I was telling my boy Sonny the story of the hare ( 兔子) and the tortoise ( 乌龟 ). At the end I said, " Son, remember: Be slow and steady ( 镇定的), and that will win the race. Don't you think there's
something to learn from the tortoise?"
     Sonny opened his eyes wide, " Do you mean next time when I'm entering for the 60-metre race I
should wish that Billy, Tony and Sandy would all fall asleep halfway?"
     I was shocked, "But the tortoise didn't wish that the hare would fall asleep!"
      "He must have wished that," Sonny said, "Otherwise how could he be so foolish as to race with the
hare? He knew very well the hare ran a hundred times faster than he himself did."
     "He didn't have such a wish," I insisted. "He won the race by perseverance ( 坚忍不拔的 ), by
pushing on steadily."
     Sonny thought a while. "That's a lie," he said. " He won it because he was lucky. If the hare hadn't
happened to fall asleep, the tortoise would never have won the race. He could be as steady as you like,
or a hundred times steadier, but he'd never have won the race. That's for sure."
     I gave up. Today's children are not like what we used to be. They're just hopeless.

1. The writer argued ( 辩论 )with his son because ______.

A. he liked tortoises while his son liked hares
B. they disagreed about whether the tortoise was foolish
C. he tried to teach his son a moral (品德)lesson but the son had totally different opinion
D. he liked the story of the hare and the tortoise while his son didn't.

2. Sonny believed that the tortoise ________.

A. won the race by his own hard working
B. took a risk ( 冒险 )by agreeing to run a race
C. was not given a fair chance in the race
D. in fact did win the race luckily

3. Billy, Tony and Sandy must be________.

A. boys who were unknown to Sonny's father
B. boys who Sonny has run races with before
C. boys who Sonny has never raced with before
D. boys who Sonny did not expect to race with again

4. The writer thinks that his generation ( 一代人 )________.

A. are cleverer than Sonny's generation
B. have the same ideas about life as Sonny's generation
C. are more hopeful than Sonny's generation
D. have different ideas about life from Sonny's generation

5. According to the passage, who do you think learnt a lesson?

A. The tortoise                        
B. Sonny
C. The hare                          
D. Sonny's father

      Are you nervous when you are taking this examination? The following two humorous stories may help
you out of the trouble.
Sleeping Pills
      Bob was having trouble getting to sleep at night. He went to see his doctor, who prescribed some
extra-strong sleeping pills.
      Sunday night Bob took the pills, slept well and was awake before he heard the alarm. He took his
time getting to the office, strolled in and said to his boss: "I didn't have a bit of trouble getting up this
morning."
     "That's fine," roared the boss, "but where were you Monday and Tuesday?"
     First Flight
     Mr. Johnson had never been up in an aerophane before and he had read a lot about air accidents, so
one day when a friend offered to take him for a ride in his own small plane, Mr. Johnson was very
worried about accepting. Finally, however, his friend persuaded him that it was very safe, and Mr.
Johnson boarded the plane.
     His friend started the engine and began to taxi onto the runway of the airport. Mr. Johnson had heard
that the most dangerous part of a flight were the take-off and the landing, so he was extremely frightened
and closed his eyes.
     After a minute or two he opened them again, looked out of the window of the plane, and said to his
friend, "Look at those people down there. They look as small as ants, don't they?"
     "Those are ants," answered his friend. "We're still on the ground."

