Bananas don′t paw on trees. They grow on a thick stalk（茎）that looks just a lithe like a  stalk of corn The stalk is soft enough to be cut with a knife.

It takes about a year before 4 bananas are ready to be picked, Some are as small fingers, Others are as long and thick as men’s arms. Some banana plants gum as tall as a house —even taller!

Not all bananas are eaten as fruit. Some never get sweet, and they are cooked as a kind of vegetable.

People in most countries never see a banana until it reads the stole. But if you visited a country where it's hot and rains a lot all the year. you might set a banana plantation(种植园)a large farm where bananas grow.

The testy frail doesn't come from a seed but from a root planted deep in the ground. First a stalk pushes up into the air. Then leaves appear. In the beginning the banana plant grows very fast — sometimes as much as the length of your feet in one night. Soon. Sweet-smelling flowers appear, and when their flowers drop off. bananas begin to grow.

As they get bigger. bananas start turning up. It looks as if they're growing upside down！

Bananas are ready to eat when they turn soft and yellow. But they're picked long before this — when they're bard and bright green. This is because bananas have to travel many miles before they arrive at a store. On trucks and boats and trains bananas travel all over the world. There are special boats just for bananas and special trains that keep them just cool enough so that they will get ripe while traveling . If bananas arc picked when they are ripe. they will spoil(变坏) on the way.

1、.Bananas grow, __________instead of__________

2、You'd better ___________the bananas until they grow for__________

3、Some bananas can __________a kind of vegetable and some can__________.

4、We might visit a banana plantation in a place__________

5、Bananas are usually picked long before they__________

Most American families are smaller than the families in other countries. Most American families have one or two parents and one or two children each.

??? Children in the US will leave their parents’ home when they grow up. They usually live far from their parents because they want to find good jobs. They often write to their parents or telephone them. And they often go to visit their parents on holiday.

?? Parents usually let their children choose their own jobs. Americans think it important for young people to decide on their lives by themselves.

?? Children are asked to do some work around their house. And in many families, children are paid for doing some housework so that they learn how to make money for their own use.

1.The size of most American families is ________ that of other countries.

A. larger than B. smaller than C. as big as D. as small as

2.When children grow up, they leave their parents’ home to _________.

A. get married B. be free C. find good jobs D. study

3.They visit their parents ________.

A. on weekdays B. on weekends C. at any time D. on holiday

4.Which of the following statements is WRONG?

A. Children have the freedom(自由） to choose their own job.

B. Parents don’t ask their children to do the housework.

C. Parents think it important for children to make their own decision.

D. When children grow up, they usually live far away from their home.

5.Some parents pay their children for doing housework because ___________.

A. children can learn how to make money for themselves

B. their children required them to do so

C. they are rich

D. it is required by law

“If you want to see a thing well, reach out and touch it!”That may seem a strange thing to say． But touching things can help you to see them better． Your eyes can tell you that a glass ball is round． But by holding it in your hands, you can feel how smooth* and cool the ball is． You can feel how heavy the glass is． When you feel all these about the ball, you really see it． With your skin, you can feel better． For example, your fingers can tell the difference between two coins*  in your pocket． You can feel a little drop of water on the back of your hand, too．
All children soon learn what “Don’t touch!” means． They hear it often． Yet most of us keep on touching things as we grow up． In shops, we touch things as we might buy: food, clothes． To see something well, we have to touch it．
There are ways of learning to see well by feeling． One way is to close your eyes and try to feel everything that touching your skin． Feel the shoes on your feet, the clothes on your body, the air on your skin． At first, it is not easy to feel these things． You are too used to them!
Most museums are just for looking． But today some museums have some things to touch． Their signs say, “Do touch!” There you can feel everything on show． If we want to see better, reach out and touch． Then you will really see!
【小题1】By touching things, ______．

To most of us, school means classes, teachers, schedules, grades and tests. But for the children at Sudbury Valley School in Massachusetts, school is very different.

Firstly, there are no lessons. All the children, aged between 4 and 19, do whatever they want. There are no teachers, only “staff members”. The idea behind this is that you do not need to make children learn, because children want to learn anyway. “You do not need to say to a three-year-old, ‘Go explore your environment.’ You can’t stop them!”says Daniel Greenberg, a founder of the school. “But if you make children do what you want all day… they will lose all taste of learning.” At Sudbury Valley School, you will find children talking, reading, painting, cooking, working on computers, studying French, playing the piano, climbing trees, or just running around. Two boys spent three years just fishing!
The other way that Sudbury Valley School is different is that the children can decide the rules. Every week, there is a school meeting where both children and staff have one vote (投票)each—even the four-year-olds. They decide the school rules, how to spend the school money, and even which staff they want and do not want anymore.
When the school first opened in 1968, people said it would never work. But today, the school has 200 students, and 80% of its students go on to college. Even the two boys who went fishing all the time have successful careers today. One of them is a musician and the other is a computer scientist.
【小题1】What's special about the school?

A．the writer doesn't like the idea of the school

B．the school is quite successful in its work

C．most of the parents don't believe in the school

D．younger students learn better there than older ones