1 . I live in Mentone, a quiet, simple, restful place, where the rich never come. I met Theophile Magnan, a retired, rich, old man from Lyons yesterday. In the Hotel des Anglais. Theophile looked sad and dreamy, and didn't talk with anybody else. which brought me back to the past.

A long time ago, Francois Millet. Claude, Carl and I were young artists - very young artists - in fact.

Yes, Francois Millet. the great French artist, was my friend.

Millet wasn’t any greater than we were at that time. He didn't have any fame, even in his own village.

   We were all poor though we had stacks and stacks of as good pictures as anybody in Europe painted. Once a person ever offered four francs for Millet’s "Angelus", which he intended to sell for eight.

It was a fact in human history that a great artist would never be acknowledged*   until after he was starved and dead. His pictures climbed to high prices after his death.

Then we made a decision that one of us must die, to save the others and himself.

Millet was elected , elected to die.

During the next three months Millet painted with all his might, enlarged his stock all he could, not pictures, no! sketches, studies, parts of studies, fragments of studies, of course, with his cipher *   on them.

They were the things to be sold.

Carl went to Paris to start the work of building up Millet's name. Claude and I went to sell Millet's small pictures and to build up his name as well.

We made Millet a master. I always said to my customer, "I am a fool to sell a picture of Francois Millet's at all, for he is not going to live three months, and when he dies his pictures can't be had for love or money. "

Claude and I took care to spread that little fact as far as we could.

Carl made friends with the correspondents, and got Millet's condition reported to England and all over the continent, and America, and everywhere.

The sad end came at last, Millet died, not really.   He became Theophile Magnan.

The pictures went up. There's a man in Paris today who owns seventy Millet pictures.   He paid us two million francs for them. Do you still remember the "Angelus"? Carl sold it for twenty-two hundred francs. And as for the bushels of sketches and studies which Millet produced in the last six weeks, well, it would astonish you to know the figure we sell them at nowadays.We are no longer artists and Millet dead.

1. ''Why did the four friends decide to elect one of them to die?

A．They wanted to be rich.	B．They wanted to be famous.
C．They wanted to save money.	D．They wanted to be respected.

2. Which of the following statements is TRUE about the passage?

A．The writer lives a busy life in Mentone.

B．Millet was finally made a famous artist.

C．Millet painted best among the four friends.

D．The story was written in memory of Millet.

3. What made the four friends' plan succeed?

A．That they didn't want to be artists any longer.

B．That Millet's pictures were sold at very high prices.

C．People's attitude towards the artists who were starving.

D．People's desire to own precious art works at low prices.

4. Is Millet living or dead? Why?（请用约40词回答）
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2 . 阅读短文,根据短文内容回答问题。

World Kindness Day is a celebration which takes place on 13 November each year. It was introduced in 1998 by the World Kindness Movement. It is celebrated in many countries, including Canada, Japan, Australia and some other countries. World Kindness Day is celebrated to highlight acts of kindness passing on the positive(正面的)power.

Why be kind? Few people would disagree with the idea that a kind action is good for the soul(灵魂). It is a win-win situation because it leads to a sense of well-being both for thereceiver of this kind action, as well as for the person who does the action. As a simple example,let's imagine you have a workmate who always does a very good job. How about taking a moment to mention this to them, just in conversation or perhaps by email? The effects of this will probably be quite clear: your workmate will be happy to receive some praise and, in addition, you will probably feel good about yourself for having spread a little joy.

Many organisations try to encourage people to be kind, wherever and whenever they can. Perhaps the strongest supporters of this idea are the Random Acts of Kindness (RAK) Foundation. The RAK website suggests some ways to show kindness. Generally, these fall into three categories. The first is interpersonal kindness. Some examples are giving old clothes to charity(慈善机构) or writing a good comment about a restaurant that you like. The second is environmental kindness, which could mean simply recycling or organising a group event to clean a local park or beach. The third category is less obvious: personal kindness, which means treating yourself kindly. Some examples are taking a walk in nature or setting yourself an objective to complain less. The logic is that by being kind to yourself, you will surely be kinder to the world around you.

Most experts on kindness agree that it has a sort of ripple effect. This means that one kind action is more likely to lead to more and more. So don't wait for kindness to find you today, go and start a new ripple!

