“what’s the matter, mum?” As soon as I enter the door, I find that my mother is      . It’s unusual —she usually       the door and welcomes me with a smile!

“She's dying,” mum says sadly. I       what she says. The tulip (郁金香), mother’s        is dying.

A month ago, we moved       our new house and mum bought a very beautiful tulip. Mum liked it very much.      . she was free, she would sit       her armchair beside the tulip and enjoys its beautiful colour       sweet smell.

She treated it like a baby and looked after it      . She put the tulip by window and moved it from one place to       to give the tulip enough sunshine. The first thing she did when she       every morning was       the tulip, Mum also fertilized (施肥) it many times.

She hoped that with great care, the tulip would become more and more beautiful and      , But the tulip was dying       too much sunshine, water and fertilizer.

It's true that mother loved the tulip. But this kind of love       be harmful. Love can sometimes kill what you love.

1.A. happy                   B. unhappy                 C. pleased                 D. pleasure

2.A. closes                   B. opens         C. keeps                  D. takes

3.A. know                     B. love                     C. think                    D. find

4.A. favourite            B. hate                   C. unlike                   D. like

5.A. into                 B. around                C. across                   D. with

6.A. Though              B. Because               C. After                    D. When

7.A. at                        B. in                       C. on                      D. under

8.A. but                      B. and           C. for                      D. or

9.A. happily                  B. brightly                  C. carefully               D. usually

10.A. other              B. place        C. two places             D. another

11.A. got up                 B. made the bed       C. played the piano D. washed her face

12.A. to take             B. to cut                     C. to water                D. to pull

13.A. dry                B. strong       C. wet             D. old

14.A. because                   B. for                      C. since            D. because of

15.A. must              B. should                 C. may             D. need

“What’s the matter, mum?” As soon as I enter the door, I find that my mother is   26  . It’s unusual, she usually    27  the door and welcomes me with a smile!

“She’s dying,” mum says sadly. I   28  what she says. The tulip (郁金香), mother’s   29 is dying.

A month ago, we moved   30  our new house and mum bought a very beautiful tulip. Mum liked it very much.   31  she was free, she would sit   32  her armchair beside the tulip and enjoys its beautiful colour   33  inviting smell.

She treated it like a baby and looked after it   34 . She put the tulip by window and moved it from one place to   35 to give the tulip enough sunshine. The first thing she did when she   36  every morning was   37 the tulip, Mum also fertilized (施肥) it many times.

She hoped that with great care, the tulip would become more and more beautiful and   38  . But the tulip was dying   39  too much sunshine, water and fertilizer.

It’s true that mother loved the tulip. But this kind of love can be ___40___.Love can sometimes kill what you love.

1.A. happy      B. unhappy          C. pleased          D. pleasure

2.A. closes     B. opens            C. keeps            D. takes

3.A. know       B. love             C. think            D. find

4.A. favourite  B. hate             C. unlike           D. like

5.A. into       B. around           C. across           D. with

6.A. Though     B. Because          C. After            D. Whenever

7.A. at         B. in               C. on               D. under

8.A. but            B. and              C. for              D. or

9.A. happily        B. brightly         C. carefully        D. usually

10.A. other     B. place            C. two places       D. another

11.A. got up        B. made the bed     C. played piano     D. washed her face

12.A. to take       B. to cut           C. to water         D. to pull

13.A. dry           B. strong           C. wet              D. old

14.A. because       B. for              C. since            D. because of

15.A. helpful    B.useful           C. harmful           D.hopeful

In the United States, when one becomes rich, he wants people to know it. And even if he does not become very rich, he wants people to think that he is. That is what “keeping up with the Joneses” is about. It is the story of someone who tried to look as rich as his neighbours.

The expression was first used in 1913 by a young American called Arthur Momand. He told this story about himself. He began earning $ 125 a week at the age of 23. That was a lot of money in those days. He got married and moved with his wife to a very wealthy neighbourhood outside New York City. When he saw that rich people rode horses, Momand went horseback riding every day. When he saw that rich people had servants, Momand and his wife also hired a servant and gave big parties for their new neighbours.

It was like a race, but one could never finish his race because one was always trying to keep up. The race ended for Momand and his wife when they could no longer pay for their new way of life. They moved back to an apartment in New York City.

Momand looked around him and noticed that many people do things just to keep up with rich lifestyle of their neighbours. He saw the funny side of it and started to write a series of short stories. He called it “Keeping up with the Joneses” because “Jones” is a very common name in the United States. “Keeping up with the Joneses” came to mean keeping up with rich lifestyle of the people around you. Momand’s series appeared in different newspapers across the country for over 28 years.

People never seem to get tired of keeping up with the Joneses. And there are “Joneses” in every city of the world. But one must get tired of trying to keep up with the Joneses because no matter what one does, Mr. Jones always seems to be ahead.

1.Some people want to keep up with the Joneses because they ________.

A．want to be as rich as their neighbours

B．want others to know or to think that they are rich

C．don’t want others to know they are rich

D．want to be happy

2.It can be inferred (推断) from the story that rich people like to ________.

A．live outside New York City                 B．live in New York City

C．live in apartments                       D．have many neighbours

3.Arthur Momand used the name “Jones” in his series of short stories because “Jones” is ________.

A．an important name                      B．a popular name in the United States

C．his neighbour’s name                   D．not a good name

4.If a person who keeps up with the Joneses, he would _________.

A．do as the poor persons around him do

B．do everything he likes to do

C．do as his neighbours do

D．do as the rich people around him do

Will it matter if you don’t take your breakfast? A short time ago, a test was given in the United States. People of different ages, from 12 to 83, were asked to have a test. During the test, these people were given all kinds of breakfasts, and sometimes they got no breakfast at all. Scientists wanted to see how well their bodies worked when they had eaten different kinds of breakfasts.
The results show that if a person eats a right breakfast, he or she will work better than if he or she has no breakfast. If a student has fruit, egg, bread and milk before going to school, he will learn more quickly and listen more carefully.
The result is opposite to what some people think. Having no breakfast will not help you lose weight. This is because people become so hungry at noon that they eat too much for lunch. They will gain weight(增加体重) instead of losing it. You will lose more weight if you reduce your other meals.
【小题1】During the test, the people were given ________.