When I was seven years old, my family made me an ant farm. First , we put clean sand in a thin glass box. Then we waited for the ants to arrive.

After the ants were in the glass farm, they started to make tunnels(隧道). I was amazed that each one knew exactly what to do. Each had its own job.

On the fifth day a tragedy happened. I put my face so close to the glass farm that I knocked it over.

All the tunnels fell down. Although the ants remained alive after their earthquake, one by one they began to die. I was scared as I watched them give up building their tunnels to carry the bodies to a corner of the farm .

My mother said that the ants were dying of sadness . They simply could not stand that their tunnels were gone.

Although much time has passed , I still think of that ant farm. Mom had hoped it would teach me about the natural world , but it taught me much more.

Over the years, I came to realize the importance of teamwork . Working together , the ants were able to make an amazing world for themselves . I also learned that they should be admired for their hard word.

But there was an even larger lesson that I did not realize until recently: adversity is a natural part of life , and must be accepted . Unlike the ants ,we cannot give up when we are sad . We have to realize that if a tunnel is gone , we must building another .

Giving up , I say , is not a good choice.

1.The writer’s family made him an ant farm when he was___.

A．seven years old                         B．seventeen years old.

C．seventy years old                       D．six years old

2.Which statement is TRUE according to the passage?

A．The writer broke the glass box because it made his face dirty.

B．The ants died one by one because the tunnels were destroyed.

C．Unlike people , teamwork is not so important for the ants.

D．Giving up is a good way when we meet trouble.

3.The underlined word “teamwork” in the passage means_______.

A小组工作     B团队合作     C辛勤劳作     D不停工作

4.What did the writer come to realize a few years later?

A．Working together is useless.               B．Teamwork is important.

C．He can’t accept adversity.                D．Working alone is amazing.

My interest in Chinese food started many years ago, when I had my first job. I was a young reporter for the Daily Journal in San Francisco. Our office wasn’t far from Chinatown. I usually managed to arrange my time so that I could go there at least two or three times a week for a good meal.

The first time I ever ate Chinese food I loved it. And since then, it just tastes better and better to me. The first thing I noticed was the fresh tastes of the meat and vegetable. When I learned more about the food, I began to understand why it has this special feature.

 About 5000 years ago, China lost much of its wood because of over population and poor management of its forest. This loss was very bad for the country, of course, but it turned out to be very good for the food. Wood became very expensive and hard to get, so the Chinese had to learn how to use it better.

 In order to use less wood in cooking, they started to cut their meat and vegetable into small pieces before they put them in the hot oil. That way, the food cooked faster and they saved their fuel. The food prepared in the manner kept its fresh flavor(风味)--- and its this flavor that attracts people to the art of Chinese cooking.

 I often wonder if the Chinese appreciated their solution to that ancient energy problem as much as I do now --- whenever I eat Chinese food.

1.This passage is mainly about ___________.

A. why Chinese food tastes fresh

B. what Chinese food tastes like

C. how Chinese food is cooked

D. what makes Chinese food special

2.The author got to know Chinese food _______________.

A. when he worked as a reporter in China

B. from a news story in the Daily Journal

C. after he got a taste of it in the Chinatown

D. before he got his first job in San Francisco

3.The author thought the Chinese cut meat and vegetable into small pieces in order to _____________.

A. keeping its fresh flavor

B. saving their hard –to-get wood

C. producing a different kind of food

D. attracting westerners to their food

4.The word “ fuel” in the 4th paragraph most probably means ____________.

A. fresh flavor              B. meat and vegetable

C. hot oil                  D. firewood

5.According to the passage, the special freshness of Chinese food is the result of _______________.

A. the wood used to make the cooking fire

B. the fast speed at which it is cooked

C. the high quality of Chinese meat and vegetable

D. the well –developed art of Chinese cooking

When I was seven years old, my family made me an ant farm. First, we put clean sand in a thin glass box. Then we waited for the ants to arrive. After the ants were in the glass farm, they started to make tunnels(地道). I was amazed that each one knew exactly what to do. Each had its own job.

On the fifth day a tragedy(悲剧) happened. I put my face so close to the glass farm that I knocked it over. All the tunnels fell down. Although the ants remained alive after their earthquake, one by one began to die. I was scared as I watched them give up building their tunnels to carry the bodies to a corner the farm. My mother said that the ants were dying of sadness. They simply could not stand that their tunnels were gone.

Although much time has passed, I still think of that ant farm. Mom had hoped it would teach me about the natural world, but it taught me much more.

Over the years, I came to realize the importance of teamwork. Working together, the ants were able to make an amazing world for themselves. I also learned that they should be admired for their hard work.

But there was an even larger lesson that I did not realize until recently: Adversity(逆境) is a natural part of life, and must be accepted. Unlike the ants, we cannot give up when we are sad. We have to realize that if a tunnel is gone, we must build another.

Giving up, I say, is not a good choice.

1.What did the writer’s family do for him when he was seven?

2.Which statement is WRONG according to the passage?

3.Among the following events, which one happened first?

4.What did the writer learn from the ant tragedy a few years later?

5.What is the best title for the passage?

Concorde’s Birthday
CONCORDE, the world’s fastest passenger plane, will soon be over 33 years old. It first __1__ on 2 March 1969 in France. Concorde was developed by both France and Britain. From 1956 these two countries had a _2__ of a supersonic passenger plane. In 1962 they started to __3__ together on the project. The plane __4_ over 1.5 billion pounds to develop. It is the most tested plane in the history. It was given over 5000 hours of testing. Concorde flies at twice the speed of _5__. This means that it _6_ only 3 hours 25 minutes to fly between London and New York, compare with 7—8 hours in other passenger jets. Because of the five-hour time difference between the USA and Britain, it is _7__ to travel west on Concorde and arrive in New York before you leave London! You can catch the 10:30a.m. _8__ from London, Heathrow and start work in New York an hour _9_! Concorde is much used by business people and film stars. Each Concorde is built at a cost of 55 million pounds. Twenty have been built so far. Air France and British Airway _10_ the most. They each have seven planes.