【推荐1】Jeremy looked across the hot, grassy plain South Africa was a long way from the cool, green countryside of his hometown in Oregon.

“Ready?” Dad asked.

“Yes,” Jeremy answered. They climbed into the old truck. Jeremy seldom spent time with his father, a famous wildlife photographer. The work seemed mostly hot and boring.

As the truck ran across the rough dirt, Dad chatted with their guides, Mkhulu and Bheki. They spoke Zulu, which Jeremy couldn’t understand, though they also spoke English. He watched for animals. “There!” he shouted, pointing. Mkhulu slowed the truck. Jeremy realized he had been pointing at a rock.

As the truck jumped up and down over a ditch, there was a big crash. “Wait!” Jeremy shouted. The door had fallen off. Bheki threw the door into the back of the truck. “Now we can see better,” Dad laughed.

They stopped near a watering hole. Mkhulu said he was friends with the elephants that sometimes gathered here. Maybe they’d see some.

Before long, Jeremy felt vibrations. Elephants! A small group walked towards the water. Dad jumped out of the truck and focused his camera on the largest elephant.

Jeremy spotted a very young elephant walking between two adults. It was tiny, by elephant standards. The two elephants beside the baby kept stopping to wait for it. Jeremy watched as they neared the water. Several larger elephants Jumped in the water.

Jeremy lost sight of the baby. Where was it? Then he saw. It was in water up to its eyes. Its mouth was underwater. It held it its trunk up above the water. The baby was in trouble. “Look!” said Jeremy. The bank was too steep for the baby. It couldn’t climb out of the water. Other elephants tried pushing it, without success.

Jeremy took the loose door from the back of the truck. Mkhulu saw what Jeremy was planning and ran to help. Together they dragged the door down to the water’s edge, Mkhulu calmed the mother elephant, gently explaining that they were bringing a ramp for the baby.

The mother knew Mkhulu and trusted him. She seemed to sense that they meant to help. Jeremy pushed the door onto the bank, angling it so the baby could walk up it to safety. The baby stepped onto the door. Its mother pushed. Three more steps, and they were up. The elephants gathered around the baby, touching it with their trunks.

“Boy, Jeremy,” Dad said. “That is one of the most exciting photo shoots I’ve ever done! I’m glad you came along.”

1. From the story, we know ________.

A．Jeremy had a very strong liking for nature

B．Jeremy’s father loved taking pictures of wild animals

C．Jeremy made a ramp for the baby elephant by himself

D．Jeremy and his father were in the green countryside of Oregon.

2. What was the main problem in the story?

A．The door fell off the truck.

B．Jeremy mistook a rock for a wild animal.

C．The baby elephant got stuck in the water.

D．Jeremy found his father’s work hot and boring.

3. According to the passage, how was the baby elephant saved?

A．Jeremy helped save it by making a ramp.

B．Mkhulu dived into the water and rescued it.

C．The mother elephant pushed it out of the water.

D．Mkhulu helped Jeremy put the door into the back of the truck.

【推荐3】Noah Webster was born on October 16, 1758, in the West Division of Hartford. At that time, few people went to college, but Noah loved to learn so his parents let him go to Yale, Connecticut’s only college. He left for New Haven in 1774. Noah’s years at Yale were the years of the Revolutionary War.

Sometimes 70 children of all ages were in one-room schoolhouses with no desks, poor books, and untrained teachers. Noah did not like that. Their books came from England. Noah thought that Americans should learn from American books, so in 1783, Noah wrote his own textbook: A Grammatical Institute of the English Language.

For 100 years, Noah’s book taught children how to read, spell, and pronounce words. It was the most popular American book of its time. Ben Franklin used Noah’s book to teach his granddaughter to read.

When Noah was 43, he started writing the first American dictionary. He did this because Americans in different parts of the country spelled, pronounced and used words differently. He thought that all Americans should speak the same way. He also thought that Americans should not speak and spell just like the English. Noah used American spellings like “color” instead of the English “colour”, “music” instead of “musick” and “center” instead of “centre”. He also added American words that weren’t in English dictionaries like “skunk” and “squash”. It took him over 27 years to write his book. When finished in 1828, Noah’s dictionary had 70,000 words in it.

Noah did many things in his life. He worked for copyright laws, wrote textbooks, Americanized the English language, and edited (编辑) magazines. When Noah Webster died in 1843, he was regarded an American hero.

1. How old was Noah Webster when he went to New Haven?

A．13

B．16

C．20

D．25

2. How did Noah Webster like American schools in the 1770s?

A．It was impressive.	B．It was unusual.
C．It was great.	D．It was dissatisfying.

3. Why did Noah write the first American dictionary?

A．He was asked to do it by Ben Franklin.

B．He didn’t like the words used in English dictionaries.

