【推荐1】Each morning Grandpa was up early sitting at the kitchen table, reading his book. His grandson wanted to be just like him and tried to copy him in every way he could.

One day the grandson asked, “Grandpa, I try to read the book just like you, but I don’t understand it, and I forget what I understand as soon as I close the book. I think reading books is useless. So what are the benefits of reading books in your eyes?”

The grandpa quietly replied, “Take this coal (煤) basket down to the river and bring me back a basket of water.”

The boy did as he was told, but all the water leaked out (漏出) before he got back to the house. The grandpa laughed and said, “You’ll have to move a little faster next time,” and sent him back to the river with the basket to try again. This time the boy ran faster, but again the basket was empty before he returned. Out of breath, he told his grandpa that it was impossible to carry water in a basket, so he went to get a bucket (桶) instead. The grandpa said, “I don’t want a bucket of water; I want a basket of water. You’re just not trying hard enough.” The boy again put the basket into the river and ran hard, but when he reached his grandpa the basket was empty again. Out of breath, he said, “Grandpa, it’s useless!”

“So, you think it is useless?” the grandpa said, “Look at the basket.”

The boy looked at the basket and for the first time he realized that the basket was different. It had been changed from a dirty old coal basket and was now clean.

“Grandson, that’s what happens when you read the book. You might not understand or remember everything, but when you read it, you’ll be changed, inside and out.”

1. What did the grandson want to know?

A．The reason why he forgets so quickly.

B．The advantages that reading gives people.

C．The types of books which he can understand.

D．The way that his grandfather reads books.

2. Why did Grandpa ask his grandson to bring a basket of water for him?

A．To get him to realize the use of reading books.

B．To punish him for not reading carefully.

C．To clean the dirty basket in the river.

D．To train him to run faster.

3. What lesson can we learn from the story?

A．The old are always wiser than the young.

B．It is foolish to carry water with a basket.

C．You can’t expect to remember all you read.

D．Reading books can change a person gradually.

【推荐2】Maybe you’ve heard about the saying, “A bird with a broken wing will never fly as high.” I'm sure that T. J. Ware was made to feel this way almost every day in school.

By high school, T. J. was the most famous troublemaker in his town. He got into lots of fights. He failed almost every exam but was passed on each year to a higher grade level. Teachers didn’t want to have him again the following year.

When I showed up to lead the first training for a leadership retreat, a program designed to have students become more involved in their communities. The community leaders told me about T. J. Ware-the boy with the longest arrest record(警察局笔录) in the history of town. Somehow, I knew that I wasn’t the first to hear about T. J.’s darker side as the first words of introduction.

At the start of the retreat, T. J. didn’t readily join the discussion groups and didn’t seem to have much to say. But when his group started a discussion about positive and negative things that had happened at school that year, he joined in and had clear thoughts on those situations and the other students in his group welcomed his comments. Suddenly, T. J. felt like a part of the group and soon he was treated like a leader. He was saying things that made a lot of sense and everyone was listening. By the end of the retreat he had joined the Homeless Project team. He knew something about poverty, hunger and hopelessness. The other students on the team were impressed (打动) with his ideas and love for the homeless. They elected T. J. vice-chairman of the team.

Two weeks later, the Homeless Project team organized a communitywide service project—a giant food drive. Seventy students led by T. J. collected a school record: 2.854 cans of food in just two hours - enough to take care of poor families in the area for 75 days. The local newspaper covered the event with a full-page article the next day. T. J.'s picture was up there for doing something great.

T. J. reminds us that a bird with a broken wing only needs mending. But once it has healed, it can fly higher than the rest.

1. Which is the best title for the passage?

A．Love Leads to Success	B．Love Changes Everything
C．A Broken Wing Mended	D．A Bird with Broken Wing.

2. What can be learned about T. J. before the author met him?

A．He didn't have a good teacher.	B．He was feeling hurt every day.
C．He would graduate the next year.	D．He was not welcome in the school.

3. What is the turning point for T.J. Ware’s change?

A．The leadership retreat.	B．The group discussion.
C．The communitywide service project.	D．The school record in the food drive.

4. T. J. was treated like a leader by the group members because ________.

A．he joined the leadership retreat	B．he was part of the group
C．his words was meaningful	D．his deeds were famous at school

【推荐3】A group of graduates, successful in their careers, got together to visit their old university professor. Conversation soon turned into complaints about stress in work and life.

Before offering his guests coffee, the professor went to the kitchen and returned with a large pot of coffee and a variety of cups-porcelain, plastic, glass, crystal, some plain looking and cheap, some exquisite and expensive-telling them to help themselves to the coffee.

