The Mother Goose Stories, so well known to children all over the word, are commonly said to have been written by a little old woman for her grandchildren. According to some people, she lived in Boston, and her real name was Elizabeth Vergoose. Her son-in-law, a printer named Thomas Fleet, was supposed to have published the famous stories and poems for small children in 1719. However, no copy of this book has ever been found, and most scholars doubt the truth of this story—and doubt, moreover, that Mother Goose was ever a real person. They point out that the name is a direct translation of the French “Mere I’ Oye.” In 1697 the Frenchman Charles Perrault published the first book in which this name was used. The collection contains eight tales, including “Sleeping Beauty,” “Cinderella,” and “Puss in Boots.” But Perrault did not originate these stories; they were already quite popular in his day, and he only collected them.

In 1729 there appeared an English translation of Perrault’s collection,Robert Samber’s Histories or Tales of Past times, Told by MotherGoose(London,1729), which introduced “Sleeping Beauty”, “Little Red-hood”, “Puss in Boots”,”Cinderella” and other Perrault’s tales to English-speaking audiences. These were fairy tales(童话)。 John Newbery published a book of English rhymes，Mother Goose’s Melody, or Sonnets for the Cradle( London, undated,1765), which switched the focus from fairy tale to nursery  rhymes, and in English this was until recently the primary meaning for Mother Goose.A book of poems for children entitled Mother Goose’s Melody was published in England in1781, and the name “Mother Goose” has been associated with children’s poetry ever since.

1.What is supposed to have happened in 1719?

　 A.　Elizabeth Vergoose wrote the first Mother Goose Stories.

　 B.　 The Mother Goose Stories were translated into French.

　 C.　 Thomas Fleet published the Mother Goose Stories.

　 D.　Charles Perrault published the first Mother Goose Stories.

2. Most scholars consider Mother Goose to be _________.

　　 A. a real person                                                 B. a translation from French

 　　C. a collection by Elizabeth Vergoose          D.　 a book written by a little old woman

3.When Perrault published the first book in 1679, _______.

　　 A. no story of the book had been known to people

　　 B. some stories of the book were already well known

　　 C. few people were interested in the stories of the book

　　 D. stories like “Sleeping Beauty” and “Cinderella” became popular

4.The name used in the first book published in 1679 is supposed to have been _______.

　A. Mother Goose         B. Charles Perrault C. Elizabeth Vergoose  D. Mere I’ Oye 

5.When people talk about Mother Goose, they refer to,___________

     A.    a printer of Boston          B. a kind of animal

     C.    children’s  poetry            D. the  French “Mere L’oye

His career has been an active one: _____.

　　A. writing poetry, working on magazines, and the war in Greece

　　B. poetry, editing magazines, and the Greek War

　　C. writing poems, editing magazines, and serving in the Greek War

　　D. poetry work, editing magazines, and fighting in Greece

Sneaker is a kind of shoe worn by many people all over the world. Some say that the word “sneaker” is another word for tennis shoe,   36   no one really knows where the word came from.   37  say it came from the old English verb “sneak”, which  38   moving silently and quickly. The only thing we are   39  is that when you put on a pair of sneakers, you   40   light-hearted, light-footed and ready to play.
Sneakers of some kind are used by   41   who play tennis, basketball, and other sports. New design has been made   42   for people who run slowly. But perhaps sneakers are   43   used by children in the United States. In fact American children of  44   ages would much rather play in sneakers than anything else, except perhaps  45   at all.
　　New York City once held a poetry contest (诗歌比赛) for children. The subject was only “sneaker”. Thousands of children sent in their  46   and praised the sneakers they love. One prize winner called  47   poem “The Sneaker and the World Peace”. “When everyone is wearing sneakers,” she said, “it will be impossible to   48 .”
American school children can be seen every day   49  sneakers of all colours. They put them on in the morning and take them off  50 . Sneakers are  51  washed. In fact the older and dirtier they are, the  52  loveable they are. When their sneakers wear out (穿破), children hate to throw them off. How do you explain the closeness between  53  ? Perhaps another young   54  in the New York Poetry Contest said it best. “A shoe is just a shoe,” he said. “But a sneaker is a   55 .”

Poetry is an interesting form of writing. It is very free, has few restrictions and can be a great way to express feelings. Writing a poem is all about observing the world within you or around you.
To write a poem, first you should begin with an idea or inspiration. Inspiration may come at any time unexpectedly. It may be a specific person, place or thing that causes some sort of strong emotion. It may be more of an abstract idea or release of emotion.
After getting the idea, you can write down everything that comes to mind. Don’t think much and let all feelings pour out. Remember everything can be thrown out later.
Then, you can think about its form and begin to organize thoughts. Poetry comes in many forms, from epic poetry that has a story to dramatic poetry intended to be performed. Try them all out. One will come naturally. Maybe different poems fit different forms. When you write a poem, think about both meter (韵律) and rhythm carefully, which are equally important in poetry. Meter is the fixed pattern of the poem, while rhythm refers to the sound when it is spoken. It is also important to use a lot of descriptive words. Create imagery (意象) with words, trying to make them attractive to all the senses. For auditory (听觉的) interest, try repeating of similar sounds in a sentence or phrase. All of this adds life and interest to a poem.
After you finish your work, don’t be afraid to share your work with others. When others point out your weakness, accept and grow from it.
【小题1】What does the underlined word “restriction” in Paragraph 1 probably mean?_______

Poetry is an interesting form of writing. It is very free, has few restrictions and can be a great way to express feelings. Writing a poem is all about observing the world within you or around you.

To write a poem, first you should begin with an idea or inspiration. Inspiration may come at any time unexpectedly. It may be a specific person, place or thing that causes some sort of strong emotion. It may be more of an abstract idea or release of emotion.

After getting the idea, you can write down everything that comes to mind. Don’t think much and let all feelings pour out. Remember everything can be thrown out later.

Then, you can think about its form and begin to organize thoughts. Poetry comes in many forms, from epic poetry that has a story to dramatic poetry intended to be performed. Try them all out. One will come naturally. Maybe different poems fit different forms. When you write a poem, think about both meter (韵律) and rhythm carefully, which are equally important in poetry. Meter is the fixed pattern of the poem, while rhythm refers to the sound when it is spoken. It is also important to use a lot of descriptive words. Create imagery (意象) with words, trying to make them attractive to all the senses. For auditory (听觉的) interest, try repeating of similar sounds in a sentence or phrase. All of this adds life and interest to a poem.

After you finish your work, don’t be afraid to share your work with others. When others point out your weakness, accept and grow from it.

1.What does the underlined word “restriction” in Paragraph 1 probably mean?_______

2.When you begin to write a poem, you should first 　　　.

3.We can infer from the text that 　　　.

4.What’s the purpose of the text?_________