Two weeks ago, Ruichang City in Jiangxi Province was hit by an earthquake measuring 5.7 on the Richter scale(里氏震级). It killed 18 people and left hundreds homeless.

　  Earthquakes are one of the most deadly natural disasters(灾难) in the world. They happen more often than you would expect.

　  In the 24 hours after you read this, 400 to 500 earthquakes will shake the earth. You won't notice most of them because you live in a relatively(相对地) safe area or the quake is too far away or because the quake will be too small to notice.

　  Earthquakes are caused by sudden breaks in rock masses(群) deep in the earth. Rock masses are always under very high pressure. If the pressure in a certain area become too much and the rock masses break, an earthquake happens. But exactly when the rock masses reach the breaking point is a mystery(谜).

　  China is on the Eurasia(欧亚) plate, where earthquakes happen very often due to the earth's plates knocking against each other. Up to 17,139 earthquakes have taken place in China in the past 44 years, according to scientific research.

1What happened to the City of Ruichang?

A.18 people were killed in an earthquake.

B. Hundreds homeless people left the city.     

C. An earthquake ruined thousands of houses there.

D. An earthquake measuring 7.5 on the Richter scale happened.       

2How many earthquakes can happen in a day in the world?

A. 24.                  B. 44.                  C. 400 to 500.                   D. 17139.

3Why does the earth quake? Because ______.

A. we live in a relatively safe area                                             

B. the pressure in the earth is too big

C. the rock masses is reaching the breaking point

D. the rock masses break suddenly deep in the earth

C

Once upon a time a woman found she was not easy to wake up in the morning as early as she wished. So she bought a beautiful alarm clock. These clocks are so made as to strike with loud whirring noise at any hour the owner pleases to set them.

The lady placed her clock at the head of the bed, and at the right time she found herself roused by the long, rattling sound.

She got up at once, and felt better all day for her early rising. This lasted for some weeks. The alarm clock faithfully did its duty, and was plainly heard so long as it was obeyed.

But, after a time, the lady grew tired of early rising. When she was waked by the noise, she merely turned over in bed, and slept again.

In a few days, the clock ceased to wake her from her sleep. It spoke just as loudly as ever; but she did not hear it, because she had been in the habit of not obeying it.

Finding that she might as well be without it, she made up her mind that when she heard the sound she would jump up.

Just so it is with conscience(自觉意识，诚意). If we will obey its voice, even in the least important things, we can always hear it, clear and strong.

But if we allow ourselves to do what we have some fears may not be quite right, we shall grow more and more sleepy, until the voice of conscience has no longer power to wake us.

4Why did the clock failed to stop to get the woman up later?

A. Because she was tired of getting up early in the morning.

B. Because she could not hear the clock any more.

C. Because she was too tired to wake up at it.

D. Because the clock stopped to do its duty.

5 Both the underlined words “whirring” and “rattling” are kinds of ______.

A. colours                        B. sounds         C. actions                   D. feelings

6 The writer mainly wants to tell us that ______.

A. we should always obey our clocks

B. the clock sometimes can’t wake us up as we wish 

C. It is conscience that ensures early rising not the clock

D. The voice of conscience has no longer power to wake us.

   

Amy was a dear little girl, but she was too ready to waste time in getting ready to do her tasks, instead of doing them at once as she ought to.

In the village in which she lived, Mr. Thornton kept a store where he sold fruit of all kinds, including berries in their season. One day he said to Amy, whose parents were quite poor, “Would you like to earn some money?”

“Oh, yes, ” replied she, “for I want some new shoes, and papa has no money to buy them with.”

“Well, Amy,” said Mr. Thornton, “I noticed some fine, ripe blackberries in Mr. Green’s field today, and he said that anybody was welcome to them. I will pay you thirteen cents a quart(度量单位) for all you will pick for me.”

Amy was delighted at the thought of earning some money; so she ran home to get a basket, intending to go immediately to pick the berries.

Then she thought she would like to know how much money she would get if she picked five quarts. With the help of her slate(书写板) and pencil, she found out that she would get sixty-five cents.

“But supposing I should pick a dozen quarts,” thought she, “how much should I earn then?” “Dear me!” she said, after figuring(测算) a while, “I should earn a dollar and fifty-six cents.”

Amy then found out what Mr. Thornton would pay her for fifty, a hundred, and two hundred quarts. It took her some time to do this, and then it was so near dinner time that she had to stay at home until afternoon.

As soon as dinner was over, she took her basket and hurried to the field. Some boys had been there before dinner, and all the ripe berries were picked. She could not find enough to fill a quarter of a quart.

As Amy went home, she thought of what her teacher had often told her---“Do your task at once; then think about it,” for “One doer is worth a hundred dreamers.”

7How many times did Amy figure with her slate?

   A. 3.                               B. 4.                         C. 5.                     D. 6. 

8The underlined sentence may mean “______”.

A. she got ready to waste some time to do her tasks

B. she thought it was a waste of time to do her tasks

C. she liked to waste time when should do her tasks immediately

D. she was not ready to get her tasks ready, and it’s a waste of time

9What can we infer from the story?

A. Amy’s family was very poor.

B. Amy was good at counting with a slate.  

C. Mr. Thornton was the richest person in the village.

D. Amy would learn a better lesson from this affair than from school.        

10 The best title of the passage may be “_____”.

A. The Money Amy Did Not Earn               

B. The Girl Did Not Like To Waste Time    

C. Amy, A Good Student To her Teachers

D. A Poor Girl Wanted To Earn Some Money

Two new students come to our school．They are from England and America．They speak a little Chinese．They teach us English and we teach them Chinese．We talk in English or in Chinese．Now we can speak much English and they can speak much Chinese．

We all like playing football very much．We play football and ping-pong on Sundays．Some- times we fly kites．

根据短文内容，判断正误。正确的在括号中写“T”，错误的在括号中写“F”。

1．The two new students come from the same（同样的）country．

2．All the students in this school can speak Chinese very well．

3．The two new students and their classmates are good friends now．

4．They only talk in English in class．

5．They like football and basketball very much．

  Two Americans from England were travelling in Spain. One day they came into a little restaurant for lunch. They didn't know the native（本地的）language and the waiter didn't know them, either.

