---It’s difficult for the villagers to cross the river.

---I think a bridge______ over the river.

As prices and building costs keep rising, the do-it-yourself(DIY) trend(趋势) in the U.S. continues to grow.

“We needed furniture for our living room,” says John Ross, “And we just didn’t have enough money to buy it. So we decide to try making a few tables and chairs.” John got married six months ago, and like many young people these days, they are struggling to make a home at a time when the cost of living is very high. The Rosses took a 2-week course for $280 at a night school. Now they build all their furniture and make repairs around the house.

Jim Hatfield has three boys and his wife died. He has a full-time job at time job at home as well as in a shoe-making factory. Last month, he received a car repair bill for $420. “I was deeply upset about it. Now I’ve finished a car repair course, I should be able to fix the car by myself.”

John and Jim are not unusual people. Most families in the country are doing everything they can to save money so they can fight the high cost of living. If you want to become a “do-it-yourselfer”, you can go to DIY classes. And for those who don’t have time to take a course, there are books that tell you how you can do things yourself.

1.We can learn from the text that many newly married people      .

2.When the writer says that Jim has a full-time job at home, he means Jim      .

3.Jim Hatfield decided to become a do-it-yourselfer when      .

4.What would be the best title for the text?

完形填空（本题有15小题，每小题1分，共15分）
阅读下面短文，掌握大意，然后从每题所给的 A、B、C、D 四个选项中选出最佳选项。

“I can’t  believe what I’m hearing!” I thought to myself. Jeff was the last candidate* for president of Student Union. I really thought I should be chosen.
Later that day, I happened to pass Jeff in the dining room. I offered     1   a polite “Congratulations” and walked to my usual table. To my   2   , Jeff came to me and put his plate beside mine.
“I’m, er – I’m just wondering if you would consider coming to work on my team,” he said nervously. “You are really   3   and you would be a great partner.”
“I don't think so,” I replied, feeling unsure.
“Well,   4   you change your mind, you can tell me tomorrow.” he said before moving to another table.
All that night, I thought about the    5   from Jeff. Maybe being a part of the election* process would give me a chance to make important changes at our school. I decided to    6       Jeff.
    7   of all, I began to create a catchy*advertisement. Within a few days, we     8  a poster with Jeff’s pictures showing him in a number of activities. No one could walk through any hallway     9    passing Jeff’s smiling face.
My next step was to    10 what new activities students would like to have at our school. Many of them wanted a chess club and a volleyball team.
With the information I had collected, Jeff met with the headmaster. The headmaster agreed to add    11  we want to our school program.
With my help, Jeff and our ideas were well received at school.
An eighth grader said, “    12   will be exciting to have Jeff as president.”
    13   these words made my heart filled with pride. I had wanted to become president of Student Union to make a difference. Now I achieved that. Jeff became the most popular candidate and I was a large part of his     14   . The fact that it has made a    15   in other people’s lives is the real prize. What a great feeling!

Born into a farmer’s family, life was not easy when I was a kid. We were so poor that we often did not know where our next meal was coming from. I had to sell cabbages at the marketplace to support my family.

A storyteller once came to the marketplace, and I went to listen to him. My mother was unhappy with me for forgetting my job. But that night, while she was making clothes for us under the weak light of an oil lamp, I couldn't help retelling stories I'd heard that day. She listened impatiently at first, since in her eyes professional（职业的） storytellers were smooth-talking men—nothing good ever came out of their mouths. But slowly she was attracted by my retold stories, and from that day on, she never gave me any task on market days, unspoken agreement to enjoy new stories. As a repayment（回报）for Mother's kindness and a way to show off my memory, I'd retell the stories for her in lively detail. Soon, she wasn't the only member of my audience, which later included my elder sisters, my aunts, even my stubborn grandmother.

I knew she was worried about me. Talkative kids are not well thought of in our village, for they can bring trouble to themselves and to their families when they talk too much. Mother often reminded me not to talk so much, wanting me to be a silent and modest teenager. However, my natural desire（渴望）to talk never went away, and that is what makes my name – Mo Yan, which means ‘no speaking’. This strong wish to talk also improved my ability to express myself, which is important for writers who are also considered as storytellers.

1.Mo Yan lived a/an ________ life when he was young.

A．hard             B．colourful          C．easy             D．rich

2.From the second paragraph, we can learn that ________.

A．little Mo Yan was interested in selling vegetables

B．his mother was attracted by the retold story at first

C．his mother didn’t let him listen to the new stories again

D．little Mo Yan had quite a good memory

3.Why did his mother dislike the professional storytellers?

A．Because she thought they never said anything good.

B．Because she thought they couldn’t make much money.

C．Because she thought they would affect Mo Yan’s schoolwork.

D．Because she thought most people didn’t like listening to stories.

4.In Mo Yan’s opinion, a writer should be a ________ child when they were young.

A．silent             B．modest           C．talkative          D．trouble-making

5.Which is the best title（标题）of the passage?

A．My Unlucky Childhood                   B．A Storyteller’s Childhood

C．My Kind Grandmother                    D．More talking leads to success