A poor farmer had a friend who was famous for the wonderful apple tree he grew.
One day, his friend gave the farmer a young apple tree and told him to plant it. The farmer was pleased with the gift, but he did not know where to plant it.
He was afraid that if he planted the tree near the road, strangers would steal the fruit. If he planted the tree in one of his fields, his neighbors would come at night and steal some of the apples. If he planted the tree near his house, his children would take the fruit. Finally he planted the tree in his wood. But without sunlight and good soil(土壤),the tree soon died,
Later the friend asked the farmer why he had planted the tree in such a poor place. "What’s the difference? " the farmer said angrily and then told what he had thought.
"Yes," said the friend, "but at least someone could have enjoyed the fruit. Now you not only have robbed everyone of the fruit, but also you have destroyed (毁掉) a good apple tree !"
小题1:What gift did the farmer get from his friend one day?
小题2:How many people are there in the story?
小题3:Where did the farmer plant the apple tree at last?
小题4:Why did the apple tree soon die?
小题5:Who destroyed the apple tree?

Island University has a competition for middle school students.
Read about the competition on their web site.
School Competition
Students! Here is your chance to help the physically disabled(残疾人). Think out a robot or a machine to help them live better. There’ll be three prizes. The winning schools will each get $15,000. Read the information below:
What do you have to do?
·Try to know problems faced by the physically disabled in Hong Kong. Write a 200-word article on the difficulties these people have to suffer each day.
·Try to know modern inventions that help the physically disabled. Then think out a robot or a machine that will improve the lives of the physically disabled. Draw your invention. You can make as many drawings as you like to show your invention. You can even make a small model of your invention.
· Write a short description of your invention.
Who can join?
All middle school students in Hang Kong.
So, come on! Join the competition, and get the chance!
小题1:Where can you find the information?
小题2:Why is the school competition held?
小题3:What prize will each winning school get?
小题4:How many words should be written on the difficulties the disabled have to suffer each day?
小题5:Who can join the competition?

The future can be difficult. There are many famous predictions   52    never came true.Before 1929, there was no sound in movies. The head of one of the     53  movie companies in the United States predicted that no one would want to see actors   54  . Of couse,he was wrong! In 1979,the head of the largest computer company in the United States said,“No one will want to have a computer in his or her home.” He thought that computer would never    55   by most people.
小题1:A.Predict             B.Predicting             C.Predicted
小题2:A.who               B.what                  C.that
小题3:A.big                B.bigger                 C.biggest
小题4:A.talk               B.talked                 C.to talk
小题5:A.use                B.be used                C.are used

What might the future be like? Here are some predictions: things to come, things to go.
The Spring Festival, the most important Chinese holiday when everyone returns home, has caused headaches for millions of Chinese. More than 2 billion people travel at the same time, making getting travel tickets and the journey difficult. But in 28 years, Spring Festival travel may not be a problem at all. China plans to build more than 120,000 kilometers of railway and a fast transportation network that will serve 90% of the population by 2020. And because most of China will be cities, people will not have to go to other places to find a job, so it will no longer be a problem.
Newspaper will come to an end in 2043. In the future, digital(数字的) newspapers will be sent to personal web tools through Internet. Readers can discuss topics with journalists and editors. Information will move faster.
Oil is running out faster than expected. But scientists have found something else for oil as fuel(燃料). Coal, natural gas, solar power, nuclear power and even water can take the place of oil as sources of energy(能源).
Schools will go electronic(电子化). Computers will be important and popular among the students. Everything will be in the computer and students will not need to bring books to school. They will find information on the Internet. A computer will be the students’ library, schoolbag and connection to the outside world. There will be robot teachers, they will check homework on computers and communicate with the students’ parents through e-mail. And school buses will be like spaceships, comfortable and safe.
小题1: More than 2 billion people have a hard time returning home during                .

A．Christmas Day	B．National Day
C．the Spring Festival	D．the Mid-autumn Festival

小题2:The newspapers will disappear                .

A．in 28 years

B．by 2020

C．by 2053

D．in 33 years

小题3:               is not mentioned in the passage as sources of energy.

A．Coal

B．Wind

C．Nuclear power

D．Water

小题4:From the passage we can know                 in the future.

A．the Spring Festival travel may still be a problem

B．90% of the population will live in the city

C．robot teachers will check homework

D．readers can discuss topics with each other through Internet

小题5:What’s the main idea of the last paragraph?                 .

