【推荐1】One Monday morning, when I was waiting for the train, suddenly I felt uncomfortable(不舒服的). I couldn’t keep standing, then fell down and the world went black. Someone(某人) shouted, “Oh, my God, she’s falling.”… Then I only remembered that the doctor asked me my name… That happened because I was too tired. I was busy cleaning my new house and I ate little last weekend.

The doctor told me that a kind man saw me fall down. He got to me right away, and told others to call 120. He stayed with me until the ambulance(救护车) arrived. Then he went with me to the hospital, so he missed his train. At last, this kind man left without telling us his name.

I don’t know the kind man’s name. But if he reads this article and remembers a young girl fainting(晕倒) at the train station, I’d like him to know that I want to say “Thank you” to him. If I meet with such a man, I will do the same as he did to me. And I’ll pass on the kindness to others.

1. The writer fell down because ________.

A．a train hit her	B．she didn’t sleep for days
C．she didn’t eat enough food	D．her leg hurt badly last weekend

2. The writer got to the hospital by ________.

A．taking the bus	B．taking a taxi
C．riding her bicycle	D．taking the car from the hospital

3. After the writer fell down, the man ________.

A．called 120 right away	B．helped save the writer
C．told the doctor his name and then left	D．stopped a car to take the writer to the hospital

4. The underlined “such a man” in Paragraph 3 refer to(指的是) ________.

A．someone falls down	B．someone eats little
C．someone needs help	D．someone misses the train

【推荐2】One day, a boy named Jacob needed to go to another town. He went to the bus station and got on the bus. After several hours, the driver stopped the bus and everybody got off the bus to get snacks or food. Jacob stood by the side of the bus waiting for the passengers to return as he had little money in his pocket (口袋). Then he saw one of the passengers standing and reading a newspaper, not knowing that his wallet had fallen out of his pocket. Jacob, who had been watching this man for some time, walked up to the man and said, “Excuse me, sir, your wallet has fallen out of your pocket.” He picked it up and handed it over to the man. The man looked at the boy and said, “Thank you.”

It was time to start out. All the passengers got on the bus and continued their journey. Five minutes later, a woman started shouting, saying that she lost some money and somebody on the bus had stolen (偷) the money. She pointed at Jacob and demanded (要求) that he give her money back. Jacob was afraid and did not know what to do. He couldn’t defend (辩解) himself because he was a small boy. The man that Jacob had helped earlier looked back and saw Jacob. He said that no one should point an accusing (指控的) finger at a boy who was innocent. All the other passengers looked at him and then asked him how he knew Jacob was innocent, since he didn’t know the boy at all.

The man explained how Jacob saw his wallet and returned it to him. If the boy hadn’t stolen the man’s wallet, why would he steal the woman’s money? The man’s words saved Jacob that day. Jacob went to the man and said thanks. The man replied. “One good turn deserves (值得) another.”

1. Why didn’t Jacob buy anything to eat after the bus stopped?

A．His parents told him not to.	B．A man offered him some food.
C．He didn’t have much money.	D．He had to take care of his bag.

2. How did Jacob help the man?

A．He offered his seat to the man.

B．He shared his food with the man.

C．He told the man that his wallet had fallen.

D．He stopped someone from stealing the man's wallet.

3. Where did the woman begin shouting?

A．When the bus left the bus station.

B．Shortly after the bus started out again.

C．When all the passengers got off the bus.

D．Several hours after the bus made its first run.

4. What does the underlined word “innocent” in Paragraph 2 mean in Chinese?

A．勇敢的

B．忠诚的

C．多事的

D．清白的

5. What can we learn from the story?

A．Always believe in yourself.	B．Kindness always pays back.
C．Never do anything wrong.	D．Two heads are better than one.

【推荐3】Why Volunteer?

Teacher: Thank you, Mary and Mario, for agreeing to speak to Grade 8 students about volunteering! Please tell us how and why you do it.

Mary: To volunteer means to carry out a duty or job without expecting payment.

Mario: In some places, the idea of working without being paid is thought to be a bad use of time, but we don't think so!

Mary: There are many benefits （好处） to gain through volunteering. You can really make a difference in other people's lives, and there is little or no training involved （涉及）!

Mario: When you volunteer to help out a friend, teacher or parent, you are seen as helpful and caring. For example, if you help the teacher clean up the classroom, she will see you as more mature（成熟的） and respectful （有礼貌的）.

Mary: Yes, and volunteering for an organization or group that cares for disabled children cheers them up. The same is true for lonely people at an old people's home. So is spending time to fix or repair people's homes.

Mario: By volunteering, you not only gain experience, but also learn a variety of new interests and skills. You will learn to understand the lives of others.

Mary: You can learn to be brave and independent. You can learn how to effectively talk with and make friends with people you don't know.

Mario: Volunteering to help others also gives you strong feelings of satisfaction and joy. It is very rewarding.

Mary: You can call up a volunteer organization today and try it out yourself! Join a group that interests you!

