When I was young, I liked to play jokes on people I knew, especially on my parents and friends. One day my mother was cooking in the kitchen and my younger brother was playing near the window. I ran to my mother and said, “My brother has fallen from the open window!” She was very worried about my brother and then I said, “Don’t worry. I’m just joking.” And my mother shouted at me, “If you do it again, I’ll punish(惩罚) you.”
One day I went swimming with my friends in the sea. I wanted to play a joke on my friends. In the beginning, I went swimming alone, and I called to my friends, “ Help me!” All my friends came to help me, only to find out that I was joking. But the next time I wasn’t joking. I swam in deep water and I was so careless that I was almost drowned(淹死). I tried my best to call my friends for help, but this time nobody came to help me. In the end, they found I was telling the truth(真话). They came and saved my life. They took me to the emergency center. From then on, I haven’t joked on anyone. I think this is the best lesson in my life.
【小题1】What did the writer like to do when he was young ?
A. To fight with his friends.            B. To play with his mother.
C. To play jokes on others.
【小题2】How did the writer’s mother feel when she heard what he said about his brother ?
A. Interested.               B. Worried.    .           C. Excited.
【小题3】 When the writer shouted “Help me!” for the first time, his friends _______ .
A. came to help him           B. didn’t care about him    
C. stopped to look at him
【小题4】The underlined part “the emergency center” means “________” in Chinese.
A. 购物中心              B. 娱乐中心               C. 急救中心
【小题5】 Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage? 
A. The writer’s mother was cooking when his mother fell from the open window.
B. The writer used to go swimming alone in the deep sea.
C. The writer hasn’t joked on others since he was saved by his friends.

Bringing a giraffe into the world is a tall order. A baby giraffe is born 10 feet high and usually lands on its back. Within seconds it rolls over its legs under its body. Then the mother giraffe rudely introduces its children to the reality(现实) of life.
In his book, A View from the Zoo, Gary Richmond describes how a new-born giraffe learns its first lesson.
The mother giraffe lowers her head long enough to take a quick look. Then she puts herself directly over her child. She waits for about a minute, and then she does the most unreasonable(不合情理的) thing. She throws her long leg and kicks her baby, so that it’s sent sprawling(四脚朝天).
When it doesn’t get up, the process is repeated again and again. The struggle to rise is important. As the baby giraffe grows tired, the mother kicks it again. Finally, it stands for the first time on its shaky(摇晃的) legs. Then the mother giraffe kicks it off its feet again. Why? She wants it to remember how it got up. In the wild, a baby giraffe must be able to get up as quickly as possible to stay with its group, where there’s safety.
Another writer named Irving Stone understood this. He spent a lifetime studying greatness, writing stories about such men as Michelangelo, Vincent van Gogh, Sigmund Freud, and Charles Darwin.
Stone was once asked if he had found something that runs through the lives of all these great people. He said, “I write about people who sometime in their life have a dream of something. They’re beaten over the head, knocked down and for years they get nowhere. But every time they stand up again. And at the end of their lives they’ve realized some small parts of what they set out(着手) to do .”
【小题1】What does the underlined part “a tall order” in Paragraph 1 mean?

The underlined part in the word “ plays ” is pronounced as ______.

A. ∕z ∕           B. ∕s ∕       C. ∕iz ∕          D. ∕ ts ∕

One bag, that’s it.

The importance of packing light cannot be overemphasized(过度强调). Limit yourself to 20 pounds in a carry-on bag. A 9’× 22’ ×14’ bag fits under most airplane seats. And after you enjoy that sweet mobility and freedom, you’ll never go any other way.

You’ll walk with your luggage(行李) more than you think you will. Before leaving home, give yourself a test. Pack up completely, and practice being a tourist for an hour. Fully loaded, you should enjoy window-shopping. If you can’t, go home and thin things out.

Packing light isn’t just about the trip over and back—it’s about your traveling lifestyle. Too much luggage marks you as a typical tourist. It slams the back door shut. Changing locations becomes an important operation. With only one bag, you’re mobile and in control. Take this piece of advice seriously. Pack light, and pack smart. These days, you can’t bring anything possibly dangerous—such as knives, lighters or large amounts of liquid (液体)—in your bag.

What to bring?

How do you fit a whole trip’s worth of luggage into a small backpack or suitcase(衣箱)? The answer is simple: bring very little.

Bring out everything you think you might need on the floor. Pick up one item(件) at a time and check it. Ask yourself—not “Will I use it?”, but—“Will I use it enough to feel good about carrying it all the way? The world is getting really small—you can buy Colgate toothpaste, Nivea cream and Gillette razors in almost every country.

Think about what you can do without—not what will be convenient on your trip. When in doubt, leave it out.

1.What do the last two paragraphs mainly talk about?

A. Packing light is a kind of travelling lifestyle.

B. Packing light can give you mobility and freedom.

C. How to find out what to take and what not to take on a trip.

D. How to find out if your luggage is too heavy.

2.You are allowed to take _______with you when you travel according to the passage.

A. Colgate toothpaste     B. Lighters    C. Knives     D. a great deal of liquid

3.The underlined part “thin things out” possibly means________.

  A. make things thin to bring

B. make your luggage lighter

  C. take out dangerous things

D. throw useless things away

4.The author seems to believe that _________.

A. people had better bring nothing when they travel

B. people can use Nivea cream only in their home town

C. the importance of packing light is overemphasized now

D. you will be easily seen as a tourist with a lot of luggage

5.What is the best title for the passage?

A. Dying for a trip

B. Things to take on a trip

C. Pack light and pack right

D. Travelling: a typical way of life

The underlined part in the word “houses” is pronounced as       .