Topping the class academically was certainly an advantage. Studying was a breeze for Nigel. The
reward was certainly incomparable to the little effort that he had to put it. It begin when he was selected
to help the teachers in the computer laboratories.
     The peak of his school career came not when he topped the school but when he was selected for the
nationwide competition. Unlike everyone else, Nigel wanted to join the contest because he liked playing
with the Lego sets and making something out of them. Nigel spent the next two months rebuilding the
robot. It was during the time that Nigel found out about the prizes for the competition. Its well us auspices
competitor. Alicia, from a neighboring school. His early intentions were forgotten. Getting the
thousand-dollar prize was more important than anything else. Nigel decided to befriend Alicia. Unaware of
his intentions, she told him all about the robot that she had been building for the competition. He even helped
her to put the finishing branches to her robot. He was glad with the way things had progressed. His robot
looked even better than Alicia's and it was able to become a ball with its arms, something Alicia had failed to
do.
      On the day of the competition, he says Alicia. Everything dawned on her the minute she saw him among
the competition. She stared at him, puzzled at first, then angry and finally a look of helplessness came over
her.
     The flashbulbs of the camera exploded in Nigel's try. The robot bird performed actions so unique and
different that the specialist judgments were the same. Nigel was so personal with himself that he did not
even notice the girl standing a few feet away from him. Without her, he would never win the competition.

1. What reward did Nigel receive for doing well in his school work?

A. He was offered a part-time job
B. He was honored with a scholarship
C. He helped his teacher construct a robot
D. He helped in the computer laboratories

2. Nigel's original intention of joining the contest was to ___.

A. be the top student of the school
B. being great honor to his school
C. constructs a robot with the Lego sets
D. wins the thousand-dollar prize

3. Why did Nigel help Alicia finish her robot?

A. He tried to make friends with her
B. He was fond of building robots
C. He intended to help her
D. He didn't want her to suspect him

4. What is the author's attitude towards Nigel's actions?

A. He is mildly critical
B. He is strongly critical
C. He is in favor of them
D. His attitude is not clear

     If you were to walk up to Arthur Bonner and say, "Hey, Butterfly Man," his face would break into a smile.
The title suits him. And he loves it.
     Arthur Bonner works with the Palos Verdes blue butterfly (蝴蝶), once thought to have died out. Today the
butterfly is coming back-thanks to him. But years ago if you'd told him this was what he'd be doing someday,
he would have laughed," You're crazy." As a boy, he used to be "a little tough guy on the streets". At age
thirteen, he was caught by police stealing. At eighteen, he landed in prison for shooting a man.
     "I knew it had hurried my mom," Bonner said after he got out of prison. "So I told myself I would not put
my mom through that pain again."
     One day he met Professor Mattoni, who was working to rebuild the habitat (栖息地) for an endangered
butterfly called El Segundo blue.
     "I saw the sign 'Butterfly Habitat' and asked, 'How can you have a habitat when the butterflies can just fly
away?'" Bonner recalls. "Dr. Mattoni laughed and handed me a magnifying glass (放大镜), 'Look at the leaves.'
I could see all these caterpillars (蝴蝶的幼虫) on the plant. Dr Mattoni explained, 'Without the plant, there are
no butterflies.'"
     Weeks later, Bonner received a call from Dr. Mattoni, who told him there was a butterfly needed help. That
was how he met the Palos Verdes blue. Since then he's been working for four years to help bring the butterfly
back. He grows astragalus, the only plant the butterfly eats. He collects butterflies and brings them into a lab to
lay eggs. Then he puts new butterflies into the habitat.
     The butterfly's population, once almost zero, is now up to 900. For their work, Bonner and Dr. Mattoni
received lots of awards. But for Bonner, he earned something more: he turned his life around.
     For six years now Bonner has kept his promise to stay out of prison. While he's bringing back the Palos
Verdes blue, the butterfly has helped bring him back, too.