1. Why are Mario and Mary speaking to the Grade 8 students?

A．To sign up the students to be volunteers.

B．They are being paid to speak.

C．So the teacher will like them.

D．To tell them how and why they volunteer.

2. What does "to volunteer" mean?

A．To do work for a friend.

B．To do work with no expectation of payment.

C．Helping out when asked by an adult or teacher.

D．Doing extra work at a job.

3. If you help the teacher clean up the classroom, you will be seen as ______ .

A．knowledgeable

B．patient

C．polite

D．friendly

4. What benefits can students gain from volunteering?

A．They will be good at communicate with others.

B．They can learn a lot of skills and get rich experience.

C．They will have a sense of satisfaction and achieve life value.

D．All of the above.

5. What do Mario and Mary suggest that their audience （听众） of Grade 8 students should do next?

A．Go and help a neighbour.

B．Call up a volunteer organization and join.

C．Stay after school to clean up the classroom.

D．Help disabled children.

6. Which of the following would be considered volunteering?

A．Spending Sunday mornings to give out food to the homeless.

B．Staying after school to study with a friend for a big test.

C．Doing work around the house so your parents will take you to Disney World.

D．Going to school early to get a head start on the day.

【推荐2】New York, London, Paris and other big cities are good places to live in. “There are a lot of interesting things to see and to do. You can go to see different kinds of museums, plays（戏剧）and movies.You can also buy things from all over the world.

But there are serious problems in big cities, too. It’s expensive to live there. And there are many people in big cities. Every year, many people move to the cities to find jobs, to study at schools and to receive good medical care（接受良好的医疗服务）. But sometimes, these people can’t find work or good places to live in. Also, it is hard to keep cities clean and safe.

Some people like living in big cities. But before they move to a big city, they should think about the problems of living there.

1. In big cities people can ________.

A．go to see different kinds of museums

B．see all kinds of plays and movies

C．buy things from all over the world

D．A, B and C

2. Which of the following sentences is TURE?

A．People can always find work in a big city.

B．Big cities are not clean and safe enough.

C．All the people like living in big cities.

D．In cities, people can easily（容易地）find good places to live in.

3. In this passage（短文）, the writer thinks it’s right for people ________.

A．to move to big cities

B．not to live in big cities

C．not to move to big cities before they think about the problems of living there

D．to move to big cities without（不用）thinking about any problems

4. This passage doesn’t tell us that ________.

A．big cities are better than small cities

B．Paris is a good place for people to live in

C．people can receive good medical care in big cities

D．big cities have many serious problems

【推荐3】You have been working hard to learn English. Do you know American kids are trying to learn Chinese? More than 60,000 American students now study Chinese.
“Because of China’s fast development, Chinese has become more useful, and more and more Americans begin to learn it, ” said Scott McGinnis, a Washington language expert (专家).
For example, in 1999, only three schools in Chicago had Chinese lessons. This year more than 30 schools there have Chinese during school days. Last year China gave them 3,000 textbooks because they had done a good job.
Although Chinese is becoming more and more popular, it is one of the most difficult languages to learn. Usually, an English speaker takes about 1,320 hours to become good at Chinese. He needs only 480 hours for French, Spanish or Italian.
1. According to Scott McGinnis, more and more Americans begin to learn Chinese      .

A．because of China’s fast development

B．because of China’s interesting culture

C．because they have more free time

D．because Chinese is easy to learn

2. This year，      schools in Chicago give students Chinese lessons.

A．only three	B．thirteen
C．over thirty	D．less than thirty

3. The students at those schools in Chicago take Chinese lessons      .

A．after school	B．at weekends
C．on school nights	D．on school days

4. Last year China gave      textbooks to those schools in Chicago.

A．thirty	B．three hundred
C．three thousand	D．thirty thousand

5. From the last two sentences we know that        .

A．Chinese is easier to learn than French, Spanish or Italian

B．Chinese is more difficult to learn than French, Spanish or Italian

C．English speakers like to learn French, Spanish or Italian more than Chinese

D．English speakers like to learn Chinese more than French, Spanish or Italian

【推荐1】The children often play football in the garden and sometimes break（打破） Mr. Black’s windows. One afternoon Mr. Black is at home and reads a book. In a minute he closes his eyes and goes to sleep. At that time a little boy knocks at the door. Mr. Black opens the door and asks, “Do you break my window again（再一次）？”“Oh, no”says the boy, “Your window is open this time and our football is in your room. May I get it please?”
1. The children often play football _________.

A．in the street（街道）	B．in the garden
C．in the zoo（动物园）	D．at school

2. Sometimes the children break _______ windows.

A．Mrs. White	B．Mrs. Black’s
C．Mr. Black’s	D．Mr. White

3. Who knocks at Mr. Black’s door?

A．A girl

B．A boy

C．A man

D．A woman

4. The children’s football is _______ Mr. Black’s room.

A．in

B．on

C．behind

D．before

5. Do the children break Mr. Black’s window again?

A．Yes, they do.	B．No, they don’t.
C．Yes, we do.	D．No, we don’t.

