What the daughter did these days worried her mother

C．The girl knew her father would ask her the question about the boy

4．The main purpose of this article is to show that parents should ________．

A．not give much freedom to their children

B．talk with their children about their early love

C．care about what their children really think and feel

5．The best title for this story can be ________．

A．To Ask or Not to Ask                              B．Early Love

C．Daughter's Secret

There was a bookseller（书商）．He did not like to pay for anything．One day a big box of books fell on his foot．

“Go to the doctor，” said his wife，“and show that foot to him．”

“No，”he said，“I'll wait until the doctor comes to our shop next time．Then I'll ask him about my foot．If I go to see him，I shall have to pay．”

The next day the doctor came to the shop to buy some books．The bookseller told the doctor about his bad foot．The doctor looked at it and promised（答应）to help．

He took out a piece of paper and wrote something on it．“Buy this medicine（药）and put it on the foot before you go to bed every night，”he said．

“Thank you，”said the bookseller，“And now，sir，here are your books．”

“How much?” asked the doctor．

“Two pounds．”“ Oh，good，”said the doctor．“I shall not have to pay you anything today．”

“why?” asked the bookseller．

“I look over your foot．I will not pay two pounds for that．If people come to my house，l ask them to pay only one pound for a small thing like that．But when I go to their house，I usually charge（收费）two pounds．And I came here today，didn’t I? Bye—bye!”

1．The bookseller didn't want to see the doctor because         ．

A．his foot wasn't hurt                                     B．He couldn't go any farther

C．He didn't have any money to pay the doctor   D．He didn't want to pay the doctor

2．The next day the doctor came to the shop         ．

A．to buy some books                                  B．to buy medicine

C．to borrow some money                            D．to see the bookseller

3．The bookseller asked the doctor to pay         ．

A．nothing                 B．two pounds          C．only one pound        D．two pound

4．The doctor paid the bookseller         ．

A．many money                                           B．much money

C．nothing                                                   D．two pounds for books

5．Which of the following is right?

A．The bookseller didn't like to pay anything．

B．The bookseller's wife didn't want him to go to the doctor．

C．The bookseller was cleverer than the doctor．

D．The doctor didn't go to the shop to buy any things．