Reporter: How long have you been a firefighter?
Wilson: For eight years.
JP Reporter: How did you get started?
Wilson: First, I had to take a lot of tests in two weeks. Then, I went to the firefighter school for four months.
           I learned how to put out fires and how to use equipment I also had a full-time training every day!
Reporter: How do you stay safe on the job?
Wilson: I wear special clothing. It helps keep me protected from fire. I also carry an oxygen tank (氧氣瓶)
            and a mask (面具). They help me to breathe in a smoke-filled building.
Reporter: Are there any new tools that firefighters use?
Wilson: We have a special camera that can see in the dark. It can find heat. That way, we can exactly tell
            the place of a fire.
Reporter: Do you save pets?
Wilson: Just three days ago, I helped save some cats. They were hiding under the beds. Pets usually hide
           during a fire because they are afraid of danger.
Reporter: Do you ever get afraid?
Wilson: No. There is no time to he afraid. I just think about what to do to put out the fire safely.
Reporter: What do you like best about being a firefighter?
Wilson: Helping people!

1. Kate Wilson has done her job for ________.

A. 2 weeks
B. 3 days
C. 4 months
D. 8 years

2. To become a firefighter, Kate Wilson ________ at first.

A. took a lot of tests
B. learned to stay safe
C. saved some animals
D. used fire equipment

3. Kate Wilson says she does not get afraid because ________.

A. she has an oxygen tank
B. she knows how to fight fires
C. she enjoys finding heat
D. she is too busy putting out fires

4. As a firefighter, Kate Wilson likes ________ most.

A. wearing a mask
B. asking questions
C. helping people
D. hiding in smoke

5. What did the reporter make this interview for?

A. To tell people what a firefighter does.
B. To teach people how to prevent fires.
C. To make people want to be firefighters.
D. To show people how a firefighter is trained.

1. We most probably read this story in____.

A. a magazine
B. a newspaper
C. a history textboo

2. Kelly first learned to draw pictures _____.

A. in the sand with her trunk
B. to make money
C. when she was 5 years old

3. People asked for Kelly's pictures because_____ .

A. they just wanted to have fun
B. the zoo leaders asked them to do so
C. the zoo workers asked them to do so

4. Kelly rubbed out the marks she had made in order to _____.

A. make other ones
B. clean her trunk
C. ask for more brushes and paints

5. From the story we can know that _____.

A. Kelly can draw nice pictures all by herself
B. Kelly doesn't like to draw pictures at all
C. Kelly can draw pictures with the help of the zoo workers

     News 1
     Yuan Longping, the father of hybrid rice, won the World Food Prize on Monday. Yuan developed the
world's first popular and widely known hybrid rice. Hybrid rice plants can make more rice than regular ones.
     News 2
     Have you ever got angry at books that are full of mistakes? Don't worry, things will get better soon. Last
week, China started checking textbooks, dictionaries and children's books all over the country. The
government said the results of the check would come out at the end of June.
     News 3
    People will see a new"star" in the sky soon. China plants to send a satellite into space by December 2006.
It will stay in space for one year. It will go around the moon and take pictures. It must be very expensive,
right? That's for sure; 1.4 billion yuan!
     News 4
     Have you ever thought of being able to fly around the world in a few hours? One day, maybe you can.
Last Saturday, the American X-43A airplane made its first flight. It reached a speed of 8,000 kilometers per
hour. This makes it the fastest plane in the world.X-43A is only three to four meters long, but it's very heavy.
It weighs 1,270 kilograms.

1. The satellite sent by China will move around ________.

A. the moon
B. the earth
C. the sun
D. the mars

2. The speed of the fastest plane in the world is ________.

A. 1.4 kilometers per second
B. 43 kilometers per minute
C. 1,270 kilometers per hour
D. 8,000 kilometers per hour

3. The checking of textbooks, dictionaries and children's books will ________.

A. make a lot of money
B. make the children sad
C. make sure there are no mistakes in them
D. make sure the books are not too expensive

4. Which of the following statements about the new star is NOT true?

A. It will go around the moon.
B. It will stay in space for two years.
C. It costs a lot.
D. It will go into space by December 2006.

