Don’t  you  want to go to school? You could tell your parents you’re ill. But last Monday, students from Shanghai and Zhejiang had an even better excuse: a typhoon(臺風(fēng))!
Typhoon Khanun hit East China on September 11. In Shanghai, all the school were closed the next day, Monday.
It was the first time that Shanghai had to close schools because of  bad weather.
But some students still came to school that day. “ I didn’t get the notice that the school was closing,” said Shen Sheng, a Junior 2 student from Shanghai Aiguo School. “ But it was nice that we could play in school rather than study.”
The school kept Shen and other 20 students safe inside and let them play sports like table tennis.
But the storm wasn’t all fun games. Typhoon Khanun killed 14 people. In Zhejiang, it damaged about 8,000 houses. More than one million people had to be taken to safer places.
Every year, typhoons hit different places around the world. Most happen in July, August and September. This year 15 typhoons hit China. Khanun was the strongest. Typhoons bring strong winds and rains. The winds can blow away houses and cars. The rains are bad for farmers’ fields.
Typhoon also kills people. Earlier this month, Typhoon Talim hit East and Central China. It killed at least 124 people.
【小題1】When was the first time that Shanghai had to close all the schools?

A man bought a donkey at the market one day and took him home. Now the man owned several donkeys already and he knew each one’s character very well. One of the donkeys was very strong and brave. Another always wanted to make people happy by working quickly but soon got tired. One donkey was very lazy. He hated going to work in the morning and he did as little as he       possibly could all day long. When the other animals were being loaded up(裝載), he always tried to be the last so that he would get the lightest load.
The man led the new donkey into the yard. For a moment the new donkey stood sniffing(聞，嗅) at his new friends. Then, without hesitation, he came up to the lazy donkey and began eating comfortably at his side.
Though it was late in the day, the man immediately led the new donkey out of the yard, straight back to the market.
“You can’t have given him a fair trial yet,” said the seller, “It is only ten minutes since you bought him.”
“I don’t need to try him any more,” replied the man, “I know just what he is like from the friend he chose for himself. Take him away and give me my money back. I can do without donkeys like him.”
【小題1】Why did the man buy a new donkey in the market?

A few years ago, Dave Stirling had the idea of selling CDs over the Internet. The business he started from his home in Ohio, the USA, now sells 500,000 CDs a year and has made him into a millionaire(百萬富翁)at the age of 24.
“I could see that this was the future of shopping,” says Stirling. “Why should you pay $15 for a CD and spend the time and the money getting into the store and parking your car? You can have the same CD for half of the price by clicking(敲擊)on your computer. And we can find any CD you want and bring it to your door in 24 hours!”
According to Stirling, this is the only beginning, “I believe that one day we’ll do our shopping over the net: it’s easier, quicker and cheaper. Shops and supermarkets will be the past.”
【小題1】Dave Stirling started his business from _____
A. his home   B. His company   C. the office 
【小題2】How has Stirling become so rich ?
A. By making ice cream.
B. By making advertisements.
C. By selling CDs over the Internet.
【小題3】If you pay $15 for a CD in the store, how much should you pay for it over the net?
A. $15      B. $12        C. $7.5 
【小題4】By shopping over the net, you won’t _______________.
A. spend the time and the money
B. click on your computer
C. get into the store by yourself
【小題5】What can we learn from the passage?
A. More than half of the Americans prefer to shop over the net.
B. Shops and supermarkets will be the past in the future.
C. It’s easier, quicker and more expensive to do our shopping over the net.

Aunt Ma sees an ad(廣告)in a newspaper for a nice bed in a shop. It costs 600 yuan. Aunt Ma likes it, so she goes to the shop. The shopkeeper (店主) shows one to her. Aunt Ma has a look at it and says, “There aren’t any beautiful pillows (枕頭) on this bed, but there are many on the bed in your ad.”
“Yes, that is an ad,” answers the shopkeeper. “If you want a bed the same as the one in the ad, you need to pay 60 yuan more.”
Aunt Ma isn’t happy. Then she says, “That’s dishonest.”
“Well,” answers the shopkeeper. “Look, there is a girl on a bike in an ad in your newspaper too, but can you buy the bike with the girl?”
【小題1】How does Aunt Ma know about the bed?

