I went home one Saturday afternoon in the autumn of 1993 to get some work done in the garden. While sweeping leaves on the ground, my five-year-old son Nick came over and asked me to write something on a piece of paper to make a sign for him.                       
“What for?” I asked.
“I’m going to sell some of my stones, " he answered.    
Nick was fascinated with stones and had collected many stones from all over. “I’m busy to
do that for you. Go and ask your mum for help." I said.
A short time later, Nick returned with a sign, reading. " Stones. One Dollar Each”. He took the sign, a small chair and 4 of his best stones and walked to the road in front of our garden. There he put the stones in a line and sat down on the chair.
After half an hour, nobody passed by. I walked to him and asked him to go back, but he didn't.
Another half hour later, a small car came down the road. I watched as Nick stood up, holding his sign up. A woman rolled down a window and read the sign. I couldn't hear their talk, but I saw the woman turn to the driver and the man reach for his pocket.
I sat in the yard, as Nick ran to me. Waving the dollar, he shouted. "I told you I could sell one stone for a dollar — if you believe in yourself, you can do anything."
【小题1】Why didn't the writer help his son?

A．Because his wife is better at making a sign.

B．Because he didn't know what to write.

C．Because he was busy sweeping leaves.

D．Because he didn’t want his son to sell the stones.

【小题2】The underlined words "was fascinated with" mean “______”.

A．was far from	B．was afraid of
C．was famous for	D．was interested in

【小题3】Nick was a boy ______.
A. who was kind           B. who had a strong mind
C who was honest          D. who had many hobbies
【小题4】Which is the best title(题目) of the story?

A．My son's first sale.	B．Let's collect stones.
C．How to sell a stone.	D．A hobby that can make you rich.

【小题5】From the passage we know _____.

A．the story happened in spring

B．the car was driven by a woman

C．Nick spent half an hour selling one stone

D．the writer might be moved(感动)by his son

I went home one Saturday afternoon in the autumn of 1993 to get some work done in the garden. While sweeping leaves on the ground, my five-year-old son Nick came over and asked me to write something on a piece of paper to make a sign for him.
"What for?" I asked.
" I'm going to sell some of my stones, " he answered.
Nick was fascinated with stones and had collected many stones from all over.
" I'm too busy to do that for you. Go and ask your mum for help," I said.
A short time later, Nick, returned with a sign, reading, " Stones, One Dollar Each". He took the sign, a small chair and 4 of his best stones and walked to the road in front of our garden. There he put the stones in a line and sat down on the chair.
After half an hour, nobody passed by. I walked to him and asked him to go back, but he didn't.
Another half hour later, a small car came down the road. I watched as Nick stood up, holding his sign up. A woman rolled down a window and read the sign. I couldn't hear their talk, but I saw the woman turn to the driver and the man reach for his pocket.
I sat in the yard, as Nick ran to me. Waving the dollar, he shouted, "I told you I could sell one stone for a dollar -- if you believe in yourself, you can do anything. "
【小题1】Why didn't the writer help his son?

A．Because his wife is better at making a sign.

B．Because he didn't know what to write.

C．Because he was busy sweeping leaves.

D．Because he didn't want his son to sell the stones.

【小题2】The underlined words "was fascinated with" mean _________.

A．was far from	B．was afraid of
C．was famous for	D．was interested in

【小题3】Nick was a boy ___________.

A．who was kind	B．who had a strong mind
C．who was honest	D．who had many hobbies

【小题4】Which is the best title(题目) of the story?

A．My son's first sale.

B．Let's collect stones.

C．How to sell a stone.

D．A hobby that can make you rich.

【小题5】From the passage we know______________.

A．the story happened in spring

B．the car was driven by a woman

C．Nick spent half an hour selling one stone

D．the writer might be moved(感动)by his son

Sarah ran in, shouting, “Look what I found!”  Over the top of the paper I was reading; came a terrible thing that caused me to jump. It was a snake skin found in our garden.
“Isn’t it beautiful?” said my seven-year-old daughter.
I opened my eyes widely and looked at the snake skin in fear（恐惧地）. I didn’t think it was beautiful, but I learned never to appear nonchalant(冷漠的)with children. Everything they see for the first time is important to their sense of beauty; they see only excellence in the world.
“Why does it do this?”  Sarah asked.
“Snakes shed(蜕) their skins because they need to renew themselves,”  I explained.
“Why do they need to renew（使更新） themselves?” Sarah asked.
“We often need to shed our skins, those coatings that we cover ourselves with,” I said to my daughter. “We leave some things and find other thing unwanted or unnecessary. This snake no longer needs this skin. It is probably too little for him, and he probably doesn’t think he looks as smart in it as he once did. ”
As we talked, I knew that she began to understand. Although she couldn’t understand clearly, she would know that renewal is part of progress; that we need to take a good look at ourselves, our rooms, schoolwork and spirit, and see what we need to keep and what we need to leave.  I was careful to tell that this is a natural way, not one to be forced.
“Snakes don’t peel off their skins when they like them. “I explained. “It happens as a natural thing of their growth. ”
“I see, Dad,” said Sarah as she held the snake skin, and then ran off.
I hoped she would remember this; we need to throw some away because they are worthless or unnecessary. Then we can store them as memories in our deep hearts.
【小题1】Father jumped up when her daughter came to him with a snake skin because ＿＿＿＿＿＿.

A．he didn’t want to read any more

B．he was in great fear of it

C．he wanted to praised her daughter

D．he hated snakes

【小题2】Father’s patient explanation shows that ＿＿＿＿＿＿.

A．his daughter didn’t want to listen to him at all

B．he knew children saw only excellence in the world

C．his daughter couldn’t follow him at all

D．he wanted to teach everything to her

【小题3】We learn from the reading that＿＿＿＿＿＿.

A．the girl seemed to understand what her father said

B．the girl wasn’t interested in the explanation

C．the father was good at raising snakes

D．the father liked the snake skin better

Our garden isn't so _________ as theirs.

A．larger

B．large

C．bigger

D．smaller

 

Hello，this is your gardening adviser.
Now，just as our garden are at their most colourful, and most productive time, what do we do？We’ll go off on holiday. What I suggest you do is this: invite a friend or neighbour to help you. You can ask him to water the plants in the greenhouse until you return, but first make sure that he knows how to do it. What he should not do is throw water over the leaves of the plants themselves, because if he does that, it will invite diseases. Also for the same reason, ask him if he can possibly water in the morning, rather than in the evening.
If you haven’t got a greenhouse, there is one safe and easy way to keep the plants well when you are away, and this is how you do it. Place six-inch-deep newspapers in the bottom of the bath. Yes, the bath! Turn the tap on and keep the water running until the papers are all wet. Now put the flower pots（花盆）to stand on the wet paper, go off on holiday, and they should be alive and well when you return in two weeks’ time.
Thank you for calling. Goodbye and good gardening!

【小题1】 What is the passage about?

A．holiday.	B．health.
C．bathing.	D．gardening.

【小题2】Which advice does the speaker give?

A．Pouring water to prevent diseases

B．Watering the plant in the morning

C．Watering the plants in the evening

D．Throwing water over the leaves of the plants.

【小题3】What is not the reason the speaker repeats“the bath”？

A．To attract the listeners’ attention

B．To advise the listeners’ to buy beautiful baths.

C．To make sure the listeners understand him clearly

D．To remove the listeners’ surprise when they hear this.

【小题4】What is the speaker like'?

A．Helpful and patient.

B．Stubborn and impatient.

C．Modest and imaginative

D．Careless and easy-going