Steve Jobs made technology* fun. The co-founder of Apple died on October 6^th 2011 at the age of fifty-seven. He had fought for years against cancer. Thousands of people gathered outside his house in California, and Apple stores around the world.
Steve Jobs didn’t finish his college when he was young. His parents supported his early interest in electronics*. He and his friend started Apple Computer -- now just called Apple – at the age of 21. They stayed at the company until 1985. That year, his friend returned to college and Steve Jobs left in an argument with the CEO.
Mr. Jobs then set up his own company, called NeXT Computer. He rejoined* Apple Computer in 1997 when it was in bad time and then made it to one of the most valuable* companies in the world today.
Steve Jobs stepped down as Apple's CEO in August because of his health. He died a day after the company released* the new iPhone 4S.
President Obama said in a statement*: "By building one of the world’s most successful companies from his garage*, he explained the spirit of American. By making computers personal and putting the Internet in our pockets, he made the technology not only convenient, but fun."
【小题1】When was Steve Jobs born?

A．1955

B．1952

C．1958

D．1959

【小题2】At the age of 21, Jobs_____

A．finish his college	B．started Apple Computer
C．set up NeXT Computer	D．left Apple Computer

【小题3】Jobs left Apple Computer because ______.

A．the Apple Computer was in bad time

B．he wanted to set up his own company

C．he argued with the CEO

D．he hoped to return to college

【小题4】Why did President Obama call Jobs the spirit of American?

A．He built one of the world’s most successful companies from his garage

B．His father was very famous

C．He made the technology not only convenient, but fun.

D．He had fought for years against cancer.

阅读下列短文，从文后各题所给的四个选项中选出一个最佳答案。

Hundreds of years ago in a small town, a moneylender lent a lot of money to a poor man. The moneylender , who was old and ugly, _____ the poor man’s beautiful daughter. So he came up with an idea. He said the poor man didn’t need to return the money to him _____ he could marry his daughter. Both the man and his daughter were________.

        The moneylender then told them that he would put a small _______ stone and a small white stone into an empty bag. The girl would have to ______ one. If she took the black stone , she would become the moneylender’s _______ and her father’s debt would be let go. If she picked the white stone, she didn’t need to marry him and her father’s debt would______ be let go. Her father would be put into prison if she refused to pick a stone.

        As they talked, the moneylender picked up two stones. As he did that, the girl______that he had put two black stones in the bag. He then asked the girl to pick her stone from the bag.

        The girl thought for a while and then had an idea. She put her hand into the bag and took out a stone. ______ looking at it, she let it fall onto the path where it ______ became lost among all the other stones. “ Oh how______ I was！” She said, “But never ______. If  you look into the bag for the one that is left, you will be able to _______ which stone I picked.” This ______ tells: Sometimes we can think about things in a _______way. Most difficult problems do have an solution.

1.A. pleased       B. attracted                     C. loved               D. saw

2.A. if               B. unless                        C. so                   D. but

3.A. bored          B. frightened                  C. relaxed              D. excited

4.A. pink             B. red                          C. black                 D. yellow

5.A. show           B. damage                     C. check      D. choose

6.A. daughter      B. cousin                   C. wife         D. friend

7.A. again           B. still                C. never                 D. hardly

8.A. said            B. feared                      C. thought              D. noticed

9.A. On   .           B. About                       C. For                  D. Without

10.A. usually         B. surprisingly       C. immediately        D. slowly

11.A. worried      B. clever                       C. careless             D. lucky

12.A. laugh        B. mind                         C. cry          D. complain

13.A. tell          B. explain                      C. ask           D. arrange

14.A. saying         B. story                         C. news                 D. man

15.A. careful                 B. funny                         C. different           D. normal

 

On my way home I knocked into a stranger as he passed by. “Oh. I'm terribly sorry,” I said. “That’s all right. Please excuse me too. I wasn't even  15  you. I wish I didn’t hurt you,” said the man.
We were very    16  . We said good-bye and went on our way.
But at home we often    17   our loved ones in a different way.
Later that day, while I was cooking the evening meal, my daughter stood beside me very quietly. When I turned around, I nearly    18  her down. “Move out of the way, ” I shouted. She walked away, tears（眼泪）in her eyes.
While I lay awake in bed, I realized how   19   I’d spoken. So I decided to get up to say sorry to my daughter. On the way to her bedroom, to my surprise, I found some   20  by the door of the kitchen. At that time my tears began to fall. I quietly went and got down on my knees by her   21 . She woke up and put her arms around my neck when I kissed（接吻）her. Then I asked, “Did you pick these flowers for me?”
She smiled and said, “I found them out by the tree. I picked them   22    they're pretty like you. I knew you’d like them. I stood quietly in order to give you a surprise.” “Oh dear, I'm really sorry for the way I acted today. I shouldn’t have shouted at you,” I said.
“That’s OK, Mom. I   23   you anyway,” she said.
I suddenly realized what a clever way it is to explain the word   24   like this: Father And Mother, I Love You!

