An old man lived alone in a town．He wanted to dig up his potato garden ,but it was very hard work．His only son who would have helped him was in prison．So the old man wrote a letter to his son and said:

Dear Son,

I am feeling pretty bad because it looks like I won’t be able to plant potatoes in my garden this year．I’d hate to miss doing it ,because your mother always loved planting time．I’m just getting too old to dig up a garden．If you were here ,all my troubles would be over．I know you would dig up the garden for me if you weren’t in prison．

Love, Dad

Soon the old man received a letter: Dad don’t dig up the garden! That’s where I buried the guns!”

At 4 a．m． the next morning some policemen showed up and dug up the whole garden without finding any guns．The old man was surprised and wrote another note to his son ．He told him what had happened and asked him what to do next．

His son’s reply was: Go ahead and plant your potatoes, Dad．It’s the best I could do for you from here．”

No matter where you are in the world, if you have decided to do something deep from your heart, you can do it．It is the thought that matters．

1．What was the old’s trouble?

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2．How was the old man’ feeling when he was writing to his son ?

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3．Could the old man plant his potatoes at last ?

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4． What do you think of the old man’ son ?

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5．What is the title of this passage？

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My summer hols wr CWOT. B4, we usd 2 go 2 NY 2C my bro, his CF & thr 3:-@ kids FTF ILNY, its gr8.
　　Can you understand this sentence? If you can't, don't feel too bad: neither could the middle school teacher in England who received this as homework. This is Netspeak: the language of computerized communication found on Internet or cellphones. To newcomers, it can look like a completely foreign language. So, what is the "translation" of the sentence above? My summer holidays were a complete waste of time. Before, we used to go to New York to see my brother, his girlfriend, and their three screaming kids face to face. I love New York; it's great.
　　Schoolteachers and parents say this new form of writing is harming（破壞）the English language. Increasing spelling and grammatical mistakes cxan be seen in students' writing. They fear the language could become corrupted（面目全非的）.
　　Everyone should just relax, say linguists（語言學(xué)家）. They believe Netspeak is in fact more of a good thing. David Crystal, from the University of Wales, argues that Netspeak and Internet create a new language use and the almost lost art of diary writing has been picked up again. Geoffrey Nunberg, from Stanford University, agrees. "People get better at writing by writing," he says, "Kids who are now doing text messaging, e-mail, and instant messages will write at least as well as, and possibly better than, their parents."
　　Linguist James Millroy says, for centuries, it is believed without exception that young people are harming the language. And you can bet your bottom dollar that when today's teenagers become tomorrow's parents, they too will think this way. Milroy argues that languages do not and cannot become "corrupted"; they simply change to meet the new needs.
　　However, Netspeakers do agree that it is important to teach young people how to speak and write Standard English. Cynthia McVey says, "I can understand Netspeak worries teachers and it's important that they get across to their pupils that text messaging is for fun, but that learning to write proper English is a must for their future."
　　Perhaps we should give teenagers a little more trust anyway. Erin, age 12, says, "I wouldn't use text language in my homework. Texting is just for fun"
　【小題1】What is the main purpose of the first paragraph?

Every day when I enter the classroom, I will take a look at the wall beside my seat. You will find nothing special about this old wall if you just look at it. But for the students in my class, it is a special wall. Take a good look at it, and you will get to know the real feelings and thoughts of us, the 9th graders.
In the middle of the wall, there is a big “VICTORY”. It was written in pencil. I guess it must have been written by someone who got a good mark in an exam.
A little higher above the formulas, there is a poem. It only has two sentences. It reads: All those sweet memories have disappeared. Like tears dropping in the heavy rain.
Oh! It must have been written at the end of the last semester in middle school. Classmates had to leave school and good friends had to part. What a sad poem!
If you look at the wall more carefully, you will find many other interesting things, like a crying face, or a happy face, and other patterns(圖案). There are still some patterns and letters that I can’t understand, but they all show the feeling of the students who drew them.
For years, the wall has witnessed(目睹) all the things that have happened in the classroom. I don’t know how it will be next year, two years from now, or even ten years from now. But I hope more smiling faces will be drawn on it.
【小題1】There is ______ special on this wall.

Jack Johnson is one of the most popular singer-song writers in the world.
Jack was born on May 18, 1975 in Hawaii. Being the son of a famous surfer, Jack naturally has an interest in surfing. Most of his life lesson were learned in the water. At the age of 17, Jack entered the finals of the Pineline Masters – the world’s most famous surfing competition. Everyone thought Jack would become a professional surfing like his father. Unluckily, one month later, he had a deadly accident while surfing and was seriously hurt.
Life is like a revolving door. When it closes, it also opens. Jack started to practice playing the guitar and write songs when he was staying in hospital. At first, his father thought Jack only did it for fun, but soon he was surprised at the great progress his son had made.
When studying in the university, Jack didn’t stop practicing his guitar skills. He played the guitar for school parties. He wrote songs and sang for his teachers and friends. They liked his songs. His first music album Brushfire Fairytales came out in 2001. It was a great success. His second album, On and On, was much like his first. They were filled with sweet, easy-going songs that everybody liked listening to. Later Jack had lots of concerts in and out of America. He became popular all over the world.
Jack had five albums by 2010 and more than 15 million copies of them were sold. His music doesn’t fall into any of the popular music styles like pop, R&B or hip-hop. It is more like folk music, played with a guitar and beautiful voice. When listening to his songs, you feel like lying on the beach enjoying the warm sunshine.
Jack is a talent, though he himself says he is only a surfer who loves music. In his songs we can find his secret of success: Whatever happen in our lives, we have to accept it and do the best we can.
【小題1】At the age of 17, Jack __________.