On my eighth birthday, Dad bought me an accordion(手風(fēng)琴） and said excitedly, "Once you learn to play, it'll stay with you for life." But I didn't want to play it. I just wanted to play games, But Dad asked me to take accordion lessons.
One day, I found a box in a corner. When I opened it, I saw a beautiful violin. "It was your father's," Mum said. "His parents bought it for him. I guess he got too busy on the farm to learn to play it."
I had to practice half an hour every day, and every day I tried to get out of it. But Dad didn't allow. I asked why. He answered, "Because you can bring people joy. You can touch their hearts." He added softly, "Someday you'll have the chance I never had: you'll play beautiful music for your family. And you'll understand why you've worked so hard." I was speechless.
The lessons stopped after I finished high school. When I grew up, I got married and moved into a new house. I put the accordion in the attic（閣樓）.
One afternoon, my two children found the accordion by accident (偶然). They got very excited. "Play it. Play it," they laughed and said. I started to play some simple songs. I was surprised I could still remember them. Soon the kids were dancing. Even my wife was laughing and clapping to the beat.
At that moment, my father's words came back to me, "Someday you'll have the chance I never had. And you'll understand." I finally knew why Dad had asked me to practice hard. Dad never learnt to play his violin. But I told my family, "This is my father's music."
【小題1】My father didn't learn to play his violin when he was young because _______.

My name is Chen Lan. My home is in Gulangyu. Do you know it? It is in Xiamen. It is near the sea(海). Gulangyu is a small place，but it is very nice and clean. There are no cars，no buses. People only walk. So it is very quiet.
Our house is in the middle of Gulangyu. Behind our house there is a big old tree. My grandfather tells me that the tree is very，very old. There are many birds in the tree. We call it a “bird tree”. Our house is near the sea. The sea is big and blue. There are a lot of fish in the sea. After school，I go there and catch(捉) fish with my friends. It is very interesting. I like fish and I like catching fish.
【小題1】Chen Lan is from _______.

Now please tell me what they do ?

One day a lonely girl found two weak birds while she was walking in the woods(樹林). She took them home and put them in a small cage. She fed them with love and the birds grew strong. Every morning they greeted her with a beautiful song. The girl loved them very much and wanted their singing to last forever.
One day the girl left the cage’s door open. The larger and stronger of the two birds flew out of the cage. The girl watched worriedly as it circled(盤旋) high above her. She was afraid that it would fly away and she would never see it again. So when it flew close, she grasped(抓) at it wildly. She was very happy that she held it tightly within her hand! Suddenly, she felt something had happened to the bird. She opened her hand and was surprised to find the bird was dead. Her love for the bird killed it.
She noticed the other bird jumping in the cage. She could feel that it wanted to be free. It hoped to fly into the clear, blue sky. She lifted(舉起) it from the cage and flew it into the air. The bird circled once, twice, three times…
When the bird was flying happily in the sky, she was so glad. Just then the bird flew closer and sat softly on her shoulder. It sang the sweetest song she had ever heard.
【小題1】One day the girl forgot to close the door to the cage and ______ of the two birds flew out of the cage.

The clock struck(敲) eleven at night. The whole house was quiet. Everyone was in bed except me. Under the strong light, I looked sadly at a huge pile（堆） of those trouble things
—books.
I was going to have my exam the next day. “When can I go to bed?” I asked myself. I didn’t answer. And I could not. The clock struck twelve. “Oh, dear! Ten more books to read before I go to bed!” We students are the most wretched ones in the world. Dad does not agree with me on this. He did not have to work so hard when he was a boy.
The clock struck one. I was quite hopeless now. I forgot all I did learn. I was too tired to go on. I did the only thing I could. I prayed（祈禱）, “My god, please let me pass the exam tomorrow. I will work hard next time, Amen.” My eyes were so heavy that I could hardly open them. A few minutes later, with my head on the books, I fell asleep.
【小題1】The word “wretched” in Line 6 means _______.

Michael Jordan is the most famous basketball player in the world. He was born in Brooklyn, New York. He didn't like to talk to other people about himself. He was also very short. He didn't play very well when he joined the basketball team in his high school at first. But the next year things changed greatly for him as he grew much taller.
Michael Jordan became famous when he joined the university basketball team in North Carolina. Michael used his speed and strength (力量) to reach the basket again. He played so well that people called him “Air Jordan”.
After college, Michael became a basketball team member in the Chicago Bulls. The NBA was very surprised at this high-flying player. He was named “Rookie” (新秀) of the year in 1985 and “Most Valuable (價(jià)值的) Player” in 1987. He once set a record (創(chuàng)紀(jì)錄) by getting 63 points in one game.
【小題1】He began to become famous in _____________.

Mark Twain, the famous American writer, was traveling in France. Once he was going by train to Dijon. That afternoon he was very tired and wanted to sleep, so he asked the conductor to wake him up when they came to Dijon. But first he explained that he was a very heavy sleeper. “I’ll probably protest(表示不滿)loudly when you try to wake me up,” he said to the conductor, “but do not take any notice, just put me off the train anyway.”
Then Mark Twain went to sleep. Later, when he woke up, it was night-time and the train was in Paris already. He realized at once that the conductor had forgotten to wake him up at Dijon. He was very angry. He ran up to the conductor and began to shout at him.“I have never been so angry in all my life,” Mark Twain said.
The conductor looked at him calmly. “You are not half so angry as the American whom I put off at Dijon,” he said.
【小題1】Who’ s Mark Twain?  ______________

A young mother thought that it was very wrong to waste any food when there were so many hungry people in the world. One evening, she was giving her small daughter her tea before putting her to bed. First she gave her a piece of bread and butter, but the child said that she did not want it like that. She asked for some jam on her bread as well.
Her mother looked at her for a few seconds and then said, “When I was a small girl like you. I was always given either bread and butter, or bread and jam, but never bread with butter and jam.”
Lucy looked at her mother for a few moments with pity in her eyes and said to her kindly, “Aren’t you pleased to live a happy life this now?”
【小題1】Lucy’s mother thought it was wrong to waste food because            .

根據(jù)短文內(nèi)容， 判斷正（T）誤（F）。
Miss Grey lived in a small house. She was old and did not like noise at all, so she was very pleased when her noisy neighbor moved out. A young man moved in and Miss Grey thought the man seemed to be quiet.
But at three o’clock the next morning, the noise of a dog woke up. She thought she had never heard a dog there before. It must be the young man’s dog. So she telephoned the young man and said something bad about the dog and then hung up the telephone before he could answer. Nothing more happened until three o’clock the next morning. Then a voice said, “You telephoned me twenty four hours ago. Now I’ve rung you up to say that I haven’t a dog.
【小題1】Miss Grey felt sorry when her noisy neighbor moved out.
【小題2】Miss Grey’s new neighbor was as noisy as the old one.
【小題3】Some noise woke her up in the early morning.
【小題4】She thought the new neighbor had brought a dog with him.
【小題5】The young man rang up Miss Grey in the early morning, because he wanted to punish（懲罰）her.