A．Schools will go electronic	B．Computers will be important
C．There will be robot teachers	D．School buses will be like spaceships

任务型完形填空
用横线上所给单词的适当形式填空，每个单词限用一次，使短文通顺正确连贯，将答案填写在题后的横线上。
history, choose, common, buy, make, enjoy, way, another, while, serve
American summers are filled with outdoor picnics, baseball games and swimming pools. Summer in America is a time 小题1:________ the outdoors, no matter how hot it might be. Let’s take a look at some of the popular drinks.
Lemonade is 小题2:________ of all American summer drinks. It 小题3:________ by mixing lemon juice, water and sugar. It is usually served very cold, with ice.
Ice tea is 小题4:________ popular summer drink in America. Ice tea is usually 小题5:________ in a tall glass of ice. Many Americans 小题6:________ to add sugar to sweeten the drink. This drink is often drunk in the afternoon 小题7:________ relaxing in the shade. Ice tea is now also sold by the bottle , at almost any store in America.
The Slurpee, a famous American drink in recent years, is a great 小题8:________to cool off in the summer heat. It is a mix of ice, sugar and fruit juices. However, the drink is mostly made of ice. They can小题9:________ at most small convenient stores. Slurpees are popular with young Americans.
Milkshakes have a long 小题10:________ in America . It is made of a mix of ice cream , milk and flavoring.

BEIJIN—No Car Day was first started by 34 cities in France on September 22,1998.It was started to protect the environment, By now, more than 1,000 cities around the world have had a No Car Day.
The first No Car Day in China was in Chengdu in 2001.Other cities ,including Taipei, Shanghai and Wuhua, also support the day.
In Beijing, more and more people are joining in the activity. It asks the drivers to leave their cars at home for one day each month and walk or ride a bike to work. It also calls on Beijingers not to use cars on June 5(World Environment Day).The slogan(口号) for the day is, “If we drive for one less day, we can have one more nice day.”
So far, more than 200,000 drivers have shown their support. “We can’t control the weather, but we can choose not to drive.’’ said, Wu Zonghua, a car club chairman. Beijing is trying to have 238 blue sky days this year. In the first quarter of this year, Beijing only had 52 blue sky days. This was 11 days less than the number for the same period last year. Much of the dust comes from the desert, but cars cause most of the air pollution. We must do more for No Car Day.
小题1:There are         cities in China that support No Car Day according to the passage.

A．three

B．four

C．five

D．six

小题2:The activity of No Car Day encourages Beijing drivers          .

A．not to work on No Car Day

B．to enjoy having a day off

C．to leave their cars at home for repair

D．to ride a bike or walk instead of driving to work

小题3: According to the passage there were          blue sky days in the first quarter of last year in Beijing.

A．52

B．63

C．41

D．238

小题4:The air pollution in Beijing is mostly caused by         .

A．cars

B．dust

C．weather

D．rubbish

小题5:We can know from the passage that          .

A．more and more people in Beijing are joining car clubs

B．people will have one more World Environment Day each month

C．more and more people won’t drive on Nor Car Day in Beijing

D．more people in the world won’t drive any more

The Chinese are very generous when it comes to educating their children. Some parents send their children to the best schools or even abroad to England, the US or Australia, regardless of how much this costs. Many also want their children to take extra-curriculum activities (课外活动) where they either learn a musical instrument or ballet, or other classes that will give them a better start in life. The Chinese believe that the more expensive an education is, the better it is, so parents often spend a large amount of money on education. Even poor parents manage to buy a computer for their son or daughter.
In fact, most parents fail to see that the best education they can give their children is usually very cheap. Parents can see that their children’s skills are different; they will usually be skilled in some areas while poor in others. However, they fail to realize that today’s children are lack (缺乏) of self-respect and self-confidence.
The problem is that parents are only educating their children on how to take exams and how to study effectively. They are not teaching them the most important skills they need. They do not teach them to be confident, happy and clever.
Parents can help achieve this by teaching their children practical skills like cooking, sewing and other housework.
Teaching a child to cook will improve many of the skills that he will need later in life. Cooking demands patience and time. It is an enjoyable but difficult experience. A good cook always tries to improve his cooking, so he will learn to work hard and finish his job step by step. The result, a well--cooked dinner, will give a child a lot of satisfaction and confidence. All these will help the children step to success in the future.
An old machine such as a broken radio or TV set that you give your child as a toy may make him curious and arouse(唤醒) his interest. If he will spend hours looking at it, and try to mend it; your child might become an engineer when he grows up. Such activities do more than teaching a child to read a book. They teach them to think and to use their minds. This is much more important than learning by reading a book.
1．Is the writer satisfied with the Chinese parents’ ideas of educating their children?
2. Put the underlined sentence “the more expensive an education is, the better it is” into Chinese.
3.What are the children lack of today?
4. How is the experience of cooking according to the fifth paragraph?
5.What does the underlined word “They” refer to(所指的是) in the last paragraph?

