That is a          story.

A. real      B. true      C. actual        D. truly

A long time ago, there was a big apple tree. A little boy loved to come and play with it every day. But time went by, the little boy had    32    and he no longer played around the tree.

　　 One day, the boy came back to the tree. “Come and play with me,” the tree asked the boy. “I am no longer a    33    I can’t play with you now.” The boy replied, “I need    34   .” “Sorry, I don’t have any. But you can pick all my apples and    35    them.” The boy picked all the apples on the tree and left happily. He didn’t come back. The tree was sad.

　　 The other day, the boy returned and the tree was so    36   . “Come and play with me.” The tree said. “I need a house for my family. Can you help me?” “You can cut off my branches（枝干）to build your house.”   37    the boy cut all the branches of the tree and left happily.

The tree was glad to see him happy, but the boy didn’t come since then. The tree was lonely again. One hot summer day, the boy came back again after he left for so many years. “Sorry, my boy. But I don’t have    38    for you anymore.

“I don’t need much now, just a place to rest. I am    39    after all these years.” The boy replied. “Good! Please sit down with me and have a rest.” The boy sat down and the tree was glad and smiled with tears…

This is a story of everyone. The tree is like our parents. When we were young, we loved to play with them. But when we grow up, we    40    them, and only come to them when we are41    trouble. You may think that the boy is cruel（残忍）to the tree, but that’s how many of us are treating to our parents.

1.A. grown up               B. dressed up               C. got up

2.A. tree                   B. child                    C. toy

3.A. money                  B. time                     C. help

4.A. eat                        B. sell                     C. buy

5.A. sad                        B. calm                     C. happy

6.A. So                     B. But                      C. Because

7.A. anything               B. something                C. nothing

8.A. angry                  B. tired                    C. shy

9.A. hate                   B. love                     C. leave

10.A. at                    B. for                      C. in

A bag is useful and the word “bag” is useful, too. Here is an interesting phrase（短语）, “to let the cat out of the bag”. In meaning it is the same as “to tell the secret（秘密）”. And there is an old interesting story about it.

　　Long ago, when farmers wanted to sell chickens at the market, they would usually just throw the chickens in cloth (布) bags. But cats were cheaper than chickens at that time, so many farmers would put cats into the cloth bags but not chickens. One day, a woman asked a man for a chicken. The man gave her a cloth bag in which there was a cat.      When the man opened the cloth bag, a big black cat ran out. Not a chicken! The man’s secret was out and everyone knew it.

　　Now when we say someone gives away a secret, we say “he lets the cat out of the bag”. And that is the story where the interesting phrase came from.

1.The underlined word “it” in the passage refers to (指的是)     .

A. the useful bag                 B. the phrase              C. the cat                     D. the chicken

2.The farmers put cats but not chickens in the bags to      when they sold chickens.

A. tell the secret                                                      B. sell the cats

C. get more money                                                  D. keep the cats quiet

3.Which is the best for the blank (空白处) in the passage?

A. The woman was angry to see a cat.                 B. The man put a cat in the bag.

C. The man asked her to see the chicken.         D. The woman wanted to see the chicken.

4.The writer wrote the story to tell us     .

A. the woman was smart                                         B. how farmers sold their cats

C. the phrase is useful                                             D. where the phrase came from

A long time ago, there was a big apple tree. A little boy loved to come and play with it every day. But time went by, the little boy had    32   and he no longer played around the tree.
　　 One day, the boy came back to the tree. “Come and play with me,” the tree asked the boy. “I am no longer a    33   I can’t play with you now.” The boy replied, “I need    34   .” “Sorry, I don’t have any. But you can pick all my apples and    35   them.” The boy picked all the apples on the tree and left happily. He didn’t come back. The tree was sad.
　　 The other day, the boy returned and the tree was so    36   . “Come and play with me.” The tree said. “I need a house for my family. Can you help me?” “You can cut off my branches（枝干）to build your house.”   37   the boy cut all the branches of the tree and left happily.
The tree was glad to see him happy, but the boy didn’t come since then. The tree was lonely again. One hot summer day, the boy came back again after he left for so many years. “Sorry, my boy. But I don’t have    38   for you anymore.
“I don’t need much now, just a place to rest. I am    39   after all these years.” The boy replied. “Good! Please sit down with me and have a rest.” The boy sat down and the tree was glad and smiled with tears…
This is a story of everyone. The tree is like our parents. When we were young, we loved to play with them. But when we grow up, we    40   them, and only come to them when we are41    trouble. You may think that the boy is cruel（残忍）to the tree, but that’s how many of us are treating to our parents.
【小题1】A. grown up                B. dressed up               C. got up
【小题2】A. tree                    B. child                  C. toy
【小题3】A. money                   B. time                    C. help
【小题4】A. eat                    B. sell                   C. buy
【小题5】A. sad                     B. calm                     C. happy
【小题6】A. So                     B. But                     C. Because
【小题7】A. anything                B. something                C. nothing
【小题8】A. angry                   B. tired                   C. shy
【小题9】A. hate                   B. love                    C. leave
【小题10】A. at                     B. for                      C. in

We drink tea every day. But more than three hundred years ago most of the people in Europe (欧洲) did not know anything about tea. Some people heard about it, but very few of them know what to do with it.

　　There is a story about an English sailor (水手) who went to countries in the east，the west and the south. He went to India and China. One day he came home and brought some tea as a present for his mother. She told her friends about the present and asked them to a “tea party”. When her friends came to the “tea party”, the old woman offered (给) them brown tea-leaves (茶叶). The old woman’s friends began to eat them. Of course, nobody liked the tea-leaves.

　　At that time the sailor came in. He looked at the table and said, “Mother, what have you done with the tea?”

　　“I boiled (煮) it，as you said.”

　　“And what did you do with the water?”

　　“I threw it away, of course.” answered the old woman.

　　“Now you may throw away the leaves, too.” said her son.

(    ) 1. Most of the people in Europe ________.

　　　  A. drank tea every day 300 years ago        B. drink tea every day

　　　  C. know nothing about tea               D. like to eat the tea-leaves

(    ) 2. One day the English sailor brought his mother some tea from ________.

　　　  A. countries in the west                   B. countries in the south

　　　  C. India or China                       D. a tea shop in England

(    ) 3. The sailor’s mother asked her friends to her house, because ________.

　　　  A. the sailor told her to

　　　  B. she wanted to ask her friends what to do with the tea

　　　  C. she liked to show off (炫耀)

　　　  D. she wanted to sample (品尝) the tea together with her friends

(    ) 4. At the “tea party”，________.

　　　  A. all the woman’s friends spoke highly of the tea

　　　  B. nobody knew what to do with the tea

　　　  C. the woman offered her friends some dried (干的) tea

　　　  D. the woman gave her friends each a glass of tea water

(    ) 5. What mistake did the old woman make? She ________.

　　　  A. boiled the tea                       B. did as the sailor said

　　　  C. poured away the water                D. didn't throw away the tea-leaves