Taking an after-school class will give you a head start in high school. But if it means walking home
every day, even in snow and rain, would you do it?
     I did. I took part in an after-school Spanish class. Because it was after school, no school buses were
there to take me home when the class ended. And my parents couldn't pick me up, so I had to walk home.
     At first I hated the walk because of the long distance. But after a few months, I got used to (习惯于)
it and it became one of my daily activities, like getting dressed and brushing my teeth. And I began to
enjoy it. I got to see things like birds flying and trees changing color. A few times I saw something very
special, like a small snake near the sidewalk, or two cars that came very close to crashing!
     Many of my classmates saw what I did. Once, one girl in my class asked her mother to drive me
home because it was raining outside, and I didn't have an umbrella (雨伞). Some people who I didn't
know even gave me a ride - they thought it was too cold out.
     People always think walking long distances is difficult. Modern technology (技术) makes common
things, like walking, seem impossible. Many people, like myself, live in the country and are close to
nature, but also far away from it because of technology.
1. What class did the writer take part in after school?
A. Math class    
B. Spanish class  
C. Art class
D. English class
2. When did the writer begin to enjoy walking home?
A. At the very beginning.    
B. After a week.  
C. After a few months.      
D. After a year.
3. Why did the writer begin to enjoy walking home?
A. Because something interesting happened on the road every day.
B. Because the writer could get a ride from some strange people.
C. Because the writer enjoyed walking in the rain alone.
D. Because the writer could enjoy some interesting things happening on the road.
4. When it was a rainy or snowy day, ______.
A. some kind people would give him a ride
B. nobody saw him and nobody helped him
C. the writer would choose to stay at school
D. the writer's parents would come to pick him up
5. What does the last paragraph want to tell us?
A. It is difficult for many people to walk long distances.
B. Modern technology brings people a lot of inconvenience (不方便).
C. Modern technology makes people live better, but farther from the nature.
D. It is impossible for people to walk a long distance nowadays.

     How many kinds of shapes (形状) can you name? If something is round, what do you call it? You call it
a circle. What can you see around you that looks like a circle?
     Another shape is square. A square has four sides. Each side is the same length (长度). A square has four
corners called right angles (直角).
     A triangle is also a shape. The prefix "tri" on the base word "angle" means "three". A triangle always has
three sides and three angles.
     All the pages of your textbooks have four square corners, but the pages are not square. Can you tell why
not? It is because the sides of each page are longer than the ends. Shapes like this are rectangles. You can say
that they are rectangular shapes.
      If you are given a piece of paper which is a rectangular shape, can you make the paper into a square? The
answer is "Yes", and it seems not so difficult. Now fold the square. What shape have you got? Do you think
it's very interesting?

1. You usually learn the knowledge discussed in this passage in _____ classes.

A. chemistry
B. math
C. history

2. Picture _____ is a rectangle.

A.  B.  C.

3. Picture _____ shows the right marks of"side & end" according to the passage.

A.  B.  C.

4. Fold a square in the way of the picture shown on the right, you may get a shape of _____.

A. square
B. rectangle                                       
C. triangle

5. In this passage, we've learned about _____ kinds of shapes.

A. three
B. four
C. five