It was the last night of my summer camp. 16 I didn’t want to leave, I had to go back home the next day. I didn’t want to pack (收拾行装). I just wanted to make the night go 17 . How I wished that I could make time 18 at that moment! However, it seemed that time flew more quickly than before. I 19 on the bed, but I wasn’t 20 at all. I just closed my 21 , thinking of every minute I had 22 with my friends during the camp.
Just then, someone 23 the door. “Open the door, please.” said a soft 24 . I thought it was my friend, Elle. So I replied, “It’s open.” Then the door 25. When I looked at the door, I was 26. There stood all my friends, Elle, Lily, Sally and Allie. Together they walked over to my 27 and then each of them gave me a big hug (拥抱). We 28 our phone numbers and e-mail addresses to each other. We said that no matter how far we would be away from each other, we would 29 forget each other.
Just then, a tear slowly rolled down my face. As I looked up, I noticed all of my friends’ eyes were also 30 .   

小题1:	A．Until B．While C．Because D．Although

小题2:	A．clearly B．quickly C．slowly D．easily

小题3:	A．fly B．pass C．stop D．finish

小题4:	A．sat B．lay C．stood D．read

小题5:	A．sleepy B．angry C．excited D．sad

小题6:	A．door B．eyes C．books D．windows

小题7:	A．wasted B．missed C．spent D．chatted

小题8:	A．waited at B．looked at C．cleaned up D．knocked at

小题9:	A．noise B．sound C．voice D．cry

小题10:

A．opened B．locked C．closed D．broke

小题11:

A．afraid B．nervous C．crazy D．surprised

小题12:

A．home B．bed C．room D．door

小题13:

A．changed B．forgot C．gave D．remembered

小题14:

A．ever B．never C．seldom D．often

小题15:

A．wet B．bright C．black D．open

Steven Jobs, the designer of Apple Computer, was not clever when he was in school. At that time, he was not a good student and he always made troubles with his schoolmates. When he went into college, he didn’t change a lot. Then he dropped out（退学）. But he was full of new ideas.
After he left college, Steven Jobs worked as a video game designer. He worked there for only several months and then he went to India. He hoped that the trip would give him some new ideas and give him a change in life.
Steven Jobs lived on a farm in California for a year after he returned from India.
　　In 1975, he began to make a new type of computer. He designed the Apple Computer with his friend in his garage (汽车库). He chose the name “Apple” just because it could help him to remember a happy summer he once spent in an apple tree garden.
　　His Apple Computer was such a great success that Steven Jobs soon became famous all over the world.
小题1: Steven Jobs was not a good student in school because he ___________.

A．never did his lessons	B．was full of new ideas
C．always made troubles with his schoolmates	D．dropped out

小题2: Steven Jobs designed his new computer _____________.

A．in India	B．with his friend
C．in an apple tree garden	D．by himself

小题3:Steven Jobs was famous for his ________ all over the world.

A．new ideas

B．apple

C．Apple Computer

D．video games

小题4: From this passage we know ___________

A．Steven Jobs liked travelling in India and California

B．Steven Jobs could only design video games

C．Steven Jobs didn’t finish his studies in the college because he hated his schoolmates

D．Steven Jobs liked trying new things and making his new ideas become true

I am 15. Now I’m studying English in London. I want to invent a language machine that can help me understand as many languages as possible. Marie, France Aug. 15, 2009	I am 13. I dream of going to a top university after I finish middle school. I want to be a reporter in the future. Michiko, Japan Sep.21, 2009
	I am a 12-year-old girl. I like traveling very much. How I wish to visit Egypt some day! Masha, Russia Oct. 15, 2009
I am a 16-year-old girl in Tibet. The Qinghai Tibet Railway has been built. I’ll be able to reach Shanghai by train in about 50 hours. My dream is to go to Shanghai to visit Expo 2010. Joma, China June 10, 2008
	I am 14 years old. I dream of inventing a machine that can send things or people from one place to another in a minute. Andrew, the USA Nov. 30, 2009

小题1: What is Michiko’s dream?

A．Visiting Egypt.

B．Going from one place to another in a minute.

C．Going to a top university

D．Inventing a language machine.

小题2:How old is Joma when Expo 2010 Shanghai are held?

A．Fifteen.

B．Sixteen

C．Seventeen.

D．Eighteen.

小题3:The best title for this passage would be ____________.

A．I Have a Dream

B．Different Students From Different Countries

C．Five Middle School Students

D．Our Inventions