As a boy, Mark Twain caused much trouble for his parents. He used to play practical jokes on all his friends and neighbors. The nature of his jokes often led to violence (暴力). He hated to go to school and he constantly ran away from home. He always went in the direction of the nearby Mississippi. He liked to sit on the bank of the river for hours at a time and just gaze at the mysterious island and the passing boats. He learned many things about the river during those days. He learned all about its history and unusual people. He later made them part of the history of America in the book Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn.
Mark Twain received his genius (天才) from his mother. Obviously he didn’t get it from his father. He once stated that he had never seen a smile on his father’s face. On the other hand, his mother had the ability to say humorous things. The same ability made Mark Twain an extremely humorous public speaker.
【小题1】According to the passage, Mark Twain was a _______ boy.

I've tried to explain compound interest to my eight - year - old daughter. When I have finished it, she summarizes back to me, "So, you are saying if I put $ 100 in the bank, when I turn sixteen the bank will give me $ 200?" She has already grasped more of the concept than I understood at her age, but she couldn't clearly understand that until she sees them in action.
One day I gave her a Ziploc bag with a handful of pennies and told her over the course of a week I wanted her to give me a penny a day. I would deposit the penny in " The Bank of Dad" and compound interest would begin to accumulate the day she deposited the penny. At the end of the week we would check her bank balance.
Each day my daughter handed over one penny at the breakfast table and I deposited it in her bank. I gave her a "receipt" for her deposit and explained that she needed to keep up with the receipts to see how much money she had added to her account. In an effort to make this a little more realistic, I deposited a penny from my own piggy bank every other day to give her an additional four pennies at the end of the week.
On Sunday evening we gathered receipts and confirmed she had deposited seven pennies in "The Bank of Dad. " Then I opened the old film container and counted out its contents—all eleven pennies. "Hey, there are four extra pennies in there!" I explained that her original seven pennies had grown to eleven pennies because every couple days the bank paid her a penny for letting them use her money—that's interest. She paused and asked, "Dad, what would happen if you deposited like a hundred million pennies in the bank?
1．We can learn from Paragraph 1 that ____.
A．the writer' s daughter understood compound interest better than him
B．the writer wanted her daughter to understand compound interest
C．the writer' s daughter understood compound interest very well
D．the writer' s daughter grasped the exact meaning of compound interest
2．Which of the following is TRUE according to Paragraph 2?
A．The writer' s daughter got a handful of pennies from her father.
B．The writer got compound pennies from "The Bank of Dad".
C．The writer placed one penny in "The Bank of Dad" each day.
D．Compound interest would begin to increase at the end of the week.
3．Each day the writer’s daughter ____.
A．got a penny from her father        B．received interest from her father
C．deposited a penny in her piggy bank    D．handed over one penny to her father
4．What can we infer from the passage?
A．"The Bank of Dad" paid the girl a penny each day as interest.
B．The father used a good way to show his daughter about interest.
C．There were eleven pennies in the old film container in total.
D．The writer's daughter was very puzzled with compound interest.
5．Which of the following would be the best title for the text?
A．How to Deposit Pennies in "The Bank of Dad"．
B．Welcome to Deposit Money in the Bank.
C．How to Teach Compound Interest to Kids.
D．A Good Relationship between Father and Kid.

Manchester is the “capital” of the northwest of England. Situated on the east bank of the River Irwell, it is a lively busy city with a large student population. Although it was once seen as only a dull industrial place, in recent years Manchester has become the “in” place. It is well-known for its clubs, its fashion and its music, not to mention its world -famous football team, Manchester United.

There is plenty to see in Manchester and something to suit all taste. For example, you have a taste of the Orient in Chinatown, home to Manchester’s large Chinese population. Another place to visit is the historical Eastlefield area, which contains the first urban heritage park in Britain. Here you can walk around the museums and experience the atmosphere of the 19^th century Manchester.

Football fans need not feel left out; they can always make a trip to the Old Trafford  Manchester United Museum which also contains a coffee shop and a souvenir shop

It’s easy to find your way around the city center and you’re never too far away from a bus, which will take you wherever you want to go. However, many people prefer walking in a city where there’s so much to see, and much of it is off the main travel lines.

If you get tired with all that walking, you can refresh yourself at one of the many café bars in the city. There’s a wide variety of homely and old-fashioned ones

Whatever you do, you won’t have a dull moment in the place which was awarded the title of “most interesting city in Europe “. Despite its unpopular industrial image in the past, Manchester is becoming more and more popular as a tourist destination nowadays.

1.According to the passage, Manchester is _________.

A. a big city in the southwest of England

B. only known for its heavy industry

C. interesting only if you like football

D. a very popular place now

2.If you are interested in history, _____ in Manchester.

A. you will see the 18^th century center building

B. you can go to Chinatown

C. you don’t have a big choice

D.you can visit the Eastlefield

3.What was Manchester like in the past?

