A farm is always a busy place. One of the busiest things is when the farmer is getting land ready to grow plants.

If the farmer is going to grow wheat, he has to turn the ground over first. The farmer drives up and down the paddock（草地） on tractor（拖拉机）. When the ground is ready, the farmer sows the seeds. He does this with a machine that the tractor pulls along. Now, one farm and one machine can do as much a day as twenty men used to do without a machine. After the wheat has been sown, the farmer keeps a lookout（守望） for rain. Wheat needs rain and warm sunny days to make it grow. When the wheat has grown, it turns to a lovely golden colour.

When the wheat is fully grown, you can see the seeds on the wheat plants. These have to be out off and put in bags or big trucks to be taken to a factory where they are made into flour（面粉）.

It’s a very busy time on farm when the wheat is being cut. Everyone helps so that all the wheat can be taken from the paddocks before the rain comes. If heavy rain falls, the farm must wait for the ground dry out before the machine can cut the wheat. Farmers always have a lot to do through the year.

1. What is the busiest thing?______________________________________________

2. What does the farmer have to do when he is going to grow wheat?_______________________

3. Why was much more time spent on sowing in the past?________________________________

4. What does farmer not need when they cut wheat?_________________________________

5. Does everyone help to cut the wheat?_______________________________________

 

Uncle Li and Uncle Wang are good friends. They live next to each other and their farms are both at the foot of the mountain. So they can help each other. But neither of them likes to use his head. They’re both poor though they work hard. Most villagers have built new houses, but they still live in the low and broken houses.They never find out why.

  Once Uncle Li went to town to buy some medicine for his wife. In the town he heard the apples in a city were expensive. He told Uncle Wang about it as soon as he went back. They decided to carry some apples to the city. They borrowed some money from their friends and bought nearly 1,000 kilograms of apples in the villages and carried them to the city on a tractor. Bad luck! A lot of apples had already been carried there when they arrived. A few days later they had to sell them at a low price .They felt unhappy and returned to their village.

  “I can’t understand why we sustain(蒙受) losses in business while others always profit ,” Uncle Li asked one day.

  The tractor was too small,” Uncle Wang said without thinking. “We’ll carry more apples on a truck next time!”

  “I agree!”said Uncle Li. “How foolish (傻的) we were!” 

1.The two farmers carried the apples to the city to ________.

A.make a journey         B.visit some places of interest     

C.meet their friends       D.make a profit

2.What does the underlined word “profit” probably mean in Chinese?

A .利益                       B.    盈利        C.送礼                   D.亏损

3.Uncle Li and Uncle Wang were unhappy because ________.

A.they had sustained losses in business

B.they had lost some money in the city

C.something was wrong with the tractor

D.other people profited in the city

4.Which of the following is TRUE?

A.The two farmers found out why they were poor.

B.The two farmers will soon get rich.

C.Neither of the farmers is clever.

D.The two farmers decided to buy a truck.

 

Uncle Li and Uncle Wang are good friends. They live next to each other and their farms are both at the foot of the mountain. So they can help each other. But neither of them likes to use his head. They’re both poor though they work hard. Most villagers have built new houses, but they still live in the low and broken houses.They never find out why.
Once Uncle Li went to town to buy some medicine for his wife. In the town he heard the apples in a city were expensive. He told Uncle Wang about it as soon as he went back. They decided to carry some apples to the city. They borrowed some money from their friends and bought nearly 1,000 kilograms of apples in the villages and carried them to the city on a tractor. Bad luck! A lot of apples had already been carried there when they arrived. A few days later they had to sell them at a low price .They felt unhappy and returned to their village.
“I can’t understand why we sustain(蒙受) losses in business while others always profit ,” Uncle Li asked one day.
The tractor was too small,” Uncle Wang said without thinking. “We’ll carry more apples on a truck next time!”
“I agree!”said Uncle Li. “How foolish (傻的) we were!” 
【小题1】The two farmers carried the apples to the city to ________.

A．make a journey	B．visit some places of interest
C．meet their friends	D．make a profit

【小题2】What does the underlined word “profit” probably mean in Chinese?

A．利益

B．盈利

C．送礼

D．亏损

【小题3】Uncle Li and Uncle Wang were unhappy because ________.