5. Yuan Longping won the World Food Prize because ________.

A. he likes to eat hybrid rice
B. he is a successful father
C. he grows more rice than others
D. he developed the world's first popular and widely grown hybrid rice

     These two letters appeared in a newspaper. Both writers have their own ideas on zoos.
     Zoos Do a Good Job
     It is good to keep animals in zoos. I know a lot of people think it is wrong to keep animals in zoos.
However, I believe that zoos have many good points.
     Firstly, zoos are places for people to see many different kinds of animals from all over the world. Without
zoos, most people would never see a real bear or tiger.
     Secondly, zoos look after the animals very well. The animals are always given food and cleaned regularly.
In the wild, it is not always possible for an animal to find food, so sometimes it goes hungry. But animals kept
in zoos never go hungry.
     Thirdly,zoos protect the animals. They offer them safety in danger of becoming extinct (滅絕). But zoos
give these animals a chance to live. Without zoos, there would be fewer kinds of animals in the world.
                                                                                                                                      Maria Smith
      Zoos Are Unnatural 
      In Maria's letter, she says that zoos are good for animals. I am afraid that zoos are not good for animals,
and they are only good for people.
      It is unnatural (非自然的)and unfair to keep wild animals in cages. Most animals are kept in cages. They
are too small for them. In the wild, these animals would travel freely. In zoos, they can't do this. This is why
the bears and tigers always look so sad.
     Most cages are not very clean either. It is true that zoos give the animals food regularly. But this is not
natural. Wild animals are used to looking for their own food. We should treat animals in the same way that
we treat other people with respect.
     Would anyone be happy if you don't let him go out of his home? Would Maria like to have lots of people
standing outside her flat looking at her? No, she wouldn't. And animals don't like it either.
                                                                                                                                 Philip White

(     )1. Maria and Philip have quite different ideas on keeping animals in zoos.                 
(     )2. In Maria's opinion, a real bear or tiger can only be seen in zoos.                      
(     )3. Maria thinks that animals live better in zoos than in the wild.                         
(     )4. According to Philip, if cages are big and clean enough, tigers and bears will look happy.
(     )5. Maria and Philip both agree that zoos are good for people.                              
(     )6. In the two letters, they are discussing how to make animals in zoos happy.              

                                                          
     "The Princess and the Frog" is a warm and enjoyable cartoon by Disney. It tells the story about a girl who
makes her dreams come true through hard work.
     Tiana is a waitress. She has a dream of owning a restaurant. In order to realize the dream, she works hard.
She knows that it is useless to wish on a star. She never sits in a castle waiting for a prince to come and save
her. Tiana's plans for success go wrong when she meets a talking frog. The frog happens to be a prince named
Naveen. Hoping to become human again, Naveen regards Tiana as a princess by mistake. He tells her to kiss
him. Then something worse happens. Tiana turns into a frog, too. Together they look for a way to become
human again.
     The story is easy enough for kids to understand and it provides us with beautiful hand-drawn pictures,
songs and music. Besides, there's a great lesson here: you should look for a way to make your dream come true.
If there is any problem with the movie, it's only that it doesn't feel as splendid as some of Disney's other films.

1. The writer introduces _____ to us in this passage.

A. song
B. a Hollywood action movie
C. a cartoon by Disney
D. a historical story

2. Tiana's dream is to _____.

A. kiss a frog
B. own a restaurant
C. sit in a castle
D. find a prince

3. The lesson we can learn from "The Princess and the Frog" is that _____.

A. we should not kiss a frog
B. we should believe ourselves
C. wishing on a star will be helpful
D. we should look for a way to make our dream come true.

4. "The Princess and the Frog" is _____.

