A friend of mine named Paul received an expensive car from his brother as a Christmas present. On Christmas Eve when Paul came out of his office, a street urchin was walking around the shining car. “Is this your car, Paul?” he asked.

Paul answered, “Yes, my brother gave it to me for Christmas.” The boy was surprised. “You mean your brother gave it to you and it didn’t cost you nothing? Boy, I wish…”He hesitated.

Of course Paul knew what he was going to wish for. He was going to wish he had a brother like that. But what the boy said surprised Paul greatly.

“I wish,” the boy went on, “that I could be a brother like that.” Paul looked at the boy in surprise, then he said again, “Would you like to take a ride in my car?”

“Oh yes, I’d love that.”

After a short ride, the boy turned and with his eyes shining, said, “Paul, would you mind driving in front of my house?”

Paul smiled a little. He thought he knew what the boy wanted. He wanted to show his neighbors that he could ride home in a big car. But Paul was wrong again. “Will you stop where those two steps are?” the boy asked.

He ran up to the steps. Then in a short while Paul heard him coming back, but he was not coming fast. He was carrying his little crippled brother. He sat him down on the step and pointed to the car.

“There she is, Buddy, just like I told you upstairs. His brother gave it to him for Christmas and it didn’t cost him a cent. And some day I’m going to give you one just like it …then you can see for yourself all the nice things in the Christmas window that I’ve been trying to tell you about.”

Paul got out and lifted the boy to the front seat of his car. The shining-eyed older brother climbed in beside him and the three of them began an unforgettable holiday ride.

注：urchin顽童    hesitate犹豫    neighbour邻居

crippled残疾　　     cent 美分

1.The street urchin was very surprised when _______________

2.From the story we can see the urchin _______________

3.The urchin asked Paul to stop his car in front of his house ___________

4.We can infer（推断） from the story that___________

5.The best name of the story is____________

Dear Reader,
Imagine an 11-year old girl whose days are often spent washing clothes, looking after a baby, working hard in the field.
Imagine a little girl who knows there will not be enough food for dinner, who can’t fill her stomach with water because it’s polluted, and who has watched life slip away from her father, little brother and sister because the family is too poor to see a doctor.
Is it hard to believe? For Maria Pastora, these are the real life.
Maria would gladly walk miles to school, but her mother, now alone, needs her badly at home. If Maria grows up without any schooling, what will be her future?
But for just 52 pennies a day, you can sponsor a child like Maria. Through “Save the Children”, you can help Maria’s mother get the tools and ways she needs to turn their poor food into a good dinner and the money she needs to buy clothes and school things for Maria.
To help Maria most, your money is put together with that of other sponsors, so hard-working people can help themselves. Build a school, a hospital…bring in clean water. This is what “Save the Children” has been about since 1932.
For you there are many rewards. Have the chance to write to or hear from your sponsored child. Receive photos or progress reports. Know you are reaching out to another person. Not with a handout(施舍物), but a “handup”. That’s how “Save the Children” works. But without you, it can’t work. Please take a moment now to fill in and post the form below to help a child like Maria and her village.
It can make such a difference in her life and yours.
【小题1】We can most probably read the letter in __________.

　 What do you do at weekends? Some people like to __11__ at home, but others like to go for a walk __12__ have a picnic. My friend Jack works hard in a factory during the __13__. At weekends he always _14__ the same thing. On Saturday he __15__ his car and on _16_ he takes his family to a nearby village. His uncle and aunt have a farm there. It isn’t a __17__ one, but there's always __18__ to do. The children help with the animals and give them their _19__, Jack and his wife help in the fields. At the end of the day, they are all __20__ and Jack's aunt gives them a big meal.

1.A. play　　　　 B. live　　　 C. stay 　　　　D. like

2.A. and　　　　　B. or 　　　　C. but　　　　　D. so

3.A. day　　　　　B. time　　　 C. autumn　　　 D. week

4.A. does　　　　 B. makes　　　C. borrows　　　D. has

5.A. watches　　　B. drives　　 C. sells　　　　D. washes

6. A. Monday　　　 B. Sunday　　 C. Saturday　　 D. Wednesday

7.A. small　　　　B. big　　　　C. hard　　　　 D. short

8.A. much　　　　 B. little　　 C. fast　　　　 D. far

9.A. clothes　　　B. places　　 C. food　　　　 D. water

10.A. clean　　　 B. late　　　 C. happy　　　　D. kind