Kate Smith walks along a road on St. John, an island(島嶼）in theUS. She asks her mum to give her the next clue (線索).

Looking at the piece of paper in her hand ， her mum reads out loud ， " Walk along the road. Pass the mammee apple tree on your right. Get to the high ground and find the cacao tree."

After a few minutes, they're in front of the cacao tree and reading the last of the clues, "Keep your back to the tree and take four steps off the road."

After taking four steps, Kate looks down at an old stone(；石頭)wall. Digging() in carefully, she calls out, "There it is!" It is a plastic(塑料的)box in a plastic bag.

The Smiths are letterboxing ， a fun outdoor activity that sends people to different places to look for letterboxes. " Letterbox" is the word used for a mailbox inEngland. The letterboxing game probably first started in the 1850s, when an Englishman left cards in a bottle(瓶子)with a note. He invited others to do the same. Soon people began leaving messages or letters for other people to find. Modern letterboxes are not bottles but plastic boxes. 

(       )1. What are the Smiths doing?

A. Taking a walk.                                           B. Playing a game.

C. Sending a letter.                                         D. Learning about trees.

(       )2. When does the family read the last clue?

A.     After passing the mammee tree.

B.     After finding the old stone wall.

C.     When standing in front of the cacao tree.

D.     When taking four steps off the road.

(       )3. Where does Kate find the plastic box in the end?

A. Under the bed.                                           B. Under the cacao tree.

C. Four steps from the tree.                          D. In the old stone wall.

(       )4. What did the people use to play the letterboxing game in the past?

A. Stones.                                                        B. Cards.

C. Plastic bags.                                               D. Mailboxes.

(       )5. Which of the following is true according to the passage?

A. People do letterboxing inside their houses.

       B.     The Smiths are on vacation on St. John in theUS.

C.     An American started the letterboxing game in the 1850s.

D.     People will take away the boxes that they find in the game.

People are so busy these days that many people have no time to cook. This becomes a p 1       ,because most families enjoy home cooking!The food t 2       good and warm. And a family meal brings everyone in the family t 3       In some families,m 4       are often the only times everyone sees one another at the same time.

Another reason people enjoy home cooking is that it is often a way of showing 1 5       . A parent who makes some cookies is not just satisfying a c 6       sweet teeth. She or he is s 7       a message. The message says, "I care about you enough to spend an hour making cookies that you will eat up very q 8       if I let you."

There is also s 9       about the smell of home cooking. The smell of home cooking pleases people of all. It makes most of us feel good and loved,e 10       if we are the ones doing the cooking!Next time you smell a cake making,stop for a moment and pay attention to your mood (心情) .

1. g                     2. t                     3. t                     4. m        5. 1         

6. c                     7. s       8. q                    9. s                       10. e         

A blind boy sat on the steps of a building with a hat by his feet. He held up a sign which said, "I am blind,please help. " There were only a few coins in the hat. A man was walking by. He took a few coins from his pocket and dropped them in the hat. He then took the sign,turned it around,and wrote some words. He put the sign back so that everyone walked by would 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 asked, "Were you the one who changed my sign this 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 and 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. The second sign told people they were so lucky that they were not blind.

There are at least two lessons we can learn from the simple story.

The first is: Be thankful for what you have. Someone else has less. Help where you can. The second is: Be creative. Think differently. There is always a better way ！

(   ) 11. Why did the boy sit by the building?

   A. He wanted to have a rest.

   B. He enjoyed watching people come and go.

   C. He had to collect money from people.

   D. He was waiting for his parents to come back.

(   ) 12. The man wrote something on the sign       .

   A. for the words on it were not clear enough

   B. in a more convincing (令人信月良的) way

   C. to suggest the boy give up

   D. to show off

(   ) 13. Were the words the man wrote helpful?

   A. Yes,people dropped more people in the hat.

   B. No,the boy was still poor.

   C. No,the man took the money away.

   D. We don't know.

(   ) 14. What can we learn from the story?

   A. We should offer help whenever it is needed.

   B. Try to be creative,it may be different.

   C. A better way is more important than money itself.

   D. The man is kind to people who are disabled.

(   ) 15. Which can describe the man?

   A. Showy and proud. B. Creative and thoughtful.

   C. Kind and educated. D. Clever and funny.

Application for Employment

(求職申請）

Name_: Harry Smith

Address ： 4224 Maple Avenue Oakland ， California Telephone number ： 555-1660

Work Experience

(       )6. What did Harry Smith do in 2001?

A. An English teacher.                               B. A book seller.

C. A secretary.                                            D. A gatekeeper.

(       )7. If you want to know more about Harry Smith, you can call .

A. 4224-1660                                             B. 555-1666

C. 4224-1666                                             D. 555-1660

(       )8. Where did Harry Smith work in 2009?

