The sun went down when an old man came to a small mountain village with a heavy bag. He found an inn(小旅馆) and wanted to stay there for the night.

After he had gone to his room, the owner of the inn said to his wife, “Look at his heavy bag, dear! I’m sure there’re a lot of valuable(贵重的) things. I want to steal it when he’s asleep tonight.” “No, no,” said his wife. “He must look for his bag tomorrow morning. Then he’ll take you to the police station.”

They thought hard and at last the woman had an idea. “We have forgetful grass,” said the woman. “Why not put some into his food? If he has the food, he’ll forget to take his bag away tomorrow morning.” “How clever you are!” said the owner, “don’t forget it when you cook supper for him.”

The old man had the food with forgetful grass and went to bed. The next morning, when the owner got up, he found the door was open and the old man had left. He looked for the bag for a long time, but he didn’t find it. He hurried to wake his wife up and said angrily, “What a fool! Your forgetful grass isn’t useful at all!”

“No, no,” said the woman. “I don’t think so. He must forget something.”

“Oh, I’ve remembered!” the owner called out suddenly, “He forgot to pay us the bill!”

1. The old man carried __________ when he got into the inn.

    A. a large camera                   B. a heavy bag

    C. an umbrella                    D. a heavy basket

2. What did the owner want to do?  _________________

    A. He wanted to call the police.         

 B. He wanted to kill the old man.

    C. He wanted to steal the old man’s bag.

  D. He wanted to invite the old man to dinner.

3. The old woman put _____________ into the old man’s food.

    A. some sleeping pills           B. some pepper

    C. some beef                 D. forgetful grass

4. The next morning the owner found ____________.

    A. the old man left his bag in the inn   B. the bag was still there

    C. the old man had died         D. the old man had gone with his bag

5. The old man forgot to __________________.

    A. pay the owner the bill                B. take his bag

    C. look at the time                   D. say goodbye to the owner

Think back to a time in your life when you tried something new.
When I was a teenager I volunteered to pass out water at a local race. I was so excited to see all the different runners who passed by and quickly took a cup of water. Some ran past，some walked past and a few wheeled past.
I saw so many types of people doing it. I thought maybe I could do it too! The next year I decided to run for the race，but I had little running practice. I just wanted to finish.
On the day of the race，it was terribly hot. After running for about 5 miles，I was thinking，“I must be crazy. Why did I do this? What was I thinking？” And at one moment，I said to myself，“I am never doing this again！”
That first 10 km race was quite an experience. I jogged (慢跑)，I walked，I jogged and walked. At times，I didn’t know if I could finish.
Near the end，a 70­year­old man ran past me，very fast，and I felt a little embarrassed (尴尬的) that I was more than 50 years younger than he and I couldn’t even keep up with him. But then I realized something. He was running his race and I was running mine. How often in life do we compare(比较) ourselves to others when we really shouldn’t? I decided that I would not give up on running races，and that one day I would be one of those 70­year­olds who were still running.
As I crossed the finishing line，I was proud of myself. I didn’t regret (后悔) having such an experience.
【小题1】What did the writer do at a local race as a volunteer?

Today, roller-skating is easy and fun. But a long time ago, it wasn’t easy at all. Before 1750, no one had any ideas of roller-skating. That changed because of a man named Joseph Merlin. He liked to make things and play the violin in his free time. Joseph Merlin was a man of ideas and dreams. People called him a dreamer.
One day Merlin was invited to a party. He was very pleased and a little excited. As the day of the party came near, Merlin began to think how to make an amazing entrance at the party. He had an idea. He thought everyone at the party would show much interest if he could skate into the room.
Merlin tried different ways to make himself roll. Finally, he decided to put two wheels under each shoe. These were the first roller skates. Merlin was proud of his invention and dreamed of arrived at the party on wheels while playing the violin.
On the night of the party Merlin rolled into the room playing his violin. Everyone was surprised to see him. There was just one problem. Merlin had no way to stop his roller skates. He rolled on and on. Suddenly, he ran into a huge mirror that was hanging on the wall. The mirror fell down, breaking into pieces. Merlin’s idea was so good that nobody forgot his special entrance for a long time. But could he find out a way to stop his roller skates?
【小题1】People thought Merlin was a dreamer because he __________.

