A lot of teenagers are good at art at school, but how would you feel if people called you “the new Picasso(毕加索)” or if presidents and other famous people collected your paintings?
Alexandra Nechita was ten when her paintings became famous all over the world. She visited Britain, France, Italy, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and her family’s native place (祖籍) Romania where 5,000 fans came to see her at the airport. Alexandra said, “When it all started, I was moved. It was very exciting and I loved the traveling, but I got very tired. And I missed home.”
Alexandra is a good student. Her studies always come first. She only starts painting after she’s done her homework. She works on two or three paintings at a time. The paintings sell for thousands and Alexandra’s parents have given up their jobs to work for their daughter. Life for the Nechita family is very different from what it was like a few years ago.
Alexandra’s father Niki left Romania for political reasons in 1985. At first he tried his best to learn English and had different kinds of low-paid jobs. In 1987, he brought his wife and Alexandra, who was then 18 months old, to America. The family was very poor. Alexandra began to draw at the age of three.
She was drawing for four or five hours a day. Soon people offered to buy her paintings and she had her first art show at the age of eight. Stories about this child appeared in the newspapers and television. They now live in a large house with a swimming pool. Her mother said, “We started without anything, but thanks to Alexandra, we have everything we ever dreamed of.”
【小题1】Alexandra became well-known all over the world for her paintings at the age of _______.

Henry works in a factory. He comes from a poor family and was in school for only four years. He has to do the hard work, but he is paid less. He likes to watch football matches very much and spends much time on them.
One afternoon there was a big football match on the playground. He borrowed some money from his friend and hurried there. There were a lot of people there. And all the tickets were sold out. He was sorry for it. He saw a pole（杆子）outside the playground and climbed it quickly. A policeman came and said, “It is dangerous to stay on it! Come down!”
“Wait a minute, please!” Henry said and just at that moment the policeman heard cheers on the playground and asked in a hurry, “Which team has kicked a goal（进球）?” “Ours!” “Wonderful! You can stay there. But take care!” The policeman said happily and left. When the match would be soon over, he came back again and asked, “Who has won?” “Theirs, 3:2.” “Come down,” the policeman said angrily. “Such a match is not worth watching!”
Henry had to come down. But soon they heard cheers again. The policeman said in a hurry, “Climb up quickly and see who has kicked a goal.”
【小题1】From the passage we know that ____________.

Come and see the Indian elephants and the new tigers from America. The bears are waiting to meet you, and the monkeys from China are waiting to throw things at you. The lovely dogs from Australia are waiting to laugh at you, and the giraffes from Zambia are waiting to look down on you.
Tickets
Grown-ups：＄2.00
Children：Over 12＄1.00 Under 12 Free
Opening time 9:00 a.m.— 4:00 p.m.
Except Friday 10:00 a.m. — 3 :00 p.m.
Keep the zoo clean！
Do not touch，give food or go near the animals.
【小题1】How many kinds of animals are talked about in the passage？

Alan worked in an office in the city. He worked very hard and really looked forward to his holiday. He usually went to the seaside, but one year he saw an ad. in a newspaper “Enjoy country life. Spend a few weeks at William Farm. Good food, fresh air, horse riding, walking, fishing…”
“This sounds like a good idea.”he thought, I’ll spend a month at William Farm. I’ll go horse riding, walking and fishing. It’ll be different from the seaside.” Four days later, he returned home.
“What’s wrong with William Farm?”His friend Jack asked him.“Didn’t you enjoy country life?”
“Country life was fine,”Alan said.“But there was another problem.”
“Oh, what problem?”
“Well, the first day I was there, a sheep died, and we had roast(烤肉) mutton for dinner.”
“Fresh meat is the best.”
“I know, but on the second day a cow died, and we had roast beef for dinner.”
“Lucky you!”
“You don’t understand,”Alan said,“On the third day a pig died and we had roast pork for dinner.”
“A different roast every day.”Jack said.
“Let me finish.”Alan said,“On the fourth day a farmer died and I didn’t want to stay there for dinner.”
【小题1】Alan saw ________ in a news paper.

Are you carrying too much on your back at school? I’m sure lots of children of your age will, say "Yes". Not only the students in China have this problem, but children in the United States also have heavy school bags.
Doctors are starting to worry that younger and younger students are having back and neck problems as a result of schools bags being too heavy for them.
"It’s hard for me to go upstairs with my bag because it’s so heavy, "said Rick Hammond, an 11-year-old student in the US.
Rick is among students who have common school bags with two straps(带子) to carry them, but many other students choose rolling(有滚轮的)bags.
But even with rolling bags, getting up stairs and buses is still a problem for children. Many of them have hurt their backs and necks because of the heavy school bags.
But how much is too much? Doctors say students should carry no more than 10% to 15% of their own body weight(重量).
Scott Bautch, a back doctor, said children under Grade 4 should stay with 10 % . But it is also important that older children don’t stay with over 15 %, because their bodies are still growing. "Children are losing their balance(平衡) and falling down with their school bags, "he said.
Parents and teachers are starting to tell children to only take home library books they will be reading that night. Some teachers are using pieces of paper or thin workbooks for students to take home.
One of the best answers is, as some children said, to have no homework at all!
【小题1】 From the passage we can know that      .