was born in Brussels, on June 25th, 1928. His real name was Pierre Culliford. At first, he almost became a dentist’s assistant. Luckily, he got a job in a cartoon studio. There he met and worked with some of Europe’s most famous comic book artists such as Franquin and Morris. Unfortunately the studio closed down and Peyo decided to become a full-time comic artist. He found himself a pen name from his childhood nickname ‘Pe- yot’.
Peyo became successful as a comic (连环画) artist. He decided to draw what he really loved,
stories based in the Middle Ages. He created the character Johan and drew some Johan strips (漫画) for the Belgian daily newspaper ‘Le Soir’ and then for ‘Spirou’ magazine. Johan soon became a huge success and one of the magazine’s main characters.

For Johan’s ninth book of adventures, Peyo needed a group of imps (小精灵) to build a magic flute. At a meal with his friend Andre Franquin. he asked Franquin to pass him the salt. But he couldn’t remember the word so he said, “Pass me the … um… the smurf!”. Franquin handed it over and answered, “Here’s the smurf. Onee you’ve smurfed with it you can smurf it back to me!” And so the name and language of the little imps were invented. The readers soon fell in love with these little smurfs, who love having fun, live in mushroom-shaped houses and speak a strange and wonderful language.
The Smurfs films were first seen on Belgian television and then in France and the Netherlands. In 1981. The Smurfs was on the American NBC TV Channel for the first time, but the success didn’t stop there. The success of the Smurfs became planetary in the 80’s because of the cartoons. There are few regions left where people don’t know smurfs, but their name changes in every county; the Smurfs, die Schlümpfe, Los Pitufos, I Puffi. de Smurfen, les Schtroumpfs… and 蓝精灵 in Chinese.
In August 2011, the Smurfs make their return to the big screen again, this time in 3D! Peyo left us on December 24, 1992, but the Smurfs have continued their many adventures and are today looking forward to a bright and even more exciting future.
【小题1】Peyo’s real name was      .

A．Pierre	B．Franquin
C．Morris	D．Johan

【小题2】Peyo tried many different jobs except      .

A．as a dentist’s assistant	B．the one in a cartoon studio
C．as a full-time comic artist	D．as a newsagent

【小题3】The Smurfs       .

A．are a group of blue imps from Peyo’s book

B．are serious and hate having fun

C．soon became one of the ‘Spirou’ magazine’s main characters

D．will be in the movie on December 24th, 2011

【小题4】The last paragraph tells us       .

A．The Smurfs have come back to their big screen home.

B．Peyo has left for another country.

C．The Smurfs’ story stops after Peyo left us.

D．There might be more works about Smurfs in the future.

Mr. King is a tall and strong man. He teaches P.E. in a middle school. He wears a long beard（胡子）and takes good care of it. It was Sunday yesterday. There was a big football match of the year on the playground in the centre of the city. Mr. King likes the game very much and of course he was going to watch it. With his friends' help he got a ticket a few days ago.
After breakfast he hurried to the bus stop, but a lot of people were waiting there. A bus came and he hardly got on .There were plenty of people in it and it was difficult for them to put their feet. He had to grip（抓住）a back of the chair. At the next stop a boy got on the bus. He was short and couldn't grip anything. Suddenly the bus stopped and the boy hardly fell to the floor. He looked around and saw Mr. King's beard and grip it. The man found it at once and called out, "Let go off（松开）my beard, boy!" "Are you going to get off, sir?" asked the boy.
【小题1】Mr. King is a ___.

A．player

B．runner

C．teacher

D．driver

【小题2】Mr. King was going to watch the match because ___.

A．he teaches P.E. in a middle school	B．he likes football very much
C．he had already got a ticket	D．he didn't go to work yesterday

【小题3】The boy gripped Mr. King's beard because ___.

A．he was afraid to fall again

B．he wanted to make the man angry

C．he wanted the man to find a seat for him

D．he wanted the man to get off soon

Last winter vacation, our class went to Xiangshan for a trip.Though the weather was a little cold, it was sunny.
At six in the morning we met at the school gate.We took a bus there.On the bus, our monitor told us an interesting story.The story was about an interesting man.Then three girls in our class sang songs.We were very happy.
At about seven thirty we got there.It was a beautiful mountain.There were many visitors.Then we started to climb the mountain.The boys had a climbing race(比赛).Li Ming won the first prize.He got a blue hat.At about nine o’clock we met a famous singer.Qi Hui and Ma Yan even got his autographs.They were very excited.
We had lunch in the mountain.We brought food from home and ate together.
After lunch we went to the zoo, because the was a new member(成员) in the zoo.It was a cheetah(猎豹).It came from Africa.
Finally, we took the bus back to school.Although we were tired, we really had fun.
【小题1】How was the weather on that day?

A．It was warm and sunny.

B．It was hot and sunny.

C．It was cold, but sunny.

D．It was cold and cloudy.