1. When is World Kindness Day?
________________________________________________________
2. Why is World Kindness Day celebrated?
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3. Why should people be kind?
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4. According to RAK, what does"personal kindness” mean?
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5. What does the passage mainly tell us?
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3 . Are you shy? If you are, you are not alone. In fact, close to 50 percent of people are shy. Almost 80 percent of people feel shy at some point in their lives. These days, shyness is becoming more and more common. Now, scientists are trying to understand shyness. They have some interesting ideas about why people are shy.
Is it possible to be born shy? Many scientists say yes. They say 15 to 20 percent of babies behave shyly. These babies are a little quieter and more watchful than other babies. Interestingly, these shy babies usually have shy parents. As a result, scientists think that some shyness is genetic.
Family size might cause people to be shy as well. Scientists at Harvard University studied shy children. They found that 66 percent of them had older brothers and sisters. As a result, they became shy. At the same time, children with no brothers and sisters may be shy as well. Growing up alone, they often play by themselves. They are not able to learn the same social skills as children from big families.
You may also be shy because of where you were born. When scientists studied shyness in different countries. They found surprising differences. In Japan, most people said they were shy. But in Israel, only one of three people said so. What explains the difference? One scientist says the Japanese and Israelis have different opinions of failure. In Japan, when people do not succeed, they feel bad about themselves. They blame（责备）themselves for their failure. In Israel, the opposite is true. Israelis often blame failure on outside reasons, such as family, teachers, friends, or bad luck. In Israel, freedom of opinion and risk taking are strongly supported. This may be why Israelis worry less about failure and are less shy.
For shy people, it can be difficult to make friends, speak in class, and even get a good job. But scientists say you can get over your shyness. They suggest trying new things and practicing conversation. And don’t forget---if you are shy, you are not the only one.
1. What is the passage mainly about?

A．Happiness.	B．Shyness.
C．Kindness.	D．loneliness.

2. What does the underlined word “genetic”in paragraph 2 probably mean?

A．Passed down from parents.	B．Learned from friends.
C．Taught by teachers.	D．Made up by brothers.

3. What can be learned from the passage?

A．Most little babies are born shy and quiet.

B．If you are shy now, you will be shy forever.

C．Many shy children have older brothers and sisters.

D．Most Israeli people are shy of expressing opinions.

4. We can learn from the passage that _______ may cause shyness.

A．genetics, grown--ups and birthplace

B．genetics, family size and birthplace

C．family size, grown--ups and failure

D．genetics, family size and freedom

5. Scientists suggest that shy people can get over their shyness by______.

A．blaming their failure on outside reasons

B．trying new things and practicing conversation

C．getting themselves away from their shy parents

D．trying to understand reasons for their shyness

6. Which of the following shows the structure（结构）of the passage? (P=Paragraph)

4 . 阅读与表达(问答式)。
When I was young, my mother always spent lots of time sitting behind a sewing machine (缝纫机) with a happy look on her face. For all the three kids in our family, she made all the clothes.
My morn made it look so easy. But the first time I tried to make something, I just couldn't do it. I worked too quickly, and when I finished, it looked bad. Soon, I just gave up.
This summer, I really wanted to make a dress to wear at a party. I picked out some nice cloth, and I found a nice style in a book. I got so excited about Sewing that I couldn't even sleep.
I started early the next morning. My mom was having a meeting, so if I had questions, there could be no one to ask.
I started sewing slowly and carefully, and I tried to do everything right. When I was sewing the top, I made the neck too small. But the rest was fine.
"I'm finally finished!" I shouted two hours later. And it fit! For the first time, I could wear something I had made with my own hands!
If you want to learn something, my advice is don't give up when you can't do it well.
根据短文内容，完成下列小题。
1. How many children were there in the writer's family?
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2. How did the thing the writer made for the first time look?
________________________________________________________
3. What was the mother doing when the writer was sewing her dress?
________________________________________________________
4. How long did it take the writer to finish the dress?
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5. What does the writer want to tell us?
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5 . The olive（橄榄）tree probably first grew in southern Asia. And then it spread to Mediterranean（地中海的）countries about 6,000 years ago. Since then, it has been important in Mediterranean people’s lives.
The olive tree grows in rocky places and it doesn’t need much water. Its fruit can be made into olive oil. People have used olive oil to cook dishes for centuries. But they haven’t only used it for cooking. Some ancient cultures believed that it was useful as medicine. In modern times, people still use olive oil both for its taste and its health advantages.
Olive oil has also been an important product in the business and culture of Mediterranean countries. In ancient Greece, for example, anyone who cut down an olive tree was heavily punished. Winners at the Olympic Games wore wreaths（花环）. They were made of olive branches（树枝）. Sometimes winners were also given a prize of olive oil. People from Greece built ships so that they could use olive oil for trade. But it was the Romans who grew the olive tree in the rest of southern Europe and northern Africa.
Today, olive oil is still a very valuable product, and many different kinds of olive oil are sold in countries all over the world.
1. Where did the olive tree probably first grow?

A．In Asia.	B．In Africa.
C．In Europe.	D．In America.

2. What can we learn about olive oil?

A．People started to cook with it recently.

B．It is made from olive branches.

C．People used it to build ships in Greece.

D．It can be good for health.

3. In ancient Greece, people who cut down an olive tree       .

A．were wreaths

B．were heavily punished

C．got a prize of olive oil

D．were regarded as heroes

4. The passage is mainly about       .
A. A. the method of cooking
B. the trade of Greece
C. the history of the Olympic Games
D. the story of olive oil