A. In New York.                                         B. In California.

C. In Massachusetts.                    D. In Washington
(       )9. In 2002 ， the yearly pay Harry Smith got from his work was_____ .

A.  $20,800                                               B. $10,400

C.   $27,500                                            D. $55,000

(       )10. Harry Smith left Ames Bookstore to work in_______ in Massachusetts.

A. a high school                                       B. a bookstore

C. a factory                                              D. a company

Many people have to work on the weekend. Some people do not mind. Other people think it is terrible.

One man thinks that working on the weekend can be dangerous. He is Graham Coates. Mr. Coates worked in an office in Brighton,England.

On Saturday,May 24,1986,he went to the office to do some work. When he got in the elevator to go home,it stopped between floors. Mr. Coates could not get out of the elevator. He was trapped (困住了) ! He started to shout,but no one heard him. Then Mr. Coates remembered that it was a holiday inEngland. No one was going to come to work until Tuesday！

There was nothing for Mr. Coates to do. He had to wait until one of his coworkers came to work and found him. With nothing to eat or drink,Mr. Coates ended up sleeping for most of the time.

Early on Tuesday morning,the vice president of the company came to work and found the elevator was not working. When the elevator was opened,Mr. Coates came out cold,weak,and tired. He had been in the elevator for sixtytwo hours！

Now Mr. Coates says, "I only uses elevators if they have telephones in them."

(   ) 1. Mr. Coates could not get out of the elevator because         .

   A. it was broken   B. it was a weekend

   C. it was a holiday   D. it stopped on a wrong floor

(   ) 2. How long did he stay in the elevator?

   A. Twentyfour hours.

   B. From Saturday to Monday.

   C. More than sixty hours.

   D. From Tuesday to Saturday.

(   ) 3. What did he do in the elevator most of the time?

   A. Shouted and screamed.

   B. Slept and waited.

   C. Telephoned his boss.

   D. Ate and drank.

(   ) 4. How did he make his way out in the end?

   A. The vicepresident found him.

   B. Someone opened the elevator.

   C. The elevator began to work on Tuesday.

   D. He found a door in the elevator.

(   ) 5. What is the best title for this story?

   A. An Interesting Elevator   B. A Busy Weekend

   C. Elevator Safety   D. Trapped in an Elevator

There are many advantages of becoming a professional musician. The b 1       advantage is being able to do something you love. You will have the chance to travel to many different p 2       and meet a lot of different people. That will o 3       up your eyes.

However,there are also disadvantages of b 4       a professional musician. One of the biggest disadvantages for most musicians is that they don't a 5       have enough money. Most of the time,you will be looking for j 6       . Sometimes you won't be able to find a good job. Another disadvantage is the place you live in. If you want to be a musician,you usually have to move to an a 7       that has a lot of jobs,such as New York City. The c 8       of living in these areas is usually very high. The t 9       disadvantage is that you can't have a stable family life. Different jobs will take a musician to different places,so m 10       musicians are unable to have a regular family.

1. b                                2. p                     3. o          4. b       5. a         

6. j                      7. a                     8. c                     9. t       10. m       

When I was growing up,I had an old neighbor,Dr. Gibbs. He didn't look like any doctor I'd ever known. He never invited us to play in his yard,but he was a very kind person.

When Dr. Gibbs wasn't saving lives,he was planting trees. He owned a large field and wanted to make it a forest.

The good doctor had some interesting ideas about planting trees. He never watered his new trees. Once I asked why. He said that watering plants spoiled them,and that if you watered them,each baby tree would grow weaker and weaker,so you had to make things difficult for them and pick out the weaker trees early on.

He talked about how watering trees made for shallow (〉戈的) roots,and how trees that weren't watered had to grow deep roots in search of water under the earth by themselves. Deep roots were very important. So he never watered his trees. He'd planted an oak and,instead of watering it every morning,he'd beat it with a rolledup newspaper. I asked him why he did that,and he said it was to get the tree's attention.

Dr. Gibbs died several years after I left home. Every now and then,I walked by his house and looked at the trees that I watched him plant about twentyfive years ago. They're very big and strong now. I planted some trees a few years back and carried water to them for a whole summer. After two years of caring too much,whenever a cold wind blows in,they shake a lot.

Every night before I go to bed,I check on my two sons. Mostly I pray (祈禱) that their lives will be easy. But lately Fve been thinking that it's time to change my prayer. I know my children are going to face difficulties. There's always a cold wind blowing somewhere,so what we need to do is to pray for roots that reach deep into the brave heart. So when the rains fall and the winds blow,we could face it strongly and won't be beaten down.

(   ) 11. We know from the reading the doctor         .

