One day three Frenchmen who did not know English very well were talking about the English language.
The first Frenchman said, ‘I heard someone shout ‘look out’ ,I put my head out of a window and a basin of water fell on me. It seems that ‘look out’ may mean ‘don’t look out!’
The second one followed, ‘ I was once on a ship and heard the captain（船长） shout, ‘All hands on the deck(甲板)’ I put my hands on the deck and someone trod(踩)on them.’
The third one told his friends his experience too, ‘One early morning I called on my English friend and the maid(女佣) said, ‘He is not up yet, come back in half an hour.’ When I went again for him, she said, ‘He’s not down yet.’I said, ‘If he’s not up and he is not down, where is he then?    What a strange language it is!’
【小题1】What is the possible meaning of “look out” in this passage?

A．Put your head out and look outside	B．Be careful
C．Come out and have a look	D．Both A and B

【小题2】When the captain shouted. “All hands on deck”, he really meant to tell____________.

A．Everyone on the ship to put his hands on the deck

B．All the sailors(水手)to put their hands on the deck

C．All the sailors to come up to deal with (处理)some trouble

D．Everyone on ship to gather (集合)on the deck

【小题3】What did the maid mean when she said, “He’s not up yet”?

A．He has not risen to his feet yet.

B．He’s not back yet.

C．He has not got up yet.

D．He was ill in bed.

【小题4】Where was the third Frenchman’s English friend then?

A．He was at a party.

B．He was at work.

C．He was in his bedroom.

D．He was in the bathroom.

【小题5】What do you think was the three Frenchmen’s real trouble?

A．English is too difficult to understand.

B．They didn’t use the language so often.

C．They knew nothing about the English idioms.(成语\习惯用语)

D．They were not sure about the English grammar.

    One day at a park, a woman sat down next to a man on a bench (长椅) near a playground. “That’s my son over there,” she said, pointing to (指着) a little boy in a red sweater.
“He’s a lovely boy,” the man said. “That’s my daughter on the bike in the white dress.” Then, looking at his watch, he called to his daughter, “We have to leave for home now, Rosa.”
“Just five minutes, Dad,” Rosa said, “Please, just five more minutes.”
The man agreed and Rosa went to ride his bike happily. Five minutes later, the father stood and called again to his daughter, “Time to go now?”
“Five more minutes, Dad,” Rosa said again, “Just five more minutes.”
The man smiled and said, “OK.”
“Oh, you are really a patient father,” said the woman.
The man smiled and then said, “Her elder brother Tommy died (死) in a traffic accident (事故)last year when he was riding his bike near here,” the man said, “I never spent much time with Tommy and now I’d like to give anything for just five more minutes with him. I vowed (发誓) not to make the same mistake(错误) with Rosa. She thinks she has five more minutes to ride her bike. In fact, I get five more minutes to watch her play.”
【小题1】The woman’s son was wearing _______________.

A．a red T-shirt	B．a red sweater
C．a white sweater	D．a white dress

【小题2】From the article, we know that Tommy was ____________.
A. the man’s son                            B. the woman’s son
C. Rosa’s younger brother                       C. the man’s elder brother
【小题3】The underlined word “patient” means_____________.

A．严格的

B．勤劳的

C．有耐心的

D．积极的

【小题4】Which of the following sentences is TRUE?

A．The man’s daughter and her brother played at the park.

B．Rosa agreed to go home when her father called her the first time.

C．The woman felt sorry that she didn’t spend any time with her son.

D．The man learned a lot from Tommy’s death(死亡).

One morning, a blind boy sat on the steps of a building with a hat by his feet .He held a sign which said,“I am blind. Please help me.”
There were only a few coins（硬币） in the hat. A man was walking by. He took out a few coins from his pocket and dropped them into the hat .He then took the sign, turned it around, and wrote some words on it. He put the sign back so that everyone who walked by could see the new words.
Soon the hat began to fill up. A lot more people were giving money to the blind boy. That afternoon the man who had changed the sign came to see how things were. The boy recognized his footsteps and ask,“Are you the one who changed my sign in the morning? What did you write?”
The man said,“I only wrote the truth. I said what you said, but in a different way.”
What he had written was,“Today is a beautiful day, but I can’t see it.”
Do you think the first sign and the second sign were saying the same thing?
Of course both signs told people the boy was blind. But the first sign simply told people to help by putting some money in the hat. The second sign told people that they were able to enjoy the beauty of the day, but the boy could not enjoy it because he was blind.
The first sign simply said the boy was blind, while the second sign told people they were so lucky that they were not blind.
There are at least two lessons we can learn from this simple story.
The first is: Treasure(珍惜)what you have. Someone else has less. Try your best to help those who need your help.
The second is: Be creative. Think differently. There is always a better way.
【小题1】 From the passage we know that______.

A．the boy is the man’s son.	B．the man is one of his neighbors.
C．the boy is blind and needs help.	D．the boy works for the man.

【小题2】 On the sign what the man wrote was,“_______.”

A．Treasure what we have already had.

B．Today is a beautiful day, but I can’t see it.

C．We are so lucky that we are not blind.

D．Try your best to help those who need your help.