A. short of beautiful pictures, songs and music
B. as splendid as some of Disney's other films
C. too difficult to understand
D. educational

5. You can probably find this article _____.

A. in a science book
B. in a dictionary
C. in a newspaper
D. in a traveler's guide

     Here's some news about the Olympic Games held in Beijing.
     Rocket man
     No doubt that Dayron Robles won the gold medal in the men's 110 meter hurdles at the Bird's Nest last
night. The 21-year-old fellow rushed ahead after rising from the blocks and never forgot his position to come
home a meter clear of the field in 12.93 seconds. His win is the second fastest time in Olympic history but
0.06 seconds slower than his own world record. His success is an expected one because defending Olympic
champion Liu Xiang gave up because of injury.
     Underdogs steal gold
     In a surprising change the US got its Olympic title again after a fierce (激烈的) match at the Worker's
Stadium. Missing three key players, the US team managed to hold down Brazilian's crazy attacks in the last
moments of the match. Carli Lloyd scored the US goal making it 1:0 in extra time. In the left minutes the
Brazilians fired as many shots as they could, but all in vain. After being defeated by Brazil 4:0 in last year's
World Cup, the US team was considered the luckiest team in last night's final.
     Dash to victory
     A swimmer once on the edge of death has taken gold in the men's 10 km marathon swimming event.
Van der Meijden, diagnosed (診斷) with leukemia (白血病) in 2001, made a dash in the last 100 meters
seizing the gold medal from Briton David Davies. Van der Meijden won in one hour 51 minutes and 51.6
seconds, 1.5 seconds ahead of Davies. German swimmer Thomas Lurz won the bronze. The Dutchman
made a comeback to swimming after taking an operation in 2002. In 2008, he won gold in the 25km event
at the World Championships.

1. From the part "Rocket man" we can know Dayron Robles _________.

A. was lucky to win the gold medal
B. ran slower than Liu Xiang
C. had a world record of 12.33 seconds
D. had ever ran in 12.87 seconds

2. According to the part "Underdogs steal gold", _________.

A. three key Brazilian players didn't play in the match.
B. the Brazilians lost their chance in the extra time
C. Brazil won the championship at the last Olympics
D. the US team defeated Brazil by 4:0

3. According to the last part, we can know _________.

A. Meijden didn't receive any treatment before Beijing Olympics
B. Meijden won at least two world championships in 2008.
C. Meijden was operated on in 2001.
D. Thomas Lurz was a Dutch athlete

4. It can be inferred (推斷) _________.

A. Dayron Robles had never done better than Liu Xiang before.
B. the US had 3 fewer players than Brazil in the last moments.
C. Davis was ahead of Meijden before the last 100 meters.
D. the news was reported after the Olympic Games.

5. The best title of the passage might be _________.

A. The fastest at the Olympics
B. The luckiest at the Olympics
C. The light spots at the Olympics
D. The strongest at the Olympics

     The Beijing Olympic Games will have 21,880 torchbearers (火炬手) for the torch relay (火炬接力). It
is the biggest in the Games' history. Here let's know about some torchbearers.
     ◆ Luis Hone, 14, is from Colombia. He lives in Zhuhai, Guangdong Province. He moved to China with
his parents as a baby. "I can speak English, Chinese and Spanish. I love China, which has been my world
all my life," he said. "The torch relay is a good chance to improve the understanding between people of the
world." 
    ◆ Sang Lan, 26, will complete the torch relay using her wheelchair. Sang's fingers are not agile (靈活的)
because of her injury (受傷). The IOC officials suggested adding framework (框架) to her wheelchair to
hold the torch. But she insists that she will hold the torch with her hands. "I believe if you put your heart
into something, you can solve any problem," she said. 
     ◆ Liu Xuan, 17, is from Nanjing Foreign Language School. He is an energetic student. He enjoys various
sports including football, basketball, badminton and running. "It will be an honor to be a torchbearer," he said. 
     ◆ Zhang Jie, 23, is a reporter with Guangzhou Daily. "Torch relay is a good way to let the world know
China better," Zhang said. "Tin very proud that I can be part of it."
(Teens Daily, Feb 21, 2008)

1. How long has Luis Hone been in China?

A. 5 years.
B. 10 years.
C. Less than 10 years.
D. More than 10 years. 

2. Who comes from Jiangsu among these four torchbearers?

A. Luis Hone.
B. Sang Lan.
C. Liu Xuan.
D. Zhang Jie.

3. What can we learn from this article?

A. Zhang Jie is a reporter living in Zhuhai and working for Guangzhou Daily.
B. Sang Lan will hold the torch with her hands.
C Luis is a student in a foreign language school.
D. Liu Xuan can speak several languages.