October 21^st,2011

Dear Vincent,

I’m a middle school student in Zhejiang , China. My English teacher , Ms.Li gave me your name and address. I want to be your pen friend.

 English is my favourite subject.That’s why I want to practise English with an American student. I also like art. It’s so interesting and useful.I like history, too. Our history teacher always tells us a lot of interesting historical stories. We all have a good time in history classes.

In my free time, I enjoy playing computer games . It’s exciting and fun. Do you like it ? I also like to go to the movies. I saw Harry Potter and the DeathlyHallows:Part 1 yesterday. It was a great film.But I don’t like sports, so I never enjoy P.E.classes.

How about you? What subjects do you like? What do you look like? What do you want to do when you get older? I hope I can get your letter soon!

Yours,

Zhao Gang

1.Zhao Gang wants to have a pen friend , so he can               .

A.improve his writing                   B.practise English        

C.know more historical stories          D.make Ms.Li happy

2.What subject doesn’t Zhao Gang like?

    A.P.E.              B.English        C. History         D.Art

3.Who is Vincent?

A.Zhao Gang’s classmate             B.A middle school student in Zhejiang.

C. An American student                  D.Ms Li’s student

4.What did Zhao Gang do on October 20 ,2011?

A.He played computer games                  B.He wrote a letter to Vincent   

C.He talked to Ms. Li about his pen friend      D.He went to the cinema.

5.What does Zhao Gang do in his free time?

A. He plays computer games and watches films    B.He does sports

C. He reads books                             D.He sings and dances

THIS is a story about a boy called Sparky. For Sparky, school was all but impossible. He failed every subject in the eighth grade. He got a zero in physics. It made him the worst physics student in the school’s history. He didn’t do much better in sports. He made the school golf team, but lost the only important match of the season.
He didn’t have friends, either. Other kids didn’t care about him. If a classmate said “hello” to Sparky outside of school, he would feel very surprised. There’s no way to tell how he might have done at dating(约会). Sparky never once asked a girl to go out in high school. He was too afraid of being turned down.  
He was a loser(失败者), and he and his classmates knew it. But, somehow, he decided to keep trying. The only thing important in his life was drawing. He was proud of his ability even though no one else appreciated it. He submitted(递交) some cartoons for his high school yearbook, but they were rejected.
After completing high school he wrote a letter to the Walt Disney Studios. He was told to submit some samples. He spent a great deal of time on the drawings. They were rejected. Another loss for the loser.  
So Sparky decided to write his own auto biography(自传) in cartoons. He created his childhood self – a little-boy loser: Charlie. He never succeeded in kicking a football and never got a date with the little red-haired girl. Sparky, the boy who had such a lack of success in school and whose work was rejected again and again, was Charles Schulz. He created the Peanuts comic strip and the world-famous cartoon characters Charlie Brown and Snoopy. 
【小题1】From the first paragraph we can see that Sparky was        in high school.

For Sparky, school was all but impossible. He failed every subject in the eighth grade. He didn’t do much better in sports. Although he played for the school’s golf team, he lost the only important match of the season.

Sparky was a loser. He, his classmates…everyone knew it. Sparky never asked a classmate to go out in high school. He was too afraid of being refused.

However, one thing was important to Sparky – drawing. He was proud of his artwork. Of course, no one else appreciated it. In his senior year of high school, he sent some cartoons to the editors of the Yearbook. Although the cartoons were turned down, Sparky was so confident about his ability that he decided to become an artist.

After completing high school, he wrote a letter to Walt Disney Studios. He was told to send some samples of his artwork, and the subject for a cartoon was suggested. Sparky spent a great deal of time on it. Finally, the reply came from Disney Studios. He had been rejected（拒绝）once again. Another loss for the loser.

So Sparky decided to write his own autobiography（自传）in cartoons. He described his childhood – a little boy loser and underachiever. The cartoon character would soon become famous worldwide. For Sparky, the boy who had little success in school and whose work was rejected again and again was Charles Schulz. He created the Peanuts comic strip（连环漫画）and little cartoon character – Charlie Brown.

1.We can know that Sparky was ________ from the first paragraph.

2.Sparky never asked a classmate to go out because he ______.

3.What’s Sparky’s success according to the passage?

A

Xia Ming was worried about his study, so he wrote a letter to a magazine.

Two readers read the letter from the magazine and here are their answers:

1.Xia Ming worried about ______.

2.Thumbelina gave ______ examples in the letter.

3.Thumbelina wrote about those famous people _______.

4.Which is NOT true?

5.“Tomorrow is another day.” tells us ______.