One day a teacher did an experiment his students would never forget.

As he stood in front of the students, he pulled out a very big glass cup and put it on the table.

He then took out some fist-sized (拳頭大小的) rocks and carefully placed them, one at a time, into the cup. When the cup was filled to the top he asked, "Is the cup full?"

Everyone in the class said, "Yes."

He replied, "Really?"

He reached under the table and pulled out a bag of gravel (碎石), then put some gravel in and shook the cup, and the gravel went down into the space between the big rocks.

He asked the students once more, "Is the cup full?"

"Perhaps not," one of them answered.

"Good!" he replied.

He reached under the table and brought out a bag of sand. He started putting the sand in the cup and it went into all the spaces left between the rocks and the gravel. Once more he asked the question, "Is the cup full?"

"No!" the class shouted.

Once again he said, "Good!"

Then he took out a cup of water and began to pour it in until the cup was filled. Then he looked at the class and asked, "What can you get from this experiment?"

One eager student raised her hand and said, "The point is, no matter how busy you are, if you try really hard you can always put some more things in!"

"Good answer, but no," the speaker replied, "that's not my point. The truth this experiment teaches us is: If you don't put the big rocks in first, you'll never get them in at all. What are the big rocks' in your life? In my life they are my education, my health, and my family. Remember to put these BIG ROCKS in first or you'll never get them in at all."

1.What did the teacher put into the cup first?

A. Water. B. Rocks. C. Gravel. D. Sand.

2.Why would the students never forget the experiment?

A. Because it had a deeper meaning than what the students thought of.

B. Because the teacher prepared for the experiment carefully.

C. Because the teacher had much experience of teaching.

D. Because the teacher thought his family was a "big rock".

3.What can we infer when the class shouted "No"?

A. The students knew they could get praise from the teacher.

B. The students were sure something else could be put into the cup.

C. The students had known the purpose of the experiment.

D. The students wanted to know what the teacher would do next.

4.According to the teacher, water refers to in our life.

A. drinks B. very important things C. boring things D. less important things

5.Which of the following is the best sentence as the end of this passage?

A. The bigger the size is, the more important the matter is.

B. If you put small things first into a cup, you can't put big ones into it any longer.

C. If you are always busy with little things, you can't have time to do big, important things.

D. In our life, we should make full use of time and do what we like.

The Piano Lesson

Jenny wasn't interested in playing the piano. She liked writing stories and acting them out with her friends. But Mrs Windsor gave her piano lessons for free, so she felt she should have a try. Every Sunday she had her piano lessons in Mrs Windsor's house.

One Sunday morning, Jenny walked into Mrs Windsor's music room and sat down on the piano bench as usual.

"Hello," Jenny heard a voice behind her. She turned around and saw a young girl.

"What's your name?" The girl asked.

Before Jenny could answer, Mrs Windsor walked in and said, "Jenny, this is my niece (侄女), Pasha. Pasha, this is Jenny. I need to go to hospital, so Pasha will give you your lesson today."

Pasha sat beside Jenny on the piano bench and asked, "What piece do you like best?"

"I don't know," Jenny said. "They're all the same to me."

"You mean you don't have a favourite?" Pasha was surprised.

"No, not really," Jenny said.

Pasha opened Jenny's music book and asked Jenny to play.

After about a page or two, Pasha gently put her hand on top of Jenny's. Jenny stopped. Then Pasha said, "Jenny, what are you hearing in the music?" Jenny looked at Pasha strangely.

"I don't know," Jenny said.

"Let me try and you listen," Pasha said. "All you have to do is learn to hear the stories in the music."

"I' ve never thought of it that way," Jenny said.

"let's try together, shall we?" Pasha smiled. Together they played that afternoon and tried to find the story in the music. That day Jenny found playing the piano was not that difficult.

1.Why did Jenny go and learn piano lessons?

A. Because she liked music very much. B. Because she paid nothing for them.

C. Because Mrs Windsor played very well. D. Because Mrs Windsor forced her to do so.

2.Which of the following statements is True?