A. A small and dull city.                                                      B. A city full of factories

C. An exciting city to visit                                                    D. A popular destination

4.What does the underlined word “its” in the last paragraph refer to?

A. Europe’s               B. Tourism’s                C. Manchester’s              D. Industry’s

A study involving 8,500 teenagers from all social backgrounds found thai most of them are ignorani when it comes to money. The findings, the first in a scries of reports from NatWesl that has started a five-year research project into teenagers and money, arc particularly worrying as this generation of young people is likely to be burdened with greater debts man any before.

University tuition fees (学费) are currently capped at ??3,000 annually, but this will be reviewed next year and the Government is under enormous pressure to raise the ceiling.

In the research, the teenagers were presented with die terms of four different loans but 76 per cent failed to identify the cheapest. The young people also predicted that they would be earning on average ?? 31.000 by the age of 25, although the average salary for those aged 22 to 29 is just ?? 17,815. The teenagers expected to be in debt when they finished university or training, although half said that they assumed the debts would be less than ?? 10.000. Average debts for graduates are ?? 12，363.

Stephen Moir, head of community investment at the Royal Bank of Scotland Group which owns NatWest, said. "The more exposed young people are to financial issues, and the younger they become aware of them, the more likely they arc to become responsible, forward-planning adults who manage their finances confidently and effectively."

Ministers are deeply concerned about the financial pressures on teenagers and young people because of student loans and rising housing costs. They have just introduced new lessons in how to manage debts. Nikki Fairweathcr. aged 15. from St Helens, said that she had benefited from lessons on personal finance, but admitted thai she still had a lot to learn about money.

Which of the following can be found from the five-year research project?

A. Students understand personal finances differently. 

B. University tuition fees in England have been rising.

C. Teenagers tend to overestimate their future earnings.

D. The students' payback ability has become a major issue.

 The phrase "to raise the ceiling" in paragraph 2 probably means "______".

A. to raise the student loans                             

B. to improve the school facilities

C. to increase the upper limit of the tuition     

D. to lift the school building roofs

According to Stephen Moir, students_______.

A. are too young 10 be exposed 10 financial issues

B. should learn 10 manage their finances well

C- should maintain a positive attitude when facing loans

D. benefit a lot from lessons on personal finance

What can we learn from the passage?

A. Many British teenagers do not know money matters well

B. Teenagers in Britain are heavily burdened with debts.

C. Financial planning is a required course at college.

D. Young people should become responsible adults.

One day while walking along the bank of a river, a rabbit couple(夫妇) saw a wounded(受伤的) ant lying unconsciously(没有直觉地) on the grass. The rabbit couple gently put the ant on the leaf(叶子) of a nearby plant. She soon recovered and saw the rabbit couple sitting beside her.

The ant remembered that she had found herself under the foot of a cat by chance and fainted(晕倒). She asked how she reached the leaf top. The rabbit couple told her what had happened. The ant thanked them and said she would help them when they needed help.

The rabbit couple went further up the river to enjoy the bright sun. They had been there many times and would spend many hours playing and relaxing in the sun.

One fine day, the couple were again on their way to the river while the ant was playing on the leaf of a tree. She saw the rabbit couple walking towards the river. A few hours later she saw the rabbit couple sleeping peacefully on the soft grass by the river. Suddenly she saw a lion moving towards the grass where the rabbit couple were sleeping. The loin saw the rabbit sleeping, and started walking quietly to attack them.

Realizing the hazard getting close to the rabbits, the ant jumped from the leaf to the lion’s shoulder and bit(咬) the lion’s back. The lion cried out in pain, waking the rabbit couple. The rabbits ran away quickly and the ant jumped off the lion’s back into the grass.

A white pigeon(鸽子) who watched this event cheered at the courage(勇气) of the ant and told the whole story to the rabbits. The rabbit couple were moved and thanked the ant. They became best friends.

From the first three paragraphs, we can learn that _____.

the rabbit couple put the ant on the leaf of a plant to hide her

the ant was wounded after fighting with a cat

the rabbit couple and the ant knew each other very well before

the rabbit couple often went to the river

According to the passage, which of the following is TRUE?

The ant was hurt by the lion.  

The ant was small but clever.

The white pigeon was as brave as the ant.  

The lion wanted to play a joke on the rabbit couple.

According to the passage, which is the correct order of the following events?

The ant jumped into the grass to hide.

The ant bit the lion’s back.

The lion moved towards the rabbit couple.

The rabbit couple saved the ant.

The ant saw the rabbit couple sleeping on the grass.

A. d,c,e,a,b      B. d,e,c,b,a      C. e,c,b,a,d      D. c,d,e,b,a

The underlined word “hazard” in the fifth paragraph probably means “_____”.

A. reality    B. warning     C. experience     D. danger