Franz Schubert was a well-known musician in the world. But he lived a very hard life and often went hungry. One day, being very hungry, he went into a small restaurant in Vienna, hoping he might meet some friends there. He looked around and saw nobody he could borrow any money from. Then his eyes fell on a paper on one of the tables. In it was a little poem. He took the paper with the poem. After he composed a piece of music for the poem, he took his work to the owner of the restaurant. He only received a dish of beef and potato for it. thirty years after his death, this manuscript(手稿) by Schubert was sold for 40 00c francs. it was his famous berceuse(摇篮曲).
【小题1】Schubert often

A．had his meal in restaurants

B．looked for his friends there

C．ate beef and potato there

D．had not enough food to eat

【小题2】 Schubert went into a restaurant because he thought

A．the owner might give him some food

B．he could eat the food without money

C．some friends of his might be there and lend him some money

D．he could write his famous berceuse there

【小题3】 From the passage we didn't know that____________.

A．where Schubert composed his famous berceuse

B．why Schubert composed his famous berceuse

C．whether it was hard for Schubert to make a living

D．who bought his famous berceuse for 40 000 francs

【小题4】 The best title for the passage should be_________.

A．the hard life of Schubert

B．Schubert and restaurant owner

C．Franz Schubert in a hotel

D．Franz Schubert and his berceuse

Nobody likes staying at home in a public holiday, especially when the weather is fine. Last august we decided to spend the day in the country. The only difficulty was that millions of other people had exactly the same idea.  We moved out of the city slowly behind a long line of cars. But at last we came to a quiet country road and after some time, stopped at a lonely farm. We had brought plenty of food with us and we got it out of the car. It was very peaceful in the cool grass until we heard ringing at the top of the hill. What we saw made us pick up our things and run back to the car as quickly as possible. There were about two hundred sheep coming towards us down the path.
【小题1】 Nobody likes staying at home on a public holiday because ________.

A．the weather is especially fine that day

B．everyone is afraid of being busy at home

C．he feels too crowded at home that day

D．each wants to have a good time in the country

【小题2】 The family stopped at a lonely farm__________.

A．to watch sheep	B．to have a meal
C．to visit someone	D．to find something

【小题3】 They ran to their car_________.

A．to hide themselves

B．to enjoy their dinner

C．so as not to be in the way

D．to get their guns and shoot at the sheep

【小题4】 Which of the following is true?

A．the road to the country is very busy on a public holiday.

B．the cars were too many to move that day.

C．seeing 200 sheep coming, they were very afraid.

D．that day they didn’t have any meal.

Success is often measured by the ability to overcome adversity（逆境）. But it is often the belief of others that gives us the courage（勇气）to try.
J. K. Rowling, author of the Harry Potter book series, began writing at age 6. Her good friend-Sean became the first person to encourage her and help her build the confidence that one day she would be a very good writer.
“He was the first person with whom I really discussed my serious ambition（志向） to be a writer. He was also the only person who thought I was bound to（注定）be a success at it, which meant much more to me than I ever told him at the time.”
Though there were many difficulties, Rowling continued her writing, particularly fantasy stories. But it wasn't until l990 that she first came up with the idea about Harry Potter. As she recalls（回忆）, it was on a long train journey from London to Manchester that “the idea of Harry Potter simply fell into my head. To my great disappointment, I didn't have a pen with me, and I was too shy to ask anybody if I could borrow one. I think, now, that this was probably a good thing, because I simply sat and thought, for four (delayed train) hours, and all the details came up in my brain, and this thin, black-haired, bespectacled（戴眼镜的）boy who didn't know he was a wizard became more and more real to me.”
That same year, her mother died after a ten-year fight with serious diseases, which deeply affected her writing. She went on to marry and had a daughter, but separated from her husband shortly afterwards.
During this time, Rowling was diagnosed with depression（诊断患有抑郁症）. Unemployed, she finished her first novel in area cafes, where she could get her daughter to fall asleep. After being refused by l2 publishing houses, the first Harry Potter novel was sold to a small British publishing house.
Now with seven books that have sold nearly 400 million copies in 64 languages, J. K. Rowling is the highest earning novelist in history. And it all began with her friend’s encouragement as well as her ambition to write.
【小题1】 Who believed J. K. Rowling was to be a good writer?

A．Her friend Sean.	B．Her mother.
C．Her daughter.	D．Her husband.

【小题2】 Rowling first came up with the idea about Harry Potter________.

A．at the age of 6	B．on a train journey
C．after her mother's death	D．in her secondary school

【小题3】 She felt disappointed on the train because_________.

A．her train was delayed for four hours

B．she didn't have a pen with her

C．her mind suddenly went blank

D．no one would offer her help

【小题4】 It can be concluded from Paragraph 5 and 6 that Rowling is_________.

