Astronomy (天文学) is the oldest science known to man. Thousands of years ago man looked at the stars and wondered about heavens (天堂). But the six planets that he could see with his eyes alone limited man.

The Greeks studied astronomy over 2,000 years ago. They could see the size, color, and brightness of a star. They could see its place in the sky. They watched the stars move as the seasons changed. But the Greeks had no tools to help themselves study the heavens.

Each new tool added to the field of astronomy helped man reach out into space. Until there were telescopes (望远镜), man did not know much about the moon. He did not know that the planet called Saturn (土星) had rings around it. His sight was so limited that he could not see all the planets. In the early 1700s, people thought there were only six planets. Pluto (冥王星), the last of the nine planets to be discovered was seen until 1930.

Before the spectroscopes (分光镜), man didn’t know what kind of gas was in the sun or other stars, without radio telescopes (射电望远镜), we did not know that radio noise came from far in space.

Today, astronomy is a growing science. We have learned more in the past fifty years than in the whole history of astronomy.

1.Thousands of years ago, man watched ____ with his eyes.

      A. the moon          B. the stars           C. the universe     D. all the planets

2.When the Greeks watched the stars, they could ____ .

      A. know what the stars were made of      B. not see their places in the sky

      C. help themselves study the heavens      D. watch the stars move as the seasons changed

3. Until there were ____ , man knew very little about the moon.

      A. telescopes       B. spectroscopes                                 C. radio telescopes      D. spaceships

4.People didn’t know about Pluto until ____ .

      A. the 1700s         B. 2,000 years ago    C. 1930                   D. thousands of years ago

5. ____ people began to do research on astronomy.

      A. 50 years ago    B. 90 years ago    C. In the early 1700s            D. Over 2,000 years ago

 

 — Did he notice you enter the room?

— I don’t think so. He _____ to the radio with his eyes shut.

A．listened

B．was listening

C．has listened

D．had listened

 

He met her at a party. She was so outstanding, while he was so normal. At the end of the party, he invited her to have coffee with him. They sat in a nice coffee shop, he was too nervous to say anything, she felt uncomfortable, and she thought to herself, “Please let me go home… ”

Suddenly he asked the waiter, “Would you please give me some salt? I'd like to put it in my coffee. ” Everybody stared at him, so strange! His face turned red, but, still, he put the salt in his coffee and drank it. She asked him curiously, “Why do you have this hobby?” He replied, “When I was a little boy, I was living near the sea, I liked playing in the sea, I could feel the taste of the sea, just like the taste of the salty coffee. Now every time I have the salty coffee. I always think of my childhood and hometown.” While saying that, tears filled his eyes. She was deeply touched. A man who can tell out his homesickness, must be a man who has responsibility of home. Then she started to speak about her faraway hometown, her childhood, her family.

That was a really nice beginning of their story. They continued to date. She found that actually he was a man who meets all her damands. He was such a good person but she almost missed him! Thank to his salty coffee! They got married. Every time she made coffee, she put some salt in the coffee, as she know that’s the way he liked it.

After 40 years, he passed away, left her a letter which said, “My dearest, please forgive my whole life lie. This was the only lie I said to you—the salty coffee. Remember the first time we dated? I was so nervous actually I wanted some sugar, but I said salt. It was hard for me to change so I went ahead. I tried to tell you the truth many times in my life, but I was too afraid to do that, as I have promised not to lie to you for anything. I'm afraid of nothing so I tell you the truth; I don't like the salty coffee, what a strange bad taste. But I have had the salty coffee for my whole life! Since I knew you, I never feel sorry for anything I do for you. If I call live for a second time. I still want to know you and have you for my whole life, even though I have to drink the salty coffee again.”

Her tears made the letter totally wet. Someday, someone asked her, “What's the taste of salty coffee?” she replied. “sweet,”

1.The reason why the woman wanted to leave is that _______．

    A．the man was normal while the woman was outstanding

    B．the woman was too nervous to stay

    C．the woman felt uncomfortable to be with the man

    D．the man asked for salty coffee

2.Why did she think the salty coffee tasted sweet?

    A．Because the salty coffee represented her husband's endless love for her．

    B．Because she mistook the sugar for salt．

    C．Because her husband switched salt with sugar in her coffee．

    D．Because the salty coffee was a white lie with a good intention．

3.What can we learn from the man's letter?      

    A．The man wasn't brave enough to tell the truth because he was scared of the woman,

    B．The man had never thought of telling the truth before he was dying．

    C．The man fell in love with the salty coffee gradually after many years of taking it out of his love for his wife．

    D．The man would still, choose to drink salty coffee if he had to know and have her through it．

4.In what way does the writer develop this story?     

    A．Cause and effect．                   B．Problem reasoning．

    C．The time order．                     D．Statistics analyzing,

 

Last summer I went through a training program and became a literacy volunteer（扫盲志愿者）. The training I received, though excellent, did not tell me how it was to work with a real student, however. When I began to discover what other people’s lives were like because they could not read, I realized the true importance of reading.