When he was 16, his father seriously said to him, “I’ll give you whatever you want before you are 18. But after that, I won’t care much about you, and you should give me whatever I want.” When his 18^th birthday was coming, the young man began thinking about looking for a job. So he sent resumes(简历) to many companies he liked on the Internet. But, most got no reply, he said, “Maybe they were surprised about my primary school education.”

By chance, one of his friends was looking for someone, who could work as an egg porter(搬运工) in the supermarket, for 0.5 Yuan a box. Facing lots of difficulties in getting a job, he said, “I’ll take this job. At least I can make some money for my petrol(汽油).” Then every day, he drove his car, his 18^th birthday gift, to work in the supermarket. He did that for three months.

Later, he heard that a newspaper was looking for a network technician(网络技术员), so he asked for it. But they were also worried about his school education. He practiced his skill right in front of the computer, and showed the managers web pages he had designed. He started to work the next day, and became the director of network department in less than a year.

And now, the 23-year-old man is a boss. In January 2005, he started a magazine for children, with himself as the editor in chief（主编）. And the only writer was his father.

1.It was difficult for the young man to get a job because _______.

A. he was only 18 years old

B. his father cared too much about him.

C. he had an expensive car

D. he didn’t have enough school education

2.What did the 18^th birthday mean to the young man?

A. He could get a car as a gift.

B. He had to make a living all by himself.

C. He had to leave his parents.

D. He had to work in a supermarket.

3.The young man’s father might be_______.

A. a well-know and rich writer          B. a computer programmer

C. a very old and kind man             D. a manager of a big company

4.The magazine the young man started was perhaps______.

A. about network technicians           B. about working for newspapers

C. made of many funny stories          D. sold only in supermarkets

A jobless man wanted very much to have the position of “office boy” at Microsoft. The HR manager interviewed him and then watched him cleaning the floor as a test. “You have passed the test,” he said. “Give me your e-mail address and I’ll send you the form to fill in and the date when you may start.” The man replied, “But I don’t have a computer, neither an e-mail.” “I’m sorry,” said the HR manager. “If you don’t have an e-mail, that means you are not living. And anyone who isn’t living cannot have the job.”

The man left with no hope at all. He didn’t know what to do with only $10 in his pocket. He thought and thought. Then he went to the supermarket and bought 10 kilos of tomatoes. He sold the tomatoes from door to door. In less than two hours, he had 20 dollars. He repeated the operation three times, and started to go early every day, and returned home late. Shortly, he bought a cart , then a truck, then he had his own fleet of delivery vehicles(运货车队). Five years later, the man was one of the biggest food retailers (零售商)  in the US.

　One day, one of his friends asked him for his e-mail. He said, “I haven’t got one.” His friend couldn’t believe his ears. “Can you imagine what you could have been if you had an e-mail?” The man thought for a while and replied, “Yes, I’d be an office boy at Microsoft!”

1.What did the man do for the test?

A. He sent e-mails.   ??????????? B. He did the cleaning  

C. He sold computers.  ????????? D. He filled in forms.

2.The man didn’t get the job because he_____________.

A. disliked such a job                       B. didn’t pass the test

C. didn’t have an e-mail                  D. knew nothing about computers

3.The man ______after he left Microsoft.

A. went to look for another job            ??????

B. asked for food from door to door

C. thought of an idea to make monkey      ???

D. bought a computer and got an e-mail

4.Why could the man become one of the biggest food retailers in the US?

A. Because he had many friends to help him.

B. Because he was smart and worked very hard.

C. Because he had his own fleet of delivery vehicles.

D. Because he wanted to show Microsoft he was living.

5.What does the story want to tell us?

A. Computers are very important in our daily life.

B. Everyone can make a lot of money with only$10.

C. The HR manager didn’t find the ability of the man.

D. Nothing in the world is impossible if we work hard.