When Ben Franklin was only a boy，he always wanted to know about things. He was always asking his father and brothers “What？”and “How？” and “Why？”
They couldn't always tell him what he wanted to know．
When they couldn't tell him，Ben tried to find out for himself．
Many times Ben did find out things that no one knew before. The other boys would say，“That Ben Franklin！He's always finding out something new！”
Ben lived close to the water．He liked to go there to see the boats. He saw how the wind blew them across the water．
One day Ben said to himself，“Why can't the wind help me float（漂浮）across the water？And I'm going to try.” Ben got his big kite．He took hold of the kite string（线）and ran with it．The wind took the kite up into the air. Then Ben jumped into the water．
The wind blew the kite high into the air．Ben began to float across the water. Soon he was on the other side，and he had not worked at all．
One boy shouted，“Look at Ben floating across the water！His kite takes him to the other side without any work！”
“Yes,” said another．“He's always finding new ways to do things.”
【小题1】When he was only a child，Ben  ________．

Mr. Read works in an office. He is very busy and has no time to have a good rest. Every evening, when he comes back from his office, he’s always tired and wants to go to bed early. But his wife often has a lot of interesting things to tell him after supper. She doesn’t stop talking until she 1.________________________, but it’s usually too late and Mr. Read has to get up in time in the morning.

One day the man felt terrible and couldn’t go to work. He decided to 2. ____________________. Mrs. Read went with him. The doctor wrote out a prescription and said to Mrs. Read, “The bottle of medicine is for your husband and the pills are for you.”

“For me?’ the woman said in surprise. “I’m fine. I don’t need any medicine!”

“3. ______________________, madam,” said the doctor. “They are sleeping pills. Your husband will soon be all right if you take them.”

Do your parents ever say, “Act like a lady” or “Be a gentleman” to you? But in the eyes of today’s teenagers, what qualities (品质) should a lady or a gentleman have? Let’s take a look.
What is a gentleman?
The girls have their say:
Huang Xiaoyu of Guizhou: A gentleman is not a strong, stupid guy. He doesn’t get angry. He cares about others’ feelings. He’s always ready to help. There is a boy in my class I think is a gentleman. I didn’t do well in the mid-term English exam. He comforted (安慰) me by saying I would do better next time. His words made me feel happier.
Chen Tingting of Henan: A gentleman always says, “ladies first”. When cleaning the classroom, he does the heavy work. He lets girls go into rooms first. There aren’t any gentlemen in my class. When there are snacks, the boys in my class are always the first to grab them!
Boys tell us what they think a lady is:
Wu Yifan of Dalian, Liaoning: A ladylike girl is gentle and quiet. But she’s not shy; she’s not afraid of expressing herself. She is kind and beautiful. To me, actress Dong Jie is a lady. She is pretty and gentle. She also has a kind heart. She does a lot for charity.
Wang Lichao of Tianjin: A lady is not just pretty-looking but wise too. She never says rude words. She is not noisy. She is always calm and at ease. There aren’t any real ladies in my class, I think. Most of the girls are of a style I call “wild beauties”.
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Mr White works in an office. He’s very busy and has no time to have a good rest. Every evening, when he comes back from his office, he’s always tired and wants to go to bed early. But his wife often has a lot of interesting things to tell him after dinner. She doesn’t stop talking until she falls asleep (入睡). But it’s usually too late and Mr White has to get up early in the morning when she is still sleeping.

One day Mr White felt terrible and couldn’t go to work. He decided to go to see a doctor. Mrs White went to the hospital with him. Before her husband said what was the matter with him, the woman told the doctor all. The doctor wrote out a prescription (处方). When Mrs White took the medicine to the doctor’s room, the doctor said to her, “The bottle of medicine is for your husband and the pills (药片) are for you. ”

“For me?” the woman said in surprise. “I’m fine. I don’t need any medicine!”

“I don’t think so, madam,” said the doctor. “They are sleeping pills. Your husband will be all right soon if you take them. ”

1.Mr White ______.

A．has time to have a good sleep

B．is busy but he can have a good sleep

C．isn’t tired and doesn’t like to go to bed early

D．doesn’t have a good rest

2.Mr White’s wife ______ every evening.

A．works late         B．writes things       C．keeps talking late    D．watches TV late

3.Mr White has to get up when his wife is sleeping in the morning because ______.

A．he can’t fall asleep                     B．he has to go to work

C．he doesn’t want to sleep                D．his wife asks him to get up

4.One day Mr White couldn’t go to work because ______.

A．he was ill                              B．his wife was ill

C．his wife didn’t let him go                 D．he didn’t want to go to work

5.The sentence “Your husband will be all right soon if you take them. ” means Mr White will soon be all right if ______.

A．Mr White takes the pills

B．Mr White takes the bottle of medicine

C．Mrs White takes the pills

D．Mrs White stops talking too much at night

Last weekend, when Jack was walking in the park, he saw a woman, who lived a few miles away, sitting on a bench with a dog beside her. The dog was looking up at the woman.

Jack walked up to the woman and said, “Hello, Sue, how are you? May I sit and talk with you for a while?”

“Of course, please sit down,” Sue said.

Jack sat down next to Sue on the bench, and they talked quietly together. The dog continued to look up at Sue, as if waiting to be fed. “That’s a nice dog, isn’t he?” Jack said, pointing at the animal.

“Yes, he is. He’s handsome. He’s a bit of a mixture, but that’s not a bad thing. He’s strong and healthy.”

“And hungry,” Jack said. “He hasn’t taken his eyes off you. He thinks you’ve got some food for him.”

“That’s true,” Sue said. “But I haven’t.”

They both laughed and then Jack said, “Does your dog bite?”

“No,” Sue said. “He’s never bitten anyone. He’s always gentle and friendly.”

Hearing this, Jack decided to hold out his hand and touched the animal’s head. Suddenly it jumped up and bit him.

“Hey!” Jack shouted. “You said your dog didn’t bite.”

Sue replied in surprise. “Yeah, I did. But this is not my dog. My dog’s at home.”

1. Jack and Sue were ______.

A. friends                                                   B. next—door neighbours            C. strangers

2. The dog looked at the woman because ______.

A. the woman wanted to feed him     B. the woman was friendly          C. it was hungry

3. Jack touched to dog because he believed ______.

A. the dog was handsome    B. Sue’s dog was unfriendly     C. the dog belonged to Sue

4.Do Sue’s dog bite?

A. Yes, it does.                                         B. No, it doesn’t.                            C. We don’t know.

5.Which of the following can be the best title of the passage?

A. A Wrong Question                             B. Sue’s Dog                                     C. A Pleasant Meeting