A．open-minded	B．warm-hearted
C．good-natured	D．strong-willed

【小题5】 The text mainly tells us_________.

A．adversity makes a good novelist

B．the courage to try is a special ability

C．you can have a wonderful idea everywhere

D．encouragement helps one succeed

A young woman was driving through the lonely countryside. It was dark and raining. Suddenly she saw an old woman by the side of the road, holding her hand out as if she wanted a lift.  “I can't leave her out in this weather.” the woman said to herself, so she stopped the car and opened the door. “Do you want a lift?” she asked. The old woman nodded and climbed into the car. After a while, she said to the old woman, “Have you been waiting for a long time?” The old woman shook her head, “Strange.” thought the young woman.  She tried again, “Bad weather for the time of year,” she said. The old woman nodded. No matter what the young woman said, the hitchhiker(搭车者) gave no answer except for a nod of the head or a shrug.
Then the young woman noticed the hitchhiker's hands, which were large and hairy. Suddenly she realized that the hitchhiker was actually a man! She stopped the car. “I can't see out of the rear screen,” she said, “Would you mind clearing it for me?”
The hitchhiker nodded and opened the door. As soon as the hitchhiker was out of the car, the terrified young woman raced off.
When she got to the next village she pulled up. She noticed that the hitchhiker had left his handbag behind. She picked it up and opened it. She gave a gasp(喘息), inside the bag was a gun.
【小题1】What made the young woman feel strange about the old woman?

A．That she gave no answer to her questions.

B．That she was unable to speak.

C．That she kept nodding her head

D．That she had large and hairy hands.

【小题2】 A "lift" in the passage means ___________.

A．an elevator

B．an act of raising something

C．a ride in the car

D．help

【小题3】 The hitchhiker left the bag with a gun in it behind because ____.

A．he wanted to give her a warning

B．he had not expected that the woman would leave him behind in the rain

C．it was his present for her

D．he wanted to kill her with the gun

【小题4】Why did the young woman driver suddenly feel the hitchhiker was a man when she talked to the woman?

A．The woman only nodded her head, but no words

B．She noticed the hitchhiker's hands, which were large and hairy.

C．Because it was dark and raining

D．Because she found the gun in the woman’s handbag.

When he wrote The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain turned to Hannibal. The relationship between Hannibal and Twain began in November 1839, when Twain’s father decided to leave the village in Florida and move east about 35 miles to the somewhat larger and more prosperous Hannibal, on the banks of the Mississippi River. Twain marked his fourth birthday about a week after the family settled there. He showed little promise of becoming a long-term resident. However, because his health was so poor that his parents probably feared he would not survive childhood.
During the family’s first few years in Hannibal, Twain was too young to understand fully the changes going on around him. About the time the family moved into their new home. Twain’s health improved a lot. Instead of having to lead a quiet indoor life, he could roam the streets of Hannibal. Climb the surrounding hills, explore the area’s caves and splash about in local swimming holes. He reveled in his newfound freedom, spending nearly all his free time playing outdoors with the other boys in town and soon becoming a leader.
Twain’s carefree days did not last long, on March 24, 1847, his father died. For the next six years, his brother Henry, and his sister Pamela lived with their mother in the family home. Twain began taking odd jobs after school to bring in extra money. Within a year of his father’s death, he quit school and became an apprentice (学徒) printer, and when his brother Orion bought the Hannibal Journal in 1851, Twain went to work for him as a printer and editorial assistant. The stories he wrote for Orion’s paper, his first publications, taught him that he much preferred writing to typesetting. Thus, when he decided to leave Hannibal in May 1853, he already had an idea of his future career.
【小题1】 Why did little Mark Twain move and live in Hannibal?

A．Because he wanted to live in a larger and more prosperous city.

B．Because his father brought him there.

C．Because he wanted to wrote his novels there.

D．Because he wanted to become a long-term resident of Hannibal.

【小题2】 When did Mark Twain become healthy?

A．As soon as he arrived in Hannibal.

B．At the time when his family moved into their old home.

C．After his father died.

D．At the time when his family moved into their new home.

【小题3】 The last paragraph mainly tells us _________.

