A young father was visiting an old neighbor. They were standing in the old man’s garden, and talking about children. The young man said,“How strict should parents be with their children?”

　  The old man pointed to（指着）a string (细绳) between a big strong tree and a thin young one.

　 “Please untie (解开) that string.” said the old man. “But first pull the string tight so that（以便于）the young tree is straight again.” The young man did so. He untied the string and only found that the young tree bent（弯）over to one side.

　 Then the old man said,“There, it is the same with children. You must be strict with them. But sometimes you must untie the string to see how they are getting on. If they are not yet able to stand alone，you must tie the string tight again. But when you find that they are ready to stand alone，you can take the string away.”

1.The story is about ____________.

　　    A. how to take care of young trees　   

B. how strict parents should be with their children

C. how the young father should get on with his old neighbor

2. The young man untied the string ________________.

　　    A. in order to throw it away   　　

B. so that both of the trees wouldn’t grow straight

　　    C. and found that the young tree bent over to one side

3.When could the string be taken away?

　　    A. When the old man left.　   　　

B. When the young man untied it next time.

　    　C. When the young tree grew strong enough.

4. At last the old man told the young man ________________.

　　    A. that he should be strict with his children if they could not 

stand alone

　　    B. that he should always be strict with his children

　　    C. that he should be hard on his children

5.We learn that the big strong tree and the thin young one are like _________.

A. the young father and the old neighbor    　　

B. parents and their children

　　     C. the old neighbor and the children of young father

Betty is not a traditional American beauty. She is unfashionable, has thick red glasses, untidy hair and large metal braces (牙套) on her teeth. But this hasn’t stopped her from becoming one of American’s favorite TV characters. So how did she manage to do it?

The answer is that charm can be more attractive than beauty. Betty is the main character in a TV show Ugly Betty. The show is about her life as an office worker at a fashion magazine in New York.

　　The TV show has just started. Betty has many exciting experiences and romantic stories. Betty is often looked down on and laughed at by the people around. But she manages to do better than others with her hard work, charm and wisdom. The show tells us about how a girl goes from an ugly young duck into a beautiful swan.

　　Though you may know the ending of the show from the beginning and the story is familiar to many of us, it has still been a big success in the USA. It has attracted a large number of viewers and won two Golden Globes awards, one of the highest honors for a television program in the USA.“ I think you can see a bit of Betty in all of us, and I mean men as well, because it’s about the underdog (弱者)”，says Ashley Jensen, who plays one of the characters on the show.

　　The program is so successful because of the good performance of the 23-year-old actress America Ferrera who plays the role of Betty. She brings the character alive on the screen.

1.Betty is popular because of ____.

A. her clothes 　　　　　B. her charm 　　　   C. her metal braces  　　　D. her appearance

2.In Paragraph 4, the underlined word “it” refers to (指的是) ____.

A. the beginning 　　　　B. the ending 　　  　C. the story 　　　        D. the show

3.Which is the reason for the success of the show?

A. A large number of viewers. 　　　　　　B. Her life as an office worker.

C. The wonderful performance. 　　　　　 D. Two Golden Globes awards.

4.Which of the following is NOT true according of the show?

A. Betty is a girl of wisdom.

B. Betty acts as a beautiful swan on the show.

C. Betty is an American favorite TV character.

D. Betty is often looked down on by the people around.

5. What can be the best title for the passage?

A. Beauty from within. 　　　　　  B. A romantic story.

C. An ugly girl. 　　　　　　　　  D. An exciting experience.

A young father was visiting an old neighbor. They were standing in the old man’s garden, and talking about children. The young man said,“How strict should parents be with their children?”
　  The old man pointed to（指着）a string (细绳) between a big strong tree and a thin young one.
　 “Please untie (解开) that string.” said the old man. “But first pull the string tight so that（以便于）the young tree is straight again.” The young man did so. He untied the string and only found that the young tree bent（弯）over to one side.
　 Then the old man said,“There, it is the same with children. You must be strict with them. But sometimes you must untie the string to see how they are getting on. If they are not yet able to stand alone，you must tie the string tight again. But when you find that they are ready to stand alone，you can take the string away.”
【小题1】The story is about ____________.
　　    A. how to take care of young trees　   
B. how strict parents should be with their children
C. how the young father should get on with his old neighbor
【小题2】 The young man untied the string ________________.
　　    A. in order to throw it away  　　
B. so that both of the trees wouldn’t grow straight
　　    C. and found that the young tree bent over to one side
【小题3】When could the string be taken away?
　　    A. When the old man left.　  　　
B. When the young man untied it next time.
　   　C. When the young tree grew strong enough.
【小题4】 At last the old man told the young man ________________.
　　    A. that he should be strict with his children if they could not 
stand alone
　　    B. that he should always be strict with his children
　　    C. that he should be hard on his children
【小题5】We learn that the big strong tree and the thin young one are like _________.
A. the young father and the old neighbor   　　
B. parents and their children
　　     C. the old neighbor and the children of young father

Several years ago, a television reporter was interviewing three of the most important people from local businesses. One was a very rich banker, another owned one of the largest companies in the world, and the third owned many buildings in the center of New York.

　　The reporter was talking to them about being important.

　　“How do we know if someone is really important?” the reporter asked the banker.

　　The banker thought for a few moments and then said, “I think anybody who is invited to the White House to meet the President is really important.”

　　The reporter then turned to the owner of the very large company. “Do you agree with that?” she asked.

　　The man shook his head, “No. I think the President invites a lot of people to the White House. You’d only be important if while you were visiting the President, there was a telephone call from the president of another country, and the President said he was too busy to answer it.”

　　The reporter turned to the third man. “Do you think so?”

　　“No, I don’t.” he said. “I don’t think that makes the visitor important. That makes the President important.”

　　“Then what would make the visitor important?” the reporter and the other two men asked.

　　“Oh, I think if the visitor to the White House was talking to the President and the phone rang, and the President picked up the receiver, listened and then said, ‘it’s for you.’”

1.This story happened in ________.

A. U.N.                         B. U.S.A.                              C. U.K.         D. P.R.C.

2.There are________in this passage.

A. three men        B. three women and one man　

C. four men       D. three men and one woman

3.The banker and the owner of one of the largest companies in the world ________.

A. had similar opinions about the reporter’s question　　        

B. disagreed with each other  

C. had been invited to the White House many times      

D. didn’t reply to the reporter

4.The owner of one of the largest companies thought ________.

A. he himself was really important because he owned one of the largest companies in the world

B. the President was really important because the president of another country called him

C. the visitor was really important if the President would rather treat him than answer an important phone call from another country

D. none of them was really important

5.The underlined word you in the last paragraph refers to (指的是) ________.

A. the television reporter　　                    B. the owner of many buildings

C. the President                   D. the visitor to the White House