A

One day an old man is selling a big elephant. A young man comes to the elephant and begins to look at it slowly. The old man goes up to him and says in his ear, “Don’t say anything about the elephant before I sell it. Then I give twenty dollars.” “All right” says the young man. After the old man sells the elephant, he gives the young man twenty dollars and says, “Now, can you tell me how you see the bad ears of the elephants?” “I didn’t find the bad ears” says the young man. “Then why do you look at the elephant slowly?” asked the old man. The young man answers, “Because I never saw an elephant before, and I want to know what it looks like.”

1                 the elephant.

A. The young man sells      B. The old man sells

C. The two men sell         D. The old man buys

2 The young man looks at the elephants. He wants to find    

A. some meat              B. some money  

C. bad ears                D. what it looks like

3 The young man looks at the elephant slowly because he     

A. wants to find something    B. likes the elephant

C. helps the old man         D. doesn’t see the elephant before

4 Hearing what the young man said, the old man will be     

A. angry     B. happy     C. dangerous     D. hungry

5 A. knows the elephant has bad ears

B. wants the elephant

C. looks after the elephants      

D. will not get any money from the old man

  B

Many young people in China know about Celine Dion （席琳•迪翁），the famous French Canadian pop singer. She sang the song “ My heart will go on” for the movie Titanic. But do you know she had already become popular before she sang this song.

Celine Dion’s hometown was in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. She is the youngest of the fourteen children in a musical family. Her parents and the large family formed a singing group. They traveled and played folk music. They were well known in their hometown. Celine’s mother wrote her first song for her, and she recorded it with her brother when she was twelve years old. Then a local rock manager named Rene Angelil was interested in them. He asked Mrs Dion to take her two children to come to his office. Later on he gave strong support for Celine. In 1994, they were married.

As a singing star, Celine Dion won many prizes and soon became popular all over the world. She sang at the opening of the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, USA. In 1997, she made the whole world hit with the song “My heart will go on”.　                                 

6Celine Dion was a _______.

        A. drawer   B. scientist    C. singer    D. manager

7There were _______ people in Celine’s family.

        A. 15      B. 16         C. 17       D. 18

8Celine Dion’s family were ______ in their hometown.

        A. famous   B. rich        C. poor     D. kind

9 Celine Dion recorded her first song with ______.

        A. her sister B. her mother   C. her father   D. her brother

10 In _____, Celine Dion sang at the opening of the Olympic Cames.

        A. 1999     B. 1998       C. 1997      D. 1996  

Science fiction is a popular kind of writing, and many people think of Jules Verne as the father of science fiction. He was born in France in 1828. His father wanted him to become a lawyer（律师）, but when he was about twenty years old, Verne decided to become a writer. At first he wrote plays for the theater. Then, in 1863, he wrote a story called Five Weeks in a Balloon. The success of this book encouraged him to write more stories such as A Journey to the Center of the Earth （1864） and From the Earth to the Moon （1865）.

In the 19th century, many people were interested in science and inventions. Jules Verne wrote about scientific subjects in his stories and, as a result, they were very popular. Verne’s writing included many predictions （预言） for the 20th century and many of them came true. He described space flight, movies, and air conditioning, a long time before they appeared. These books were very successful and they made Verne rich.

Jules Verne’s books have been the subjects for many movies. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea was a successful movie for Walt Disney. It was the first Disney movie to use real actors instead of cartoon drawings. Around the World in Eighty Days is another famous movie based on one of Verne’s books. The main character is an Englishman called Phileas Fogg. For him, the most important thing is to be always on time!

1．What does the phrase “the father of science fiction” mean?

A．The man who loves science and inventions.

B．The writer whose father wrote science fiction.

C．The man who first started writing science fiction successfully.

2．What encouraged Jules Verne to write more stories?

A．The success of Five Weeks in a Balloon.

B．The encouragement from his father.

C．The plays he wrote for the theater.

3．Why were Jules Verne’s books very popular in the19th century?

A．Because his books made him rich and famous.

B．Because his books have been the subjects for many movies.

C．Because many people were interested in science and inventions.

4．Which of the following has the main character called Phileas Fogg?

A．From the Earth to the Moon

B．Around the World in Eighty Days.

C．A Journey to the Center of the Earth.

5．20,000 Leagues Under the Sea is a ______.

   A．cartoon movie

B．movie to use real actors

C．book written by Walt Disney

Science fiction is a popular kind of writing，and many people think of Jules Verne as the father of science fiction．

    He was born in France in 1828．His father wanted him to become a lawyer，but from his early twenties Verne decided to become a writer．At first he wrote plays for the theater．Then，in 1863，he wrote a story called Five Weeks in a Ballon．The success of this book encouraged him to write more stories such as A Journey to the Center of the Earth(1864)and From the Earth to the Moon(1865)．

    In the 19th century，many people were interested in science and inventions．Jules Verne wrote about scientific subjects in his stories and，as a result，they were very popular．Verne’s writing included many predictions(预言)for the 20th century and many of them came true．He described space flight，movies，and air conditioning，a long time before they appeared．These books were very successful and they made Verne rich．

    Jules Verne’s books have been the subjects for many movies．20，000 Leagues Under the Sea was a successful movie for Walt Disney．It was the first Disney movie to use real science instead of cartoon drawings．Around the World in Eighty Days is another famous movie based on one of Verne’s books．The main character is an Englishman called Phileas Fogg．For him，the most important thing is to be always on time!

1．What does the phrase“the father of science fiction”mean?

  A．The father who has several children．

  B．The man who loves science and inventions．

  C．The writer whose father wrote science fiction．

  D．The man who first started writing science fiction successfully．

2．What encourages Jules Verne to write more stories?

  A．The plays he wrote for the theater．

  B．The encouragement from his father．

  C．The success of Five Weeks in a Balloon．

  D．The scientific subjects in his stories．

3．Why were Jules Verne’s books very popular in the 19th century?

  A．Because his books made him rich and famous．

  B．Because he wrote many plays for the theater at that time．

  C．Because his books have been the subjects for many movies．

  D．Because many people were interested in science and inventions．

4．Which of the following has the main character called Phileas Fogg?

  A．Five Weeks in the Balloon．

  B．Around the World in Eighty Days．

  C．A Journey to the Center of the Earth．

  D．From the Earth to the Moon．

5．According to the passage，which of the following is TRUE?

  A．Jules Verne only wrote plays in the 19th century．

  B．Many of the predictions in Verne’s stories came true．

  C．The main characters in Verne’s books are always on time．

  D．The space flight Verne described was different from others．