【推荐1】"You have saved my horse," Queen Olivia told the young boy standing before her .”Now you shall have a reward." Peter nervousl ran his fingers through his brown hair. The frightened horse had run past him as he worked in the field that morning. He would have helped it whether it belonged to the queen or not .But he had to admit that getting a reward was nice.

Two of the queen's men appeared. One carried a mirror. Red jewels shone on top of the minor's silver frame. The other carried wooden care with a chicken inside it.

"Only one reward can be yours," the queen said" Choose wisely"" That’s easy.” Peter said.” I will take the chicken.” Some of the queen's men laughed It was clear that they thought he had made a foolish choice.

“And why did you choose the chicken? the queen asked.” Well, I don’t know much about jewels," Peter answered.” But I do know about chickens. The chicken will provide eggs for my family for a long while.”

Queen Olivia smiled.” Then you did make a wise choice." she said.“ That mirror may look fancy. But the jewels you see are only colored glass, and the frame is painted silver. The chicken is much more valuable." Peter took the chicken and bowed." Thank you, your majesty“

“You are a smart child, ”the queen added. “I could use a smart boy to help take care of my horses. Would you like to take the job?” Peter smiled. “Thank you very much!” he said excitedly. A job at the castle paid well. Now his family would eat well for the rest of their lives---all because__________!

1. What was Peter doing when a frightened horse ran past him?
2. Who did the frightened horse belong to?
3. Why did Peter choose the chicken instead of the mirror?
4. Did Peter make a wise choice or a foolish one?
5. What else did Queen Olivia offer Peter?
6. What can be filled in the blank at the end of the passage?

【推荐2】阅读短文，根据短文内容回答下列问题。

Why is the sea salt? Long before we discovered scientific ways of thinking about it, we explained it in a story. Even though the answer isn’t scientific, it holds some other truth in it-especially about the human heart.

Long ago, a poor old couple lived on the coast. One day, an old storyteller came to their village. The old couple gave him a meal. In return, he gave them a coffee mill (磨粉机) and said, “ Say ‘Mill, please g rind (磨粉)’, and it’ll make whatever you want, to stop it, say ‘Mill, please cease (停止) grinding’.”

Soon the old couple had a much better life. They’d been happy people, and they didn’t need much more. But the young couple next door were very greedy (贪婪的) and they were never satisfied. When they saw the old couple wearing good clothes and buying good food, they burnt with envy (羡慕). So one day the young husband went to the old couple’s house secretly and heard, “Mill, please grind hot chocolate!” He was surprised to see it coming out.

Then the young couple stole the mi ll from the old couple. With it, they rode a horse and set off down the coast, where no one would know them. Along the way, the husband showed proudly and asked, “What do you want it to make?” “Oh, I don’t know. Why not salt?” the wife said. “Mill, please g rind salt!” he said.” It works!” the wife shouted. But then they noticed the salt went everywhere. “Make it stop,” the wife said. But the husband didn’t know how. “Mill, please stop grinding! Please, no more!” His words didn’t work. The mill kept grinding. Finally, the young husband threw the mill into the sea as far as he could.

And there it’s been, for hundreds of years, endlessly grinding salt.

1. Is the passage a science fiction or a folk story?
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2. Why do you think the storyteller gave the old couple a coffee mill?
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3. What did the young couple do when they saw the old couple’ life became better?
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4. Why was the mill thrown into the sea?
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5. What “truth” does the passage hold in it?
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【推荐3】阅读与回答问题。

One morning a fox sees a cock. He thinks, “This is my breakfast.”
He comes up to the cock and says, “I know you can sing very well. Can you sing for me?” The cock is glad. He closes his eyes and begins to sing. The fox sees that and catches him in his mouth and carries him away.
The people in the field(田) see the fox. They cry, “Look, look! The fox is carrying the cock away.” The cock says to the fox, “Mr. Fox, do you understand? The people say you are carrying their cock away. Tell them it is yours. Not theirs.”
The fox opens his mouth and says, “The cock is mine, not yours.” Just then the cock runs away from the fox and flies into the tree.
回答下面5个问题, 每题答案不超过5个词。
1. When does the fox see the cock?
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2. What does the fox ask the cock to do?
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3. Why does the fox catch the cock away?
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4. Who saw the fox?
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5. Who is clever, the fox or the cock?
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【推荐2】Once there was a piano player in a bar. People came just to hear him play. But one night, a lady asked him to sing a song.“I don’t sing,” said the man. But the lady told the waiter, “ I’m tired of listening to the piano. I want the player to sing!” The waiter shouted across the room, “Hey, friend! If you want to get paid, sing a song!”

So he did. He never sang in public before. Now he was singing for the very first time!

Nobody heard the song Mona Lisa sung so beautifully!

He had talent he was sitting on! He may live the rest of his life as a no-name piano player in a no-name bar. But once he caught the chance and found that he could sing well. He went on working hard and became one of the best-known singers in the US. His name was Nat King Cole.

You, too, have skills and abilities. You may not feel that your talent is great, but it may be better than you think. With hard work, most skills can be improved. Besides, you may have no success at all if you just sit on your talent.

1. Where did Nat King Cole play the piano ?
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2. Why did the lady ask the player to sing a song ?
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3. Did Nat King Cole succeed at last?.
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4. Which song did Nat King Cole sing?
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5. What can you learn from the passage? Find your answer in the passage.
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【推荐3】When I was in school, I got into an argument (争吵) with a boy in my class.

I thought that "I" was right and that "he" was wrong—and he thought that "I" was wrong and that "he" was right. The teacher decided to teach us a lesson.

She brought us up to the front of the class and placed him on one side of her desk and me on the other. There was a large round object on her desk. It was black. But when she asked the boy, he answered, "White."

I couldn't believe it! Another argument started, this time about the color of the object.

The teacher told us to change our places. Then she asked me, "      ▲       " I had to answer, "White." It was an object with two differently colored sides. From his side it was white. From my side it was black.

Sometimes we need to stand in other persons' shoes and look at the problem through their eyes.

1. Who taught the writer a lesson?
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2. How did the writer feel when the boy said the object was white?
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3. Which sentence can be put in       ▲       ?
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4. Why did the object look so different in color?
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5. What can we learn from the story?
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