Once a king was walking around a pool with his ministers（大臣）．Suddenly, he came up with（想出） an idea． He asked,” How many baskets of   1   are there in the pool?” The ministers couldn’t give an answer． The king was angry, “ You   2   answer my questions in three days!”

   Three days passed, but   3   of the ministers had the answer． Just then, a child said that he knew it． The king told the ministers   4   the child to the pool． To his surprise, the child   5   and said with a smile, “It is    6   ． No need to go to the pool．” This made the king pleased． “All right． Let us know   7  ．” The child said, “If you know the   8   of the basket, the answer is known．   9   it is as big as the pool, there is one basket of water; half as big, two baskets… ”“ Stop! That’s it ．You have got the answer． They were thinking of things   10   a wrong way ．”

    Sometimes to get out of the difficulty, one must change one’s way of thinking．

1． A． fish                      B． flowers                        C． water

2． A． can                       B． must                            C． may

3． A． none                     B． all                                C． one

4． A． led                        B． leading                         C． to lead

5． A． refused                 B． agreed                          C． thought

6． A． easy                            B． important                     C． hard

7． A． what’s it               B． where it is                    C． what it is

8． A． shape                    B． size                              C． weight

9． A． Because                B． If                                C． But

10． A． use                     B． in                                C． on

In a 2005 survey of 2,500 schoolchildren in six cities, including Beijing and Shanghai, it was found that about 77% of them were short of sleep. Should school hours be cut? In a new survey taken by the China Daily website, almost 70% of the 1,133 people online agreed with cutting school hours, while 22% disagreed and 10% gave no answer.

Liu Xing (12-year-old, 6-grade student): I get up at 5:50 every school day, have breakfast at 6:15, leave home at 6:30 and, after a 30-minute bus ride, arrive at school at 7:00, a full hour before lessons start. Besides, I spend my weekends taking classes in math and English, as well as learning to play the piano.

Wang Qun (Liu Xing’s mother): My son is still not doing enough to win a place at a top high school, as it is so competitive (竞争的). They want students with good English and math and also special skills.

“Craig” (netizen (网民)): The best way for children to learn is through play. Through play, they can develop their characters, learn to be independent (独立的) and improve all kinds of skills.

“Skylark” (netizen): Young parents have little time to play with their children, so letting them go home early is not a good idea. I think schools should have more activities for children after class.

Qi Zhen (high school teacher): People might take some time to accept shorter school hours. It will also take time to change people’s traditional mind that going to college is the only way to a good job.

1. The China Daily website took a new survey to ________.

A. see how many schoolchildren are short of sleep

B. see what people think of cutting school hours

C. give schoolchildren more time to play

D. help Liu Xing with his math and English study

2. ________probably disagree with shorter school hours.

A. Wang Qun and “Skylark”                  B. Liu Xing and “Craig”

C. Liu Xing and “Skylark”                 D. “Craig” and Qi Zhen

3. When do Liu Xing’s school lessons start?

  A. At 7:00.                              B. At 7:30.

C. At 8:00.                              D. We don’t know.

4. Which is NOT true about Wang Qun?

A. She wants her son to have many kinds of skills.

B. She has little time to play with her son every day.

C. She believes a happy childhood means a failed adulthood (成年).

D. She’s quite sure her son will be able to get into a top high school.

5. What can we learn from Qi Zhen’s words?

  A. Schools should have more activities for children after class.

  B. All the schools will take shorter school hours soon.

  C. There’ll be a long way to go to change people’s traditional mind.

  D. Through play children can develop well in different ways.

London has a new magazine. But it is not printed(印刷) on paper. Everyone who has a television can receive it because it is on TV.

In order to read this magazine you have to have a decoder (解码器). Each page of it is numbered, so you only have to dial the number to choose which subject you want to read about. There are all kinds of information ---everything is included from cooking to the latest sports news.

If you want to read the news, the first thing you have to do is to turn to the back page, which has an easy-to-remember page number, 100 for example. Then you start choosing what you want to read. The news is on page 101 to 109, so you put in the numbers and the news appears written across your screen. Perhaps you want to go out in the afternoon, so you press 181, and a brightly colored weather map appears on the screen. But the weather is terrible, so you decide to go shopping and dial 162 for a list of the week’s best bargains. But should you drive or take the train? To answer that question you only have to press 189 for the traffic report. It is very simple to use. But probably the best thing about the service is that it is being updated all the time. Journalists type new material directly onto the screen and the whole pages of the magazine can be replaced in minutes.

London already has three services. One, sent out by TV, is called ORACLE while the other two, on BBC, are called CEEFAX because they let you see facts. Although CEEFAX and ORACLE have been operating for some time, they have not been well publicized(宣传). BBC engineers do not think that their idea will ever replace books and newspapers because they can be taken with you everywhere. But many people would agree that is a breakthrough(突破) as great as the invention of printing, which could not just change our reading habits but our whole way of life.

1. We can know from the passage that in London        .

A．the magazine is available at any local home

B．most of the postmen will lose their jobs some day

C．everyone can read this magazine if they have a television

D．the readers can get various kinds of information staying at home

2.In the sentence “Each page of it is numbered,” the word “it” refers to the        .

A．magazine          B．program          C．decoder          D．subject

3.According to the passage, the “decoder” is used to help people        .

A．work out the total(合计) of certain numbers

B．read the information sent by TV signals

C．go shopping and have other entertainment

D．receive some special TV program for entertainment

4.The passage is mainly about        .

A．a new magazine printed in London

B．an up-to-date way of getting information

C．a popular TV program about magazines

D．an advanced technology helping people communicate

There is no way that you cannot have any embarrassing (令人尴尬的) moments. You can’t control everything that happens, so you’re going to be in an embarrassing situation one day. So how can you solve this problem? The answer is to control your actions and try not to get upset.

         ◆Remember that you'll probably laugh about it in a few days, so try to see the funny side of it right away.

         ◆If it is something so embarrassing that you feel you will never laugh about it, please remember that the (1) ______ will be over after some time.

         ◆Ask your friends to give you a break and not to make fun of you. If you’ve done the same for them, they’re more likely to agree to give you a break.

         Always remember that you are not alone. Everyone has embarrassing moments. While you are sure that everyone is going to remember this moment forever, that fact is that they’ll probably forget it very soon. Most of us remember the moments in which we feel embarrassed, but very few of us remember other people’s embarrassing moments.

         Most people have short memories. So while you may never forget the moment when your skirt was torn (撕裂) in gym class, most of the other people probably forget it at once. Although a short memory may not be a(n) (2) ______ thing when you are trying to remember facts in a history test, it is useful when you are trying to forget life’s most embarrassing moments.

任务一：根据短文内容，分别写出（1）和（2）两处所缺单词。（每空限填一词）（2分）

1. (1) ________________                (2) _________________

任务二：根据短文内容，选择正确答案。（1分）

2. We know from the passage that ______ when you fall down after making a speech.

A. everyone will remember the moment forever               B. you may never forget the moment

C. other people will feel embarrassed                                   D. you will not remember the moment

任务三：把画线部分try to see the funny side of it译成汉语。（2分）

3. _____________________________________________.

任务四：根据短文内容，回答下列问题。（2分）

4. Why does the writer say “you are not alone”?

_____________________________________________.

5.What’s the main idea of the passage?

It’s mainly about how to _______________________ when you are embarrassed.