3 . It was nearly dark. The sun was dropping down behind the mountain. Little Tom came back home, with tears in his eyes.

“What’s the matter, Tom? How’s your trip?” his mother asked with a big smile.

“I failed. The mountain is so high and full of big or small stones on the way. I still wanted to go ahead, but I was tired and it was so late that I had to come back,” Tom cried.

“It doesn’t matter. You are only 14 years old after all. You will have another chance,” his mother said.

“But standing at the top of the mountain is my dream!” Tom said.

His father came over and asked, “Did you see the green trees on your way to the mountain?”

“Sure, and there were a lot of beautiful flowers on both sides of the road,” Tom replied.

“Did you hear the birds singing?” his father asked.

“There were many kinds of birds singing in the trees, and the sound was very sweet,” Tom said.

“Did you feel the beauty of nature?” his father asked.

“Yes, the blue sky, the white clouds, the green trees and the colourful flowers made a nice picture,” Tom answered.

“That’s enough!” his father smiled and said. “Please remember, son, for often, completing your goal (目标) is not the most important thing. You didn’t reach the top of the mountain, but you got a lot on the way.”

“It is true that not every dream will come true, and that not every job will end up with a success. The most beautiful views are on the way.

1. When did Tom return home?

A．In the morning.

B．At noon.

C．At midnight.

D．In the evening.

2. Why didn’t Tom reach the top of the mountain?

A．Because he got lost in the mountain.	B．Because he was too hungry.
C．Because he was tired and it was so late.	D．Because he was only 14 years old.

3. What did NOT Tom see on his way to the mountain?

A．Clear water.

B．Blue sky.

C．Beautiful flowers.

D．Green trees.

5 . My name is Jimmy. One Thursday afternoon, when I was in senior one, a new boy came into my classroom. He was short and thin. He walked up to the teacher and told her, very seriously, that he was new. His name was Christian. He sat down, took a look at me, and then looked away. I didn’t think he was very nice and I was sure he wasn’t the type I would like to become friends with.

During that year, I didn’t talk to him much, but he smiled at me when our eyes met, always shyly. He never ate lunch with anybody, and he never talked to anybody but me.

But one day I joined those unkind kids who were making fun of him. We made fun of him though I thought it was wrong.

“Haven’t you got any friends?” a kid asked Christian, who had walked past us alone, head down.

“No, he hasn’t got any friends. He’s too stupid and shy,” I said. Then Christian looked up at me with the saddest dog eyes I had ever seen. I felt very sorry at that moment.

That night, I couldn’t sleep because I couldn’t get Christian’s face out of my mind. In the weeks that followed, he never met my eyes in class and never smiled at me. It was really hard for me to decide to write him a note asking him to forgive (原谅) me. But I thought I should.

The next day in class, I wrote him a note telling him how sorry I felt. About five minutes later, I turned and saw tears in his eyes. “You will never realize what your apology (道歉) has meant to me, Jimmy.” he said to me. “I hope we can become friends.”

We had lunch together that noon and we had the best talk I had ever had. Over the years at high school, we were close friends.

When I think back, I realize that, if I had not apologized, I would never have known what a lovely person Christian was.

Apologies can really change your life, so never miss the chance to tell somebody you are sorry.

1. What do we about know Christian from the passage?

A．He was tall and fat.	B．He was short and thin.
C．He was short and active.	D．He was lovely and fat.

2. Why didn’t Jimmy talk to Christian much at first?

A．He didn’t think Christian was the type he wanted to become friends with.

B．Christian wasn’t nice to people around him after he came to the new class.

C．Christian made friends with others.

D．Christian had the saddest dog eyes.

3. How did Jimmy feel after he made fun of Christian with other unkind kids?

A．Happy.

B．Interested.

C．Sorry.

D．Bored.

4. What is the purpose of this text?

A．To tell us it is important to make an apology when we hurt others.

B．To show Jimmy’s apology was unimportant to Christian.

C．To introduce Christian wasn’t lovely in fact.

D．To tell us it is unimportant to say sorry to others.

7 . There was a terrible earthquake in my country. Many people were killed and many houses fell down. After the earthquake, the newspapers reported many stories about families who were in trouble. One Sunday, when I was reading a newspaper, a special picture touched me. It gave the clothing sizes of each family member. I thought this would be a good chance to teach my children to help those who were less lucky. I said to my seven-year-old twins, Brad and Brett, and three-year-old daughter Meghan, “We have so much, and these poor people now have nothing. We’ll share what we have with them.”