When all the students had a cup of coffee in hand, the professor said: "If you noticed, all the nice looking expensive cups were taken up, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. While it is normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress．Be assured that the cup itself adds no quality to the coffee. In most cases it is just more expensive and in some cases even hides what we drink. What all of you really wanted was coffee, not the cup, but you consciously went for the best cups…And then you began eyeing each other's cups.

Now consider this: Life is the coffee; the jobs, money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold and contain Life, and the type of cup we have does not define, nor change the quality of life we live. Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the coffee God has provided us.

"God brews the coffee, not the cups. Enjoy your coffee!"

"The happiest people don't have the best of everything. They just make the best of everything．"

Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply. Speak kindly. Leave the rest to God.

1. What does the underlined word "it" in Paragraph 3 refer to?

A．the nice-looking cup	B．the ordinary-looking cup
C．the coffee of good quality	D．the coffee of poor quality

2. Why did the professor offer his students coffee with varieties of cups?

A．To tell his students the right attitude to life

B．To teach his students how to enjoy coffee．

C．To show the students his collection of cups．

D．To give his students many more choices．

3. According to the professor, the happiest people are the ones who _____．

A．get the best type of coffee cups	B．make the best of what they have
C．have a wide range of coffee cups	D．care about social status and wealth

4. The best title for the passage would be _____．

A．The Pressure of Life	B．God's Coffee
C．The Happiest People	D．Professor's Coffee Cups

【推荐1】At first, Michael Surrell didn’t see the black smoke or flames shooting from the windows of his neighbors’ home. He and his wife had just parked around the corner from their own house in Allentown, Pennsylvania, when they got a call from one of his daughters, “The house next door is on fire!” He went to investigate. That’s when he saw two women and a girl hysterical (歇斯底里的) on their porch.

“The baby’s in there!” one of the women cried. Though the fire department had been called, Surrell, then 64, instinctively ran inside. “The baby” was 8-year-old Tiara Roberts, the woman’s granddaughter and a playmate of Surrell’s three youngest kids, then 8, 10, and 12. The other two on the porch were Tiara’s aunt and cousin.

Entering the burning house was like “running into a bucket of black paint,” Surrell says. The thick smoke caused him to stumble blindly around, burned his eyes, and made it impossible to breathe. The conditions would have been hazardous for anyone, but for Surrell, who has chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (慢性阻塞性肺疾病), they were life-threatening. He was the last person who should have run into a burning building—he has lung disease. But that didn’t stop him.

After a few minutes in the smoke filled house, he retreated outside to catch his breath. “Where is Tiara?” he asked desperately.“The second floor.” her aunt shouted back.

Surrell knew he couldn’t hold his breath for long. So he uttered a little prayer, “Well, Lord, this is it. You gotta help me, because I’m not coming out without that little girl.” Taking a deep breath, he went in a second time.

The darkness was overwhelming. Yet because the house had a similar layout to his, he found the stairs and made it to the second floor. He turned to the right and was met by intense heat. He was already out of breath.

“Baby girl, where are you?” His throat and lungs burned as if he’d inhaled fire instead of the smoke and soot in the air. Every blink stung his eyes. All he could hear was the crackling and popping of burning wood. ①.Still unable to see, Surrell fell to his knees on the hot wood floor. He crawled toward the sound, feeling around for any sign of the girl. An ominous thought crossed his mind: I’m probably gonna die up here.

Finally he touched something. A shoe, then an ankle. He pulled Tiara toward him. ② Her body was limp and she wasn’t breathing. He scooped her into his arms and stood. He felt the heat of the flames on his cheeks. Turning, he fought through the smoke and ran blindly into the blackness. The next thing he knew, he was at the front door, then outside. Surrell put Tiara down on the porch.

③ . A voice told him, “You have to breathe for her.” He started CPR—the first time he’d ever done so. The women stood behind him, praying silently. Soon a soot-filled cough came from Tiara’s throat. Surrell gave five more breaths. She coughed again. Her eyes flickered. He gave one final breath. She opened her eyes and took a breath on her own.

④ .Their eyes met. Surrell hugged her tight and said, “Uncle’s got you.^” Soon after, his throat closed off.

Surrell woke up in the hospital a couple of days later, having suffered severe burns to his windpipe and the upper portion of his lungs. He spent over a week in the hospital. Tiara was released from the hospital after a few days. The fire exacerbated Surrell’s pulmonary condition, and he feels the effects even two years later. As a result, he takes extra medication that helps open his airways. “It’s a small price to pay,” he says. “I’d do it again in a heartbeat. Wouldn’t give it a second thought.”