My first student Marie was a 44-year-old single mother of three. In the first lesson, I found out she walked two miles to the nearest supermarket twice a week because she didn’t know which bus to take. When I told her I would get her a bus schedule. She told me it would not help because she could not read it. She said she also had difficulty once she got to the supermarket, because she couldn’t always remember what she needed. Since she did not know words, she could not write out a shopping list. Also, she could only recognize items by sight, so if the product had a different label, she would not recognize it as the product she wanted.

As we worked together, learning how to read built Marie’s self-confidence, which encouraged her to continue in her studies. She began to make rapid progress and was even able to take the bus to the supermarket. After this successful trip, she reported how self-confident she felt. At the end of the program, she began helping her youngest son, Tony, a shy first grader, with his reading. She sat with him before he went to sleep and together they would read bedtime stories. When his eyes became wide with excitement as she read, pride was written all over her face, and she began to see how her own hard work in learning to read paid off. As she described this experience, I was proud of myself as well. I found that helping Marie to build her self-confidence was more rewarding than anything I had ever done before.

As a literacy volunteer, I learned a great deal about teaching and helping others. In fact, I may have learned more from the experience than Marie did.

1.What did the author do last summer?

A．She worked in the supermarket.

B．She helped someone to learn to read.

C．She gave single mothers the help they needed.

D．She went to a training program to help a literacy volunteer.

2.Why didn’t Marie go to the supermarket by bus at first?

A．Because she liked to walk to the supermarket.	B．Because she lived far away from the bus stop.
C．Because she couldn’t afford the bus ticket.	D．Because she couldn’t find the right bus.

3.How did Marie use to find the goods she wanted in the supermarket?

A．She knew where the goods were in the supermarket.	B．She asked others to take her to the right place.
C．She managed to find the goods by their looks.	D．She remembered the names of the goods.

4.Which of the following statements is true about Marie?

A．Marie could do things she had not been able to do before.

B．Marie was able to read stories with the help of her son.

C．Marie decided to continue her studies in school

D．Marie paid for her own lessons.

 

A farmer had some puppies he needed to sell. He painted a sign advertising the pups and set about nailing it to a post on the edge of his yard. As he was driving the last nail into the post, he felt a tug on his overalls. He looked down into the sad eyes of a little boy.

“Mister," he said, "I want to buy one of your puppies." 

"Well," said the farmer, as he rubbed the sweat of the back of his neck, “these puppies come from fine parents and cost a good deal of money."

The boy dropped his head for a moment. Then reaching deep into his pocket, he pulled out a handful of change and held it up to the farmer. "I've got thirty- nine cents. Is that enough to take a look?”  

"Sure," said the farmer.

And with that he let out a whistle. "Here, Dolly!" he called.

Out from the doghouse and down the ramp ran Dolly followed by four little balls of fur. The little boy pressed his face against the chain link fence. His eyes danced with delight.

As the dogs made their way to the fence, the little boy noticed something else stirring inside the doghouse. Slowly another little ball appeared; this one noticeably smaller.

Down the ramp it slid. Then in a somewhat awkward manner, the little pup began hobbling toward the others, doing its best to catch up....

"I want that one," the little boy said, pointing to the runt.

The farmer knelt down at the boy's side and said, "Son, you don't want that puppy. He will never be able to run and play with you like these other dogs would."

With that the little boy stepped back from the fence, reached down, and began rolling up one leg of his trousers. In doing so he revealed a steel brace running down both sides of his leg attaching itself to a specially made shoe. Looking back up at the farmer, he said, "You see sir, I don't run too well myself, and he will need someone who understands."

With tears in his eyes, the farmer reached down and picked up the little pup. Holding it carefully he handed it to the little boy.

"How much?" asked the little boy.

"No charge," answered the farmer, "There's no charge for love."

The world is full of people who need someone who understands. It's National Friendship Week.

1.How many baby pups did the farmer have for sale?

  A. 3                                B. 4                             C. 5                             D. 6

2.Why did the farmer agree to sell the boy one of the puppies?

  A. The boy had the money to buy one.   

  B. There were few people wanting to buy a dog.

  C. The farmer felt sorry for the boy.             

  D. The farmer wanted to get rid of the dogs quickly.

3. Which of the following words is closest in meaning to the underlined word “ hobbling”?

  A. strolling.                     B. crawling.                       C. limping.                 D. running.

4.Why did the boy finally choose the “ hobbling” pup?

  A. He feared the farmer would kill it.           

  B. He thought no one else would buy that pup.

  C. He believed it was the cutest of the pups.          

D. He could identify with this pup.

5.What would be the most suitable title for this passage?

  A. Man’s Best Friend                                        B. Puppy For Sale.       

  C. Perfect Match.                                                 D. Love at First Sight.