A well dressed man came into a famous jeweler's shop one day. He explained that he wished to buy a pearl for his wife's birthday. He didn't mind if the pearl was cheap or expensive, since business had been good for him that year.

　　After studying a number of beautiful and expensive pearls, he chose an unusual black one. It would be 5,000 pounds. He paid money for it, took the pearl, shook hands with the jeweler and left.

　　A few days later, the man returned and said that his wife had liked the pearl so much that she wanted another one just like this. It had to be exactly the same size and colour as she wanted to have a pair of the pearls.

　　The jeweler seemed helpless. Then the man advised the jeweler should write a poster to buy such a pearl for 25,000 pounds. So the jeweler did.

　　The jeweler was overjoyed and quickly paid her for the pearl. Then he called the rich man to tell the good news. However, the man could never be found, Clever readers, can you guess why?

True or false:

(　　)

(2) He didn't mind how expensive the pearl was, because he did well in his business that year.

(　　)

(3) It was very difficult to find another pearl in the same size and with the same colour, so the jeweler seemed helpless.

(　　)

(4) The old woman was either the man's wife or friend.

(　　)

(5) The jeweler lost 25,000 pounds in his business.

(　　)

　　How often do you use the Internet? Most American teens spend a lot of time emailing friends and surfing the Internet.

　　A new study of more than 2,500 teens made by Yahoo says that more teens use the Internet than watch television. In an average week, an American teen will spend:

　　1) 16.7 hours online (not including emailing),

　　2) 13.6 hours watching TV,

　　3) 12 hours with the radio on,

　　4) 7.7 hours on the phone,

　　The number of Internet users in China has grown by 15 per cent over the past six months to 68 million. This is the second largest online population in the world after the US.

True or false:

(1) Nowadays American teens spend more time online than other types of media.

(　　)

(2) They spend the most time on books and magazines in an average week.

(　　)

(3) The main reason teens choose the Internet is that they can choose what they look at.

(　　)

(4) An American teen cannot widely choose networks or websites.

(　　)

(5) The number of Internet users in China has grown greatly.

(　　)

(6) The US has the second most online users in the world.

(　　)

　　We often think of insects as our enemy. This is not quite true. Many insects are harmful. For example, flies carry disease. Other insects carry diseases, too.

　　Farmers are at war with insects most of the time. Hungry insects kill plants in the fields. Farmers spray the fields to get rid of these insects.

　　Does this mean that all insects are harmful? No. Many are of great help to man. Bees make honey. Without bees and other insects, many trees would bear no fruit. Silkworms make silk. Some insects eat other insects that kill fruit trees.

　　Have you ever seen a praying mantis? People who do not know much about the praying mantis sometimes kill it. They think it is harmful. But this insect is of great help to farmers and gardeners.

　　Long ago, many people thought of most insects as enemies. Today, we know the difference between harmful insects and those that help us.

True or false:

(1) All insects are our enemy and harmful.

(　　)

(2) Farmers spray the fields to get rid of the insects which kill plants.

(　　)

(3) Bees make silk and honey.

(　　)

(4) Bees like to eat fruit.

(　　)

(5) The praying mantis kill fruit trees.

(　　)

(6) People sometimes kill praying mantises because they think they are harmful.

(　　)

　　Here is some news from a newspaper in brief. Read it and then decide whether the following sentences are True or False.

　　1) Chinese hit the top!

　　A group of seven Chinese reached the top of Mount Qomolangma on May 22, 2003. The 8,848-metre mountain is the highest in the world. Man first climbed to the top on May 29, 1953. At least 175 people have died in the past 50 years trying to climb the mountain.

　　2) It's not cool to smoke

　　3) More places to study

　　4) Indian heat kills many

True or false:

(1) Seventy Chinese reached the top of the highest mountain in the world in 2003.

(　　)

(2) Stars who smoke on TV and in films make all students think it's cool.

(　　)

(3) In fact, it's not cool to smoke which is harmful to our health.

(　　)

(4) This year more students will get the chance to further their study.

(　　)

(5) Many people died from the terrible heat in India and the rainy season arrived later than usual.

(　　)

　　The Antarctica is actually a desert. It is the only continent on the earth without a river or a lake.

　　The Antarctica is all ice all the year round. The warmest temperature ever recorded there is zero, at the South Pole. Explorers used to think that a place so cold would have a heavy snowfall. But less than three inches of snow falls each year. That is less than half an inch of water. Ten times that much moisture falls in parts of the Sahara.

　　The little snow that falls in the Antarctica never melts. It continues to pile up deeper and deeper year and year and century and century. When the snow gets to be about eighty feet deep, it is turned to ice by the weight of the snow above it.

True or false:

(1) The Antarctica is called a desert because it is sandy.

(　　)

(2) The Antarctica has a heavy snowfall every year.