1. When he was young, Arthur Bonner _____.

A. broke the law and ended up in prison
B. was fond of shooting and hurt his mom
C. often laughed at people on the streets
D. often caught butterflies and took them home

2. Bonner came to know the Palos Verdes blue after he _____.

A. found the butterfly had died out
B. won many prizes from his professor
C. met Dr. Mattoni, a professor of biology
D. collected butterflies and put them into a lab

3. From the last sentence of the text, we learn that raising butterflies has _____.

A. made Bonner famous
B. changed Bonner's life
C. brought Bonner wealth
D. enriched Bonner's knowledge

4. Which of the following would be the best title for the text?

A. A Promise to Mom
B. A Man Saved by Butterflies
C. A Story of Butterflies
D. A Job Offered by Dr. Mattoni

      Switzerland (瑞士) is famous for its watches. However, this country didn't invent the watch. It was the
British who did it. Here is a story of how the watch was brought to Switzerland.
      Many years ago, an Englishman was travelling to Italy. On his way he stopped in a small town in South
Switzerland. This Englishman travelled in a carriage (马车) inside which there was a carriage watch. This
was the earliest kind of watch. A native shop assistant (售货员) happened to see the watch. He wondered
what it was and asked the Englishman about it. "It is a carriage watch." said the man. This machine tells the
time but now it isn't working.
      At once the shop assistant offered to try to repair it. So the traveller handed him the watch. The assistant
was a very wise man. So it was not surprising that he managed to repair it. He even remembered how it was
made. As soon as the traveller had gone on his way, he made a watch exactly the same type.
      Thus the watch-making was started in Switzerland. Today Swiss watches are sold in stores all over the
world.

1. Switzerland is famous for ______.

A. making watches
B. selling watches
C. inventing watches
D. the carriage watch

2. It was ______ who brought a watch to Switzerland earliest.

A. a Swiss
B. an Italian
C. an Englishman
D. a shop assistant

3. The earlist watches were made in ______.

A. Switzerland
B. England
C. Italy
D. a small town

4. The first Swiss watch was made by ______.

A. an Italian shop assistant
B. an English shop assistant
C. a man who came from Switzerland
D. a man who was travelling to Italy

5. The carriage watch was a machine which ______.

A. was put in the carriage
B. wasn't working
C. told people time
D. had to be repaired

     Margaret, married with two small children, has been working for the last seven years as a night cleaner,
cleaning offices in a big building.
     She trained as a nurse, but had to give it up when her elder child became seriously ill. "I would have liked
to go back to it, but the shifts (工作班次) are all wrong for me, as I have to be home to get the children up
and off to school."
     So she works as a cleaner instead, from 9 a.m. till 6 a.m. five nights a week for just ￡90, before tax and
insurance. "It's better than it was last year, but I still think that people who work 'unsocial hours' should get
a bit extra."
     The hours she' s chosen to work meant that she sees plenty of the children, but very little of her husband.
However, she doesn't think that puts any pressure on their relationship.
     Her work isn't physically very hard, but it's not exactly pleasant, either. "I do get angry with people who
leave their offices like a place for raising pigs. If they realized people like me have to do it, perhaps they'd be
a bit more careful."
     The fact that she's working all night doesn't worry Margaret at all. Unlike some dark buildings at night, the
building where she works is fully lit, and the women work in groups of three. "Since I've got to be here, I try
to enjoy myself-and I usually do, because of the other girls. We all have a good laugh, so the time never
drags."
     Another challenge Margaret has to face is the reaction of other people when she tells them what she does
for a living. "They think you're a cleaner because you don't know how to read and write," said Margaret. "I
used to think what my parents would say if they knew what I'd been doing, but I don't think that way any
more. I don't dislike the work though I can't say I'm mad about it."

1. Margaret quit her job as a nurse because _______

A. she wanted to earn more money to support her family
B. she had suffered a lot of mental pressure
C. she needed the right time to look after her children
D. she felt tired of taking care of patients

2. Margaret gets angry with people who work in the office because Margaret _______.

A. they never clean their offices
B. they look down upon cleaners
C. they never do their work carefully
D. they always make a mess in their offices

3. When at work, Margaret feels _______.

A. light-hearted because of her fellow workers
B. happy because the building is fully lit
C. tired because of the heavy workload
D. bored because time passed slowly

