He is quiet and shy. He likes to hide his eyes behind his hair. He doesn't smile very often. However, if you talk to him about music, he'll have a lot to say.

    This is Jay Chou, the 24-year-old Taiwanese pop king. His fans are so excited because he will sing songs in Beijing on September 12. Those songs are from his album(唱片), "Ye Huimei", and the album was released(发行) in July and was named after his mother.

    Chou grew up just with his mother. He did not talk much and did badly in many

school subjects.

    His mother noticed the boy's special interest in music and sent him to learn piano when he was only three years old. He loved it and kept on practicing.

    Chou is not very handsome. He does not speak clearly when he sings or talks. But the singer has huge crowds of fans. "He is really good at music, it makes him attractive(有魅力的) to me." said Liu Jiajun, a Junior 2 student in No. 101 Middle School in Beijing.

    "He is true to himself. He never follows others." said Zhang Yujie, a Junior 1 girl at Huaibei Middle School in Sihong, Jiangsu Province.

6. From this passage, we know that Jay Chou       .

A. is very handsome            B. has a bright smile

C. often makes too much noise       D. is a pop music star

7. His fans are so excited because       .

A. he released a new album in July 

B. he will sing new songs in Beijing

C. he can play the piano very well

D. his new album was named after his mother

8. When he was a little child, he       .

A. talked a lot every day            B. did well in his study at school

C. started to like music             D. had huge crowds of fans

9. According to one of his fans, Jay         .

A. is a good student               B. has long and beautiful hair

C. is a well-known pianist          D. is very attractive to them

10. The sentence "He never follows others" in the last paragraph means       .

A. he always has his own style

B. he likes to walk alone

C. he doesn't like other people's songs at all

D. no one can catch up with him

When you are learning English, you find it not clever to put an English sentence, word for word, into your own language. Take the sentence "How do you do?" as an example. If you look up each word in the dictionary, one at a time, what is your translation (翻译)? It must be a wrong sentence in your own language.

Languages do not just have different sounds, they are different in many ways. It's important to master(掌握) the rules(规则) for word order (顺序) in the study of English, too. If the speaker puts words in a wrong order, the listener can't understand the speaker's sentence easily.Sometimes when the order of words in an English sentence is changed, the meaning of the sentence changes. But sometimes the order is changed, the meaning of the sentence doesn't change.

Let's see the difference between the two sentences:"She only likes apples. " "Only she likes apples. "

When you are learning English, you must use it as the English speaker does.

1.From the passage we know that _______when we are learning English.

A. we shouldn't put every word into our own language

B. we should look up (查阅) every word in the dictionary

C. we need to put every word into our own language

D. we must read word by word

2. The writer thinks it is________in learning English.

A. difficult to understand different sounds

B. possible to remember the word order

C. important to master the rules in different ways

D. easy to master the rules for word order

3.We can learn from the passage that_______.

A. the meaning of an English sentence always changes with the order of the words

B. the order of words can never change the meaning of an English sentence

C. sometimes different order of words has a different meaning

D. if the order of words is different, the meaning of the sentence must be different

"Everything happens for the best," my mother said whenever things weren't going my way. "Don't worry. One day your luck will change."

Mother was right, as I discovered after I had finished my college education, I had decided to try for a job in radio. One day, I wanted to host a sports programme. I went to Chicago and knocked on the door of every station. But I got turned down every time.

    In one station, a kind lady said my problem was that I hadn't got enough experience. "Get some work with a small station and work your way up," she said.

I went back home. I couldn't get a job there, either. Then my dad told me a businessman had opened a store and needed someone to help him. But again, I didn't get the job.

    I felt really down. "Your luck will change," Mom said to me. Dad lent me the car to help me to look for my job. I tried another radio station in Lowa. But the owner, a nice man, told me he had already had someone.

    As I left his office, I asked, "How can someone be a sports announcer(播音员) if he can't get a job in a radio station?"

    I was waiting for the lift when I heard the man call. "What did you mean? Do you know anything about football?" He put me in front of a microphone and asked me to try to imagine that I was giving my opinion on a football game, I succeeded.

    On my way home, Mom's words come back to me, "One day your luck will change, Son. And when it happens, it'll feel doubly good because of all the hard work you've had." At that moment I knew just what she meant.

