A girl complained to her father about her hard life.She didn't know what she had to do and wanted to give up.She felt tired of fighting and fighting.One problem had been finished but another came over.
Her father，a cook，took her into the kitchen.He poured water into three pans and boiled(煮沸) them.After boiling，in the first pan was put some carrots，the second was put some eggs and the last was put with coffee.
The girl waited impatiently (不耐烦的)，confused by what her father did.About 20 minutes later，her father took out the carrots and put them in a bowl.He took the eggs and put them in a bowl.After that the coffee was poured into a cup.“My sweet heart，what do you see？” he asked.
“Carrots，eggs and coffee，” she replied.
Her father told her to close her eyes and asked her to touch the carrots.She did so and felt that the carrots were soft.After that he asked her to take the eggs and break them.After peeling (剥开) them，she got the eggs，cooked and hard.The last，the father let her smell the coffee. She asked，“What did you do this for，Father？” He explained that each had the same unlucky experience—the boiling water，but each had a different result. The strong and hard carrots had become soft and weak.The fragile eggs became hard after being cooked. The coffee was very special，they could change water.“Who are you？” asked her father.“When bad luck knocks at your door，what is your decision? Are you carrots，eggs or coffee？”

1. 1.

   The girl complained about her hard life because she didn't ________.

   1. A.
      want to give up
   2. B.
      finish one problem
   3. C.
      know what to do
   4. D.
      get tired of fighting
2. 2.

   The girl's father took her to the kitchen to ________.

   1. A.
      ask her how to boil eggs
   2. B.
      show her how to make coffee
   3. C.
      teach her how to be a cook
   4. D.
      tell her how to face difficulties
3. 3.

   After about twenty minutes，the carrots became ________.

   1. A.
      soft
   2. B.
      hard
   3. C.
      salty
   4. D.
      sweet
4. 4.

   The underlined word “fragile” in the passage means “________”.

   1. A.
      美味的
   2. B.
      易碎的
   3. C.
      特别的
   4. D.
      可怜的
5. 5.

   What can we learn from the passage?

   1. A.
      The girl's father liked to eat some kinds of food.
   2. B.
      Bad luck always knocks at strong people's doors.
   3. C.
      Boiled carrots，eggs and coffee had the same result.
   4. D.
      People should make right decisions when in trouble.

In some western countries, many children do chores (家务) to get pocket money. They usually start to do this when they are ten years old.
School students have to do homework and study for tests.  They don’t have much free time on weekdays. They often do chores on weekends.
Young kids only do easy chores. So they don’t get much money. But that’s enough. Many of them only want to buy candy. And candy is cheap! They often help do the dishes, sweep the floor, or feed the pet cat or dog.
When they get older, they want to buy more and more things. They want things that are more expensive than candy. So they have to work harder! They often help their parents wash the family car, cut the grass, or cook meals.
Some jobs are a good way for kids to learn new things. For example, they can learn how to use a lawnmower ( 割草机) or how to cook. Of course, their parents help them at first.

1. 1.

   How do many children get pocket money in some Western countries?

   1. A.
      By studying hard.
   2. B.
      By doing chores at home.
   3. C.
      By doing part - time jobs.
   4. D.
      By asking their parents for it.
2. 2.

   Mary wants to get more pocket money to buy something expensive. She may _________

   1. A.
      do the dishes
   2. B.
      feed the pet cat
   3. C.
      cook meals
   4. D.
      sweep the floor
3. 3.

   Which of the following is not true?

   1. A.
      Young kids do easy chores because they can get much money from their parents.
   2. B.
      School students often do chores on Saturdays and Sundays.
   3. C.
      If kids get older and want something more expensive, they can help wash their family car.
   4. D.
      Kids can learn how to cook with the help of their parents.
4. 4.

   The passage mainly tells us how children in some Western countries_________

   1. A.
      find jobs
   2. B.
      get pocket money
   3. C.
      study at school
   4. D.
      do chores

A Trap
Mr. Smith left his car outside his apartment one night as usual, but when he came down the next morning to go to his office, he discovered that the car wasn’t there. He called the police and told them what had happened, and they said that they would try to find the car.
When Mr. Smith came home from his office that evening, the car was back again in its usual place in front of his house. He examined it carefully to see whether it had been damaged, and found two theater tickets on one of the seats and a letter which said, “We’re very sorry. We took your car because of an emergency.”
Mr. and Mrs. Smith went to the theater with the two tickets the next night and enjoyed themselves very much.
When they got home, they found that thieves had taken almost everything they had had in their apartment.

1. 1.

   What did Mr. Smith find one morning?

   1. A.
      His car was missing.
   2. B.
      The door of the car was open.
   3. C.
      His car was in the garage.
   4. D.
      His car was outside of the garage.
2. 2.

   What did he do then?

   1. A.
      He got in and drove it.
   2. B.
      He closed the door of his car.
   3. C.
      He called the police.
   4. D.
      He looked everywhere for it.
3. 3.

   What happened when he came home from his office that evening?

   1. A.
      The police was waiting for him.
   2. B.
      His car was back.
   3. C.
      His car was damaged.
   4. D.
      His car was stolen.
4. 4.

   What did Mr. Smith find on one of the seats in his car?

   1. A.
      Some books.
   2. B.
      Some tickets.
   3. C.
      Some money.
   4. D.
      Some food.
5. 5.

   What did Mr. and Mrs. Smith do with the thing(s) they found in their car?

   1. A.
      They sold them.
   2. B.
      They gave them to their friends.
   3. C.
      They threw them away.
   4. D.
      They went to the theater with them.

In learning English，one should first pay attention to listening and speaking．It is the groundwork of reading and writing．You’d better  31  your best to speak while you do much listening．Don’t be  32  of making mistakes．But be careful not to let them stop you from improving your  33 ．While you are doing this，a good  34  is to write-keep a diary，write notes or letters．Then if you can，ask some others to go through  35  you have written and tell you where it is wrong．Many mistakes in your speaking will be  36  found when you write．Through correcting mistakes，you can do better in learning English．

If you are slow in speaking，don’t  37  about it．One of the helpful ways is reading，either aloud or to yourself．The important thing is to choose  38  interesting to read． It mustn’t be too difficult for you．When you are reading  39  this way，don’t stop to  40  the new words if you can guess their meanings when they have nothing to do with the sentences．You can do that some other time．

31．A．have         B．send         C．make          D．try

32．A．sure         B．afraid       C．proud         D．tired

33．A．English      B．Chinese      C．Japanese      D．French

34．A．start        B．idea         C．way           D．manner

35．A．how          B．when         C．why           D．what

36．A．happily      B．easily       C．really        D．slowly

37．A．talk         B．fear         C．worry         D．hurry

38．A．something    B．everything   C．anything      D．nothing

39．A．by           B．on           C．at            D．in

40．A．look at      B．look for     C．look up       D．look over