4. The underlined part in the last paragraph implies that Margaret's parents would _______．

A. help care for her children
B. regret what they had said
C. show sympathy for her
D. feel disappointed in her

     One August afternoon, Richard Allen dropped off his last passenger, Mrs. Carey. Lifting two grocery
bags, he followed her across the yard and stood on the step of her house. Glancing up, he saw a large
wasp (黄蜂) nest under the roof. Allen had heard that wasps can become more likely to sting (sting, sting,
stung 蜇) in summer. He mentioned this to Mrs. Carey, who had opened the door.
     "Oh, they don't bother me," she said lightly. "I go in and out all the time."
     Anxiously, Allen looked at the nest again-to see the wasps flying straight at him. "Hurry!" he shouted to
Mrs. Carey. "Get in!"
     She stepped quickly inside. Allen ran for his mini-bus. Too late; they were upon him. Just as he jumped
aboard, half a dozen red spots showed on his arm, and he felt more on his back and shoulders.
     As he was driving down the road, Allen felt as if something was burning at the back of his neck, and the
"fire" was spreading forward toward his face. And immediate anxiety took hold of him. Allen knew that stings
could cause some persons to die. But he had been stung the previous summer and the after-effects soon
passed. However, what he didn't know what that the first sting had turned his body into a time bomb waiting
for the next to set off an explosion.
     Miles from the nearest medical assistance, Allen began to feel his tongue thick and heavy and his heartbeat
louder. Most frightening, he felt his breathing more and more difficult. He reached for the radio mike (话筒),
trying to call  the mini-bus center, but his words were hardly understandable. Signals were also poor that far
out. He knew a rescue team was on 24-hour duty at the Amherst Fire Department's north station. So his best
chance was to make a run for it.
     Rushing down the mountain, Allen tried not to panic, focusing his mind on each sharp turn. He was almos
through the last of them when he felt sure he was going into shock (休克). Just then he reached for the radio
mike again.
     "Call fire station," he shouted, concentrating to form the words. "Emergency. Bee sting. Emergency. There
in ten minutes." 
     "Five-ten," the center replied.
     Hold on, Allen thought. Keep your eyes open. Breathe. Keep awake.
     At last he reached the station. Two firemen ran out. Allen felt their hands grasp him before he hit the ground. You made it, he thought.

1. It is mentioned in the passage that wasps are more likely to attack when _______.

A. there are huge noises
B. strangers are approaching
C. the air is filled with food smell
D. the hottest season comes around

2. Allen didn't know that if stung by wasps again, he would _______.

A. have no after-effects
B. suffer from sharper pain
C. surely lose his life
D. become more sensitive

3. Allen failed at his first attempt to send his message to the mini-bus center because _______.

A. he was unable to speak clearly
B. his radio equipment was poor
C. he was in a state of shock
D. no one was on duty

4. Which would be the best title for the passage?

A. Allen, A Helpless Driver
B. Wasps, Bloody Killers
C. A Race Against Death
D. War Against Wasps

     The very wealthy English Baron Fitzgerald had only one child, a son, who understandably was the apple
of his eye. His wife died when the child was in his early teens. So Fitzgerald devoted himself to fathering the
kid. Unfortunately the son died in his late teens.
     Meanwhile, Fitzgerald's wealth greatly increased. He spent a lot on art works of the masters. Later
Fitzgerald himself became seriously ill. Before his death, he had carefully prepared his will as to how his
wealth would be settled-to sell his entire collection at an auction (拍卖).
     Because of the large quantity and high quality of his collection, a huge crowd of possible buyers gathered
for the auction. Many of them were museum directors and private collectors eager to bid (出价). Before the
auction, the art works were shown, among which was a painting of Fitzgerald's son by an unknown artist.
Because of its poor quality, it received little attention.
     When it was time for the auction, the auctioneer gaveled (敲槌) the crowd to attention. First the lawyer
read from Fitzgerald's will that the first art work to be auctioned was the painting of his son.
     The poor-quality painting didn't receive any bidders...except one-the old servant who had served the son
and loved him, and who for emotional reasons offered the only bid.
     As soon as the servant bought the painting for less than one English pound, the auctioneer stopped the
bidding and asked the lawyer to read again from the will. The crowd became quiet, and the lawyer read from
the will: "Whoever buys the painting of my son gets all my collection." Then the auction was over.

1. The English Baron Fitzgerald was ______.

A. a museum director
B. a master of art
C. an art collector
D. an art dealer

2. Why did the old servant bid for the painting of Fitzgerald's son?

A. He was devoted to the family.
B. He saw that no one bid for it.
C. He knew the content of the will.
D. He found it cheap for him to buy.

3. Fitzgerald's will showed _______.

A. his desire to fool the bidders
B. his invaluable love for his son
C. his sadness at the death of his son
D. his regret of having no children to take over his wealth