The following Mini Course will give you lots of ideas on how you can turn your favorite hobby into a
business. Just choose the hobby that interests you from the following, and enjoy reading through the articles and information on your favourite topics.
   Dog ownership, training and care. Dog ownership can be both a hobby and a lifestyle decision.
There are many different types of dogs in this series of articles.
   Cat ownership and care. Owning a cat can also be both a hobby and a lifestyle choice. If you want to know more things about your furry friend before you buy a cat, please read this section of the website.
   Blogging. Blogging is a big business these days and it is one of the fastest growing hobbies today. But what exactly is a blog? In this series of articles, we'll look at blogs and they will make you interested in
blogs.
  Chess. Chess is a very popular hobby. You can get tips and ideas about chess after you read this series of articles, which can help you win at chess.
  Fishing. As a global pastime and hobby to millions, fishing is a big business. There are many fishing
techniques and much information in this series of articles. Please try. Maybe you can catch a big fish next
time.

1. The Mini Course will offer you the following except___________.      

A. information about dogs    
B. websites about cat ownership
C. articles about hobbies    
D. advice on reading

2.The articles about dogs may tell us________.

A. how to make a decision    
B. where to buy a dog
C. differences between dogs    
D. how to develop a hobby

3.The underlined word "pastime" means __________in Chinese.

A. 过时        
B.  消失        
C. 消遣          
D. 运动

4.The similarity(相似性)of blogging and fishing is that___________.   

A. they are big businesses    
B. they are growing fast
C. neither of them is popular  
D. neither of them needs equipment(设备)

Here is some news from Dalian Daily．
·President's pet．
     Do you keep a pet? American President Obama does．He calls his new dog Bo．It is six months
 old．The president's family like the dog very much．Look! They are having fun with Bo on the South
Lawn (南草坪)of the White House．The president's daughter, Malia ,is showing the dog off．


·Back on her feet．
     Mosha is a young elephant in Thailand．She lost her right front leg after stepping on a landmine(地雷)
two years ago．She was taken to a hospital and became the first elephant in the world with a prosthetic leg
(假肢)．
     Now aged three Mosha is growing up．She is happy to have the new prosthetic leg．

·Liu Xiang
     World champion Liu Xiang returned to Shanghai on March 8．The 25-year -old star had a foot
operation in December in America．It took him three months to recover(康复)and train there．It is
said that some doctors are ready in Shanghai to help with Liu's recovery．Liu left the 2008 Beijing
Olympics because of his foot injury(损伤)last August．

1．The name of the president's dog is          .

A．Washington    
B．Bo    
C．Malia          
D．Obama 

2．How old is the dog?

A．Two months old  
B．Three years old  
C．Six months old  
D．Six years old

3．How did the elephant lose his front leg?

A．She had a traffic accident．        
B．She stepped on the landmine．
C．She was ill．                    
D．She fell into a big hole．

4．Liu Xiang had his foot operation in         .

A．China          
B．America        
C．Japan          
D．Australia

5．Liu Xiang left the Beijing Olympics because        ．

A．he was afraid of the other players      
B．he was too nervous to take part in it
C．his coach told him to do that          
D．his foot hurt

     The following rules will be used for the Reading Club:
     1.  All books must be read from page one to the last page.
     2.  The parent or the teacher will initial the booklist (书单)  after a student  has finished reading a book. Teachers  will  initial the  booklist  only for the books read at school.  It is the responsibility  (责任)  of the
student and parent to write the names of all books read, and the number of pages of the book on the book
list.
    3. All books read must be  of the student's reading level( 水平)  or above.  For example,  a third grade
student should not read first grade books if he or she is able to read at a third grade or higher reading level.
    4, All books the student finishes during the school year will be counted towards the 100 books. Comic books(漫画书) and the like will not be counted. Books of good quality read from the school library,
public library, classroom, home, etc. will be counted.
    5. When a student has finished a club booklist (one  sheet of 25 books or  l,500 pages) , he/she should
bring the sheet to the office. The child will get a small reward (奖励)  and may get another piece of booklist to go on reading. It takes four booklist sheets for 100 books or four l,500 pages to reach 6,000 pages.
Either way -You're a winner !

1. The student needs to ask his/her parents or teacher to initial the booklist__________ .

A. before he/she reads a book
B. after he/she finished reading a book
C. while he/she is reading a book
D. as soon as he/she begins to read a book

2. What kind of book will not be counted?

A. Story books.        
B. History books.
C. Picture books.      
D. Biology books.

3. How many books should a student read before he/she gets another booklist?

A. 25.                
B. 100.
C. 1,500.            
D. 6,000.

4. What does the underlined word 6'initial' mean in Chinese? It means "___________ "

A.借给              
B.还给  
C.签                
D.开始

5.  According to the rules, which of the following is NOT true?

A. The student should read the whole book through.
B. A third grade student can read the first graded books if he/she likes to do so.
C. The student needs to read 100 books or 6,000 pages in the school year to be a writer.
D. The parent will initial the booklist for the books the student reads at home.

1. On  Friday, the babysitter _________ .
A. gets $ 10                  
B. works three hours
C. docsn't have to work        
D. goes shopping
2. The babysitters must _________ .
A. be outgoing                    
B. finish senior high school
C. read books to the child      
D. clean the sitting room
3. A good babysitter for the job _________ .
A. gets $15 per hour          
B. is good at dancing
C. enjoys playing with children  
D. is good at singing
4. Which of the following is true?
A. The babysitter works at least five days a week.
B. Miss Liu's son was six years old last year.
C. If you want to b e a teacher,  you can call 29564938.
D. Family Fducation Center needs some teachers for the old.
5. Which of the four persons may get the job of a teacher?
A. Mary is 16, she is good at dancing and math, she's outgoing.
B. Ann is 19, she's from Senior high school, outgoing and good at English.
C. Gina is 22, she's from Senior high school, she's quiet.
D. Linda is 14, she is good at drawing pictures.