A. Mrs Windsor's niece knew Jenny very well.

B. Mrs Windsor was too busy with her work to teach Jenny.

C. Mrs Windsor didn't feel well that day.

D. Jenny saw a girl in the room when coming in.

3.What did Jenny mean when she said, "No, not really"?

A. She didn't agree with Pasha. B. She hated music very' much.

C. She liked one piece of music. D. She had no favourite piece of music.

4.The underlined word "gently" means ____________ .

A. hardly B. heavily C. kindly D. happily

5.How can you play music well according to the passage?

A. Practice a lot. B. Understand it.

C. Have a good teacher. D. Play with a girl.

Improve Homework Habits

Do you want to make homework simpler? It can be done readily with a little guidance from specialists (專家) in this field. Oxford Learning founder and CEO Dr. Nick Whitehead said that homework doesn’t always have to be a headache. “Homework might be an unavoidable (不可避免的) part of school, but it doesn’t have to be the boring part. With the right skills in place, students can turn homework from headache-including to trouble-free.” These steps will make an obvious difference.

Use your notebooks

The brain is able to finish great works, but it is not perfect. Students should never rely on (依賴) it to remember all school details. When a teacher assigns homework, students should write the details in their notebooks. Many schools provide notebooks because they are the best organizational tools available.

According to Whitehead, to make them effective, students need to remember to take the notebooks out of their school bags at night, open them up, and read over the night’s list.

Remove distractions (使注意力分散的事物)

Computers on, music on, text messages receiving … this is not multitasking, it’s distracting.

Whitehead says that unless students are doing research, they should turn off all electronics and focus on the task at hand for a set period of time. They’ll find that it is easier to concentrate (全神貫注) and that homework takes less time. He adds that this fact has been confirmed by studies.

Think actively

Getting homework done is the name of the game, but what happens if students are struggling with a question, or can’t work out an answer? When facing difficulties, it is wise for the student to take a small break then return to look at the problem again.

According to Whitehead, students should look up their textbooks and school notes, take a step back to ask what the particular unit is all about, and even move ahead a few questions and see if the next part can help explain a little better. If not, use the Internet.

“Don’t stare at (盯著) the question; ask how this question relates to what is being learned overall.” he says.

Get organized

Homework is as much a part of daily routine as waking up in the morning and going to bed at night, but it’s often the most disorganized part. Whitehead recommends streamlining (使合理化) the process.“Students should keep all the homework-related things in a bin or a bucket so they don’t waste time searching for pens or rulers.” He also recommends picking the same place to do homework every night, and (when possible) completing homework at the same time each day.

按要求完成下列句子。

1.We have three basketball matches this month.(英譯漢)

__________________________________

2.他們喜歡這次學校郊游嗎？(漢譯英)

Do they like the_______________?

3.今天下午你能來參加我的生日聚會嗎？(漢譯英)

Can you come to my ________________ this afternoon?

4.Their birthdays are all in June．(對畫線部分提問)

______________ their birthdays?

5.Sarah's birthday is on April 6th.(改為否定句)

Sarah's birthday ________________ on April 6th.

句子改錯。(下列各句子中只有一處錯誤，找出并改正)

1.Jim is thirteen year old._________________

2.She is Lily's and Lucy's mother._______________

3.When is Lisa's five birthday？_____________

4.We want to go to there again.___________

5.We have a art festival at school.___________

Tom is ______ of the ten boys.

A. honester B. the honestest

C. more honest D. the most honest

The film is ______ than that one.

A. fun B. funny C. funnier D. the funniest

progress Mary has made! Because she studies much harder than before.

A. What a great B. How a great

C. What great D. How great

—Why are you looking __________ in class all day?

—Because I can’t finish my homework until eleven every night.

A. awake B. asleep C. sleeping D. sleepy

The palace caught fire three times in the last century and little of the original building now.

A. remains B. is remained

C. is remaining D. has been remained