1. Michael Surrell ran to save “the baby” mainly because ________.

A．he was on the scene casually

B．he was driven by instinct

C．his daughter was in danger

D．his own house was at risk

2. Why should Surrell be the last person to run into a burning building?

A．The fire department had been called.

B．He was 64 years old at that time.

C．The condition was life-threatening.

D．He had chronic pulmonary disease.

3. In the course of rescue, Surrell ________.

A．had to move out for breath because of smoke

B．was prevented by the overwhelming smoke

C．made it to the second floor without any trouble

D．could clearly hear the sound made by the baby

4. Which blank could the sentence “Then a weak but distinct voice emerged” be best put in?

A．①	B．②
C．③	D．④

5. From the last paragraph, we can learn that ________.

A．Surrell came back to life a week later

B．Tiara had to stay in hospital for weeks

C．Surrell’s disease became more serious

D．Tiara needed further extra medication

6. What can be a suitable title for the passage?

A．Breathe for Her	B．Struggle to survive
C．A small price to pay	D．A man with lung disease

【推荐2】It was Monday. Mrs Smith’s dog was hungry, but there was not any meat in the house.

Considering that there was no better way, Mrs Smith took a piece of paper, and wrote the following words on it, “Give my dog half a pound of meat” Then she gave the paper to her dog and said gently, “Take this to the butcher(卖肉者), and he’s going to give you your lunch today.”

Holding the piece of paper in its mouth, the dog ran to the butcher’s shop. It gave the paper to the butcher. The butcher read it carefully, recognized that it was really the lady’s handwriting and pleasantly did as he was asked to. The dog was very happy, and ate the meat up immediately.

At midday, the dog came to the shop again. It gave the butcher a piece of paper again. After reading it, he gave it half a pound of meat once more.

The next day, the dog came again exactly at midday. And as usual, it brought a piece of paper in the mouth. This time, the butcher did not take a look at the paper, and gave the dog its meat, for he had thought of the dog as one of his customers.

However, the dog came again at four o'clock. And the same thing happened once again. To the butcher’s more surprise, it came for the third time at six o'clock, and brought with it a third piece of paper. The butcher felt a bit puzzled. He said to himself, “This is a small dog. Why does Mrs Smith give it so much meat to eat today?”

Looking at the piece of paper, he found that there were not any words on it!

1. When Mrs Smith’s dog was hungry, what did she give to the dog?

A．Some chicken.	B．Half a pound of meat.
C．A hot dog.	D．A piece of paper with some words on it.

2. Mrs Smith treated her little dog quite _______.

A．cruelly

B．fairly

C．kindly

D．unfriendly

3. From its experience, the dog found that _______.

A．only the paper with Mrs Smith’s words on it could bring it meat

B．a piece of paper could bring it half a pound of meat

C．the butcher would give the meat to it whenever he saw it

D．Mrs Smith would pay for the meat it got from the butcher

4. At the end of the story, you’ll find that_________.

A．the dog was clever enough to write on the paper

B．the dog dared not go to the butcher’s any more

C．the butcher was told not to give any meat to the dog

D．the butcher found himself cheated by the clever animal

【推荐3】Computer programmer David Jones makes 35,000 pounds a year designing new computer games, yet he cannot find a bank prepared to let him have a credit card (信用卡). Instead, he has been told to wait another two years, until he is 18.
The 16-year-old boy works for a small firm in Liverpool, where the problem of most young people of his age is finding a job. David’s firm puts two new games on the home market each month.
But David’s biggest headache is what to do with his money. In spite of his salary, made by inventing new programs within a quite short period of time, the bonus payments and profit-sharing (奖金和分红), he cannot drive a car, get some money from a bank to buy a house, or get credit cards.
He lives with his parents in their house in Liverpool, where his father is a bus driver. His firm has to pay ￡150 a month in taxi fares to get him the five miles to work and back every day because David cannot drive.
David got his job with the firm a year after leaving school with six 0-levels and working for a time in a computer shop. “I got the job because the people who run the firm knew I had already written some programs,” he said.
“I suppose 35,000 pounds sounds a lot but actually that’s not good enough. I hope it will come to more than that this year.” He spends some of his money on records and clothes, and gives his mother 20 pounds a week. But most of his spare time is spent working.
“Unfortunately, computing was not part of our studies at school,” he said. “But I had been studying it in books and magazines for four years in my spare time. I know what I wanted to do and never considered staying on at school. Most people in this business are fairly young, anyway.”
David added, “I would like to earn a million and I suppose early retirement (退休) is a possibility. You never know when the market might disappear.”
1. Why is David different from other young people of his age?

