Once there was a piano player in a bar(酒吧). People came just to hear him play. But one night, a lady asked him to sing a song.

      "I don't sing," said the man.

     But the lady told the waiter, "I'm tired of listening to the piano. I want the player to sing!

     The waiter shouted across the room, "Hey, friend! If you want to get paid, sing a song!'

     So he did. He had never sung in public before. Now he was singing for the very first time! Nobody had ever heard the song Mona Lisa sung so beautifully!

     He had talent(天赋) he was sitting on! He may have lived the rest of his life as a no-name piano player in a no-name bar. But once he found, by accident, that he could sing well, he went on working hard and became one of the best-known singers in the US. His name was Nat King Cole.

     You, too, have skills and abilities. You may not feel that your talent is great, but it may be better than you think. With hard work, most skills can be improved. Besides, you may have no success at all ff you just sit on your talent.

1. The lady asked the player to sing a song because _____.

    A. she had paid him for this           B. she knew him very well

     C. she wanted to have a change       D. she enjoyed his singing

2. Nat King Cole succeeded because _____.

    A. the lady helped him a lot            B. he caught the chance

     C. he continued to play in the bar       D. he stopped playing the piano

3.The words "sit on" in the passage probably mean"

A. fail to realize          B. forget to use

C. try to develop          D. manage to show

4.From the story we know if you have some talent, you should _____.

     A. hide it and wait       B. ask others for help

    C. pay no attention to it     D. work hard to improve yourself

5. Which could be the best title (标题) for the passage?

     A. Sing in the Bar              B. Achieve Success in Life

     C. Never Lose Heart            D. Find Your Hidden Talent

One day an old man is selling a big elephant. A young man comes to the elephant and begins to look at it slowly. The old man goes up to him and says in his ear, “ Don’t say anything about the elephant before I sell it. Then I will give you twenty dollars.” “All right,” says the young man. After the old man sells the elephant, he gives the young man twenty dollars and says, “ Now, can you tell me how you found the elephant’s bad ears?” “ I didn’t find the bad ears,” says the young man. “ Then why are you looking at the elephant slowly?” asks the old man. The young man answers, “Because I have never seen an elephant before, and I want to know what it looks like.”

(   )1. ______ the elephant.

    A. The young man sells      B. The old man sells

    C. The two men sell         D. The old man buys

(   )2. The young man is looking at the elephant slowly. He wants to find out _______.

    A. which foot of the elephant is bad    B. how heavy it is

    C. which ear of the elephant is bad     D. what it looks like

(   )3. The young man _______.

    A. knows the elephant has bad ears   B. wants to buy the elephant

     C. looks after the elephant    D. gets some money from the old man

  (   )4. The young man _______.

    B. knows what an elephant looks like

    C. has seen some elephants before

    D. has never seen an elephant before

(  )5. Hearing what the young man said, the old man will probably(可能) be ______

A. angry      B. happy      C. dangerous     D. hungry

I’m lying on my back in my grandfather’s orchard (果园), looking up at the branches above me. It is one of the last days of summer. Already the days are shorter and the nights are cooler. Some kinds of apples are already ripe(成熟的). Others will be ready to pick soon. I think of my grandmother’s apple pie, and how I used to make it with her. She died last year, before the apple harvest, and I have not had her pie since then. I really miss her. I hear bees busily humming about, visiting the late summer flowers. The gentle hum of their wings nearly sends me to sleep.

The sky is as blue as my grandfather’s eyes. Above me, big white clouds ran across the sky like pieces of cotton blowing in the wind. School starts in another week, and time seems to have slowed down.

“Sophie!” calls my grandfather. “Is that you?” I stand up, take his hand, and tell him all about my day as we walk through the orchard. We talk about apples, and bees and Grandma. He tells me that he misses her too.

He puts his rough, brown farmer’s hand around my shoulder and pulls me close. “ You know, Sophie,” he says, “ I spent the morning in the attic (阁楼), and you’ll never guess what I found. It’s the recipe(烹饪法) for Grandma’s apple pie. I used to help her make it sometimes. I can’t do it all alone, but you used to help her too. Maybe between the two of us, we can work it out. Want to try?”

“ But it won’t be the same without Grandma,” I tell him.

“That’s true,” he says, “but nothing is the same without Grandma. Still, I don’t think that she would want us never to have another apple pie. What do you say?” I nod yes, and we walk towards home…toward an afternoon in the farmhouse kitchen, making Grandma’s famous apple pie.

1.We learn from the passage that Sophie        .

A. likes to watch clouds in the attic

B. comes to the orchard after school

C. enjoys Grandma’s apple pie very much

D. picks many apples in the orchard

2.Both Sophie and her grandfather used to ______.

A. help Grandma make apple pies

B. spend summer afternoons in the orchard

C. enjoy fresh fruit in the farmhouse kitchen

D. walk alone among the apple trees

3.The underlined part in the last paragraph shows       .

A. how much Sophie’s grandmother loved Sophie   

B. how much Sophie’s grandfather likes apple pies    

C. how much Sophie loves her grandfather’s orchard

D. how much Sophie’s grandfather misses Grandma

4.Which of the following might be the best title for the passage?

A. My grandfather’s orchard                B. My grandmother’s apple pie

C. A morning in the attic                   D. The last days of summer

根据句子意思，从方框中选用恰当的单词或短语填空。

1. Millie wants to be a ________ when she grows up.

2. I don’t know how many _______ the dog has.

3. The young woman at the gate looks __________ in a red dress.

4. Daniel didn’t go to school yesterday because it __________ heavily.

5. This book __________ Simon. I’ll give it back to him at once.

6.  It’s very kind _______ you. Thank you for your wonderful present.

7. The children clapped and shouted _____ when they saw their favorite characters.

8. Please _________ at the second crossing, and you will find the library on your left.