A．they had sustained losses in business

B．they had lost some money in the city

C．something was wrong with the tractor

D．other people profited in the city

【小题4】Which of the following is TRUE?

A．The two farmers found out why they were poor.

B．The two farmers will soon get rich.

C．Neither of the farmers is clever.

D．The two farmers decided to buy a truck.

Four years ago my sweet mom went to be with her Lord. She did it her way.

 I got the call at work, and I headed home quickly. Mom and Dad lived on a small farm that they had owned since I was seven. I hated going there every weekend. There was nothing for a young girl to do but watch the one station on the old TV set, if the weather allowed reception（接收）.

 My mom, on the other hand, loved the peace and quiet of the land and loved to work in the garden among her flowers and vegetables. The place was simple, with no indoor plumbing or heat. We had a big wood stove in the kitchen that did its best to heat the little farmhouse, but it always seemed cold and too quiet to me.

 In the evenings, my mom and I would sit for hours singing in the little kitchen. I sang the melody and Mom harmonized. Her favorite song was "Moon River" and we sang it over and over. Mom told me stories about how when I was a little girl, I could sing before I could talk. She loved to tell how my playpen（婴儿圈栏）sat in the kitchen next to the radio and there was one song I particularly loved called "Ivory Tower".

As time passed, I had my own children and went to visit the farm every week or two. The kids loved the farm and the tractor rides with my dad. Me, well, I still hated the silence of the farm. While my mom loved to sit at her kitchen table and look out at her garden and flowers and retell all the old stories, I missed the hustle and bustle（喧闹）of my life at home. But I sat there listening quietly as she reminisced.

Now, I sat back in the silence and the silence was deafening so I finally leaned over to turn on an old radio. Music always comforted me.

My heart skipped a beat. "Moon River" was playing on the radio. I sat there stunned, with a tear running down my cheek, as I listened to every familiar note.

Then the radio announcer of this oldie station came on. "Here's one we haven't heard in a while," and an unfamiliar song began. I began to cry harder as I heard the words sung over the airwaves. “Come down, come down from your Ivory Tower...”.

1.The writer didn’t like staying in the farm for the following reasons EXCEPT that

    ________.

A. it was too cold and quiet

B. she could only sing one song on the small farm

C. there was nothing more that could make her excited

D. The place was simple, with no indoor plumbing or heat

2.From the first paragraph, we know that the writer’s mother ________.

    A. passed away four years ago

 B. left the small farm with Lord

C. left for Lord to live her own way

    D. preferred to be with Lord

3.The underlined word reminisced in the fifth paragraph probably means ________.

A. recalled       B. comforted       C. shouted        D. sighed

4.Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the passage _______.

A. The writer was able to sing before she could speak.

B. The writer preferred to live a busy life in the city.

C. The writer was still quite familiar with the song "Ivory Tower".

D. The writer treasured all her childhood memories in the small farmhouse.

5.Which of the following would be the best title for this passage? _______

A. Cherish life                      B. My happy childhood

C. Our small farmhouse               D. Mom’s music

 

A farm is always a busy place. One of the busiest things is when the farmer is getting land ready to grow plants.
If the farmer is going to grow wheat, he has to turn the ground over first. The farmer drives up and down the paddock（草地） on tractor（拖拉机）. When the ground is ready, the farmer sows the seeds. He does this with a machine that the tractor pulls along. Now, one farm and one machine can do as much a day as twenty men used to do without a machine. After the wheat has been sown, the farmer keeps a lookout（守望） for rain. Wheat needs rain and warm sunny days to make it grow. When the wheat has grown, it turns to a lovely golden colour.
When the wheat is fully grown, you can see the seeds on the wheat plants. These have to be out off and put in bags or big trucks to be taken to a factory where they are made into flour（面粉）.
It’s a very busy time on farm when the wheat is being cut. Everyone helps so that all the wheat can be taken from the paddocks before the rain comes. If heavy rain falls, the farm must wait for the ground dry out before the machine can cut the wheat. Farmers always have a lot to do through the year.
1. What is the busiest thing?______________________________________________
2. What does the farmer have to do when he is going to grow wheat?_______________________
3. Why was much more time spent on sowing in the past?________________________________
4. What does farmer not need when they cut wheat?_________________________________
5. Does everyone help to cut the wheat?_______________________________________