Chen Guangbiao was born in Jiangsu in July,1968. He is the chairperson of a company in Jiangsu. Now he is one of China’s richest men and he has donated a great amount of money to charity projects. He says he will donate everything he has to charity after he dies.
　　When people are in need of help, he will appear at once. He helped people during the Wenchuan earthquake, the Yunnan earthquake and the Taiwan earthquake. He also gave a helping hand in Japan's earthquake. He has built many Hope Primary Schools to support the education in poor areas.
　　He doesn't do charity for honour(榮譽(yù)).He wants to encourage more people to make contributions(貢獻(xiàn))to charity. After announcing he would donate everything to charity after his death, many businesses, overseas(海外)Chinese people and common people encouraged by him have also promised to do something for charity.
　　As a philanthropist(慈善家),he is asked for help every day. Sometimes he gets very tired, but he has never stopped caring.
　　So far, he has received a lot of awards, including Pioneer of the Year, and National May Day Labour Medal(全國五一勞動獎?wù)?.He is considered as one of China’s top philanthropists.
【小題1】The article is probably taken from _______.

It was a beautiful spring morning. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky, and the sun was warm but not too hot. Mr. White saw an old man at the bus stop with a big and black umbrella in his hand.
Mr. White said to him, “Do you think it’s going to rain today?”
“No,” said the old man, “I don’t think so.”
“Then are you carrying the umbrella because the sun is too hot?”
“No, the sun is not very hot in spring.”
Mr. White looked at the big umbrella again, and the man said, “I am old man, and my legs are not very strong. I must have a walking-stick. But people will say, ‘Look, the man is so old, and I don’t like that.’ When I carry an umbrella in fine weather, people only say, ‘look at that stupid man.’”
【小題1】The story happened         .

There is a new park near Andy’s home. It’s fine today. Andy and his family are in the park now. On their left, there is a café. On the right, there is a big lake. There are many flowers and trees around the lake. There’s a small hill behind the lake. Near the lake, there are two signs（標(biāo)記）. One says, “Don’t swim in the lake.” But you can go boating on the lake. There is a beautiful garden in the middle of the park. There are green grass and beautiful flowers in it. There are some small shops between the lake and garden. The park is so nice. Andy and his family like it very much.
【小題1】The park near Andy’s home is _________________.
A.  new and beautiful    B.  old but beautiful    C.  new and clean
【小題2】Is there a café in the park? ______________
A.  Yes, there is     B.  No, there isn’t     C.   We don’t know
【小題3】People can go _____________ on the lake.
A.  swimming          B.  fishing            C.  boating
【小題4】There aren’t any __________ in the park.
A.  flowers          B.  trees             C.  playgrounds
【小題5】There is a hill behind _____________.
A.  the garden         B.  the lake           C.  the shop

John works in a market. It’s near a secondary school. Every day, students come to buy things there. In the morning, John gets up at six and then has breakfast. He goes to work by bike. He gets to the shop at about six thirty. The market opens at seven. They sell （出售）things like food and drinks. They have school things, too. So there are many people in their market from morning to evening. John has supper there. At seven in the evening the market is closed.
【小題1】John works in a ___________.
A.  supermarket        B.  bookshop      C.  market
【小題2】John _____________ to the shop every day.
A.  take a bus         B.  rides a bike  C.  walks
【小題3】They sell___________ in the market.
A.  food and drinks    B.  school things  C.  A and B
【小題4】John has supper____________.
A.  in the shop        B.  at home      C.  at a restaurant
【小題5】John works for about_________ hours a day.
A.  six                B.  twelve        C.  eight

It was three o'clock. A man was walking down a high street in the north of England. He was wearing a dark suit and carrying a suitcase. His name was Terry and he and he had lived away from home for twenty years. In fact he was in prison(監(jiān)獄),
Terry was feeling totally depressed because everything in his hometown had changed. The park where he used to play was now a car park. The house where he was born had dis appeared and in its place,  ironically(具有諷刺意味地)， was a bank. Terry wanted to have a cup of coffee in the old small restaurant where he used to go with his friend after school,   but it had become a fast food restaurant. He entered it,   sat down,   and asked for a cup of coffee. Then he felt sadder when he thought of what he had seen.
While paying for the coffee he found an old ticket in his wallet. It was for a pair of shoes he had taken to be repaired the day before the bank robbery 20 years ago. The shoe repairer was an old man then, so Terry was sure that he must be dead. But when he turned the cor ner of the steet, he couldn't believe his eyes. The shop was still there! And it was the same shoe repairer! He looked about a hundred years old. Terry was so happy! Terry told him that he had lived in Australia for the past twenty years and that he forgot to pick up the shoes before he left England. The shoe repairer disappeared into the back of the shop. After ten minutes he came back.
"Were they dark brown,   Italian shoes,   size 42?"he asked slowly.
"Yes!nsaid Terry,   excitedly.
"I haven't repaired them，”the shoe repairer said slowly. “You can take them tomorrow afternoon. ”
【小題1】How long had Terry been away from home?