阅读理解

　　Jane lives in London and she loves fashionable clothes．She is in Beijing now to buy Chinese clothes．A saleswoman is trying to help her for that．(S＝Saleswoman　J＝Jane)

　　S： This is a Qing Dynasty style dress．It is made of silk and it has the Chinese word for happiness on the back．Have a try in the fitting room．

　　J：Look．The dress is a bit tight．I feel difficult to walk．

　　S：Oh, yes, you do．But you can try a jacket and trousers．

　　J：You mean that red silk jacket with flowers．Are the flowers called peonies?

　　S：Yes, the flower means good luck．This is Tang Dynasty style with big sleeves．You can put your hands in the sleeves to keep warm．You’d better have this shirt with short sleeves, this long skirt and silk shoes with a picture of phoenix on to go with this jacket．

　　J：That’s very interesting．I’ll take them．

完形填空

　　As an exchange student, I have been staying in a host family in Beijing for the past five months．The parents are 　　1　　 in their mid-30s and the son just turned 5．In exchange for room and board, I teach their son 　　2　　．

　　Like in many of the other Chinese families, he’s an only child．And though he has 　　3　　 plastic trucks and boxes full of crayons, I don’t know 　　4　　 he has the time to play．When he’s not in the kindergarten, he’s taking after-school classes．On the weekends, the boy goes to more classes．He has one day off－Sunday．

　　Compared to his schedule, I feel like my childhood was 　　5　　 a waste of time．I learned how to climb trees and draw cartoons．I wasn’t learning Chinese at his age．But he and lots of other children are learning English．Both his parents dream that he will have 　　6　　 jobs, higher pay, and bigger houses．

　　The boy seems to take no interest 　　7　　 learning English．He doesn’t need a teacher, but a playmate．He is, 　　8　　, only 5．When I think about my life as a 5-year-old, I know for sure I wasn’t half as 　　9　　 as he is．

　　In the evening, when his parents 　　10　　 him to speak with me in English, he gets 　　11　　．He lies on the floors, hides under the table and climbs on the furniture．When he finally stops 　　12　　, and starts talking, it isn’t in English, but it isn’t in Chinese, 　　13　　．He speaks in his own language．

　　He 　　14　　 not be a very good student, but I’m not a great teacher．I just want to be his big brother 　　15　　 can speak in gibberish(胡言乱语)with him and help draw trucks, robots or spiders．

阅读理解

　　One midnight, a little girl woke up to pass water．She by herself got up and down her bed, walked to the bedroom door and opened it．She looked outside and walked back, for it was so dark in the hall that she feared．

　　Her mother said,“Don't be afraid, honey．Take courage!”

　　“What's courage?”she asked, running to her mother's bed．

　　“Courage is the brave breath,”her mother answered．

　　“Mum, do you have courage?”

　　“Certainly．”

　　The girl held out her little hands, saying,“Mum, blow some of your breath of courage to me．”

　　After her mother blew out two mouthfuls of breath into her little cold hands, the little girl clenched her fists(握拳)nervously, afraid that the“breath of courage”would run away．Then with her fists clenched, she walked out of the bedroom towards the bathroom with nothing to fear．

　　Her mother said to herself,“It will be nice if someone can blow some kind of ‘breath' to me．Then I can hold it in my hands too when I feel terrified or lost．”

　　In fact, mostly, what we are terrified of is nothing but the fear in our mind．Who we should defeat(战胜)is nobody but ourselves．