In the sea there are many islands. In its warm waters there are some little ones. We call them coral(珊瑚) islands.
A coral island is very nice to look at. It looks like a ring of land with trees, grass, and flowers on it. One part of the ring is open to the water. There is a little round lake inside the island.
If you look into this lake, you will see beautiful coral. You may think they are flowers.
If you look at a piece of coral, you will see many little holes in it. In each of these holes a very small sea animal has lived. These sea animals make the coral.
They began to build under the water. Year after year, the coral grew higher and higher. At last it grew out of the water.
Then the sea brought to it small trees and something else. After some years, these things changed into earth. Sometimes the wind brought seeds to this earth. Sometimes birds flew over it and brought seeds to the island. The little seeds grew. In a few years there were plants all over the island. In a few more years there were trees growing there.
So you see, these islands were built little by little. The workers were very small. Don’t they teach us a lesson? Can you think what the lesson is?
【小题1】 In the sea _____.

A．there are no coral islands	B．there are some coral islands
C．the water is always warm	D．we can see many flowers and fishes

【小题2】A coral island looks like ______.

A．a round cake

B．trees, grass and flowers

C．a ring of land

D．a round lake

【小题3】There are ____ in the holes in corals.

A．flowers

B．little corals

C．grass

D．sea animals

【小题4】How did seeds of trees, grass and flowers come to the coral islands?

A．The wind and birds brought them to the coral islands.

B．Only the wind brought them there.

C．People brought them there.

D．Fishes brought them there.

【小题5】From the story we learn that _____.

A．small workers can’t do big things

B．only big workers can do big things

C．small workers can do big things if they work hard and work a long time

D．all small things can do things

In Europe many people died during the Second World War. As a result, at the end of the war there were many orphans（孤儿）there. A man called Hermann Gmeiner wanted to help these children. His idea was simple. He wanted orphans to have a home, and he wanted them to have the care and kindness of parents. Gmeiner asked people to give him some money. With this money he built the first SOS Children’s Village at Imst, in Austria. It opened in1949. This is how the SOS stand for “Save Our Souls（灵魂）.” This means “Please help us!” An SOS Children’ village gives help to orphans.
Hermann Gmeiner’s idea for helping orphans soon spread（传播）all over the world. By 1983 there were 170 SOS Children’s Villages in the world. People in many countries give money to help the villages. Today the children from the first village have grown up. Now some of them work in other SOS Children’s Villages.
In SOS Villages orphans live in family groups. There are several houses in each village. The biggest village has 40 or 50 houses! Between seven and ten children live in a house. A woman lives with each group of children and looks after them. She gives the children a lot of love and kindness. She cooks meals for them and makes comfortable, happy home for them.
Of course, the children don’t spend all their time in the village. They go to school, they go out with their friends. But the village gives them a home—sometimes for the first time in their lives.
【小题1】Which of the following came last?

A．People gave Gmeiner some money.

B．There were many orphans at the end of the war

C．Gmeiner built the first SOS Children’s Village

D．A man called Hermann Gmeiner wanted to help the orphans

【小题2】An orphan is a child    .

A．who has no brother

B．who has no sister

C．who has no parents

D．all of the above

【小题3】We can conclude（推论）from the article that the money for helping the SOS Villages mainly comes from       .

A．governments	B．special organization
C．the orphans themselves	D．people in general（大体上）

【小题4】Which of the following can best summarize（总结） the work a woman in an SOS Village does for each group of children?

A．She gives the children a lot of love and kindness	B．She lives with each group of children
C．She cooks meals for children	D．She looks after them

In New York, on a Friday night, a poor young artist stood at the gate of a train station. He was playing his  16  .His music was so great that many people put money into his   17  .The next day, the young artist came to the   18  place, and played the violin as usual. Different from the day before, he took out a piece of paper and put   19  on the ground. The paper read ,“Last night ,a man named George Sang put an important thing into my hat  20  .Please come to get it soon.”   21  about half an hour, a(an)   22  man there in a hurry, “Oh ,it’s you. You did come here.” The young violinist asked   23  , “Are you Mr. George Sang?”“Yes! Yes!” Then the violinist asked, “Did you lose something?”“Lottery(彩票).It’s the most valuable lottery in my 70 years of life,” said the man.
The violinist   24   a lottery ticket. George Sang’s name was on it, so the violinist   25  it to him. Later someone asked the violinist, “Since you   26  play the violin every day to make your tuition (学费)in the university, why didn’t you keep the lottery ticket for yourself?” The violinist said, “  27   I don’t have much money, I live happily; But if I lose honesty, I won’t be happy forever.” Through our lives, we can get a lot and lose so   28  . But being   29  should always be with us. If we act in a dishonest way, we may   30   in a short period(短期). However, from the long-term view, we will be a loser.

