It is September first today. A new school year begins. Hu Ming gets up early. He puts on the nicest clothes. After a quick breakfast he says goodbye to his parents and leaves with a new school bag. His mother wants to take him to his school. but he doesn't let her do so.

      "The school is less than a hundred meters from here. I can walk there in two minutes. "There are a lot of people in the school this morning. Hu Ming finds Miss Wang in the teachers' office. She brings out a book and asks. "What's your name?"

      "Hu Ming. madam. "answers the boy.   

      "When were you born (出生) .

      "In 2001."

      "Where's your native place?

       "What does "native place "mean, please?

       "It means the place where you were born."

       "Oh. I see. It's the Beijing Maternity (妇产) Hospital.

  1. What is the date?

  2. How old is Hu Ming now?

  3. Is the school far from his home?

  4. What is Miss Wang?

  5. Does Hu Ming understand (理解) Miss Wang?

An old man was going home late one night with his horse and cart after a day’s hard work. When he was not far from his house, the light on the cart went out. He tried but could not mend (修理) it. He was near his home, and so he went along the road without a light. When a policeman saw this, he stopped the old carter.
“Where is your light?” asked the policeman. “No man may take a cart along the road at night without a light. You know that. You have broken the law (法律).”“I had a light, but it has just gone out,” said the old man.
“I don’t believe that story,” said the policeman. He took out a book and got ready to write. What’s your name and where do you live?” he asked.
“Please don’t take my name,” said the old man. “My home is just there. You can see it from here. I had a light nearly the whole way. I haven’t come far without a light.”
“You came all the way without a light. What’s your name?”
The carter quickly took the policeman’s hand and put it down on top of the light. The light was still hot and burnt the policeman’s hand. The policeman jumped and he was very angry. “Now, what do you think?” said the carter. “Did I come all the way without a light?”
1. In the passage the word “cart” is ____.
A. something like a car
B. something like a light
C. something pulled by a horse
D. something with a light
2. The old man drove home ____.
A. on the back of his horse
B. late one night
C. very late every night
D. with a policeman
3. Where did the policeman stop the old man?
A. Near the old man’s home.
B. At the traffic lights.
C. Under a road light.
D. Far from the old man’s home.
4. The cart was stopped by the policeman because ____.
A. the old man didn’t have a light
B. the policeman didn’t believe the old man’s words
C. the old man didn’t want to tell his name
D. the light on the old man’s cart was not on
5. What made the policeman believe the old man’s words?
A. He made the policeman touch the light.
B. He jumped and shouted angrily.
C. He made the policeman angry.
D. The light burnt the policeman’s hands.

Helen Monson has always been interested in helping her community. Her first volunteer experience was for the American Red Cross when she was in high school. When she was a school teacher, she also found time to volunteer. One year, she organized a Super Saturday fun day for kids in the community. She also used to volunteer at the mint festival every year, One summer she served food, another year she organized an art programme.

After she retired, she started volunteering to help the old. When her father was older, he was not able to see as well as he used to, which made her sad because he had always enjoyed reading.

She decided it would be fun to read to elderly people in her community. She also helped one woman write her stories. Ann was almost 100 years old, and Helen wrote down information about her life when she visited her. She put the information in a book and got it published. Ann was very excited to share her life story with her children and grandchildren.

  After a hurricane( 飓风 ) destroyed some southern cities, Helen volunteered again for the American Red Cross. She prepared food and answered phones in a care centre. She says,” I have always liked the Red Cross because the organization helps people in need no matter what.”

  One day Helen read an article in the newspaper about refugees( 难民 ) who needed to learn English. Now, she meets once a week with Sahra, a 38-year-old woman from Somalia. Sahra is reading and writing skills. Helen gave Sahra a camera and asked her to take pictures of her daily life. She developed the pictures, and then asked Sahra questions about them. In the end, they wrote a book  together and used the photos in the book. This helped Sahra learn many new words about

her everyday life.

   Helen says, “The most rewarding( 有益的 ) part of volunteer work is becoming friends with the people I help, They enrich my life as well as I enrich theirs.”

1.When was Helen’s first volunteer experience for the American Red Cross?

2. What did Helen do after she retired?

3. Why was Ann excited when her book got published?

4.Where did Helen work when she volunteered again for the American Red Cross?

5. How far is Sahra living and working from Helen’s home?

6.Did Helen help Sahra to learn English?

7. What can you learn from Helen?