A．That's great! B．That's a really bad excuse（借口）! C．We all learn from mistakes，don't we? D．Yes，but only a few words． E．Yes，unless you're busy．

（The boy（B）has talked with some foreign teachers at the English Corner．Now he is telling his English teacher（T）about it．）

B：I've just been to the English Corner．

T：Oh? ___1____ Did you talk with Ben and Andy?

B：____2____ And I'm not sure if they understood me．

T：No problem．You have a good start．

B：But I'm afraid of making mistakes when I speak．

T：____3____ Be confident of yourself．

B：But do you think they like to talk with us beginners?

T：____4____

B：Well．I'm still not so confident．Yon know my pronunciation is poor．

T：____5____ Try to talk with them as much as possible．

B：All right．Thank you，sir．

A man had seven sons, who were always quarreling. They left their studies and work, to quarrel among themselves. Some bad men were looking forward to the death of their father, to cheat them out of their property(财产) by making them quarrel about it.

The good old man, one day, called his sons around him. He laid before them seven sticks, which were tied together. He said, “I will pay a hundred dollars to the one who can break this bundle(捆).”

Each one tried their best to break the bundle. After a long but useless efforts, they all said that it could not be done.

“And yet, my boys,” said the father, “nothing is easier to do.” He then untied the bundle, and broke the sticks, one by one, with perfect ease.

“Ah!” said his sons, “It is easy enough to do it so; anybody could do it in that way.”

Their father replied, “As it is with these sticks, so it is with you, my sons. So long as you hold fast together and help each other, you will be much richer, and none can harm you.

“But if the brotherhood bundle is broken, it will happen to you just as it has to these sticks, which lie there broken on the ground.”

Home, city, country, all are property found,

When they hold tightly together.

50. How many sticks does the old man ask his sons to break?

A. 2.　　 　　　　　　　　　　 B. 3.　　 　　　　　　 C.5.　　 　　 D. 7.

51. Why was the old man able to break the sticks?

A. Because his sons helped him to do so. 　　　　　　　　　　　

B. Because he was strong enough to do so.

C. Because he was wise enough to untie the bundle.

D. Because the sticks were no longer as strong as before.　

52. Which of the following is TRUE?

A. The old man was going to die soon. 　

B. The sticks were used as a tool to teach the sons a lesson.

C. The sons were all too stupid to take care of their property.

D. some bad men might get the property away from the old man.　　　　

A Fish Dish

　　Mrs. Wilson, the middle-aged wife of a rich businessman, invited some of her friends to lunch. She was very anxious to try a new way of cooking a fish dish, and she was very pleased with herself when the dish was ready. As the dish was very hot, she put it near the open window to cool for a few minutes. However, five minutes later, when she came back for it, she was shocked(使震惊) to find the neighbour' s cat, Chester at the dish. Fortunately, she was in time to stop the cat before it was too late. That afternoon was a good success and everybody enjoyed the dish very much. They talked and laughed till four o' clock.

　　At the end of the afternoon, when she was alone again, Mrs. Wilson felt tired but happy. She was in an armchair just near the window when, through the window, she was horrified(可怕的) to see the neighbour's cat dead in her garden! Why, the fish dish must be bad! What would happen to her friends? She at once telephoned the family doctor for advice. The doctor told her to telephone each of the visitors to meet him at the hospital as soon as possible. Finally the danger was over. Once again Mrs. Wilson was alone in her armchair in the living room still tired but no longer happy. Just then the telephone rang. It was her neighbour. “Oh, Millie, ” her neighbour cried. “Chester is dead. She was killed by someone in a car and put in your garden… ”

1．Mrs. Wilson was about ________years old.

[　　]

2．Chester was the name of ________.

[　　]

3．Mrs. Wislon's friends left at about ________.

[　　]

4．The cat ________.

[　　]

A．must have eaten some of the fish

B．was too late to be stopped from eating the fish

C．also enjoyed the fish

D．did not eat the fish

5．Which of the following statements is TRUE?

[　　]

A．Mrs. Wilson was anxious to invite her friends.

B．Mrs. Wilson felt very happy that day.

C．Some of the visitors ate the bad fish and were sent to the hospital.

D．The cat was killed by someone in a car.

For a long time being happy was considered natural，and there was nothing special to do about it. Now we know that we can work at getting along well with other people. It is possible to act in such a way that other people will like us better.

One way is being unselfish，not wanting everything your own way or asking for the best share of everything, including the attention of your friends. Another way is to look for good points, not bad ones in other people.

You don’t have to be spineless(无骨气的)in order to be popular. In fact，you will be liked and respected if you are not afraid to stand up for your rights. But do it politely and pleasantly. One way to develop a good character is being friendly and polite to your own group, to older people，to strangers and especially to those who do not look important or do not interest you.

______ ▲ _______, so you must learn not to be too unhappy when you make a mistake. Everyone makes mistakes, and no one is to be blamed（责备） unless he refuses to learn from them. Many young people become discouraged(泄气的) when they know their unpleasant qualities—selfishness，laziness，etc. Just remember that we all have some of these faults and have to fight against them.

When something is wrong，it is best to try to make it right. Perhaps you don’t like a teacher or a classmate. Try to see why，and look at yourself，too. Make sure that you are not doing something to make others dislike you. In time, things may turn out all right, then you simply have to learn to get along the best you can with the situation, without thinking too much about it. Worrying never helps in a situation you can’t change.

48．Which sentence is the most suitable for the blank______ ▲ _______?

A. You cannot expect（期待） to be perfect

B. You may expect to be perfect

C. You must be happy

D. We can’t be happy

49．How can we get along well with others according to the passage?

A. Fight against our unpleasant qualities.

B. Show others our unpleasant qualities.

C. Stand up for our rights in any way we like.

D. Find out unpleasant qualities in others and in ourselves.

50. What would be the best title for the passage?

A. How to be perfect B. How to avoid mistakes

C. Ways of being unselfish　　　　　 D. Ways of making people like us better

Imagine a perfect day: the weather is good and everything seems fine. When, suddenly, your cell phone loses its signal, the television has no programs, and you can't get online with your computer.

What has happened? These are just the types of problems a solar storm (太阳风暴) might  cause. You may not think of storms as putting our society in danger.  But today, a solar storm is as serious as other bad events, such as earthquakes.

A solar storm is caused by solar flares (太阳耀斑): large explosions near the sun that can give off lots of energy. The strong energy can stop the satellite systems (卫星系统) that operate our computers, telecom networks and so on. These storms can even cause the power to go out for weeks or months.

In the past few months, scientists have recorded some of the strongest sun flares in years. The most recent one happened around Valentine's Day, 2011. It caused radio and satellite signals to go down in some northern cities in China.

"Solar flare activity is going to be much worse than what we've seen in the past. We' re not talking about a few cities losing power. It could be half the country, maybe more," SolarStormWarning. com, a US website about space weather, warned.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                             

Experts say that little can be done to predict (预测) such a storm. Governments around the world are trying to work together before the next storm, although they are not sure when that may happen.

46. Solar storms can cause many problems EXCEPT that_______.

A. TVs cannot be turned on           B. mobile phones have no signals

C. people cannot get online              D. the satellite system will be stopped

47. According to the article, what are solar flares?

A. Natural disasters like earthquakes.         B. Strong solar storms.

C. Large explosions near the sun.       D. A lot of energy around the sun.

 48. The writer wrote the article mainly to_______.

A. introduce to people what solar storms are

B. tell people how to solve the problems caused by solar storms

C. call for scientists to predict when the next storm will happen

D. ask people to work to prevent the solar storms from happening