One morning, a blind boy sat on the steps of a building with a hat by his feet .He held a sign which said,“I am blind. Please help me.”
There were only a few coins（硬币） in the hat. A man was walking by. He took out a few coins from his pocket and dropped them into the hat .He then took the sign, turned it around, and wrote some words on it. He put the sign back so that everyone who walked by could see the new words.
Soon the hat began to fill up. A lot more people were giving money to the blind boy. That afternoon the man who had changed the sign came to see how things were. The boy recognized his footsteps and ask,“Are you the one who changed my sign in the morning? What did you write?”
The man said,“I only wrote the truth. I said what you said, but in a different way.”
What he had written was,“Today is a beautiful day, but I can’t see it.”
Do you think the first sign and the second sign were saying the same thing?
Of course both signs told people the boy was blind. But the first sign simply told people to help by putting some money in the hat. The second sign told people that they were able to enjoy the beauty of the day, but the boy could not enjoy it because he was blind.
The first sign simply said the boy was blind, while the second sign told people they were so lucky that they were not blind.
There are at least two lessons we can learn from this simple story.
The first is: Treasure(珍惜)what you have. Someone else has less. Try your best to help those who need your help.
The second is: Be creative. Think differently. There is always a better way.
【小题1】 From the passage we know that______.

A．the boy is the man’s son.	B．the man is one of his neighbors.
C．the boy is blind and needs help.	D．the boy works for the man.

【小题2】 On the sign what the man wrote was,“_______.”

A．Treasure what we have already had.

B．Today is a beautiful day, but I can’t see it.

C．We are so lucky that we are not blind.

D．Try your best to help those who need your help.

【小题3】According to the passage, which of the following is TRUE?

A．The hat began to fill up after the man wrote some words on the sign.

B．The man took away all the few coins from the hat.

C．The boy wanted to get enough money to go to school.

D．Nobody wanted to give any coins to the blind boy.

【小题4】The word“recognized”here in Chinese means______.

A．承认	B．接受
C．表扬	D．认出

【小题5】“____”is the best title for this story.

A．Be careful.

B．Be creative. There is always a better way!

C．Be kind to the blind!

D．Do not always get, but offer!

One of the most popular items(项目) in the school newspaper is the advice column. No one knows who writes it. The students think their teacher does, but it might be a student using a false name.
The students enjoy thinking up problems for the advice column. Here are some of them and their answers.
Ask the Wise Owl
Q: I’m always late for school. I try not to be, but I can’t help it. Please advise me what to do. Tommy.
A: You are probably late for school because you don’t really like school. My advice to you is to try and enjoy school more, then you won’t be late so often.
Q: I find it difficult to make friends. What do you think I should do? Sara.
A: I can’t advise you until I know more about you. Your problem may be that you are shy. On the other hand, it may be the opposite. You may be too bold(冒失). Write and tell me more about yourself.
Q: I’m always at the bottom(底部，末尾) of the class. What do you advise me to do? Molly.
A: I advise you to concentrate on(全神贯注) improving your grades in one subject to start with. If you can do this, you should move a little way up from the bottom. Next, try to improve your grades in another subject, and so on. If you concentrate on one subject at a time, by the end of the year you should be quite a long way up from the bottom in all your classes.
【小题1】What is Tommy’s problem?

A．He needs help with his homework.

B．He finds it difficult to make friends.

C．He is always late for school.

D．He is always at the bottom of his class.

【小题2】What does Molly want to do?

A．To stay at the bottom of her classes.

B．To make more friends.

C．To concentrate on one subject at a time.

D．To improve her grades.

【小题3】What does the Wise Owl want Sara to do?

A．Give more information about herself.

B．Stop being so shy.

C．Make more friends.

D．Stop being so bold.

【小题4】By the end of the year, where should Molly be in all her classes?

A．At the top.

B．Quite a long way up from the bottom.

C．At the bottom.

D．A little way up from the bottom.

【小题5】What is the main idea of this passage?

A．Sara finds it difficult to make friends.

B．Tommy wrote to the school newspaper to ask for advice.

C．The advice column in the school newspaper is very popular.

D．The school newspaper has an advice column.

Many students ask for advice about improving their English. There are three basic questions.

The first question is about real English. Li Hao from Hubei wrote, “I enjoy watching English films and listening to real English songs. But it takes a long time. What do you think?”

This is a great way to learn English! Talk about the film or song with your friends, and guess the meaning of the new words. Just enjoy yourself!

The second question is about speaking. Sam, from Suzhou wrote, “Our school has a foreign teacher. But I’m shy and can’t speak to her. What should I do?”

When I visit China, lots of people in the street say, “Hello! How are you? Where are you from? Do you like China?” These are good questions to start a conversation. Many people are shy when they speak English, so before you begin, take a deep breath and smile! Smiling always helps.