C．He wanted all Americans to speak the same way.

D．He was aware of the fact that the dictionary would make him famous.

4. What can we infer from the text?

A．Noah was a most productive author.

B．Noah studied in Hartford during the Revolutionary War.

C．There had been no books before Noah wrote his textbook.

D．Noah was thought of a hero because of his first American dictionary.

【推荐1】When she was just 9 years old, Hilde Lysiak became famous across the United States for reporting on difficult news stories. Now Hilde has written a book telling her own story, and sharing some of the challenges she faced.

Hilde Kate Lysiak’s father was a reporter for the New York Daily News. When she was young, he often took her to work with him, and she developed a strong interest in news stories and reporting. When she was 8, Hilde started her own newspaper, called the Orange Street News (OSN). Her family lived on Orange Street. Hilde did the writing, her sister Izzy took pictures, and her father helped her organize and print the newspaper. Following the rules her father had taught her, she researched and reported stories in her monthly newspaper.

OSN suddenly became famous when a murder happened in town, and 9-year-old Hilde was the first person to report it. Soon, news organizations around the country were doing stories on Hilde. Some people criticized her parents for allowing her to report on something as unpleasant as a murder. Others criticized Hilde for “pretending to be a reporter”. Some people even suggested she should be playing with dolls.

Hilde was upset by the complaints. She responded with a You Tube video. “I never began my newspaper so that people would think I was cute,” she said. “I want to be taken seriously. I’m sure other kids do, too.” That wasn’t the last time Hilde had trouble getting people to take her seriously. Sometimes, it was because of her age. Other times, it was because she was a girl. But she never let that stop her. Hilde continued reporting.

Hilde’s activities as a reporter have made her famous, and she has earned several awards. With her father, Hilde has written a series of books for young people, called Hilde Cracks the Case. The books are based loosely on stories that Hilde wrote. The books have now been turned into a TV show called Home Before Dark.

1. What caused Hilde to be interested in news reporting?

A．Her unusual writing skills.	B．Her experience with her father at work.
C．Her mother’s encouragement.	D．Her passion for reading newspapers.

2. What can we infer from the third paragraph?

A．Hilde took pride in the Orange Street News.

B．All the media misunderstood Hilde’s behaviour.

C．Not everyone was happy about Hilde’s efforts.

D．Unpleasant stories were prohibited from being reported.

3. Which of the following can be used to describe Hilde?

A．Determined.	B．Adaptable.
C．Awkward.	D．Reliable.

4. What is probably the best title for the text?

A．Challenges Hilde Faced When She Was Young

B．A Biographical Novel Written by Hilde Lysiak

C．The Orange Street News: a Popular Newspaper

D．Hilde Lysiak: Young Reporter Tells Her Own Story

【推荐2】In 1931, Francis Chichester tried to fly round the world but failed. Then he gave up flying and began sailing. Chichester was already 58 years old when he won the first solo（单人的）transatlantic sailing race.

After that, his old dream of going round the world came back, but this time he would sail. His friends and doctors did not think he could do it, as he had lung cancer. But Chichester was determined to carry out his plan, In August, 1966, at the age of nearly sixty-five, he began the greatest voyage of his life. Soon, he was away in his new 16-metre boat, Gipsy Moth.

After resting in Sydney for a few weeks, Chichester set off once more in spite of his friends' attempts to discourage him. The second half of his voyage was by far the more dangerous part. On 30 January, he experienced the blackest night he had ever known. The sea became so rough that the boat almost turned over. Food, clothes, and broken glass were all mixed together. Fortunately, the damage to the boat was not too serious, Chichester calmly got bed and went to sleep. When he woke up, the sea had become calm again.

Just before 9 o'clock on Sunday evening 28 May, 1967, he arrived back in England, where more than 250,000 people were waiting to welcome him. He was knighted（授爵）by Queen Elizabeth II. The whole voyage had taken him nine months, of which the sailing time was 226 days. He had done what he wanted to achieve.

Like many other adventurers, Chichester had experienced fear and conquered（克服）it. In doing so, he had undoubtedly learnt something about himself. Moreover, in the modern age when human beings depend so much on machines, he had given men throughout the world new pride.

1. What do we know about Chichester?

A．He sailed a across the Atlantic alone in 1958.

B．He sailed round the world to fight against cancer.

C．He was not defeated by the violent night of 30 January.

D．He had been sailing nonstop for 365 days in the Pacific Ocean.

2. What is the last paragraph mainly about?

A．The great meaning of Chichester's adventure.

B．The lesson Chichester learned from the joumey.

C．The contributions machines made to the modern age.

D．The fears Chichester experienced in the adventure.

3. Which of the following can best describe Chichester?

A．Adventurous and determined.	B．Independent and generous.
C．Energetic and gentle.	D．Enthusiastic and kind.