   A. didn't know how to plant trees at all

   B. wasn't good at his own medical job

   C. had his own way of planting trees

   D. had nothing to do but plant trees

(   ) 12. When Dr. Gibbs said "... pick out the weaker trees early on" ， he meant that      

   A. some weak trees would be easily found out at the beginning

   B. he would choose the weak trees to water earlier

   C. the weak trees would be sent to his patients later

   D. he would not plant weak trees so early anymore

(   ) 13. The passage tells us that the writer         .

   A. should beat his trees with a rolledup newspaper

   B. didn't often water his trees

   C. didn't have a large field

   D. took too much care of his trees

(   ) 14. The writer wants to change his prayer,hoping that         .

   A. his trees will be stronger than Dr. Gibbs,

   B. his trees will not be beaten down

   C. his sons will be better at planting trees

   D. his sons will be able to face difficulties

(   ) 15. Which can be the best title of the reading?

   A. Watering Trees

   B. Growing Roots

   C. Doctor and His Neighbor

   D. Father and His Children

 Many young people want to be pop stars. Pop stars are rich. Many people think they are leading a happy and easy life. In fact,they have very hard lives. They spend much of their time on travel. Sometimes the travel is interesting,but in most time it is boring to pop stars. The following chart is a day's life of a pop star.

(   ) 6. According to the chart,the pop star was a         .

   A. singer   B. dancer   C. player   D. pianist.

(   ) 7. According to his plan,his plane should have taken off at .

   A. 6：30   B. 7： 00   C. 7： 30   D. 8： 00

(   ) 8. How long did he spend on his way to the place for his performance?

   A. One hour.

   B. Two hours.

   D. One hour and a quarter.

(   ) 9. At the radio station,the pop star         .

   A. showed fans how to become famous

   B. gave a performance on the air

   C. met fans and signed for them

   D. told people how he lived his life

(   ) 10. From this passage we get to know that         .

   A. not all people like pop stars

   B. pop stars have their own bands

   C. fans are troublesome for pop stars

   D. to be a pop star is not all fun 

In 1865,in a small town inGermany,a little boy was very sick. His name was Max Hoffman. "Will our son die?" Max's parents asked the doctor. "Maybe," the doctor said quietly. "Stay with Max. Keep him warm. That's all you can do. " For three days Max lay in his bed. Then he died. He was only five years old. Max's parents buried their son in the town cemetery. That night Max's mother had a terrible dream. She dreamed that Max was moving in his coffin. She screamed in her sleep. "Sh,sh”， her husband said. " It's all right. You had a bad dream."

The next night Max's mother screamed in her sleep again. She had the same terrible dream. On the third night Max's mother had another bad dream. She dreamed that Max was crying. She got out of bed and got dressed. "Quick!Get dressed," she told her husband. ^u We're going to the cemetery. I want to see Max. I want to dig up his coffin.”

At four o'clock in the morning Max's parents and a neighbor hurried to the cemetery. They dug up Max's coffin and opened it. There was Max. He looked dead. But he wasn't lying on his back. He was lying on his side.

Max's father carried Max home. Then he ran to get the doctor. For an hour the doctor rubbed whiskey on Max's lips and warmed his body. Then Max opened his eyes. Max was alive!A week later he was playing with his friends.

Max Hoffman died really in theUnited Statesin 1953. He was 93 years old.

(   ) 1. Who took Max home from the cemetery?

   A. The doctor. B. The neighbor.

   C. His mother. D. His father.

(   ) 2. How long did Max stay in the coffin?

   A. About thirty hours. B. More than fifty.

   C. Less than thirty hours. D. Ten hours.

(   ) 3. When and where did Max Hoffman really die?

   A. In Germany,in 1953.

   B. InAmerica,in his nineties.

   C. In theUnited States,in 1865.

   D. InGermany,in1865. 

(   ) 4. What does cemetery mean in Chinese?

   A. 棺材   B. 劇場   C. 公墓   D. 太平間

(   ) 5. What's the best title of the passage?

   A. A Good Doctor   B. Two Deaths   C. Mother's Dream   D. A Sick Child

There are many things happening in our family which is worth recalling (回憶) .W 1       our six children were young,supper time was a 2       being interrupted by neighborhood children r 3       the bell. They wanted one child or a 4       to come out and play. Finally we had a good i 5       We hung a sign on the front door that r 6       ， "We're having dinner. Come back later. ” That night,we sat down. We thought it would be a pleasant,uninterrupted meal. But as s 7       as we began dinner,the doorbell rang. At the front door s 8       a five-year-old boy from the street. He 1 9       up nearby at us and said, "I just want to know what the sign s 10         .”

1. W         2. a       3. r          4. a          5. i      

6. r       7. s          8. s          9. 1       10. s