  They wanted the waiter to understand that they asked for some milk and bread. At first they read “milk” many times, then spelled it. But the waiter could not understand them. At last（最后）one of them took a piece of paper and began to draw a cow. When he was just finishing（完成）it, the waiter looked at it and ran out of the restaurant. “Do you see?” said the American, “how clever I am.” After some time, the waiter came back. He brought no milk or bread with him. He put down in front of them two tickets for a bull-fight（斗牛）.

True or false：（正确的写T；错误的写F）

(1)The story happened in France.

(　　)

(2)The two Americans came into a little restaurant.

(　　)

(3)The waiter couldn't understand them.

(　　)

(4)After some time, the Americans got milk and bread.

(　　)

(5)An American drew a cow on the paper.(　　)

Spending two or three hours playing outdoors each day can reduce(减少)a child’s chance of becoming short-sighted（近视）,research shows . It challenges the belif that short-sightedness is caused by computer use , watching TV or reading in weak light .
Australian government researchers believe that sunlight is good for people’s eyes . They compared the vision （视力）and habits of 100 seven-year-old children in China and Australia .In all,30% of the Chinese children were short-sighted .This percentage was ten times higher than Australian children.
Both groups spent a similar amount of time reading, watching TV and playing computer games .However , the Australia children spent an average of two hours a day outdoors ,90 minutes more than the Chinese children.
Professor Ian Morgan said ,“Humans are naturally long-sighted ,but when people begin to go to school and spend little or no time outdoors ,the number of short-sighted peoplegets larger. We are also seeing more and more short-sighted children in cities all around the world –and the main reason may be that city children spend less time outdoors .
Daylight can be hundreds of times brighter than indoor light . But why does playing outside prevent us from becoming short-sighted ? Scientists believe that natural light has a special chemical（化学物质）which stops the eyeball from growing out of shape and prevents people from becoming short-sighted .
So go outdoors .It doesn’t matter if that time is spent having a picnic or playing sports .
根据材料内容选择最佳答案，并将其标号填入题前括号内。
【小题1】What can reduce a child's chance of becoming short-sighted according to the passage ?

A．Playing computer games.

B．watching TV.

C．Reading books.

D．Spending 2 or 3 hours playing outside every day.

【小题2】What does the underlined word "percentage" mean?    

A．百分比

B．功率

C．平均分

D．效率

【小题3】How much time did the Chinese children spend outdoors according to the research?                                   

A．2 hours.

B．90 minutes.

C．1 hour.

D．30 minutes.

【小题4】What is the fifth paragraph mainly about?

A．Why people become short-sighted.

B．Why natural light has a special chemical.

C． Why playing outside is good for one's eyesight.

D． Why daylight is much brighter than indoor light.

【小题5】Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?  

A．People will all become short-sighted after they begin to go to school.

B．Playing outdoors for 2 or 3 hours every day can help protect your eyesight.

C． Children in Australia are more likely to become short-sighted than those in China.

D． lf you spend 2 or 3 hours playing outside each day, you will become short-sighted.

Spending two or three hours playing outdoors each day can reduce(减少)a child’s chance of becoming short-sighted（近视）,research shows . It challenges the belif that short-sightedness is caused by computer use , watching TV or reading in weak light .

     Australian government researchers believe that sunlight is good for people’s eyes . They compared the vision （视力）and habits of 100 seven-year-old children in China and Australia .In all,30% of the Chinese children were short-sighted .This percentage was ten times higher than Australian children.

     Both groups spent a similar amount of time reading, watching TV and playing computer games .However , the Australia children spent an average of two hours a day outdoors ,90 minutes more than the Chinese children.

Professor Ian Morgan said ,“Humans are naturally long-sighted ,but when people begin to go to school and spend little or no time outdoors ,the number of short-sighted peoplegets larger. We are also seeing more and more short-sighted children in cities all around the world –and the main reason may be that city children spend less time outdoors .

Daylight can be hundreds of times brighter than indoor light . But why does playing outside prevent us from becoming short-sighted ? Scientists believe that natural light has a special chemical（化学物质）which stops the eyeball from growing out of shape and prevents people from becoming short-sighted .

So go outdoors .It doesn’t matter if that time is spent having a picnic or playing sports .

根据材料内容选择最佳答案，并将其标号填入题前括号内。

1.What can reduce a child's chance of becoming short-sighted according to the passage ?

            A. Playing computer games.                

B. watching TV.

            C. Reading books.

D. Spending 2 or 3 hours playing outside every day.

2.What does the underlined word "percentage" mean?    

   A.百分比  B.功率    C.平均分  D.效率

3.How much time did the Chinese children spend outdoors according to the research?                                    

A. 2 hours.     B. 90 minutes.    C. 1 hour.    D. 30 minutes.

4.What is the fifth paragraph mainly about?

             A. Why people become short-sighted.

             B. Why natural light has a special chemical.

             C.  Why playing outside is good for one's eyesight.

             D.  Why daylight is much brighter than indoor light.

5.Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?  

        A. People will all become short-sighted after they begin to go to school.

        B. Playing outdoors for 2 or 3 hours every day can help protect your eyesight.

        C.  Children in Australia are more likely to become short-sighted than those in China.

D.  lf you spend 2 or 3 hours playing outside each day, you will become short-sighted.