Many students of English think that learning a new language is very difficult. Now think how difficult it
is to learn English when your brain is only the size of a bird's brain! That is what some birds can do.
     Many different kinds of birds can copy the sounds of language. African grey parrots are the best known
for this.
     Every December in London, the National Cage and Aviary Bird Show tries to find the best "talking" bird
in the world. One bird named Prudle stood out among the "talking birds". She won this prize for 12 years
from 1965 to 1976.
     Prudle was taken from her nest in Uganda in 1958. She was sold to Iris Frost in Seaford, England. Prudle
knew almost 800 words in English.
     Prudle was also the oldest bird in the world that lived in a cage. Ms. Frost took care of the bird until
Prudle died in 1994. Prudle was 35 years old.
     A different kind of bird, not a parrot, named Puck was tested in 1993. It turned out that Puck knew more
English words than Prudle knew. Puck knew more than 1,700 words.
     If a bird can do it, anybody can do it.

1. What kind of birds is the most famous for speaking?

A. African grey parrots.
B. The birds with big brains.
C. The birds in cages.
D. English parrots.

2. What dose the word "stand out" mean in this passage?

A. 站出来
B. 飞起来
C. 脱颖而出
D. 取出来

3. How many years did Prudle win the speaking competition for birds?

A. 35 years.
B. 12 years.
C. 55 years.
D. 8 years.

4. Puck was better than Prudle because ______.

A. he could fly higher
B. he knew more words
C. he spoke faster
D. he was bigger

5. Who was Iris Frost?

A. A parrot.
B. Puck's owner.
C. Prudle's owner.
D. An English teacher

        A Japanese girl learned English in the classroom for two and a half years, and she al-ways wanted to visit London. Now she arrived there at last. When she went out of the station,she didn't know the way to
the hotel,so she asked a policeman standing at the station gate. She spoke slowly and clearly. But to her
surprise, he didn't understand her at all. She asked the same question again and again and then the
policeman understood at last. He answered her,but she didn't know what he was saying, Her teacher
never spoke English like that " I'm a Japanese. I'm new here. "the girl said. The policeman spoke more
slowly than before,and she listened very carefully. but still she couldn't understand him. They looked at
each other and smiled. Then he said something she understood. "You'11 soon learn English !" Then she
knew that the English she had learned was quite different from the English people speak !

1. How many years did the Japanese girl learn English in the classroom?

A. Half a year.      
B. For two years
C. For a halt year.    
D. For two years and a half.

2. How did the Japanese girl get to London?

A. By train.  
B. By ship.  
C. by plane.    
D. By car.

3. Why did the girl ask the policeman?

A. Because she couldn't speak-English.
B . Because she wanted to know the way to the hotel.
C. Because she lost her things.
D. Because she was afraid in a new place.

4. Why was the girl surprised in that city?

A. The policeman didn't understand her at all.
B. She couldn't speak English freely.
C. The policeman under-stood her at last.
D. She asked the same question again and again.

5. What can we learn from the story?

A. The policeman spoke bad English. The girl's English was not good enough.
B. The policeman didn't know the way to the hotel.
C. The girl's English was not good enough.
D. 'There are no good teachers in Japan.

       Have you heard of the story of Mother Teresa? She was born on August 27, 1910 in Yugoslavia. 
When she was nineteen years, old, she was sent to India to work for the poor as a missionary (传教士).  
From then on, she never left this country.  She totally served the sick and the poor and she dedicated her
 full life to this purpose.       
       She worked in Calcutta, the largest city in India. She was busy offering food and other things to the 
poor in the streets of Calcutta day and night. When she arrived in Calcutta at first,  she had hardly any 
money and was helped by a priest (牧师).  She lived in a small room for 9 years, where she nursed sick
 people back to health.       
       She tried her best and opened several organizations to help those who were living very hard lives.
 Because of her hard work, she got the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979. Though Mother Teresa got so many 
honors, she remained modest, kind and generous till the end. In September 1997, Mother Teresa passed
 away and she is remembered by the people all over the world because of her high spirit.

1. How many years did Mother Teresa work as a missionary?            

A. 68.       
B. 79.          
C. 87. 
D. 97.

2. The underlined word "dedicate" in the first paragraph means "           " in Chinese.  

A. 决定        
B. 放弃        
C. 奉献        
D. 利用

3. Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?         

A. Mother Teresa was born on August 27, 1910 in India.         
B. Calcutta is the largest city in Yugoslavia.         
C. In the beginning, Mother Teresa lived a very hard life in Calcutta.         
D. Mother Teresa got the Nobel Peace Prize after she passed away

4. Which of the following word is not suitable to describe Mother Teresa7?    

A. Modest.                  
B. Kind.        
C. Generous.                
D. Cruel.

5. What can we learn from the last sentence?       

A. All the people in the world know Mother Teresa.       
B. Mother Teresa is well-known around the world for her work.       
C. The Nobel Peace Prize was given to Mother Teresa in memory of her.       
D. Mother Teresa had a lot of supporters in India

     Many different kinds of birds can copy(模仿) the sound of language. African parrots(鹦鹉)
are the birds well-known for this.
     Every December in London, the Bird Show tries to find the best "talking" in the world. One
bird named Prudle stood out among the "talking birds". She was the winner for 12 years. Prudle
was taken from Africa in 1958. A man called Iris Frost in England bought her. Prudle was also the
oldest bird in the world that lived in a cage(笼子). Iris Frost looked after Prudle until Prudle died
in 1994. Prudle was 35 years old.
     A different kind of bird, not a parrot, named Puck was tested in 1993. People found that Puck
knew more English words than Prudle did. He knew more than 1700 words.

1. What kind of birds usually speak best?

A. African parrots
B. The Bird Show
C. Birds found in the zoos
D. English parrots

2. What is Prudle?

A. A prize
B. A cage
C. A bird
D. A test

3. How many years did Prudle win the speaking contest(竞赛) for birds?

A. twelve
B. thirty-five
C. forty-seven
D. thirty-six

4. Why was Puck better than Prudle?

A. He was bigger.
B. He spoke faster.
C. He knew more words.
D. He was younger.

5. How many words did Puck know?

A. about 1600
B. more than 1700
C. less than 1700
D. more than 1600