A long time ago, in 1893, in the United States, some people were talking about fruits and vegetables. They asked, “What are fruits and what are vegetables? How are fruits different from vegetables and vegetables different from fruits?” They talked for a long time and then they decided, “We eat vegetables as part of a meal, but we eat fruits before or after a meal.”
In real life, people do not think the dictionaries give the right meaning of a word. For example, the dictionaries say that tomatoes are fruits. But few people know that. Most people think they are vegetables. They call them vegetables and eat them as vegetables. To most people, fruits mean sweet things like apples, pears, oranges and watermelons.
What are vegetables then? We call many plants and grasses vegetables. Some people think some fruits are vegetables, such as apples, pears and bananas. But to most people, vegetables mean things like potatoes, onions and carrots.
【小题1】A long time ago, some people in the United States _______.

A．wanted to know what were fruits and vegetables

B．didn’t know when to eat fruits

C．didn’t think fruits were as good as vegetables

D．didn’t talk about fruits and vegetables

【小题2】People usually eat vegetables _______.

A．before a meal

B．after a meal

C．alone

D．during a meal

【小题3】What do most people think of fruits?

A．They are the same as vegetables.

B．They are sweet things.

C．They are like potatoes, onions and carrots.

D．They are only apples, pears, oranges and watermelons.

Just a Little Smile
Mark was walking home from school one day when he saw the boy in front of turn fall over and drop all of the books he was carrying, along with two sweaters, a basketball and a walkman (随身听). Mark stopped and helped the boy pick up these things. Since they were going the same way, he helped to carry some of his things. As they walked, Mark knew that the boy's name was Bill, that he loved computer games, basketball and history, and that he was having lots of troubles with his other subjects and that he had just broken up with his girlfriend.
They arrived at Bill's home first and Mark was invited(邀请) in for a Coke and to watch some television. The afternoon passed happily with a few laughs and some small talk, then Mark went home. They often saw . each other at school, had lunch together once or twice, and then they both finished middle school. They ended up in the same high school where they sometimes saw and talked with each other over the years. At last just three weeks before they finished high school, Bill asked Mark if they could talk.
Bill asked Mark if he still remembered the day years ago when they had first met. "Did you ever think why I was carrying so many things home that day?" asked Bill. "You see, I cleaned out my locker(锁柜) because I didn't want to leave anything for anyone else. I had put away some of my mother's sleeping pills and I was going home to kill myself. But after we spent some time together talking and laughing, ! began to understand that if I killed myself, I would have missed that time and so many others that might follow. So you see, Mark, when you picked up those books that day, you did a lot more. You saved my life. "
【小题1】 When Mark met him the first time, Bill was going

A．to have a basketball game

B．to his classroom

C．to see Mark

D．back home

【小题2】From what Bill was carrying, we can know that he        .

A．was a good student

B．liked sports and music

C．liked all the subjects in school

D．was a good friend

【小题3】Mark and Bill    .

A．were in the same middle school and high school

B．were in the same middle school but not in the same high school

C．of ten had lunch together at school

D．had known each other before they began to study in middle school

【小题4】 In this passage, the phrase "break up" means"    ".

A．相处很好

B．和好如初

C．关系破裂

D．保持联系

【小题5】 When Mark helped Bill to pick up some of his things, he.      .

A．knew he could save Bill's life

B．knew who Bill was and wanted to help him

C．didn't know why he was going to help him

D．didn't know what he was doing was very important to Bill

Just a Little Smile
Mark was walking home from school one day when he saw the boy in front of turn fall over and drop all of the books he was carrying, along with two sweaters, a basketball and a walkman (随身听). Mark stopped and helped the boy pick up these things. Since they were going the same way, he helped to carry some of his things. As they walked, Mark knew that the boy’s name was Bill, that he loved computer games, basketball and history, and that he was having lots of troubles with his other subjects and that he had just broken up with his girlfriend.
They arrived at Bill’s home first and Mark was invited(邀请) in for a Coke and to watch some television. The afternoon passed happily with a few laughs and some small talk, then Mark went home. They often saw . each other at school, had lunch together once or twice, and then they both finished middle school. They ended up in the same high school where they sometimes saw and talked with each other over the years. At last just three weeks before they finished high school, Bill asked Mark if they could talk.
Bill asked Mark if he still remembered the day years ago when they had first met. "Did you ever think why I was carrying so many things home that day?" asked Bill. "You see, I cleaned out my locker(锁柜) because I didn’t want to leave anything for anyone else. I had put away some of my mother’s sleeping pills and I was going home to kill myself. But after we spent some time together talking and laughing, ! began to understand that if I killed myself, I would have missed that time and so many others that might follow. So you see, Mark, when you picked up those books that day, you did a lot more. You saved my life. "
【小题1】 When Mark met him the first time, Bill was going

A．to have a basketball game

B．to his classroom

C．to see Mark

D．back home

【小题2】From what Bill was carrying, we can know that he        .

A．was a good student

B．liked sports and music

C．liked all the subjects in school

D．was a g

【小题3】Mark and Bill    .

A．were in the same middle school and high school

B．were in the same middle school but not in the same high school

C．of ten had lunch together at school

D．had known each other before they began to study in middle school

【小题4】 In this passage, the phrase "break up" means"    ".

A．相处很好

B．和好如初

C．关系破裂

D．保持联系

【小题5】 When Mark helped Bill to pick up some of his things, he.      .

A．knew he could save Bill’s life

B．knew who Bill was and wanted to help him

C．didn’t know why he was going to help him

D．didn’t know what he was doing was very important to Bill

Once, a circle lost a piece of its own. The circle wanted to be whole, so it went around looking for its missing piece. But it was incomplete, so it could only roll very slowly. It enjoyed the flowers and the sunshine along the way. It talked with worms. It found lots of different pieces, but none of them fit. So it left them all by the side of the road and kept on looking for the missing piece.

         Then one day the circle found a piece that fit perfectly. The circle put the missing piece into itself. It could be whole with nothing missing. It was so happy and began to roll. Now that it was a perfect circle, it could roll very fast, too fast to see flowers or talk to worms. It realized how different the world was when it rolled so quickly. It felt so sad that it stopped, left its found piece by the side of the road and rolled away slowly.

         Sometimes we are perfect when we lose something. A man who has everything is a poor man in some ways. He will never have hopes, dreams or something better. He will never know someone loves him or someone is giving him something he has always wanted or never had.

         We couldn’t be perfect, but we must be brave enough to love, strong enough to forgive, kind enough to share happiness with others and clever enough to know there is enough love around us and then we can always live a wonderful time in our lives.

1.

The circle rolled very slowly because it        .

A. spent much time talking to worms                        B. wanted to enjoy the sunshine

C. was looking for its missing piece                           D. lost a piece of its own

2.

Why did the circle stop when it rolled quickly? Because it        .

A. wanted to enjoy the world                                      B. found a different world

C. wanted to look for another missing piece            D. thought the world changed so quickly

3.

The story mainly tells us that        .

A. nobody loves us if we give nothing

B. a man who has everything is the happiest

C. losing something may not be a bad thing sometimes

D. we are not whole when we lose something