Most American families are smaller than the families in other countries.Most American families have one or two parents and one or two children each.
Children in the US will leave their parents’ home when they grow up.They usually live far from their parents because they want to find good jobs.They often write to their parents or telephone them.And they often go to visit their parents on holiday.
Parents usually let their children choose their own jobs.Americans think it is important for young people to decide on their lives by themselves.
Parents ask children to do some work around their house.And in many families, parents pay their children for doing some housework so that hey learn how to make money for their own use.
【小题1】The size of most American families is ____ that of other countries’.

 阅读并选择最佳选项。（共5小题；每小题1分，计5分）

请阅读下面的短文，并从下列各题所给的A、B、C、D三个选项中，选择最佳选项。

Alex，Nicole and Vickie are friends．They live in the same neighborhood．They want to make some money to buy Christmas presents．

“We need to print out fliers（传单）and pass them around to all the houses，”says Nicole．Alex’s dad helps them print out fliers．The three friends go to all the houses and put a flier in everyone’s mailbox．

“It’s winter,”says Vickie．“There is lots of snow on the ground．Maybe people will need us to sweep the snow for them．”

First，Mrs．Jones hires the children to sweep the snow from her driveway（车道）．She says，“I have twin baby girls．I am much too busy to sweep the snow myself．”

Then，Mrs．Smith calls them．She says，“I am very old，and the snow is much too heavy for me to move．”

Then，Mr．Lee visits them．He says，“My garden is much too big to sweep all by myself．Can you help me?”

The children work very hard sweeping the snow．It is cold，but they also have great fun．They make 30 dollars in all．Now they can buy nice Christmas presents for their friends and families．

1.Whose idea is it to make money by sweeping the snow?

A．Alex’s           B．Nicole’s．        C．Vickie’s．        D．Alex’s Dad’s．

2.How does Alex’s dad help?

A．He gives them some money．              B．He helps them sweep the snow．

C．He prints some fliers for them．            D．He puts the fliers in mailboxes．

3.What does the word“hire”mean in Chinese?

A．出租             B．雇佣             C．命令             D．欺骗

4.Why does Mr. Lee ask the children for help?

A．He is too busy with his babies．            B．He is too old to sweep snow．

C．His garden is much too big．               D．He wants to help the children．

5.The passage is mainly about ________．

A．helping others                          B．making money

C．spending holiday                        D．buying presents

Born as the only child in the family, I am the “king” of the family. My parents are both businessmen and they come home every two weeks. Because they don’t spend much time with me, they always feel guilty* and will buy me many expensive things and let me do whatever I want. My grandparents never let me do any chores because they want me to do my schoolwork.

?? I used to take everything for granted*. I never said “thank you” to people. As time went by, I found that my classmates didn’t like me and my best friends left me. one day, I asked Leo, who used to be one of my best friends. He said that I was selfish, rude* and bad-tempered*. “No one wants to make friends with a person who always receives but never gives anything!” he said. I was shocked* at his words. “Oh, no! Please don’t leave me. I need friends! I will be lonely and unhappy without friends!” I locked myself up in the room and cried. “I want my friends back. But how?”

?? Then I noticed that all the popular kids in the class friendly to others. They always smile and say “thank you” to others. They do whatever they can to help when others are in trouble. Other kids like them and always play with them. “I need to change! I will get my friends back,” I said to myself. From then on, I started to change myself. I learned to say “thank you” to others. I smiled and volunteered to help other kids. I tried to be as nice as I could. Gradually, I found that other kids liked to talk with me and they would ask me to play with them and even told me their secrets. My friends came back to me again.

?? Now I have more friends than I used to do and I am happier than I used to be.

1.What’s the boy’s life like at home?

A. His parents spend much time with him.????????????? ????????????? ?????????????

B. He has to do lots of housework.

C. He can do what he wants to do.?????????????

D. He does much more homework than other kids.

2.What did the boy do to change himself?

A. He learned to say “thank you”.

B. He always smiled at others.

C. He helped others as much as he could.?????????????

D. All of the above.

3.The underlined word “gradually” means ___________.

A. To begin with????????????? ????????????? B. Sometimes????????????? ????????????? C. In a word????????????? ????????????? D. Slowly

4.What can we infer(推断)from the passage?

A. To make more friends, you need to try to please them.????????????? ?????????????

B. A person who always received but never gives can still have many friends.

C. The boy lost his friends at first because he didn’t like them.

D. To be a nicer and better person, we need to make some changes.