A．the happy childhood of Mark Twain

B．how Mark Twain became a famous writer

C．how Mark Twain to earn money to support his family

D．why Mark decided to leave Hannibal

Most people know that Marie Curie was the first woman to win the Nobel Prize, and the first person to win it twice. However, few people know that she was also the mother of a Nobel Prize winner.
Born in September, 1897, Irene Curie was the first of the Curies’ two daughters. Along with nine other children whose parents were also famous scholars, Irene studied in their own school, and her mother was one of the teachers. She finished her high school education at the College of Sévigné in Paris.
Irene entered the University of Paris in 1914 to prepare for a degree in mathematics and physics. When World War I began, Irene went to help her mother, who was using X-ray facilities（设备） to help save the lives of wounded soldiers. Irene continued the work by developing X-ray facilities in military hospitals in France and Belgrum. Her services were recognized in the form of a Military’s Medal by the French government.
In 1918, Irene became her mother’s assistant at the Curie Institute. In December 1924, Frederic Joliot joined the Institute, and Irene taught him the techniques required for his work. They soon fell in love and were married in 1926. Their daughter Helene was born in 1927 and their son Pierre five years later.
Like her mother, Irene combined family and career. Like her mother, Irene was awarded a Nobel Prize, along with her husband, in 1935. Unfortunately, also like her mother, she developed leukemia because of her work with radioactivity（辐射能）. Irene Joliot-Curie died from leukemia （白血病）on March 17, 1956.
【小题1】Why was Irene Curie awarded a Military Medal?

A．Because she received a degree in mathematics.

B．Because she contributed to saving the wounded.

C．Because she won the Nobel Prize with Frederic.

D．Because she worked as a helper to her mother.

【小题2】Where did Irene Curie meet her husband Frederio joliot?

A．At the Curie Institute.

B．At the University of Paris.

C．At a military hospital.

D．At the College of Sevigne.

【小题3】When was the second child of Irene Curie and Frederic Joliot born?

A．In 1932.

B．In 1927.

C．In 1897.

D．In 1926.

【小题4】 In which of the following aspects was Irene Cuire different from her mother?

A．Irene worked with radioactivity.

B．Irene combined family and career.

C．Irene won the Nobel Prize once

D．Irene died from leukemia.

As a boy, Mark Twain caused much trouble for his parents. He used to play practical jokes on all his friends and neighbors. The nature of his jokes often led to violence (暴力). He hated to go to school and he constantly ran away from home. He always went in the direction of the nearby Mississippi. He liked to sit on the bank of the river for hours at a time and just gaze at the mysterious island and the passing boats. He learned many things about the river during those days. He learned all about its history and unusual people. He later made them part of the history of America in the book Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn.
Mark Twain received his genius (天才) from his mother. Obviously he didn’t get it from his father. He once stated that he had never seen a smile on his father’s face. On the other hand, his mother had the ability to say humorous things. The same ability made Mark Twain an extremely humorous public speaker.
【小题1】According to the passage, Mark Twain was a _______ boy.

A．shy

B．brave

C．naughty(调皮的)

D．poor

【小题2】Because of the nature of his jokes when he was a child, Mark Twain would _______.

A．ran away form school

B．cause his parents to quarrel with others

C．get into trouble with his friends and neighbors

D．like to sit on the bank of the Mississippi River

【小题3】It can be learned form the passage that      ______.

A．Mark Twain’s father was a cruel man

B．Mark Twain never attended school on time

C．Mark Twain often went boating in the nearby river

D．Mark Twain’s mother was something of a humorist

【小题4】In his book Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain wrote much about _______.

A．the Mississippi and the people living on it

B．his friends and neighbors

C．his school life

D．his parents

【小题5】It is inferred that what affected Mark Twain’s character mostly was _______ .

A．his practical jokes

B．his father’s seriousness

C．the history of the Mississippi

D．his mother’s genius for humor

Zoe, Damacela, 19, didn't have nice clothes when she was young. It wasn't easy for Zoe’s hard-working single mother to make ends meet. They moved in and out of homeless shelters.
Everything changed for Zoe in grade nine. At that time, she heard about a sewing(缝纫) class at her school. She signed up and couldn't wait to turn her designs into clothes. The color of the first dress she made was white-black strips. Soon the clothes she wore were all made by her. Other girls at school loved her designs too. They asked her if they could buy dresses from her. Zoe sold her first dress for $13. Unfortunately, it cost her $25 to make the dress. “I had the creativity in designs," says Zoe. “But I really had no idea about business.”
Zoe kept selling the clothes she designed. Her business was booming, and even the girls who had ever teased her became her customers. In the eleventh grade, Zoe took a business class. She learned how to price her clothes so that she could be sure to make a fair profit.
Her business teacher suggested she take part in a contest for teenaged entrepreneurs (企业家). The contest was for teens from all over the United States. Zoe sent in her business plan, which explained how she planned to make her company grow. She won the second prize in the end. Zoe ’s success became a news item. Supermodel Tyra Banks heard about it and she invited Zoe to take part in her TV show. “Being recognized I felt really unreal,”says Zoe. Zoe has advice for teens who want to start their own business. “If you really work hard on it, you will be able to make it happen,” she says. “If I can do it, anyone else can.”
【小题1】We can learn that ______when she was in grade nine.