【小题2】They went to the mountain       .

A．by bike

B．by bus

C．on foot

D．by car

【小题3】It took them about       to get to he mountain.

A．one and a half hours

B．an hour

C．forty minutes

D．half an hour

【小题4】They had lunch       .

A．at home

B．at school

C．in a restaurant

D．in the mountain

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

A．They were quiet on the bus.

B．Two students got the singer’s autographs.

C．They bought food in the mountain.

D．The cheetah came from America.

As Sam slowly woke, he got a funny feeling in his stomach. He knew he would have to do something that he had been afraid to do for a long time.

The school bus came on time, and he sat with his friend, Billy. They chatted about baseball. It was a great way to get his mind off what he had to do later. As they got close to the school, he could feel his heart beating. His hands were starting to sweat. He hated this!

He entered Mrs. Owens’ class. She was smiling, and saying hello to all her students as she did every morning.

“Hi, Sam!” she said as he walked in.

“Hi,” he said and quickly sat in his seat. Then the class began to take their spelling test. He looked at the clock. The time was near. He hoped he was not first! Mrs. Owens said it was time to begin their special day.

“Sam, you’ll be first.” Mrs. Owens said to the class, “Sam has worked very hard on his report on Hawaii, and I know it is very interesting.”

Sam nervously greeted his class. Then, he thought about the fun things he had read about surfing, volcanoes, and pineapples in Hawaii, and he started to talk. He talked in front of the whole class, and it was fun. The class clapped as he finished and Mrs. Owens was smiling. It wasn’t terrible at all and he knew he would do better the next time.

1.How did Sam feel after he woke?

A. Excited.     B. Nervous.     C. Happy. 

2.What did Sam have to do that day?

A. To have a baseball match.

B. To take a reading test.

C.  To do something special.

3.What does the underlined word “ sweat ” probably mean?

A. 触摸    B. 鼓掌    C. 出汗

4.Which could be inferred(推断) from this passage?

A. Sam hated chatting about baseball.

B. Sam learned about Hawaii by travelling.

C.  The class enjoyed Sam’s talk very much.

5.Which is the best title for this passage?

A. A special day    B. An interesting lesson    C. A nice teacher

 

This is an online discussion group where people can post(发布) comments about a topic.
Read the post from the travel forum(论坛).

Answers To All Your travel
Jun, Korea(韩国) Posted, 5 days ago	Question: First trip to the USA For my new job, I will travel to the United States next month and meet my American boss. This will be my first trip there. I’m worried about correct business behavior and manners. My boss invited me to his home for dinner. Do you have any advice?
Sue, Miami Posted, 3 days ago	Re: First trip to the USA It’s a good idea to bring a small gift or something from your country. Don’t be surprised if your boss opens the gift right away. In the USA, people often open a gift when they receive it. In Korea, that is not polite, but it’s common in the USA.
Sam, Los Angeles Posted, 2 days ago	Re: First trip to the USA Americans use their hands to eat some kinds of food, such as pizza and fried chicken. Watch your American hosts, and do what they do.
Kathryn, New York Posted, 12 hours ago	Re: First trip to the USA In Korea and Japan, it’s the custom to remove your shoes before entering a house. In the United States, you usually don’t take your shoes off. Once I was travelling in Japan and entered a house with my shoes on by mistake. Oops!
Lee, Korea Posted, 2 hours ago	Re: First trip to the USA Many Americans are very informal（非正式的）at home. One time I went to an American business partner’s home for dinner, I was surprised that everyone stood and talked in the kitchen while the husband and wife were cooking dinner. Besides, unlike in Korea, everyone took part in the dinner table conversation, even the man’s wife and children.
Andrew, Washington Posted, 1 hour ago	Re: First trip to the USA I agree with Lee. You probably won’t speak about business during dinner, so my advice is to know some   topics of conversation. For example, you can talk about travel, food, music, or sports. But you’d better not question about age.

【小题1】 Jun posted a question in the forum, because _______.

A．he got a new job

B．he would meet his boss

C．his boss invited him to his home for dinner

D．he wanted to know business behavior and manners in the USA

【小题2】 What’s the meaning of the underlined word “remove”?

A．开除

B．移开

C．脱下

D．去掉

【小题3】If you are invited to an American friend’s home, it’s NOT polite to________.

A．bring a small gift from your country	B．open the gift right away
C．enter the house with your shoes on	D．ask a person’s age

【小题4】 If you go to your American boss’s home for dinner, you _______.

A．shouldn’t use your hands to eat fried chicken

B．can’t stand and talk in the kitchen while the host is cooking

C．can’t talk with all the family members

D．probably won’t speak about business

【小题5】 We can know from the online discussion that ________.

A．different countries have different customs

B．Japanese have the similar customs with Americans

C．everyone may take part in the dinner table conversation in Korea

D．only people from Korea and America can answer Jun’s question