This was one of the interesting games I liked best when l was a little girl．My sisters and I used to play it for hours at a time．

We had twenty-six small pieces of cardboard．On each of these we had printed a letter of the alphabet（字母表）．Before we started to play，we decided what the game would be about．Let us imagine that we chose to play animals．One of us would then mix up（弄乱）the cards and turn over one of them．If the letter on the card happened to be C，we would try to think，as quickly as possible，of an  animal which began with C，such as cat，cow，camel and so on．The one who first gave the name of the animal received that card．This was done with each of the twenty-six cards．In the end the person who had the most cards won the game．

1．Which of the following drawings is like the cardboard?

2．How many cards do you need to win the game?

A．All．                                B．Half．

C．None．                                    D．More than anyone else has．

3．Why did the writer and her sisters like the game very much?

A．It helped them to know more about animals．

B．It helped them to remember the names of animals．

C．They could learn something while they had a good time．

D．They were working hard at English．

"Everything happens for the best," my mother said whenever things weren't going my way. "Don't worry. One day your luck will change."

Mother was right, as I discovered after I had finished my college education, I had decided to try for a job in radio. One day, I wanted to host a sports programme. I went to Chicago and knocked on the door of every station. But I got turned down every time.

    In one station, a kind lady said my problem was that I hadn't got enough experience. "Get some work with a small station and work your way up," she said.

I went back home. I couldn't get a job there, either. Then my dad told me a businessman had opened a store and needed someone to help him. But again, I didn't get the job.

    I felt really down. "Your luck will change," Mom said to me. Dad lent me the car to help me to look for my job. I tried another radio station in Lowa. But the owner, a nice man, told me he had already had someone.

    As I left his office, I asked, "How can someone be a sports announcer(播音员) if he can't get a job in a radio station?"

    I was waiting for the lift when I heard the man call. "What did you mean? Do you know anything about football?" He put me in front of a microphone and asked me to try to imagine that I was giving my opinion on a football game, I succeeded.

    On my way home, Mom's words come back to me, "One day your luck will change, Son. And when it happens, it'll feel doubly good because of all the hard work you've had." At that moment I knew just what she meant.

16. What's the writer's ideal job?

A. A sportsman.                  B. A shop assistant.

C. A sports announcer.             D. A businessman.

17. Why didn’t the writer get the job in Chicago?

A. Because he was too young.

B. Because he didn't get college education.

C. Because he's got a good-looking person.

D. Because he hadn't got enough experience.

18. The sentence "But I got turned down every time. "means"        ".

A. But I was refused every time

B. But I was successful every time

C. But I lost my way every time

D. But the door of every station was always closed

19. What made the writer succeed in the end?

A. His mother’s words.             B. A kind lady’s help.

C. His father’s car.                   D. His own hard work.

20. What's the best title of this passage?

A. Mother's Words.                  B. Everything Happens for the Best.

C. No One Is Always Lucky.          D. To Find a Job in Radio Is Difficult.

An old farmer lived with his little grandson. Every day the farmer got up early to read books.
One day the grandson asked, “Grandpa! I want to read books just like you, but I don’t understand them. What are the advantages of reading?” The grandfather said, “Take this little basket to the river and bring me back a basket of water.” The boy did so, but all the water leaked out before he got back to the house. The grandfather laughed and said, “ You’ll have to walk faster next time.”
This time the boy ran faster, but again the basket was empty before he returned home. The boy said, “ See Grandpa, it’s useless!”
“So you think it is useless?” the old man said. “ Look at the basket.”
The boy looked at the basket and for the first time he realized that the basket was different. It was clean, inside and out.
“That’s what happens when you read books. You might not understand or remember everything, but when you read them, you will be changed, inside and out.”
【小题1】The underlined phrase “leaked out” means “______” in Chinese.