閱讀理解

　　Most people will rest and relax when they are old．They do not work．And most people are certainly not famous．But Grandma Moses is different She starts a new job at the age of 76．

　　This is her story．She was born in a poor farmer's family in 1860．Her parents named her Anna Mary Robertson．She married Thomas Moses in 1887．He was a farm worker．

　　Now it is 1930．Anna Mary Moses is 70, and is a grandmother．She begins to paint pictures．She does paintings of country life．One day, her daughter takes her paintings to a store in town．Her paintings are put in the window．A man from New York sees the paintings in the window and buys them．And he wants more!

　　The man likes Grandma Moses' paintings．He wants to help her．So he takes her paintings to galleries(美術館)in New York City．Otto Kallir has a famous gallery there．He likes the paintings by Grandma Moses．Now it is 1940 and Grandma Moses' paintings are in Kallir's gallery．She is 80 years old．

　　Grandma Moses suddenly becomes famous．Everyone wants her paintings．So she paints more and more．She wins many prizes for her paintings．She becomes famous in the United States and Europe．

　　When she is 100 years old, the State of New York makes her birthday "Grandma Moses' Day"．After her 100^th birthday, she paints 6 more paintings．She dies at age 101 and a lot of people think she is amazing．

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　　Everyone has worries．How do you deal with your worries? There is always something you can do to help yourself feel less worried．Sitting there worrying is no fun and it won't solve your problems．

　　Grades at school are often a top worry for kids．ff you worry most about grades, ask yourself these questions：

　　●Why are grades important? What do grades mean to me?

　　●How do I get ready for class? Do I go over my notes even when there isn't a test?

　　●Do I have a good place to do my homework?

　　●Have I tried different ways of studying?

　　If your worry is about a fight you had with your friend, you might write down al! the things you could do-write a note to him or her, invite him or her to watch a basketball game, say sorry to him or her and so on．Once you have a list of things you could do, you can choose one thing that could get your friend back．

　　You can ask for help when you're worried．You can find someone to talk to, such as your parents, friends, and teachers．

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閱讀理解

　　One day, a farmer was walking along a road with his son Thomas．The father said, "Look! There's a horseshoe．Pick it up and put it in your bag．" Thomas said, 'It isn't worth the trouble．" His father said nothing but picked it up himself．When they got to a nearby town, they lad a rest．There the farmer sold the horseshoe and with the few pennies he bought some cherries．

　　The father and the son continued their way．The sun was well up in the sky, and there wasn't a house or even a tree where they could have a rest．Thomas felt too thirsty to walk on．At this time, his father dropped a cherry on the ground and Thomas picked it up quickly and ate it．After a while, his father dropped another cherry and once again, his son lost some time in picking it up and putting it in his mouth．

　　And so they went on．The old farmer dropped the cherries and the son picked them up．When Thomas had eaten up all the cherries, his father said to him, "My dear son, if you had bent down earlier to pick up that horseshoe．it would not have been necessary for you to bend so many times for the cherries．Always remember the lesson that anyone who does not worry about the little things will find that he cannot do the great things．

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　　Xuanwu Lake(玄武湖)

　　Price：Adults￥30　Children￥20

　　Open：6∶00 a. m.～7∶00 p. m. every day

　　Hongshan Forest Zoo(紅山森林動物園)

　　Price：￥25

　　Open：8∶00 a. m.～4∶30 p. m. every day

　　Zijin Mountain Observatory(紫金山天文臺)

　　Price：Adults ￥15　Children￥10

　　Open：9∶00 a. m.～5∶00 p. m. every day

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　　Tom, a 15-year-old boy, couldn't hear anything after the whole night computer games and MP3 listening．He was excited and yelled(喊叫)after the MP3．When he walked out of his room the next morning, he could hear nothing about his mother's words．His mother sent him to the doctor at once．It was moderate(中度)hearing loss(耳聾)．

　　Do you have an MP3 player? Do you use it to listen to your favorite music? A survey shows that lots of young people enjoy listening to their MP3 players．And they always listen to them at high volumes(音量)．There are about 100 million people listening to MP3 players in Europe every day．Most of them are young people．Scientists have found that if people listen to MP3 players at a very high volume for more than five hours a week, they could lose their hearing in five years．

　　High-volume music can keep people excited, so young people would like to keep their players high．It's too bad for the ears．So the MP3 listeners should keep the player within safe volume levels, no higher than 60～70 of full capacity(容量)．If people near you can hear your MP3, that means you are keeping your MP3 at a very high volume, turn it down, please!

