Taking part in charity is not just for grown- up people. Children can do it too! Melvin Sheppard, 14, an American student, has done charity work for eight years. He has also encouraged his classmates to join him.

Melvin studies at William Allen Middle School in Philadelphia. Recently, he collected $1,500 by himself and $487 from his classmates to donate to Cooper University Hospital.

Melvin was born nine weeks premature (早产) in Cooper University Hospital, weighing 2.6kg. His father told him how Cooper saved his life, so he felt thankful to the hospital.

Melvin's classmates joined him as soon as they found out about his kind behavior. Their teacher, Michael Berner, also held a class with them about helping others. “It wasn’t really about the money,” Berner said. “It was about the face that they were doing something good.”

“It is great, helping someone that I know,” said Jordan, Melvin's classmate. Melvin's neighbors also helped out.

Since Melvin was 8, he and his parents have given money to Cooper University Hospital every year. This year, Gary E. Stahl, the head of Cooper's division of neonatology (新生儿科), went to Melvin's school to accept the money.

The money goes to a part of the hospital that helps about 500 young patients every year. “When they leave, we call them graduates,” Stahl said, “We are pleased when our graduates and their families do well, like Melvin and his family.”  

1.How old was Melvin when he started to do charity work?

_____________________________________________________________________________ 

2.What caused Melvin to raise money for Cooper University Hospital? 

______________________________________________________________________________

3.Did Melvin's teacher and classmates think his behavior was kind?

______________________________________________________________________________

4. How many young patients get help every year?

____________________________________________________________________________

5.What can we learn from Melvin?

________________________________________________________________________

Adults usually do not remember most of the things that are taught by their teachers at school. But this story is one   16  that I will never forget.
It was a normal Monday morning, and my teacher was teaching us about  17  things in life and about devoting ourselves to what we really need. This is how the story went:
  18   lived in a certain part of London, and he would wake up every morning and go to the underground. He would get onto the train right to Central London, and then sit at the street corner and   19 . He would do this every single day of his life. He sat at  20 street corner and begged for almost 20 years.
His  21  was dirty, and a stench （恶臭） came out. The neighbors could not bear the  22 any more, so they called for the police officers to clear the place. The officers knocked down the door and  23 the house. There were small bags of  24  all over the house that he had collected over the years.
The police counted the money, and they soon   25 that the old man was a millionaire. They waited outside his house expecting to  26  the good news with him. When the old man arrived home that evening, one of the officers told him that there was no need for him to beg any more as he was a   27 man now, a millionaire.
But the old man said  28  ;he went into his house and locked the door. The next morning he woke up  29  ,went to the underground, sat at the same street corner and continued to beg.
Clearly, this old man had no great plans,  30   or anything significant (重大的) for his life. We learn nothing from this story but to stay focused on the things we enjoy doing.

Adults usually do not remember most of the things that are taught by their teachers at school. But this story is one   16   that I will never forget.

    It was a normal Monday morning, and my teacher was teaching us about  17   things in life and about devoting ourselves to what we really need. This is how the story went:

      18    lived in a certain part of London, and he would wake up every morning and go to the underground. He would get onto the train right to Central London, and then sit at the street corner and   19  . He would do this every single day of his life. He sat at  20  street corner and begged for almost 20 years.

    His  21   was dirty, and a stench （恶臭） came out. The neighbors could not bear the  22  any more, so they called for the police officers to clear the place. The officers knocked down the door and  23  the house. There were small bags of  24   all over the house that he had collected over the years.

    The police counted the money, and they soon   25  that the old man was a millionaire. They waited outside his house expecting to  26   the good news with him. When the old man arrived home that evening, one of the officers told him that there was no need for him to beg any more as he was a   27  man now, a millionaire.

    But the old man said  28   ;he went into his house and locked the door. The next morning he woke up  29  ,went to the underground, sat at the same street corner and continued to beg.

    Clearly, this old man had no great plans,  30   or anything significant (重大的) for his life. We learn nothing from this story but to stay focused on the things we enjoy doing.

1.A. class              B. teacher          C. lesson        D. study

2.A. important          B. difficult       C. thoughtful   D. grateful

3.A. An office man   B. An old man      C. A sick man   D. A rude man

4.A. sing           B. sleep            C. think        D. beg

5.A. a different     B. another        C. the same    D. a strange

6.A. house          B. coat             C. cap          D. bag

7.A. smell          B. house            C. rubbish      D. money

8.A. moved          B. cleaned       C. hit             D. opened

9.A. food           B. money            C. books        D. clothes

10.A. told          B. said             C. realized     D. thought

11.A. tell              B. share            C. cover       D. discuss

12.A. rich         B. lucky            C. nice         D. hardworking

13.A. thanks       B. something       C. nothing      D. much

14.A. much later        B. much earlier     C. so quickly   D. as usual

15.A. friends        B. jobs                C. chances      D. dreams

When my son, Mark, was in the third grade, he saved all his pocket money for over three months to buy holiday presents. The third Saturday in December Mark said he had made his list and had twenty dollars in his pocket.

I drove him to a nearby supermarket. Mark picked up a hand basket and went in while I wailed and watched in the car. It took Mark over 45 minutes to choose his presents. Finally he came to the checkout counter (交款处) and reached into his pocket for his money. It was not there! There was a hole in his pocket, but no money. Mark stood there holding his basket, tears falling down his face.

Then a surprising thing happened. A woman came up to Mark and took him in her arms. "You would help me a lot if you let me pay for you," said the woman. "It would be the most wonderful gift you could give me. I only ask that one day you will pass it on. When you grow up, I would like you to find someone you can help. When you help others, I know you will feel as good about it as I do no."

Mark took the money, dried his tears and ran back to the checkout counter as fast as he could. That year we all enjoyed our gifts almost as much as Mm-k enjoyed giving them to us.

I would like to say "thank you" to that very kind woman, and tell her that four years later, Mark went house to house collecting blankets (毯子) and clothes for the homeless people in the fire. And I want to promise her that Mark will never forget to keep passing it on.

1.When did the story probably happen?

           A. On Christmas Day.              B. Before Christmas Day.

           C. On New Year’s Day.             D. After New Year’s Day.

2.When they got to the supermarket, Mark went in      .

           A. with the writer                  B. by himself

           C. with the woman                 D. with his friends

3. What happened to Mark in the supermarket?

           A. His gifts were stolen.            B. He broke his basket.

           C. He lost his money.               D. He lost his way.

4. Why did the writer want to say "thank you" to the woman?

           A. Because she bought Mark a nice present.

           B. Because she always paid money for others.

           C. Because she collected clothes for the homeless.

           D. Because she taught Mark to help people in need.

5. What’s the best title for this passage?

           A. A big supermarket               B. A kind woman

           C. A happy family                  D. A wonderful gift