On the night of May 9, 2011, musician Gao Xiaosong ran his car into three other cars in Beijing.
But it wasn’t just a car accident—he was drunk(喝醉的).
Now, Gao has to go to prison (监狱) for six months and pay a 4,000 yuan fine.
Gao is the first star to be punished under China’s new drunk driving law.
From May 1 on, drunk drivers will pay a fine, and be banned from driving for five years or even forever.
Drunk driving has become a serious social problem in China.
According to the Ministry of Public Security (公安部), police caught more than half a million drunk drivers last year, a 68 % increase from 2009.
The new law sees drunk driving as a crime.
In the West, drunk driving is also a crime.
In the US, for example, if the police catch a drunk driver, the driver will pay a fine, lose his or her license (驾照) and even go to prison. If the driver wants to drive again, he or she must do
public service, and take part in educational programs.
You may think: drunk driving is a crime? Isn’t this law too unkind? But experts say: not at all.
“It is to protect people’s rights to life and health,” Li Gang, lawyer in Chengdu, told China Daily. “Drunk driving is very dangerous. No matter what the results are, it should not be allowed.”
【小题1】 Mr. Gao ran his car into three other cars because _________.
A. he went home too late
B. he drank too much wine
C. the road was too crowded
【小题2】 What does the underlined word “fine” in the third paragraph refer to(指)?
A. Health.    B. Weather.    C. Money.
【小题3】When did the new law come into use?
A. May 1, 2010.      B. May 1, 2011.     C. May 9, 2011.
【小题4】What do experts think of the new law?
A. Drunk driving is a crime.
B. The law is not kind to drunk drivers.
C. Driving has become a serious problem.
【小题5】 Which of the following sentence is TRUE?
A. Li Gang from Chengdu doesn’t like the law.  
B. In the US, drunk drivers will only lose their licenses.
C. There were more drunk drivers in 2010 than in 2009.

Dick often goes traveling when the summer holiday begins. But he was out of luck this summer.
He went to an old temple(庙)on a high mountain by himself. On his way there it suddenly began to rain heavily and he hurried to go down the mountain. When he got to the foot of the mountain, he found the wooden bridge was under the water, so he had to spend the rainy night in a broken farmhouse. He was so hungry that he hardly fell asleep.
The next morning the rain stopped and he found the bridge was damaged. He saw the river was not too deep and tried to swim across it. In the middle of the river the water nearly washed him away. Luckily , two farmers saved him, but he lost his bag. They gave him some food and dry clothes. He thanked them and went to the nearest town to call up his parents.
At the end of the street, Dick found a small hotel and went in. He asked the price for a room.
“A room on the first floor is twenty dollars, on the second floor, fifteen dollars and on the third, ten dollars,” answered the owner.
The young man had only eight dollars in all his pockets. He said thanks and was leaving. The owner asked, “Don’t you like our hotel?”
“Yes, it’s good,” said Dick, “but it’s not tall enough!”
【小题1】Dick spent the rainy night ______.

Long ago, Bluebird’s feathers were the colour of dust. She did not like her ugly colour. She was attracted by the colour of the lake near her home. It was as blue as the sky after a storm. Bluebird wanted to be the colour of that beautiful lake very much. Flapping her wings one morning, Bluebird flew from her tree to the blue lake. Then she bathed in the water three times. After each bath, she sang, “Blue water. Still water. I went in. I am blue.” Bluebird repeated this every morning. On the third day, she came out of the lake with beautiful blue feathers.

Now Coyote was a trickster(骗子)—and hungry too. He stayed behind Bluebird’s tree for a long time every day and watched her go to the lake. He pretended(伪装) to be interested in everything she did. He wanted Bluebird for lunch, but he was afraid of the blue water. On the third morning, Coyote saw Bluebird come out of the lake with beautiful blue feathers. Impressed, he sat next to Bluebird’s tree and waited for her. When she returned, he asked, “How did you get blue feathers? I want to be blue like the mountains too.” Bluebird didn’t believe Coyote, but she taught him how to bathe three times each morning and how to sing her song. Coyote did what she said, and after three days of bathing in the lake, his white fur turned deep blue.

Convinced(确信的) that blue fur was even more beautiful than blue feathers, Coyote forgot all about being hungry. He ran as fast as he could to the top of the hill. Standing on his back legs, he raised his front legs off the ground and howled. But Coyote slipped(滑倒) and rolled down the hill. He couldn’t stop himself, and the dust and dirt covered his new blue fur. He rolled and rolled until he hit into Bluebird’s tree heavily. No matter how much he tried, foolish Coyote could not shake the dust from his fur. And so the fur of all coyotes had the dull colour of dust to this very day.

1.How many times did Bluebird bathe every morning before she had beautiful blue feathers?

A. Three times.        B. Four times.        C. Five times.         D. Six times.

2.Why was Coyote a trickster?

A. He wanted to fly like Bluebird near the mountains.

B. He wanted to eat Bluebird but pretended to be curious.

C. He wanted to swim in the lake but was afraid of the water.

D. He wanted to sing Bluebird’s song but didn’t know the words.

3.Where did Coyote go after his fur turned blue?

A. To the lake.         B. To the tree.         C. To the cave.       D. To the hill.

4.Why did Coyote forget all about being hungry?

A. Because his fur had the dull colour of dust.

B. Because the dust and dirt covered his new blue fur.

C. Because he thought blue fur was much more beautiful. 

D. Because he hit into Bluebird’s tree and hurt himself.

5.What words does the writer use to help you imagine the colour blue?

A. sky, lake, mountains  

B. bird, coyote, storm  

C. flapped, climbed, bathed  

D. fur, feathers, dust

Mr. Brown was going away for a week. Before he left, he said to his son, "If anyone asks for me, you can tell him that your father has been out for doing something, and will be back in a week, then be sure to ask him to sit down for a cup of tea."
"OK, Dad," said his son. But he was afraid his son couldn't remember this, he wrote these words down on a piece of paper and gave it to him. His son put it into his small pocket, took it out and looked at it every now and then.
Four days passed, but no one came to see his father. The boy thought that there was no man to come and that the piece of paper was of no more use for him, so he burnt it that evening.
The next afternoon, someone knocked at the door. The boy opened it. A man was standing at the door and said, "Where is your father?" The boy put his hand into his pocket at once and looked for the piece of paper. He could not find it. He suddenly remembered he had burnt it, so he shouted, "No more."
The man was very surprised. He asked, "No more? I met your father last week. When did it happen?"
"Burnt yesterday evening."
【小题1】Mr. Brown told his son that _____.

Mr Brown was going away for a week. Before he left, he said to his son, "if anyone asks for me, you can tell him that your father has been out for doing something, and will be back in a week, then be sure to ask him to sit down for a cup of tea."
"OK, Dad," said his son. But he was afraid his son couldn’t remember this, he wrote these words down on a piece of paper and gave it to him. His son put it into his small pocket, took it out and looked at it every now and then.
Four days passed, but no one came to see his father. The boy thought that there was no man to come and that the piece of paper was of no more use for him, so he burnt it that evening.
The next afternoon, someone knocked at the door. The boy opened it. A man was standing at the door and said, "Where is your father?" The boy put his hand into his pocket at once and looked for the piece of paper. He could not find it. He suddenly remembered he had burnt it, so he shouted, "No more."
The man was very surprised. He asked, "No more? I met your father last week. When did it happen?"
"Burnt yesterday evening."
【小题1】 A man came to visit the boy’s father on ________.