BALTIMORE. MARYLAND—An old postcard changed the lives of an eleven-year-old boy and a very sick woman. The postcard had a picture of the steamship Titanic. The Titanic was the largest ocean ship in the world. It hit an iceberg（冰山）and sank on April 14. 1912. More than 1,500 of the 2,200 people on the ship were killed.
　　The postcard was passed from one person to another for more than 80 years. Then it appeared at a card show for people who liked to collect postcards. An eleven-year-old boy, Joey Russell, came to the show with his grandfather. His grandfather knew everything about the Titanic and its trip from England to New York. “Let’s buy that postcard.” he told Joey. “It will be important someday.”
　　Two years later, Joey’s grandfather took him on a special trip. They went on a trip to the North Atlantic ocean to watch as workers pulled the Titanic up from the bottom of the ocean. Joey put his special postcard in his bag for the trip. On the ship, Joey met Edith Haisman. This woman was on the Titanic when it sank. She was one of the people who were rescued. Joey pulled the postcard out of his pocket. “Please sign this, Mrs. Haisman.” he said. She was happy to write her name on the back of the postcard.
When Joey got home, he put the postcard away and forgot about it, Then Kate Shelley, one of Joey’s friends, told him that her mother was very sick. She needed an operation, but there was a problem. The operation was very expensive, and the family needed $80, 000 to pay for it. Friends and relatives tried to help. But where could they get so much money?
　　Then when Joey went to see the new movie “Titanic”, he had an idea. “Millions of people are seeing this movie and reading about the Titanic.” Joey thought. He remembered the old postcard with Edith Haisman’s signature on it. “Maybe I can sell it for some money. Then I can help Kate’s mom.”
　　Joey told his mother and father about his idea to help Mrs. Shelley. His parents helped him try to sell the postcard to the person who would pay the most money for it. Joey’s story was on television and in newspapers. Joey and Kate even went to New York to be on a national TV show. After the show, many people called in to offer money for the Titanic card. Someone bought it for $60. 000.
Joey’s kind heart and the old Titanic postcard worked together to save a woman’s life.
【小题1】Which of the following is NOT true about the old postcard?

A woman repeated a bit of gossip（流言） about a neighbor. Within a few days, the whole village knew the story. The person she talked about was deeply hurt and angry.
Later, the woman spreading the rumor（谣言） learned that it was completely untrue. She was very sorry and went to a wise man to find out what she could do to repair the harm.
"Go to the marketplace," he said, "buy a chicken, and have it killed. Then on your way home, pick its feathers and drop them one by one along the road." Although surprised by this advice, the woman did what she was told.
The next day the wise man said, "Now, go and collect all those feathers you dropped yesterday and bring them back to me."
The woman followed the same road, but she was so discouraged when she found the wind had blown the feathers all away. After searching for hours, she returned with only three in her hand.
"You see," said the wise man, "it's easy to drop them, but it is impossible to get them all back. So it is the same with gossip. It doesn't take much to spread a rumor, but once you do, you can never completely undo（ 弥补） the wrong."
【小题1】Why did the the woman feel sorry ?

用所给单词的正确形式填空 (10%)

1.How long have you been _______ (collect) shells?

2.I was _______ (annoy) by his bad manners.

3.Why don’t you ______ (buy) a calendar for her?

4.Have you ever ______ (be) to Disneyland?

5.There is nobody in the classroom, ______ (be) there?

Travel Arrangements
Date: 15 April, 2013                                             For Miss Li Yan

Joyce was born in a poor family. Next Friday would be her mother’s birthday. Joyce wanted to buy something for her mother, but she had no money. As an 8-year-old girl, she couldn’t do part-time jobs. What could she do to make enough money for her mother’s birthday present?
Suddenly she had an idea. Usually, she would go straight to school, but this morning, she didn’t. She walked along the streets, picking up cardboard（纸板）, plastic（塑料）bottles and cans（易拉罐）. When it was time for school, she hid them in the backyard and ran to school as quickly as possible.
Eight days later, she decided to sell all the things she had collected because the next day was her mother’s birthday. She had to sell them and buy a birthday present for her mother. In the shop, she bought a beautiful hair pin for her mother.
When her mother got the present, she said with tears in her eyes,“This is the best present I’ve ever received.”
【小题1】How old was Joyce?
A. Seven.           B. Eight.        C. Nine.         
【小题2】Why couldn’t Joyce buy a present for her mother at first?
A. Because she had no money.
B. Because she didn’t know what her mother liked.
C. Because she didn’t love her mother at all.
【小题3】What was Joyce’s idea?
A. Doing part-time jobs.   
B. Collecting waste things and selling them.
C. Asking her best friend for help.
【小题4】How long did Joyce collect the waste things?
A. A week.      B. A month.    C. More than a week.
【小题5】 How did Joyce’s mother feel when she got the present?
A. Very sad.      B. Very happy and moved.     C. Very surprised.