I filled a box with some food and old clothes. While I was doing this, I encouraged the boys to donate some of their less favorite things. Meghan watched quietly as the boys took out their old toys and put them in the box. Then she walked away. A few minutes later, she came back with Ava, her favorite doll. She put it on top of the other toys “Oh, dear,” I said. “You don’t have to give Ava. You love Ava so much.” Meghan said, “Ava makes me happy, Mom. Maybe she’ll make another little girl happy, too.”

I was surprised. Meghan taught me a lesson. It’s easy to give something that we don’t want anymore, but hard to give what we love.

1. The mother thought it was ________ to teach her children to help others.

A．necessary

B．lucky

C．impossible

D．hard

2. What does the underlined word “donate” mean in Chinese?

A．Share.

B．Buy.

C．Give.

D．Join.

3. What’s the best title for the text?

A．A Lucky Family

B．The Spirit of Giving

C．Helping Others is Helping Ourselves

D．A Sad Day

9 . Mr. Guo is a teacher from Xi’an. He asked his students to hand in their homework through a QR code(二维码). “We spent an hour or two in class learning how to generate (产生) the codes, and in the end everything gets easier” said Gao. “When students finish the homework, they keep it on WeChat. Then, each student makes his own QR code and gives it to me. So I can check their work everywhere using my computer or telephone.”

The QR codes can be sent to Mr. Guo by email, QQ and WeChat. When Guo scans(扫描)his students’ QR codes, their homework appears on his phone. He finds that their homework becomes more creative, with many pictures, music and even videos.

Guo’s students like the new way and think it is interesting. “We are living in the information age. Many students like to work with computers, which makes learning more fun,” said Tingting, a student of Guo’s.

“The paper is not easy to keep, but the code is easy to keep and share,” Guo said. “It is worth trying to use new technology in education. Education itself is a kind of creation. I don’t want my students to fall behind the times.”

However, some parents are worried. They are afraid that their children will spend too much time on computers and less time communicating with teachers. But in fact, it’s unnecessary. Students still need to look up information in books and write it down when they do their homework. They only use the code when they hand in their homework, which doesn’t take them too much time. Also for teachers, it allows them to check the Students’ work at any time. And it’s also an easy way to share homework with other students.

1. According to the passage, students can keep their homework on________.

A．WeChat

B．QQ

C．e-mail

D．blog

2. Guo’s students think the new way is________.

A．strange

B．boring

C．interesting

D．unnecessary

3. Some parents are worried, because they think their children will________.

A．talk with teachers face to face

B．spend too much time on computers

C．not like the new way of handing in homework

D．find the QR codes too difficult to use

4. What’s the main idea of the passage?

A．Teachers needn’t check homework any more.

B．Students needn’t hand in homework any more.

C．Using QR codes makes checking homework easier.

D．Some parents are worried about their children.

10 . My problem started after I went to a boarding school. I was only 14, and at first I missed my family a lot. I often called them and cried on the phone. But after two weeks, I found I enjoyed being with my classmates at school.

I had many friends who were boys. I thought of them as my best friends – but only friends. I never guessed my friendships with boys would become a problem.

Then, three months later, my friends told me that some teachers and girls said I was hanging out with boys all day long in order to get attention from them. Seven months after that, the head teacher Mr. Wang asked the class to choose some students to join the Student Union. I thought I could win for I was doing well in school. I’d already won prizes for the best math and English exams. A week later, the list came out and it didn’t include me. I was sad.

Mr. Wang came to me and said, “Don’t be sad. I know you’re excellent! Maybe, you’re a little distant from the girls in our class. They don’t know much about you, so some of them didn’t choose you. It doesn’t matter. Do your best to get along well with everyone and I think you’ll make it next time.”

1. What was the writer’s problem when she first entered the boarding school?

A．She didn’t like her new school.

B．She didn’t get along well with her classmates.

C．She missed her family very much.

D．She didn’t like her new teacher.

2. Why did the writer fail to join the Student Union?

A．Her teachers didn’t like her.

B．She was a poor student.

C．She likes hanging out with boys.

D．Some girls didn’t choose her.

3. The word “distant” means “________” in Chinese.

A．热诚的

B．好斗的

C．疏远的

D．无礼的

4. The following statements are right EXCEPT ________.

A．The writer won prizes for the best science and English exams.

B．The writer didn’t think that her friendships with boys would cause problems.

C．The writer was sad because she failed to join the Student Union.

D．The head teacher thought she was an excellent student.