Each spring brings a new blossom of wildflowers in the ditches along the highway I travel daily to work.

There are some particular blue flowers that have always caught my eye. I’ve noticed that they bloom only in the morning hours and the afternoon sun is too warm for them. Every day for about two weeks, I see those beautiful flowers.

This spring, I started a wildflower garden in our yard. I can look out of the kitchen window while doing the dishes and see the flowers. I’ve often thought that those lovely blue flowers from the ditch would look great in that bed alongside other wildflowers. Every day I drove past the flowers thinking, “I’ll stop on my way home and dig them.” “Gee, I don’t want to get my good clothes dirty…” Whatever the reason, I never stopped to dig them. My husband even gave me a folding shovel（铲子）one year in my car to be used for that expressed purpose.

One day on my way home from work, I was shocked to see that the highway department had destroyed the ditches and the pretty blue flowers were gone. I thought to myself, “Way to go, you waited too long. You should have done it when you first saw them blooming this spring.” A week ago we were shocked and saddened to learn that my oldest sister has a terminal brain tumor（肿瘤）. She is 20 years older than me and unfortunately, because of age and distance, we haven’t been as close as we all would have liked. I couldn’t help but see the connection between the pretty blue flowers and the relationship between my sister and us. I do believe that God has given us some time left to plant some wonderful memories that will bloom every year for us. 

And yes, if I see the blue flowers again, you can bet I’ll stop and transplant them to my wildflower garden.

1. Why did those flowers the writer saw only bloom in the morning?

   A. Because it was hot in the afternoon.

   B. Because someone picked them away. 

   C. Because someone took them into houses.

   D. Because the writer passed them in the morning.

2. Which of the following statements is right according to the passage?

   A. The writer’s sister died of lung tumor.

   B. The writer was regretful when she heard her sister’s death.

   C. The writer planned to dig the flowers to give them to her husband.

   D. The writer’s husband planned to plant some flowers in the garden. 

3. The writer wrote the passage to tell us ________.

   A. to enjoy what we have now

B. to value now and not to lose chances

C. to protect the beautiful flowers we see

D. to love those who are your close relatives

Kindergartens( 幼儿园 ) may teach you very important things you need to know. Dancy, a 5-year-old boy, saved his father’s life with the skills he learned.
The boy’s father became seriously ill on the way home from a father-son shopping. He couldn’t speak and could hardly move, but he tried hard to stop the car safely. At that point, Dancy used his father’s phone to call his mother for help. The 5-year-old boy tried his best to give her useful information and he was able to tell where they were. Just as he had learned in the kindergarten, Dancy read the letters he saw on a nearby store sign: “F,U,R,N,I,T,U,R,E.” But that wasn’t enough for his mother to find them. Then he added that they were near a bridge. Finally, his mother understood he was talking about a store called Furniture 22 on New Jersey’s Route22.The mother called 911 and the father was saved in time.
“He just thought his dad needed help,” Dancy’s mother told the reporter. She also pointed out that her husband was a hero, too. “ It is surprising for him to get off  the highway ( 高速路 ) and get himself and his child to safety even when he was so sick,” she said.
Shine, head of the kindergarten, felt proud of his pupil. “ Dancy’s spelling skills helped him seize the moment,” he said. “And that’s the real value (价值  ) of education.”
【小题1】When the father became seriously ill, he and his son were ________.

根据汉语提示完成下面短文中所缺单词，（注意词形变化）（每空一词）。

Today, just as the school was over, my father came to pick me up and go 　1.(家). Just then, an old bus appeared behind our car. I used to ride this bus every ＿＿2.＿（天） to school in 6th grade, and 　3.　（多么） a good time we had!

I ＿4.　（花费）a lot of my time on that bus, whether laughing and talking, or ＿5.＿（恰好） enjoying the fine scenery of the city, as the bus took its daily route over the hills,6.__（穿过） the valleys(山谷), onto the highway, and finally, into the parking lot of my school.

That bus was a big part of my everyday ___7.__（生活）. And that old and always cheerful bus driver would take us on the long way to school to view beautiful places, like the ___8.__（海滩）, parks, even towns we had never seen ＿9.＿（以前）. Our school teachers wouldn’t mark us as being late, even if we were an ___10.__（小时） or so late to school.

Anyway, when I saw that bus, I recognized it right now. I told my dad that that was the bus I used to ride in.

1.From the first piece of news we know that ______.

A．it took the old woman over 50 years to study at South-Eastern University.

B．the great grandmother was the oldest who received a bachelor’s degree.

C．the 83-year-old woman’s story surprised everyone.

D．the 83-year-old woman has a strong will.

2.The underlined word “dumped” means____.

A．fell              B．left              C．hit               D．lasted

3.In the third piece of news, “picked up” means ______.

A．given a ride        B．saved from danger   C．freed             D．caught

4.Which of the following is right according to the last piece of news?

A．The wife was a 22-year-old truck driver.

B．The wife was shot after her husband died.

C．Shortly after having shot his wife, the young truck driver finished himself.

D．The wife died, but the husband didn’t.

5.Which is TRUE according to the news above?

A．A person who is about 70 years old can get a bachelor’s degree.

B．It never snows heavily at night in spring.

C．There were only 20 persons living in North Side apartment building.

D．Maybe today is Wednesday.