【小题1】

A．saving B．helping C．calling D．noticing

【小题2】

A．sad B．angry C．polite D．proud

【小题3】

A．help B．treat C．consider D．encourage

【小题4】

A．put B．took C．turned D．knocked

【小题5】

A．sadly B．rudely C．softly D．calmly

【小题6】

A．books B．clothes C．flowers D．vegetables

【小题7】

A．bed B．desk C．window D．bedroom

【小题8】

A．when B．though C．before D．because

【小题9】

A．love B．need C．miss D．hate

【小题10】

A．father B．mother C．family D．daughter

Many textbooks are not written in the kind of English that we speak every day. In fact, sometimes the reading is so difficult that it almost seems like a foreign language. In a way, it is—the language of science. You should not expect to be able to read a difficult science passage the same way you read an interesting story; you should not expect to read it easily and all at once. Instead, you may have to read it several times through, catching on the meaning of difficult words, going back over difficult sentences, and finally putting the whole thing together. Do not be discourages if the whole passage don’t make sense to you at first. You need to pick it apart patiently until you can understand it.
These are the steps to follow when you are reading something difficult:
1. Start to read normally until you run into a sentence that doesn’t make sense to you.
2. When a sentence doesn’t make sense, go back and read it again more slowly.
3. Look for any word you don’t know in the sentence. Try to understand their meanings using word parts and context clues(上下文线索). If necessary, look them up in the dictionary.
4. Look at the next few sentences to see if they explain more about the sentence you are working on. Do not read very much farther ahead until you understand what is being said.
5. Finally, read the sentence again. Try to put it into simpler words.
6. Read through the passage once. Try to understand all the hard parts well. Then read the whole passage once more at a usual speed. This helps you to put all ides together.
The stops sound a lot harder than they are. It is really just the normal way good readers understand anything that is difficult to read. After you have done the best you can this way, you should always feel free to ask for help from your teacher, if you have one.
【小题1】The underlined phrase “run into” means ___________.

A．work out

B．come across

C．look into

D．pass by

【小题2】 From the passage, we can know _________.

A．we should look up new words before reading

B．it is sometimes difficult to read a science passage

C．the six steps are helpful in learning spoken English

D．interesting stories help readers to improve their English

【小题3】The massage is mainly about _________.

A．steps of studying science	B．difficulties in reading science
C．ways of reading science passages	D．researches on science and English

When you read an article you will understand and remember it better if you can work out how the writer has put the ideas together．Sometimes a writer puts ideas together by asking questions and then answering them．For example，if the article is about groundhogs（土拨鼠），the set of questions in the writer’s head might be：

What does a groundhog look like？

Where do groundhogs live？

What do they eat？…

In the article，the author might answer those questions．

Sometimes an author writes out her questions in the article．These questions give you signals．They tell you what the author is going to write next．Often an author has a question in her head but she doesn’t write it out for you．You have to work out her question for yourself．Here’s a sample reading for you to practice this method.

Earthworms

Do you know how many kinds of earthworms there are？There are about 1800 kinds in the world！ They can be brown，purple，green．They can be as small as 3 cm long and as large as 3 m long．

The best time to see earthworms is at night，especially a cool，damp night．That’s when they come up from their burrows（地洞）to hunt for food．Earthworms don’t like to be in the sun．That’s because they breathe through their skin，and they can’t breathe if their skin gets too dry．Earthworms must come out of the earth if it rains a lot，because they can't breathe in their flooded burrows．What a dangerous life！

Earthworms don't have eyes，so how can they tell when it's dark？ They have special places on their skin that are sensitive to light．These spots tell whether it’s light or dark．If you shine a flashlight on an earthworm at night，it will quickly disappear into the ground．

Earthworms don't have ears either，but they can hear by feeling movements in the earth．If you want to hear like an earthworm，lie on the ground with your fingers in your ears．Then have a friend stamp his or her feet near you．This is how earthworms feel birds and people walking，and moles digging，near them．

Earthworms are useful．Farmers and gardeners like having lots of earthworms in their land because the worms help to make better soil when they dig．That digging keeps the soil loose and airy（通风的）．In one year earthworms can pile up as much as 23,000 kg of castings in an area about the size of a football field．

1.What’s the purpose of reading Earthworms?

A．To show the special life facts of earthworms.

B．To explain the differences from the groundhogs.

C．To put the writer’s idea into real use.

D．To make the readers think more clearly.

2.Which question CANNOT be answered in the passage?

A．How do earthworms help with gardeners?

B．What life are earthworms living with?

C．When may people observe earthworms?

D．Why can human listen like earthworms?

3.How can you understand Earthworms better according to this passage?

A．Read, ask and answer questions in your own head while reading.

B．Read to work out all the questions in the writer’s head while reading.

C．Read and check all the things that are not clear to you again and again.

D．Read for general ideas and discuss or compare with other similar topics.

4.What’s the best title for the passage?

A．One way to help with understanding

B．One way to practice with a new idea

C．One way to learn to be a wise writer

D．One way to be clearer about worms