【小题1】	A．piano B．guitar C．violin D．sax（萨克斯）
【小题2】	A．bowl B．hat C．pocket D．hands
【小题3】	A．similar B．different C．strange D．same
【小题4】	A．it B．its C．they D．them
【小题5】	A．by then B．by mistake C．by the way D．by hand
【小题6】	A．After B．Before C．From D．When
【小题7】	A．young B．old C．small D．tall
【小题8】	A．coldly B．angrily C．calmly D．sadly
【小题9】	A．took out B．took off C．took back D．took away
【小题10】	A．sold B．bought C．gave D．lent
【小题11】	A．could B．had to C．should D．must
【小题12】	A．Although B．Once C．If D．Unless
【小题13】	A．many B．much C．little D．few
【小题14】	A．kind B．rich C．honest D．poor
【小题15】	A．fail B．relax C．suffer D．succeed

In the 1500s, South American fishermen said that the sea became warmer every few years. They gave this special event a Spanish name 'El Nino', meaning 'the baby'. It is called 'the baby' because it arrives around Christmas.
El Nino is a huge area of warm water in the middle of cold water in the Pacific Ocean. It happens every two to seven years. It moves around the ocean and becomes bigger and smaller at different times. This warm water affects the weather. It is always raining over El Nino. El Nino contains a lot of energy. Scientists think this energy is formed when wind comes from the northern half of the world. The winds blow across warm sea water in the south. When the strong wind hits the warm water, violent weather happens. Scientists think that El Nino existed for many thousands of years.
El Nino affects every person in the world because it affects the entire world's weather. It can bring the rain that farmers need. It can bring storms that destroy homes. It can mean that fishermen cannot catch fish, and it can bring floods. There is nothing we can do about El Nino. It is an event of nature. We can help the world's weather by trying to stop the greenhouse effect and air pollution. The most important job for scientists is to learn how to predict when El Nino is going to bring dangerous weather. Then, people can try to prepare for storms, floods and droughts. New technology like satellite pictures and temperature measuring equipment can help. Still, it is very hard to say when or where El Nino will cause damage.
【小题1】El Nino is ______.

A．a storm that hits every two years	B．a huge area of warm water
C．a wind from the south	D．some cold water in the Pacific Ocean

【小题2】 It happens ______.

A．every year	B．every month
C．every seven years	D．every two to seven years

【小题3】El Nino ______.

A．makes the weather better	B．affects the weather
C．gives the weather energy	D．predicts the weather

【小题4】It is always______ over EI Nino.

A．sunny

B．cloudy

C．rainy

D．windy

【小题5】El Nino affects ______.

A．everybody	B．just farmers
C．only fishermen	D．only students

【小题6】 We can help the world's weather by______.

A．finding out more about El Nino	B．being careful during the floods
C．driving cars	D．stopping the greenhouse effect

【小题7】______helps to predict El Nino.

A．Looking out of the window	B．Checking the weather each day
C．Satellite pictures	D．New boats

In the past, large numbers of American people liked to use tomorrow’s money. However, since the economic depression(经济萧条), many have learnt to live  16 . Here is a true story about an American girl, Anna. After graduation, she began to live in Los Angeles on her own. She  17  a job in a publishing house(出版社) and earned  18  $30,000 a year. Her parents thought Anna’s life would be  19 , but Anna was able to live on her money and still  20  $5000 in the first year. How could she do so in  21  expensive city?
Cheap living always starts with keeping the  22  cost small. For people, that  23  housing. So Anna chose to share a flat with three other friends. Her next biggest cost was  24 . When she ate  25 , she went to cheap restaurants.  26  she bought a $9.99 whole chicken at a local restaurant. She then took the chicken bones home and made soup out of them. Today young people often  27  a lot of money on entertainment. But Anna loved going to museums and parks as the  28  for these places were free. Did Anna feel poor by cheap living? Not really. She even  29  to take two trips, one to the Netherlands,  30  to Portland.
“Don’t think of saving money as something hard. It’s a kind of game,” said Anna.

【小题1】

A．happily B．luckily C．hopefully D．cheaply

【小题2】

A．found B．gets C．looked for D．makes

【小题3】

A．more than B．less than C．more D．less

【小题4】

A．dangerous B．hard C．easy D．comfortable

【小题5】

A．made B．gave C．took D．saved

【小题6】

A．so an B．such an C．so D．such

【小题7】

A．expensive B．much C．big D．heavy

【小题8】

A．does B．becomes C．helps D．means

【小题9】

A．food B．clothes C．studying D．traveling

【小题10】

A．away B．out C．up D．inside

【小题11】

A．Soon B．Finally C．Once D．Again

【小题12】

A．pay B．spend C．cost D．take

【小题13】

A．tickets B．seats C．exhibition D．tea

【小题14】

A．tried B．had C．needed D．managed

【小题15】

A．another B．the other C．other D．other