1. The underlined word "prescribed" in the first story means _________.

A. 开刀    
B.  打针    
C. 开处方    
D. 咨询

2. How long did the man sleep after taking the pills? For ________.

A. several hours              
B. about 24 hours
C. about a week              
D. about tow days

3. In the second story Mr. Johnson really saw_________.

A. some wildlife              
B. some people like ants
C. some people as small as ants  
D. ants

     My husband is a born shopper. He loves to look at things and to touch them. He likes to compare
prices between the same items in different shops. He would never think of buying anything without
looking around in several different shops. On the other hand, I'm not a shopper. I think shopping is
boring and unpleasant. If I like something and I have enough money to take it, I buy it at once. I never
look around for a good price or a better deal. Of course my husband and I never go shopping together.
Doing shopping together would be too painful for both of us. When it comes to shopping, we go our
different ways.
      Sometimes I ask my son Jimmy to buy some food in the shop not far from our home. But he is always
absent-minded. This was his story.
     One day I said to him, " I hope you won't forget what I have told you to buy." " No," said Jimmy. "I
won't forget. You want three oranges , six eggs and a pound of meat."
     He went running down the street to the shop. As he ran, he said to himself over and over again, "three
oranges , six eggs and a pound of meat."
     In the beginning he remember everything but he stopped several times. Once he saw two men fighting
outside a clothes shop until a policeman stopped them. One of them was badly hurt. Then he stopped to
give ten cents to a beggar. Then he met some of his friends and he played with them for a while. When he
reached the shop, he had forgotten everything except six eggs.
     As he walked home, his face became sadder and sadder. When he saw me he said, "I'm sorry, Mum.
I have forgotten to buy oranges and the meat. I only remembered to buy six eggs, but I've dropped three
of them."

1.The husband likes shopping because _______.

A. he has much money.
B. he likes the shops.
C. he likes to compare the prices between the same items.
D. he has nothing to do but shopping.

2. They never go shopping together because_______.

A. their ways of shopping are quite different      
B. they hate each other.
C. they needn't buy anything for the family      
D. they don't have time for it.

3. Jimmy can't do the shopping well because _______.

A. he is young              
B. he is absent-minded
C. he often loses his money    
D. he doesn't like shopping

4. Jimmy didn't buy what his mother wanted because_______.

A. the shop was closed that day        
B. the policeman stopped him
C. he forgot some of them              
D. he gave all the money to the beggar

     In the fall of 1985, I was a bright-eyed girl heading off to Howard University, aiming at a legal career and
dreaming of sitting on a Supreme Court bench somewhere. Twenty-one years later I am later I am still a bright-
eyed dreamer and one with quite a different tale to tell.
     My grandma, an amazing woman, graduated from college at the age of 65. She was the first in our family
to reach that goal. But one year after I started college, she developed cancer. I made the choice to withdraw
from college to care for her. It meant that school and my personal dream would have to wait.
     Then I got married with another dream: building my family with a combination of adopt and biological
children. In 1999, we adopted our first son. To lay eyes on him was fantastic and very emotional. A year later
came our second adopted boy. Then followed son No.3. In 2003, I gave birth to another boy.
     You can imagine how fully occupied I became, raising four boys under the age of 81. Our home was a
complete zoo-a joyous zoo. Not surprising, I never did make it back to college full-time. But I never gave up
on the dream either. I had only one choice: to find a way. That meant talking as few as one class each semester. 
     The hardest part was feeling guilty about the time I spent away from the boys. They often wanted me to
stay home with them. There certainly were times I wanted to quit, But I knew I should set an example for
them to follow through the rest of their lives.
     In 2007, I graduated from the University of North Carolina. It took me over 21 years to get my college
degree!
     I am not special, just single-minded. It always struck me that when you're looking at a big challenge from
the outside it looks huge, but when you're in the midst of it, it just seems normal. Everything you want won't
arrive in your life on one day. It's a process. Remember: little steps add up to big dreams.

1. When the author went to Howard University, her dream was to be _____.

A. a writer
B. a teacher
C. a judge
D. a doctor

2. Why did the author quit school in her second year of college?

A. She wanted to study by herself.
B. She fell in love and got married.
C. She suffered from a serious illness.
D. She decided to look after her grandma.

3. What does the author mostly want to tell us in the last paragraph?

A. Failure is the mother of success.
B. Little by little, one goes far.
C. Every coin has two sides.
D. Well begun, half done.

4. Which of the following can best describe the author?

A. Caring and determined.
B. Honest and responsible.
C. Ambitious and sensitive.
D. Innocent and single-minded.