A．He earns a very high salary.	B．He has not a job.
C．He does not go out much.	D．He lives at home with his parents.

2. David’s greatest problem is ____________.

A．making the banks treat him as a grown-up	B．inventing computer games
C．spending his salary	D．learning to drive

3. He was hired by the firm because ____________.

A．he had worked in a computer shop	B．he had written some computer programs
C．he worked very hard	D．he had learned to use computers at school

4. He left school after taking six 0-levels because ____________.

A．he did not enjoy school

B．he wanted to work with computers and staying at school did not help him

C．he was afraid of getting too old to start computing

D．he wanted to earn a lot of money

5. Why does David think he might retire early?

A．One has to be young to write computer programs.

B．He wants to stop working when he is a millionaire.

C．He thinks computer games might not always sell so well.

D．He thinks his firm might go bad.

【推荐1】你听说过波兰首都华沙(Warsaw)一词的由来吗? 这里有一个美丽的传说。
Long long ago,there was a young man.His name was Wars.He lived in a little house near the River Vistula.He went there fishing every day for a living.
One day he saw a beautiful girl in the river.The girl's name was Sawa.From then on,the young man and the beautiful girl met every day.They fell in love with each other.When Wars asked Sawa to marry him.Sawa was very sad.She told him that she was mermaid (美人鱼) and she couldn't marry man.But she said she would give him something when they met again.
The next day,Wars went to the river and met Sawa. Sawa was waiting for him with a sword in herright hand and a shield(盾)in her left hand.She told Wars that they wouldn't meet again.She gave the sword and the shield to him.She said he would be successful with the sword and the shield and become a great hero.Then she went away.
Wars missed Sawa very much.He always remembered his first love.What the mermaid had told him came true.Wars became a great hero.He got the land by the River Vistula.There he set up a city. He called it Warsaw.
1. Wars was a ___________when he met Sawa for the first time

A．hero

B．fisherman

C．mermaid

D．soldier

2. Sawa couldn't marry Wars because _______________

A．Sawa was a mermaid	B．Sawa didn't love Wars
C．Wars was very poor	D．Wars didn't love Sawa

3. Sawa told Wars_____________

A．they would marry later

B．they would leave together

C．he would become a hero

D．he would get much money

4. The name of Poland's capital came from _________________

A．the name of a house

B．the name of a river

C．the name of a mountain

D．the names of Wars and Sawa

5. From this passage, we know that _____________

A．Wars lived in a big house near the River Vistula before he met Sawa

B．Sawa was kind but not pretty

C．Sawa gave Wars nothing but a sword

D．Wars named the city Warsaw to remember his first love

【推荐3】There is a wonderful story about a young girl who had no family and no one to love her.

One day, feeling very sad and lonely, she was walking through a grassland when she noticed a small butterfly caught in a thorn (荆棘) bush. The young girl carefully released the butterfly. Instead of flying away, the little butterfly changed into a beautiful fairy. The young girl rubbed her eyes in disbelief.

“For your wonderful kindness, ” the good fairy said to the girl，“I will give you any wish you would like.” The little girl thought for a moment and then replied, “I want to be happy.”       The fairy leaned toward her and whispered in her ear. Then the fairy disappeared.

As the little girl grew up，there was no one in the land as happy as she. Everyone asked her secret of happiness . She would only smile and answer，“The secret of my happiness is that I listened to a good fairy when I was a little girl.”

When she was very old and on her deathbed, the neighbors all gathered around her, and       feared that her unbelievable secret of happiness would die with her. “ tell us，please, ” they begged，“ tell us what the good fairy said. ” The lovely old woman simply smiled and said，“ She told me that everyone，no matter how safe they seemed，no matter how old or young，how rich or poor, had need of me.”

1. ________the girl felt sad and lonely.

A．There were many friends but	B．There was nobody to love her so
C．There was nothing to do	D．Seeing the butterfly was caught

2. Noticing the butterfly was caught by the thorn, the orphan girl ________.

A．helped the butterfly escaped from the thorn

B．felt sorrow，but she didn’t go up to help it

C．fell down on it too

D．failed to help it release from the thorn

3. The butterfly ________after was saved by the little girl.

A．flied away	B．still died
C．changed into a fairy	D．was more beautiful than before

4. The only thing that the little girl wanted was ________.

A．to be rich	B．to have her own parents
C．to have a lot of friends	D．happiness