The third question is about vocabulary. Olive, from Anhui wrote, “I want to remember all the new words. I wrote them down, but I forget them quickly. What should I do?”

Try to remember eight or nine words a day. Write them on pieces of paper and place them in your bedroom. Say the words when you see them, and change them every day. And when you’re shopping, how about counting the English words, or saying the English names for everything you see?

1.How many basic questions do the students often ask?

A. Two.       B. Three.       C. Four.           D. Five.

2. What should you do if you are shy to speak English?

A. Watch English films.

B. Write down the words first.

C. Listen to real English songs.

D. Take a deep breath and smile before you begin?

3.What is Oliver’s problem?

A. He’s too shy to talk with others.

B. He’s not able to count English words.

C. He can’t remember new words.

D. He doesn’t know what real English is.

4. What’s the best title of this passage?

A. How to learn English

B. Talking about English films

C. Advice about English writing

D. The way of beginning an English conversation

 

Students learn their lessons in class．In class teachers teach them．Students sit in the classroom listening to the teacher. This is a way of learning．Is this the only way for students to learn? Of course not．There is another way to learn．That is students can teach themselves．Every student can teach himself, and every student is teaching himself when he is learning something．For example，if you cannot remember something when you are doing your homework．what will you do? You can look at your book to find the answer．This is a way to teach yourself．And it is not a difficult way．We can do this at any place and at any time．

How to teach yourself？ The first thing you must do is reading．Read something you are interested in，not you have to read．The second is that you must ask yourself questions．The question is something you don’t understand，or you want to know more about．You can write down these questions．A clever student is usually good at asking questions．The third is to answer the question yourself by thinking hard，by reading the text or other books，and sometimes by asking other people．These are the ways of teaching yourself．And you must do these all by yourself．If you keep doing like these for a long time，you are sure to succeed in your study．

1.Listening to the teachers is ______for students to learn

A．not a way

B．the best way

C．the only way

D．not the only way

2.If you want to succeed，you’d better learn_________．

A．your lessons in the classroom	B．how to teach yourself
C．to read and write carefully	D．how to ask questions

3.In teaching yourself, the first thing you must do is________．

A．writing

B．reading

C．asking

D．answering

4.A clever student is usually good at______．

A．asking questions	B．answering question
C．finding answers	D．asking others

5.Which of the following ideas do you think is right?

A．A student can teach himself but he doesn’t like to

B．It is a difficult way to learn to teach from the teacher

C．A student can learn to teach himself if he wants to be successful.

D．Students know very well how to teach themselves

 

One night, I wondered what it would be like if I only asked questions. I decided that no matter what anyone said to me the next day, I would reply only with   36 .
I loved to read about scientists and their discoveries, and I knew that scientists always started their research with a question. I hoped that I could become a scientist. Maybe by asking questions, I could train my mind to be   37 .
I survived the morning easily. “Is there any egg?” I answered when my mother asked what I wanted for breakfast. “Is this seat taken?” I asked when my friend Mike asked where he was going to   38  on the bus.
In the classroom, Mr. Black spoke slowly and clearly while I listened carefully. The problem had been part of my homework the night before. I wrote the answer on the board, “Could the answer be 361?”
Mr. Black smiled and nodded. I thought,“How did I   39  to get through that?” I almost laughed because asking questions really was starting to become a   40 .
I thought I had made it safely through the whole day,   41  what I had come to consider my experiment blew up at the dinner table when my dad asked me about my day. “What do I always do?” I replied.
My parents looked at each other. My father   42  again. “Well, I hope you went to school,” he said.
“Uhhh … why would you think otherwise?” I asked. My parents exchanged another   43   
and were becoming annoyed.
“Do you think questions are a good way to train your mind to be active?” I asked.
“It   44  the question,” said my father. “Some questions are asked for   45  information. Those are good mind-training questions. Sometimes, people use questions to get the other person to say something. Sometimes people ask questions to get someone to agree with them. Those questions don’t really achieve anything.”
“I guess my experiment didn’t work,” I said, and I told my father about my   46 .
“I think it worked   47 !” my father said. “You made a discovery, didn’t you? What matters is that you have put your idea into practice.”                              

【小题1】

A．actions B．answers C．gestures D．questions

【小题2】

A．deep B．free C．quick D．strong

【小题3】

A．get B．sit C．come D．take

【小题4】

A．fail B．have C．want D．manage

【小题5】

A．habit B．step C．goal D．rule

【小题6】

A．or B．so C．but D．and

【小题7】

A．tried B．asked C．guessed D．ordered

【小题8】

A．look B．word C．mind D．topic

【小题9】A. refers to            B. belongs to     C. puts on        D. depends on

【小题10】

A．sending B．finding C．sharing D．keeping

【小题11】

A．test B．idea C．plan D．wonder

【小题12】

A．slowly B．safely C．perfectly D．properly