【小题3】According to the passage, which of the following is TRUE?

A．The hat began to fill up after the man wrote some words on the sign.

B．The man took away all the few coins from the hat.

C．The boy wanted to get enough money to go to school.

D．Nobody wanted to give any coins to the blind boy.

【小题4】The word“recognized”here in Chinese means______.

A．承认	B．接受
C．表扬	D．认出

【小题5】“____”is the best title for this story.

A．Be careful.

B．Be creative. There is always a better way!

C．Be kind to the blind!

D．Do not always get, but offer!

One day when some government officials(官员) were building a barn(谷仓), they found a mouse hole in a corner and used smoke to make the mice inside the hole come out. A while later they indeed saw mice running out, one after another. Then, everyone thought that all the mice had escaped. But just as they began to clean up, they saw two mice squeezing(挤)out at the mouth of the hole. With some efforts, the mice finally got out. However, it was strange that after they came out of the hole, they didn’t run away immediately. Instead, one chased after the other near the mouth of the hole. It seemed that one was trying to bite the tail of the other.
Everyone was puzzled(困惑), so they stepped near to take a look. They realized that one of the mice was blind and couldn’t see anything, and the other was trying to allow the blind mouse to bite on his tail so that he could pull the blind one with him to escape.
After seeing what happened, everyone was speechless and lost in thought. During the meal time, the group of people sat down in a circle and started to chat about what happened to the two mice.
One serious American official said, “I think the relationship between those mice was that of king and guard(卫兵).” The other thought for a while and said, “That is why!”
A smart Frenchman said, “I think the relationship between those two mice was that of husband and wife.” Again the others thought for a while, and all felt it made sense.
A Japanese said, “I think the relationship between those two mice was that of mother and son.” Once again the others thought for a while, and felt this was more reasonable. So they expressed(表达) agreement another time.
At that moment, one Chinese asked, “Why did those two mice have to have a certain relationship?”
Suddenly, the group looked back at the Chinese and stayed speechless. The American official, the French and the Japanese who had spoken earlier all lowered their heads in shame(羞愧), and did not dare to answer.
In fact, the true love is not built on friendship, loyalty(忠诚) or blood relationship.
Instead, it is based on no relationship.
【小题1】Neither of the two mice ran away immediately because ________.

A．one was biting the other

B．the mouth of the hole was too small

C．they were not afraid of smoke

D．one was trying to help the blind one

【小题2】 Why did the officials lower their heads in shame according to the passage?

A．They didn’t dare to answer.

B．They didn’t realize the importance of protecting animals.

C．They felt sorry they had driven a poor blind mouse away.

D．They didn’t express themselves much better.

【小题3】It is clear that ________.

A．all the mice came out of the hole easily

B．each of the people understood the relationship differently

C．the people wanted to kill the mice with smoke

D．the people knew one of the mice was blind at first

【小题4】The words “it made sense” probably mean ________

A．it was correct	B．it was strange
C．it was funny	D．it was sweet

【小题5】The best title for the passage is ________.

A．Two Lovely Mice	B．Help Produces Love
C．Love Is All	D．Friends in Need

One afternoon, my son came home from school and asked me, “Are all people the same even if their skin color is different?” I thought for a moment, then I said, “I’ll explain. Let’s go to a fruit store first. I have something interesting to show you.”
At the store, I told him that we needed to buy apples. And we bought some red apples, green apples and yellow apples.
After we got home, I told Adam, “It’s time to answer your question.” I put one of each type of apple on the table: first a red apple, followed by a green apple and then a yellow apple. Then I looked at Adam, who was sitting on the other side of the table.
“Adam, people are just like apples. They come in different colors, shapes and sizes. See, some may not even look as delicious as others.” As I was talking, Adam was examining each one carefully.
Then, I took each of the apples and peeled them, placing them back on the table, but in a different place.
“OK, Adam, tell me which one is the red apple, the green apple and the yellow apple.”
He said, “I can’t tell. They all look the same now.”
“Take a bite(一口) of each one. See if that helps you tell which one is which.”
He took big bites, and then a huge smile came across his face. “People are just like apples! They are all different, but if you take off the outside, they’re pretty much the same on the inside.”
“Right,” I agreed. “Just like everyone has their own features but they are nearly the same.”
He completely got it. I didn’t need to say or do anything else.
Now, when I eat an apple, it tastes a little sweeter than before. What perfect fruit it is!
【小题1】I took Adam to buy apples for         .            

A．supper

B．his question

C．a party

D．a present

【小题2】As soon as we got home, I put          on the table.

A．all the apples	B．three apples of different colors
C．three red apples	D．three peeled apples

【小题3】After Adam took big bites, he found they         .

A．looked the same

B．tasted good

C．tasted the same

D．weren’t delicious

【小题4】In the end, Adam understood that         .

A．people are much the same even if their skin color is different

B．people are different if their skin color is different

C．the apples look the same after they are peeled

D．apples of different colors taste different

【小题5】I feel that apples taste a little sweeter than before because         .

A．they are delicious enough	B．they are perfect fruit for thinking
C．they are safe fruit	D．my son falls in love with them