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　　Whales are the largest animals on this earth．Whales can be bigger than elephants．Whales can be bigger than some houses．Even a baby whale can be huge(very big)．A baby whale can weigh as much as a ton when it is born．That's a very great baby!

　　How can whales be so big when they are born? Why are they able to grow so much larger than any other animal? The answer is really very easy．Whales can be big because they live in the water．The water helps to hold them up．Land animals can't be as big as the biggest whales．If a land animal got too big, its legs wouldn't be able to hold it．If a bird got too big, it wouldn't be able to fly．No animal can be too big as a whale．A whale can still float(漂浮)though it is very big．

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　　All students need to have good study habits(習慣)．When you have good study habits, you will learn things quickly, and also remember them easily．

　　Do you like to study in the living room? This is not a good place because it is usually too noisy．You need to study in a quiet place, like your bedroom．A quiet place will help you only to think about one thing．

　　When you study, do not think about other things at the same time．Only think about your homework．If you do this, you will do your homework more quickly, and you will make fewer mistakes(錯誤)．

　　Good study habits are very important．If you don't have them, try to learn them．If yours are already good, try to make them better．

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綜合閱讀

　　Korean culture is really exciting right now．The Korean Wave is sweeping Asian countries including China．Young people are going crazy about Korean TV dramas, Korean pop songs, taekwondo and the Korean language．

　　The Korean Wave started a few years ago with the TV series “Winter Sonata”．This love story is still popular．People, especially girls, like the beautiful story and handsome actors like Bae Yong Jun(裴勇俊)．

　　In the music world, Korean girls are making themselves heard in China．You can often find big Korean names like Baby Vox, S．E．S and Finkle at the top of the Chinese music charts(排行榜)．

　　The Korean Wave has also made young people want to try the clothes and hairstyles of pop stars, too．Not only that．Now some girls in China are having plastic surgery(整容)to change the way they look．People say some beautiful Korean stars have had plastic surgery．These stars don’t make plastic surgery look shameful(丟面子的)．

　　Are all the faces of beautiful Korean girls not real? Find out for yourself when you next visit South Korea．

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　　The building is shaking．A woman with a baby in her arms is trying to open the door, but fails．Finding no way, she rushes into her bedroom and there they survive the earthquake．

　　In a factory building, as the workshop floor swings under the terrible shaking, workers run for safety．Some hide(隱藏)under the machines and survive, but others who try to run outside are killed by the falling ceilings．

　　These scenes, played by actors and actresses, are from a film of science education　《Making a Split Second Decision shown in 1998 on China Central TV in memory of Tangshan Earthquake．

By studying actual cases in the earthquake areas and scientific experiments, experts(專家)find that buildings remain untouched for the first 12 seconds of an earthquake．

　　In this short time, one has the best chance of surviving an earthquake by staying near the inside walls, in bedrooms and under beds, experts concluded in the film．“Earthquakes seem to catch the lives of those who run,” said many survivors in the earthquake areas, describing how their friends were killed on the doorways or along the stair steps as they tried to get out of the building．

　　Their advice was proved in the film, “Take a hiding-place where you are rather than run, unless you are sure you can reach a safe open place in ten seconds．”

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　　I had the meanest mother in the whole world．While other kids ate candy for breakfast, I had to have porridge, eggs or toast．When others had Cokes and candy for lunch, I had to eat a sandwich．But at least I wasn’t alone when I was sad．My sister and two brothers had the same mean(刻薄的)mother as I did．

　　My mother preferred to know where we were all the time．She had to know who our friends were and where we were going．We had to clean clothes and take a bath every day．The other kids got to wear the same clothes for days．We could not lie in bed “sick” in order to miss school．

　　The worst is yet to come．We had to be in bed by nine each night and get up at eight the next morning．We couldn’t sleep till noon like our friends．So while they slept, my mother was brave to break the Child Labour Law．She made us work．We had to wash dishes, make beds, and learn to cook and all sorts of things at home．I believe she lay awake thinking up all things for us to do．

　　My mother was a complete failure as a mother．Two of her children received higher education．None of us have ever been arrested(taken away by the police)or divorced．She forced us to grow up into educated and honest adults．I am trying to raise my three children this way．I am filled with pride when my children call me “mean”．Why? Because now I thank God every day for giving me the meanest mother in the world．

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