【推荐2】It was just three degrees above zero. “That’s cold,” thought Jane as she got ready to deliver (送) her morning papers. Jane had 50 customers (顾客), and on cold mornings when she couldn’t ride her bicycle, it took her more than an hour to make her rounds.

As she collected her papers and put them into a big canvas (帆布) bag, Jane regretted (后悔) that she hadn’t finished her maths homework the night before. There was still time. She would hurry with the papers and finish the maths before breakfast.

Less than an hour later, Jane nearly finished. She had only five customers to go.

She could then go home to finish her maths homework while her Mum cooked breakfast. As she rounded the corner, she saw a car in the middle of the street. It was Mr Zimmerman, the elderly man who walked with a walking stick. His car was out of gas (汽油).

“I’d like to help Mr Zimmerman,” thought Jane, “but if I do, I won’t have time to do my homework.” She hated to think what Mr Robert would say if she didn’t finish papers.

“It’s his own fault (错误) for running out of gas,” Jane talked to herself. “The station is only half a mile down the street. Surely Mr Zimmerman can walk that far, even on a cold morning like this...can’t he?” As she walked down the street, Jane still wondered what to do.

1. Jane delivered her papers ________.

A．before she went to school	B．after breakfast
C．with the help of Mr Zimmerman’s car	D．on the way to school

2. Mr Zimmerman was old and ________.

A．couldn’t drive well	B．would have nobody to help him
C．was not rich enough to buy gas	D．was not able to walk a long way

3. The best title for this reading should be ________.

A．Fifty Customers	B．There’s No Easy Answer
C．No Time to Finish Homework	D．A Cold Morning for Jane

【推荐3】A city child’s summer is spent in the street in front of his home, and all through the long summer vacations I sat on the edge of the street and watched enviously the other boys on the block play baseball. I was never asked to take part even when one team had a member missing—not out of special cruelty, but because they took it for granted I would be no good at it. They were right, of course.

I would never forget the wonderful evening when something changed. The baseball ended about eight or eight thirty when it grew dark. Then it was the custom of the boys to retire to a little stoop(门廊) that stuck out from the candy store on the corner and that somehow had become theirs. No grownup ever sat there or attempted to. There the boys would sit, mostly talking about the games played during the day and of the game to be played tomorrow. Then long silences would fall and the boys would wander off one by one. It was just after one of those long silences that my life as an outsider changed. I can no longer remember which boy it was that summer evening who broke the silence with a question: but whoever he was, I nod to him gratefully now. “What’s in those books you’re always reading?” he asked casually. “Stories,” I answered. “What kind?” asked somebody else without much interest.

Nor do I know what drove me to behave as I did, for usually I just sat there in silence, glad enough to be allowed to read among them; but instead of answering his question, I told them for two hours the story I was reading at the moment. The book was Sister Carrie. They listened bug-eyed and breathless. I must have told it well, but I think there was another and deeper reason that made them to keep an audience. Listening to a tale being told in the dark is one of the most ancient of man’s entertainments, but I was offering them as well, without being aware of doing it, a new and exciting experience.

The books they themselves read were the Rover Boys or Tom Swift or G.A.Henty. I had read them too, but at thirteen I had long since left them behind. Since I was much alone I had become an enthusiastic reader and I had gone through the books-for-boys series. In those days there was no reading material between children’s and grownups’ books or I could find none. I had gone right from Tome Swift and His Flying Machine to Theodore Dreiser and Sister Carrie. Dreiser had hit my young mind, and they listened to me tell the story with some of the wonder that I had had in reading it.

The next night and many nights thereafter, a kind of unspoken ritual (仪式) took place. As it grew dark, I would take my place in the center of the stoop and begin the evening’s tale. Some nights, in order to taste my victory more completely, I cheated. I would stop at the most exciting part of a story by Jack London or Bret Harte, and without warning tell them that that was as far as I had gone in the book and it would have to be continued the following evening. It was not true, of course; but I had to make certain of my new-found power and position. I enjoyed the long summer evenings until school began in the fall. Other words of mine have been listened to by larger and more fashionable audiences, but for that tough and athletic one that sat close on the stoop outside the candy store, I have an unreasoning love that will last forever.

1. Watching the boys playing baseball, the writer must have felt ________.

A．bitter and lonely	B．special and different
C．pleased and excited	D．disturbed and annoyed

2. The writer feels grateful even now to the boy who asked the question because the boy ________.

A．invited him to join in their game	B．liked the book that he was reading
C．broke the long silence of that summer evening	D．offered him a chance that changed his life

3. According to Paragraph 3, story-telling was popular among the boys basically because ________.

A．the story was from a children’s book	B．listening to tales was an age-old practice
C．the boys had few entertainments after dark	D．the boys didn’t read books by themselves

4. What is the message conveyed(表达) in the story?

A．Reading is more important than playing games.	B．Friendship is built upon respect for each other.
C．One can find his position in life in his own way.	D．Adult habits are developed from childhood.