A school bus is one that is used to take children to and from school.
In the USA, about 450,000 school buses take more than 25 million children to and from school. The yellow school bus is a US icon(象征).Yellow became the color of school buses in the USA in 1939. Dr. Frank got the good idea. He said it was easy for people to see yellow buses and the black letters on them in early morning or late afternoon. That would make children safer.
There are not many school buses in Britain, and they are not yellow. They have trackers(跟踪器) on them, so kids are being tracked while they travel to and from school by bus. The trackers let parents know where the school bus is and whether their kinds are on the bus.
Kindergarten(幼儿园) is difficult time for some kids. It’s the first time for them to go away from their parents. To make kids love their school, Japanese kindergartens and schools have colorful buses. The buses can easily make children want to take them---and then, go to school. Even some parents want to take them, too!
School buses are becoming more and more popular in Chian now. It saves a lot of time for students to take a school bus. It’s said that there will be 3,000 yellow school buses on the road by the end of this year in Chongqing.
【小题1】According to Dr. Frank, ______ school buses are safer for the students.

A．yellow

B．black

C．white

D．colorful

【小题2】Children in Japan may easily ______ by taking the school bus.

A．save time

B．love their school

C．play games

D．do their homework

【小题3】Chinese students will save a lot of time to ______ to school.

A．walk

B．take a taxi

C．ride a bike

D．take a school bus

【小题4】This passage is mainly about ________.

A．school buses

B．school life

C．popular colors

D．students’ safety

 Americans with small families own a small car or a large one. If both parents are working, they usually have two cars. When the family is large, one of the cars is sold and they will buy a van(住房汽车)

　　A small car can hold four persons and a large car can hold six persons but it is very crowded. A van hold seven persons easily, so a family three children could ask their grandparents to go on a holiday travel They could all travel together.

　　Mr. Hagen and his wife had a third child last year. This made them sell a second car and buy a van. Their children sixth and seventh seat are used to put other things, for a family of five must carry many suitcases(衣箱)when they travel. When they arrive at their grandparents’ home , the suitcases are brought into the two seats can then carry the grandparents.

　Americans call vans motor homes. A motor home is always used for holidays. When a family are traveling to the mountains or to the seaside, they can live in their motor home for a few days or to the seaside, they can live in their motor home for a few days or weeks. All the members of a big family can enjoy a happier life when they are traveling together. That is why motor homes have become very popular. In America there are many parks for motor homes.

1. From the passage, a van is also called ____________.

　　 

A．a motor car

B．a motor home

C．a motorbike

D．a big truck

2.Before Mr. Hagen and his wife bought a van, they__________.

　　 

A．sold their old house

B．moved to their grandparents’ house

C．built a new place for a van

D．sold their second car

3.A motor home is usually owned by a family with__________.

　　 

A．a baby

B．much money

C．more than two children

D．interest in vans

4.Americans usually use motor homer____________.

　　 

A．to travel with all the family members of holiday
B．to do some shopping with all the family members	C．to visit their grandparents at weekends	D．to drive their children to school every day

5.Motor homes have become popular because___________.

　　 

A．they can take people to another city when people are free

B．they can let families have a happier life when they go out for their holidays

C．some people think motor homes are cheap

D．big families can put more things in motor homes

 

On Nov.18th, 1908, three men went up in a balloon. They started early in London. The headman was Auguste Gaudron, and the other two men were Tannar and Maitland. They had a big balloon and they were ready for a long way.

Soon they heard the sea. They were carrying the usual rope, and it was hanging down from the basket of the balloon. At the end of the rope they had tied a metal box. This could hold water, or it could be empty. So they were able to use the box to change the weight of the balloon. The three people were also carrying some bags of sand.

After the sun rose, the balloon went higher. It went up to 3,000 metres, and the air was very cold. The water in the balloon became ice. Snow fell past the men's basket, and they could see more snow on the ground. The men tried to throw out some more sand; but it was hard. They tried to break the icy sand with their knives, but it was not easy. The work was slow and they were still falling, so they had to drop some whole bags of sand. One of them fell on an icy lake and made a black hole in the ice.

　　At last they pulled the box into the basket. It was still snowing; so they climbed to get away from the snow. They rose to 5,100 metres! Everything became icy. They were very cold and  they decided to land. They came down in Poland　heavily but safely. They had travelled 1,797 kilometres from London!

1.Where did they start their travel on Nov.18th, 1908?

                                                                             

2.What was the metal box used for?

                                                                            

3. Why did they have to drop some whole bags of sand during the travel?

                                                                             

4. How long did they travel in the end?

                                                                            

5.

What do you think of the three people and their travel? (请自拟一句话作答)

                                                                             

 

Modern life is impossible without traveling. The fastest way of traveling is by plane. With a modern plane you can travel to lots of places in one day.
Traveling by train is slower than by plane. But you can see beautiful countryside when you are traveling by train. Modern trains give comfortable seats and dining cars. They make the journey(旅途) interesting.
Some people like to travel by sea. There are large liners and river boats. You can visit many other countries and different parts of your country on them. Ships are not so fast as trains or planes, but traveling by sea is a very nice way to spend a holiday.
Many people like to travel by car. You can make your plan. You can travel three or four hundred miles or only fifty or one hundred miles a day, just as you like. You can stop whenever you wish to see something interesting. If you find a good place to have meals you can stop, too. That is why traveling by car is popular, while people usually take a train or a plane when they travel on business.
【小题1】The fastest way of traveling is ________from this passage.

A．by train

B．by sea

C．by plane

D．by car

【小题2】The advantage(优点) of traveling by train is that _________.

A．you can see the countryside	B．it is faster than traveling by ship
C．you can get to a place which it took years to get to before	D．it is cheap

【小题3】The underlined word “They” in the passage means _________.

A．modern trains in the country	B．comfortable seats and dining cars
C．people who travel by train	D．the slower ways of traveling

【小题4】 People would like to go picnic with their family by _________.

A．car

B．plane

C．train

D．ship

【小题5】The best way for business should be _________in the passage.

A．planes

B．cars

C．trains and planes

D．ships

A school bus is one that is used to take children to and from school.

      In the USA, about 450,000 school buses take more than 25 million children to and from school. The yellow school bus is a US icon (象征). Yellow became the color of school buses in the USA in 1939. Dr. Frank got the good idea. He said it was easy for people to see yellow buses and the black letters on them in early morning or late afternoon. That would make children safer.

     There are not many school buses in Britain, and they are not yellow. They have trackers (追踪器) on them, so kids are being tracked while they travel to and from school by bus. The trackers let parents know where the school bus is and whether their kids are on the bus.

     Kindergarten (幼儿园) is a difficult time for some kids. It's the first time for them to go away from their parents. To make kids love their school, Japanese kindergartens and schools have colorful buses. The buses can easily make children want to take them--and then, go to school. Even some parents want to take them, too!

     School buses are becoming more and more popular in China now.  It saves a lot of time for students to take a school bus. It's said that there will be 3,000 yellow school buses on the road by the end of this year in Chongqing.

1.According to Dr. Frank,           school buses are safer for the students.

     A. yellow            B. black              C. white              D. colorful

2.Children in Japan may easily          by taking the school bus.

     A. save time                             B. love their school

     C. play games                            D. do their homework

3.Chinese students will save a lot of time to          to school.

     A. walk                                    B. take a taxi

     C. ride a bike                              D. take a school bus

4.This passage is mainly about          .

     A. school buses                             B. school life

     C. popular colors                            D. students' safety