A woman repeated a bit of gossip (流言) about a neighbour. Within a few days the whole neighbourhood knew the story. The neighbour was deeply hurt. Later the woman responsible (负责) for spreading the gossip learned that it was completely untrue. She was very sorry and went to a wise old man to find out what she could do to repair the harm.
“Go to the marketplace,” he said. “and buy a chicken, and have it killed, then on your way home, pluck (拔) its feathers and drop them one by one along the road. ” Although surprised by this advice, the woman did what she was told.
The next day the wise man said, “ Now, go and collect all those feathers you dropped yesterday and bring them back to me. ”
The woman followed the same road, but she was so discouraged when she found the wind had blown all the feathers away. After searching for hours, she returned with only three in her hand.
“ You see, ” said the old man, “it’s easy to drop them, but it’s impossible to get them back . So it is with gossip. It doesn’t take much to spread a gossip, but once you do, you can never completely undo the wrong.”
【小题1】The woman was very _________ the harm she had done to her neighbour.

A．happy about

B．angry about

C．sorry for

D．excited about

【小题2】Which of the following statements is TURE?

A．The gossip didn’t hurt anyone at all.

B．The wise man was not kind enough.

C．The woman found all the feathers at last.

D．The woman was given a lesson.

【小题3】What the wise man said has nearly the same meaning as the Chinese phrase “_________”

A．覆水难收

B．无中生有

C．欲速不达

D．得道多助

In the sea there are many islands. In its warm waters there are some little ones. We call them coral(珊瑚) islands.
A coral island is very nice to look at. It looks like a ring of land with trees, grass, and flowers on it. One part of the ring is open to the water. There is a little round lake inside the island.
If you look into this lake, you will see beautiful coral. You may think they are flowers.
If you look at a piece of coral, you will see many little holes in it. In each of these holes a very small sea animal has lived. These sea animals make the coral.
They began to build under the water. Year after year, the coral grew higher and higher. At last it grew out of the water.
Then the sea brought to it small trees and something else. After some years, these things changed into earth. Sometimes the wind brought seeds to this earth. Sometimes birds flew over it and brought seeds to the island. The little seeds grew. In a few years there were plants all over the island. In a few more years there were trees growing there.
So you see, these islands were built little by little. The workers were very small. Don’t they teach us a lesson? Can you think what the lesson is?
【小题1】 In the sea _____.

A．there are no coral islands	B．there are some coral islands
C．the water is always warm	D．we can see many flowers and fishes

【小题2】A coral island looks like ______.

A．a round cake

B．trees, grass and flowers

C．a ring of land

D．a round lake

【小题3】There are ____ in the holes in corals.

A．flowers

B．little corals

C．grass

D．sea animals

【小题4】How did seeds of trees, grass and flowers come to the coral islands?

A．The wind and birds brought them to the coral islands.

B．Only the wind brought them there.

C．People brought them there.

D．Fishes brought them there.

【小题5】From the story we learn that _____.

A．small workers can’t do big things

B．only big workers can do big things

C．small workers can do big things if they work hard and work a long time

D．all small things can do things

In Germany there are different kinds of high schools.Some prepare students for workers, others prepare them for college. All schools are great places for making friends and learning German.
Short days
Most high schools in Germany begin at about 8:00 a.m. and end at 3:30 p.m. This means your morning will be busy with classes. You will have time to do homework and take part in private(私人的) clubs after school.
Formal setting
In Germany, teachers and students’ relationship is more formal than you might be used to. Teachers are respected and students must use the formal “Sie(德语：您)” when talking to teachers.
Getting to school
Most students take public transport to school or ride a bicycle. Some ares have school buses. It is not common for parents to drive students to school.
Private clubs
In many countries, schools offer official sports and after-school activities. This is less common in Germany. After-school activities are usually organized through private clubs. There are clubs for things like soccer, dance, chair, theatre and almost everything else. Once you are in Germany, ask around at school and talk to other students to find out what private clubs are in your area and meet your interests.
Different states, different schools
Each of Germany’s 16 states has its own slightly different school systems. The school system in Brandenburg will be a little different from the system in Bavaria for example. Where you live, your knowledge level and your age will decide what school you can attend.
【小题1】For high school students in Germany, Which is not the common transport to school?

A．School buses

B．Private clubs

C．Public transports

D．Students’ bicycles

【小题2】In paragraph 3, the underlined word “respected” can be best translated into ________.

A．受人尊敬的

B．令人害怕的

C．高收入的

D．有权势的

【小题3】From the passage, we can learn from that in Germany ________.

A．all kinds of high schools are for college.

B．age is not important for attending schools.

C．students can take part in after-school activities from 8:00a.m. to 3;30p.m.

D．students can join private clubs to meet their interests by themselves.

【小题4】What can be the best title for this article?

A．German Private Clubs	B．German Public Transport
C．German High Schools	D．German College Systems

A. There will probably be no school on Mars.
B. It might take us two or three days to get to Mars.
C. There is a problem for us to live on Mars.
D. Food will not be the same.
E. First, people will have more space.
Many people believe that, by the year 2100, we will live on the planet Mars(火星). Here is what life could be like.
First of all, transport should be much better. By 2100, spaceship can travel at half the speed of light.  【小题1】 
Secondly, humans need food, water and air to live. Scientists should be able to find plants that can grow on Mars. These plants will provide us with food and air.
 【小题2】  We could easily jump too high and fly slowly away into space. To prevent this, humans on Mars have to wear special shoes to make themselves heavier.
Life on Mars will be better in many ways.  【小题3】  It is possible to live in a large building with many bedrooms. Then, robot will do most of the work, so we have more time for hobbies.
 【小题4】 Every student can study, do their homework on the computer and take exams in online schools. Each student will also have their own online teacher called “e-teacher”.
However, in some ways, life on Mars may not be better than that on the earth today.  【小题5】Meals will probably be in the shape of pills(药片) and will not be as delicious as they are today. Also, space travel will make many people feel ill.

A small plane had some trouble with its engine while it was in the high sky．The pilot knew that there was nothing he could do to keep the plane long in the air，so he rushed back to where his three passengers sat and explained the dangerous situation．At last he said，“ I am a married man with three children．I am sorry to tell you that there are only three parachutes aboard．” With that he took up one and jumped out．
One of the passengers reacted quickly．“I am a great man，I am the smartest man and the world can not do without me．”With that he too jumped out．
The other two passengers，an old man and a young soldier，were quiet for a moment．At last the old man said，“Son，I’m old and have lived a full life．I am ready to meet my God．”
“You will have to give up that，”the young man said，smiling，“The world’s smartest man just jumped out with my backpack．”
【小题1】There was something wrong with the plane when _________．

A．it was at the airport	B．it was taking off
C．it was flying in the sky	D．it was landing

【小题2】How many people were there in the pilot family?

A．Four

B．Five

C．At least four

D．Three

【小题3】The word “pilot” in this passage means a man who ______．

A．repairs a plane	B．is on watch at the airport
C．travels on a plane	D．flies a plane．

【小题4】By saying I am ready to meet my God，“the old man” means _______．

A．he wanted the young man to use the last parachute．

B．he wanted to meet someone named God．

C．he wanted to kill himself

D．he wanted the young man to give him the parachute

【小题5】Who was sure to die?

A．The pilot	B．The old man
C．The world’s smartest man	D．The young man