A．Zoe had no interest in designing clothes

B．Zoe seldom wore her self-made clothes

C．Zoe didn' t know how to make money

D．Zoe attended a business course

【小题2】After winning the contest, Zoe ______

A．considered it a reward

B．expected to be known

C．was proud of her own gift

D．could hardly believe it

【小题3】Zoe advised the teens  ______  .

A．to make efforts to achieve their dreams

B．to design and make their own clothes

C．to try every means to become famous

D．to do whatever they would like to

【小题4】What is the main idea of the passage?

A．How Zoe learned to design clothes.

B．A poor girl achieved success in business.

C．How Zoe got a prize in a contest.

D．A poor girl was invited to a TV show.

I came to study in the United States a year ago. Yet I did not know the American society until I was injured in a car accident. After the accident, I had to see a doctor and go to court. When the accident happened, my roommate called a doctor for me. I was very grateful and decided to repay him one day. But the next day, he asked me to pay him $200 for what he had done. I was astonished. He said he had good reason to charge me and that if I wanted to collect money from the person who was responsible for my injury, I’d have to have a good lawyer. Now that he had helped me to find a good doctor, it was only fair that I should pay him.
But every time I went to see the doctor, I had to wait about 50 minutes. He would see two or three patients at the same time, and often stop treating one so as to see another. Yet he charged me $115 each time. The final examination report only contained ten lines, and it cost me $215.
My lawyer was all smiles the first time we met. But after that he avoided seeing me at all. He knew very well the other party was responsible for the accident, yet he hardly did anything. He simply waited to collect his money. He was so irresponsible that I decided to fire him. And he made me pay him $770.
Now I had to act as my own lawyer. Because of my inexperience, I told the insurance the date I was leaving America. Knowing that, they played for time … and I left without getting a cent.
My experiences taught me two things about America: firstly, in a country like America, money is everything. It is more important than friendship, honor or professional morality; secondly, foreigners are still being unfairly treated. So when we talk about America, we should see both its advantages and disadvantages.
【小题1】 The author’s roommate offered to help him because ________.

A．he felt sorry for the author.

B．he thought it was a chance to make some money

C．he knew the doctor was a very good one

D．he wanted the author to have a good lawyer

【小题2】 A good lawyer is important for the author to _______.

A．be properly treated

B．talk with the person responsible for the accident

C．recover before he leaves America

D．eventually get the responsible party to pay for his injury

【小题3】 Which of the following statements is wrong according to the passage?

A．The author has learned a lot through the experience.

B．Everything about America is advantageous.

C．The author’s roommate helped him but charged for that.

D．The author’s final examination report only contained ten lines but cost $215.

【小题4】 What conclusion can you draw from this story?

A．Going to court is something very common in America.

B．One must be very careful while driving a car.

C．There are more disadvantages in America than advantages.

D．Money is more important than other things in the US.

Where was I? The room was dark and quiet. My head hurt really badly. I shouted, “Help! Help! Can anybody help me?”
After a while somebody came in. The room was so dark that I couldn’t see his face clearly. The man turned on the light and said with a sharp voice, “Ah! Sweetie, do you still remember who I am?” I was shocked. Oh, my God! I cried, “You are Michael Zey, the man I charged with murder! Why are you here? You should be in prison!”
“You never thought about the result of charging a gang（犯罪团伙） leader, did you? Because of you, I was in prison for 15 years. You ruined my life!” His voice was very cold. My face was pale with fear. He was here to take revenge（报复）!
“Please, let me go! Don't hurt me! Please!” I asked him. “Dr. Calment, you are smart enough to know it is impossible. Now, I give you two choices. One is shooting your head. It is the quickest way. The other is cremation（火葬）. Your husband and you will be together forever. It’s quite romantic. Don't you think?” He spoke angrily. “What? My husband? He is innocent!” I shouted at him.
Suddenly, he took hold of my head and said, “You will pay for what you have done to me.” He took out a gun from his bag.
“Help! Help! Can anybody help me?”
【小题1】What might have happened to the writer before the man came in?

A．She had taken his place and become a gang leader.

B．She had come to this place to see her husband.

C．She wanted to pay for what she had done to Michael Zey.

D．She had been beaten terribly.

【小题2】 Which of the following words can best describe how the writer felt when the story happened?

A．Surprised.

B．Terrified.

C．Amazed.

D．Puzzled.

【小题3】 What does the underlined word “it” in the fourth paragraph refer to?

A．To let her go.	B．To hurt her.
C．To take revenge.	D．To stay in prison.

【小题4】 Michael Zey mentioned the writer’s husband because ______.

A．he thought her husband was guilty

B．he thought it was romantic

C．he thought her husband was innocent

D．he wanted to frighten the writer