(　　)

(3) The Antarctica has about one-tenth moisture of the Sahara.

(　　)

(4) The snow turns to ice when the snow above it is heavy enough.

(　　)

(5) The snow in the Antarctica is very deep because it never stops falling.

(　　)

(　　)

　　Every year in early March, dogs pull sleds in a race along the Iditarod Trail. This trail is 1,770 kilometers long. It goes from Anchorage to Nome, Alaska. The people who drive the dog teams are called mushers.

　　A musher is an adventurer. He runs by himself with his dogs. Some mushers are women. Susan Butcher is a famous musher. She won the Iditarod race four times. Rick Swenson won the race five times.

　　Mushers are very brave to go on this adventure. The dogs run across snow and ice pulling their sleds. Sometimes the mushers ride, and sometimes they walk. In 1991, Rick Swenson led his dogs through a snow storm. It was so dark that no one could see. He fell to his knees and got up again. In 1990, Susan Butcher's dogs got sick. Then they came to a river where there was water on top of ice. They were very lucky that they didn't fall through the thin ice. No one could live in the icy water below.

　　At night the mushers sleep in tents. In the morning they can see footprints of wild animals near the camp. Sometimes they have to shoot at the wild animals to make them go away.

True or false:

(1) The end of the Iditarod race is in Anchorage, Alaska.

(　　)

(2) Rick Swenson helped his dogs through a snow storm.

(　　)

(3) Susan Butcher's dogs didn't fall through the ice.

(　　)

(4) The temperature during the race are below freezing.

(　　)

(5) Susan Butcher's team won more races than Rick Swenson' team.

(　　)

　　People in the United States honour their parents with two special days: Mother's Day, on the second Sunday in May, and Father's Day, on the third Sunday in June. These days are set aside to show love and respect for parents. They raise their children and educate them to be responsible citizens. They give love and care. These two days offer an opportunity to think about the changing roles of mothers and fathers. More mothers now work outside the home. More fathers must help with child-care.

　　These two special days are celebrated in many different ways. On Mother's Day people wear carnations. A red one symbolizes a living mother. A white one shows that the mother is dead. Many people attend religious services to honour parents. It is also a day when people whose parents are dead visit the cemetery. On these days families get together at home, as well as in restaurants. They often have outdoor barbecues for Father's Day. These are days of fun and good feelings and memories.

True or false:

(1) Parents do lots of work to raise and educate their children.

(　　)

(2) Now more fathers must help their wives with child-care.

(　　)

(3) On Father's Day people wear carnations.

(　　)

(4) Families get together at home or in restaurants to celebrate these two special days.

(　　)

(5) A mother will probably like hand-made presents more than the ones bought in stores.

(　　)

(6) People often have outdoor barbecues for Mother's Day.

(　　)

Dear Sir,

　　Two weeks later, the books arrived, together with a set of the works of Charles Dickens which I had not wanted. So I returned the Dickens' books to you. Two more weeks passed. Then there arrived a second set of the works of Shakespeare, the same set of Dickens' books and a set of the plays of Moliere, in French. I do not read French, and they were not useful at all, so I wrote to you.

　　You did not answer that letter. Instead you sent me a bill for 42 pounds and a set of the plays of Schiller, in German. I have no room for any more books, and I have no time to read them all.

　　Please send no more books, no more bills and no more angry letters for payment. Just send one large truck and take all the books away, leaving me only with the one set of the works of Shakespeare for which I have paid.

Yours,

Simon Walker

True or false:

(1) The advertisement in the morning newspaper was for a set of the complete works of William Shakespeare.

(　　)

(2) Mr.Walker wanted to order Dickens' books.

(　　)

(3) Two weeks later, he got the works of Schiller.

(　　)

(4) The company wanted Simon to pay for all the books.

(　　)

(5) Mr.Walker told them to take away all the works except Shakespeare' books.

(　　)

　　The world is full of variety. Trees, grasses, and leafy plants cover the earth. Above, the sun shines on the earth as it turns in the ever-changing sky. This is the familiar world that we see around us every day. It is the world that story-tellers and poets write about.

True or false:

(1) The universe is made up of millions of chemical elements.

(　　)

(2) Poets write about the familiar world around us.

(　　)

(3) The whole universe is composed of the same kinds of elements.

(　　)

(4) We can never see the changes taking place in the matter of which the earth is composed.

(　　)

(5) Chemical changes take place on the earth only when the sun is shining.

(　　)

(6) The world we are living in is a world of chemistry.

(　　)

True or false.

(1) One day Mike's shoes were very dirty.

(2) Mike liked to clean his shoes that day.

(3) Mike went to school with his dirty shoes.

(4) Mother didn't give him anything to eat because he came back home too late.

(5) Mike's idea was quite wrong.