16. What's the writer's ideal job?

A. A sportsman.                  B. A shop assistant.

C. A sports announcer.             D. A businessman.

17. Why didn’t the writer get the job in Chicago?

A. Because he was too young.

B. Because he didn't get college education.

C. Because he's got a good-looking person.

D. Because he hadn't got enough experience.

18. The sentence "But I got turned down every time. "means"        ".

A. But I was refused every time

B. But I was successful every time

C. But I lost my way every time

D. But the door of every station was always closed

19. What made the writer succeed in the end?

A. His mother’s words.             B. A kind lady’s help.

C. His father’s car.                   D. His own hard work.

20. What's the best title of this passage?

A. Mother's Words.                  B. Everything Happens for the Best.

C. No One Is Always Lucky.          D. To Find a Job in Radio Is Difficult.

John sent his mother expensive presents on his mother's birthday every year. He liked to show her how rich he was.

"I must find something wonderful for her, and it must be the only one in the whole world. "John thought.

He advertised (登广告) in the newspapers. " Wanted—the best present for the woman who has everything. "

For many days his telephone did not stop ringing. People phoned him from all over the world. They wanted to sell him "the best present". But they did not have anything that was the only one in the whole world.

Then less than a week before his mother's birthday, a man came to his office. He was carrying a cage, and in the cage there was a large bird.

"This bird, "the man said, "can speak ten languages and sing any pop song. There is no other bird like it in the world. "

"I will listen to it, "John said. "If what you said is true, I will buy the bird from you. "

The man spoke to the bird. "Talk to me in French, " he said. The bird spoke to him in French. "Tell me a joke in Japanese, " he said. The bird told him a joke in Japanese. "Sing a famous pop song, "he said. The bird sang a famous pop song.

"I'll buy it, "John said. "How much do you want?"

"One hundred thousand dollars, "the man said. This was a lot of money but John paid him. Then he sent the bird to his mother with a birthday card.

The day after his mother's birthday he phoned her. "Well, mother, "he said, "Is the bird wonderful?"

"Oh, it was delicious, dear, "she said.

1. Why did John send her mother expensive presents for her birthday every year?

A. Because he loved his mother very much.

B. Because his mother needed these presents.

C. Because he wanted to show he had a lot of money.

D. Because he was the richest man in the world.

2. How did people know John wanted the best present in the world?

A. They rang John up.

B. They knew it from the newspapers.

C. John phoned them one by one.

D. They knew it on TV.

3.When did the man with a bird come to visit John?

A. Two weeks before John's mother's birthday.

B. On John's mother's birthday.

C. About five days before John's mother's birthday.

D. Less than a week after John's mother's birthday.

4. Why did John pay the man a lot of money for the bird?

A. Because it was such a beautiful bird.

B. Because he wanted to help the poor man with the bird.

C. Because the bird could look after his mother.

D.  Because John  thought  the bird could make his mother happy.

5. What does the sentence "It was delicious, "really mean in the story?

A. His mother ate the bird.

B. His mother let the bird fly away.

C. His mother began to learn languages from the bird.

D.  His mother thought  it  was the most  expensive present in the world.

A blind schoolgirl has become the youngest interpreter (口译员) when she is only ten years

Alexia Sloane is from Cambridge. She was told by the doctor she had a brain tumour (脑癌) when she was on holiday "with her parents in France. After that the two-year-old girl became blind.

Though the little girl can't see anything, she has great talent for languages and at the age of 10 she is already fluent (流利的) in English, French, Spanish and Chinese-and is learning German.

Now her dream of working as an interpreter has come true. East of England MEP (欧盟议员) Robert Sturdy invited her to the European Parliament (议会). "Usually a person who enters the European Parliament should be 14 at least. So it was amazing for Alexia to work there at the age of 10. " said Alexia's mother Isabelle. Alexia can speak three languages since birth. As her mum is hah" French and half Spanish and her dad Richard is English. " She has always been very good at languages and shown an interest from a very young age. " added Isabelle, who also has a four-year-old daughter Melissa.

Alexia has dreamed of becoming an interpreter since she was six and chose to go to the European Parliament as her prize when she won the Young Achiever Community Award of the Year (年度青年成就奖). She asked if she could learn from the interpreters and HEP Robert Sturdy agreed to take her along as his guest. " It was fantastic and I decided to become an interpreter, "said Alexia. "Nothing can stop me. "

1.How old is the youngest interpreter according to the passage?

A．4.               B．6.                C．10.              D．14.

2.When did Alexia Sloane become blind?

A．When she was born.

B．After she had a brain tumour.

C．After she became an interpreter.

D．When she was on holiday with her parents.

3.Who offered Alexia the chance of working as an interpreter?

A．Richard.          B．Isabelle.           C．Melissa.           D．Robert Sturdy.

4.What is right about Alexia Sloane?

A．She can speak five language fluently.

B．She is a talented language learner.

C．She is the only child in the family.

D．She went to France on holiday after she won the award.

5.What do you think is the meaning of the sentence "Nothing can stop me. "?

A．Never give up.                         B．Believe in yourself.

C．Nothing is impossible.                    D．Failure is the mother of success.