“Are you listening, Simon?” Simon’s teacher asks.

Simon smiles and shakes his head. He doesn’t often listen or try hard in class. _31_ is so much better. He wants to be heard. That evening, Simon starts to feel a little bit sick. By bedtime, his throat feels really bad. He has ice cream and hot chocolate to make his throat feel better, but he isn’t sure it’ll _32_.

The next _33_. When he opens his mouth to say, “Good morning,” nothing comes out but a “Guh”.

When he gets to school, Mrs.jacobs says ”hello” to him, and he just nods. When his friends start to ask him what TV shows he watches, he just can’t say anything. By the time they start _34_, almost everyone is looking at him as if he’s got a third eye.

Simon sits in class, bored _35_ he can’t talk to his classmates. He watches them talk to each other, but he can’t even do that.

You know what? It isn’t that bad. He can really do his _36_ that night. It gives _37_ more TV and game time because his work is all done.

The next day, his voice is _38_ back, but he stays quiet again. The third day, he can talk _39_, but he doesn’t talk. He listens and puts up his _40_ to speak.

What a difference that one day makes!

1. shake 摇晃   2. throat 咽喉    3. nod 点头     4. bored 无聊的     5. quiet 安静的

31. A. Standing            B. Sitting                C. Talking              D. Listening

32. A. work               B. study                 C. go                 D. use

33. A. evening             B. morning              C. week               D. time

34. A. work               B. class                 C. school              D. game

35. A. so                 B. after                  C. but                D. because

36. A. homework          B. housework             C. writing             D. reading

37. A. her                B. him                   C. it                  D. them

38. A. coming             B. going                  C. turning             D. giving

39. A. alone              B. hard                   C. back               D. fine

40. A. car                B. head                   C. hand               D. arm

The story behind the shopping cart

Characters

Sylvan Goldman – owner of a grocery shop

Fred Young – Sylvan’s friend, a mechanic(机械师)

One night in 1936, in an American city. Inside Fred’s workshop, Sylvan sits next to Fred, who is making adjustments(调试) to their new i? 1. – a shopping cart.

Sylvan:????????????? My customers don’t like our shopping cart.

Fred:????????????? Really? So they p? 2. shopping with those heavy baskets?

Sylvan:????????????? (nods) I’ve got a huge crowd of customers every day, b 3. none of them wants to use the cart.

Fred:????????????? I don’t understand. We invented the cart so that people don’t need to carry a basket around the shop.

Sylvan:????????????? (laughs) And so that they will buy more groceries!

Fred:????????????? So why don’t they like the shopping cart?

Sylvan:????????????? Young men think that pushing a cart around makes them look w 4. and slow, and young women think it’s unfashionable.

Fred:????????????? Of course it isn’t fashionable right now. It’s only just been invented! But I’m sure older people will appreciate it.

Sylvan:????????????? Um…

Fred:????????????? What? They don’t like the cart e? 5.? ?

Sylvan:????????????? Well, they think pushing it makes them look helpless!

Fred:????????????? Oh no. We need to do something, Fred. We can’t just g? 6. up on this invention!

Sylvan:????????????? We won’t. (He gets up and walks around the room. Suddenly, he stops.) Aha! I’ve got an idea.

Fred:????????????? What is it?

Sylvan:????????????? I’ll hire(雇佣) some good-looking guys and girls to push the carts around and pretend they’re shopping.

Fred:????????????? Oh! So the real shoppers will see these attractive people using the carts and think, “Hey, if it’s good enough for them, it’s good enough for me!”

Sylvan:????????????? E 7. .

Fred:????????????? Hey! Maybe you could get one of the girls to greet your customers and encourage them to use the cart.

Sylvan:????????????? Great idea!

First Frenchman: I once heard someone shout, “Look out,” I put my head out of a window and a basin (盆) of water fell on me. It seems that “Look out” may mean “don’t look out.”

　　Second Frenchman: Once I was on a ship and heard the captain (船长) shout, “All hands on deck,” I put my hands on the deck and someone walked on them.

　　Third Frenchman: I once visited an English friend early in the morning and the maid who came to the door and said, “He’s not up yet. Come back in half an hour,” When I went again for him, she said, “He’s not down yet.”

　　“If he’s not up and he’s not down, where is he?” I asked.

She said, “He’s still in bed. When I say ‘He’s not up ’  I mean ‘he has not yet got up’. When I say‘He’s not down ’I mean ‘he has not yet come downstairs.”

1.“Look out”here means “ _______”.

A. put your head out of the window and look

B. Take care

C. I’m going to pour the water

D. Help me

2.“All hands on deck”means “ _______ ”.

A. All the sailors gather ( 集合 )on deck

B. Give your hands to me

C. Put your right hand and left hand on deck

D. Shake your hands with me

3.When the third Frenchman went back, the English friend _______ .

A. was washing his face

B. was having his breakfast

C. was still in an upstairs room

D. was reading a newspaper