An old farmer lived with his little grandson. Every day the farmer got up early to read books.
One day the grandson asked, “Grandpa! I want to read books just like you, but I don’t understand them. What are the advantages of reading?” The grandfather said, “Take this litter basket to the river and bring me back a basket of water.” he boy did, but all the water leaked out before he got back to the house. The grandfather laughed and said, “ You’ll have to walk faster next time.”
This time the boy ran faster, but again the basket was empty before he returned home. The boy said, “ See Grandpa, it’s useless!”
So you think it is useless?” the old man said. “Look at the basket.”
The boy looked at the basket and for the first time he realized that the basket was different. It was clean, inside and out.
“That’s what happens when you read books. You might not understand or remember everything, but when you read them, you will be changed, inside and out.”
【小題1】The grandfather got up early to __________.

It had been snowing very hard for days. Jigs and Reads had nothing to eat for a day. They know that things weren’t right at home. So yesterday morning they wanted to go out. Bob helped them get out through a window, because the snow was so deep outside that he couldn’t open the door. Last night, they didn’t come back. Bob said to himself, “They are only five months old. This weather will kill them.” But just then Bob heard them calling him. He looked out and could not believe ----they were drawing a big hare through the snow. They dropped it through the window into Bob’s hands. A hare(野兔) for dinner.
【小題1】 Jigs and Reads in the story were _________.

Nasreddin woke up in the middle of the night and saw something white in his garden. It seemed to be moving towards the house.
That is a thief(小偷)! He thought, and he took his gun and shot(開槍) at him. Then he went back to bed, because he was too frightened害怕) to go out of the house in the dark.
The next morning Nasreddin went out and saw one of his white shirts hanging on the clothes-line in the garden, his wife had washed it the day before and hung it out to dry. Now it had a bullet- hole right through middle of it.
My God, said Nasreddin, I was lucky last night. If I had been wearing that shirt, the bullet would have killed me! And he called his neighbours together and asked them to thank God for saving him.
【小題1】. At midnight, Nasreddin saw _____in his garden.

An old man died and left his son a lot of money. But the son was a foolish young man, and he quickly spent all the money, so that soon he had nothing left. Of course , when that happened, all his friends left him. When he was quite poor and alone, he went to see Nasreddin, who was a kind, clever old man and often helped people when they had troubles.
‘My money has finished and my friends have gone’, said the young man. ‘What will happen to me now?’ ‘Don't worry, young man’, answered Nasreddin. ‘Everything will soon be all right again. Wait , and you will soon feel much happier.’
The young man was very glad. ‘Am I going to get rich again then?’ He asked Nasreddin.
‘No, I didn't mean that’, said the old man. ‘I meant that you would soon get used to being poor and to having no friends.’
【小題1】An old man died and left his son_______.

Three men traveling on a train began a conversition about the world's greatest wonders.
“ In my opinion,” the first man said, “ the Egyptian pyramids are the world’s greatest wonder. Although they were built thousands of years ago, they are still standing. And remember: the people who built them had only simple tools. They didn’t have the kind of machinery that builders and engineers have today.
“ I agree that the Egyptian pyramids are wonderful,” the second man said, “ But I don’t think they’re the greatest wonder. I believe computers are more wonderful than the pyramids. They have taken people to the moon and brought them back safely. They carry out mathematical calculations in seconds that would take a person a hundred years to do.”
He turned to the third man and asked, “ What do you think is the greatest wonder in the world?”
The third man thought for a long time, then he said, “ Well, I agree that the pyramids are wonderful, and I agree that computers are wonderful, too. However, in my opinion, the most wonderful thing in the world is the thermos(保溫瓶).”
And he took a thermos out of his bag and held it up.
The other two men were very surprised. “ A thermos?” they exclaimed(大聲說), “ But that’s a simple thing.”
“ Oh, no, it’s not,” the third man said, “ in the winter you put in a hot drink and it stays hot, in the summer you put in a cold drink and it stays cold. How does the thermos know whether it is winter or summer?”
【小題1】The travelers passed the time on the train by talking about _______.

 
Jeremy Shu -How Lin is an NBA player on the New York Knicks. He is an Asian-American NBA rising star. He was born on August 23rd, 1988. He is 1.91meters tall. He weighs 91 kilos. He is also a graduate of Harvard University. Months ago, few people knew of him, but in February, 2012, Lin started to shine. He led his team to a series of (一系列)wins. He surprised everybody and quickly became famous in the sports world.
US Education Secretary Arne Duncan wrote an article about Lin for Time. He said Lin breaks lots of wrong ideas. One of them is that Asian Americans can’t play basketball well. Another is that you can’t be a great sports player and an excellent student at the same time.
Duncan also noted that Lin’s success was not an accident(偶然). He worked hard and stayed humble(謙虛的). He lives the right way. He plays the right way.
What makes Lin stand out from other players is his hard work and never-give-up spirit.
【小題1】 Which team does Jeremy Shu-How Lin play for?

The designer of the Apple Computer, Steve Jobs, was not quite successful in his early years. He was not among the best students at school, and from time to time he got into trouble with either his schoolmates or his teachers. But he was full of new ideas, which few people saw the value of. Things remained the same when he went up to college and he dropped out halfway.
Steve Jobs worked first as a video game designer at Atari. He worked there for only a few months and then he set out to tour India. He hoped that the trip would give him more ideas and give him a change in life for the better.
After he returned from India, he begin to live on a farm in California. And then, in 1975, Steve Jobs set about making a new type of computer. Along with his friend Stephen Wozniak, he designed the Apple Computer in his bedroom and built it in his garage(車庫(kù)). He gave the name “Apple” because it reminded him of a happy summer he once on an orchard(果園) in Oregon.
His Apple Computer was so successful that Steve Jobs soon became worldwide famous. But unluckily, he died of illness in 2011.
【小題1】 Steve Jobs            when he was in school.

閱讀理解
George Stephenson was born in 1781 in a poor family. He had to start work when he was only eight. When George was fourteen, he became his father’s helper. He spent a lot of time learning about engines. And on holidays he often took one to pieces and studied each piece carefully. Soon he became a very good worker though he could not read or write. He began to learn the English letters when he was seventeen years old. Every day after he did twelve hours of hard work, he walked a long way to have lessons from a young school teacher. On his eighteenth birthday, he wrote his own name for the first time in his life. George invented many things in his life. The train was the greatest one among them. Today when we watch or take trains from one place to another, we will think of this great man -- George Stephenson.
【小題1】 In which year did George Stephenson start to help his father?

閱讀理解
Mr. King is a tall and strong man. He teaches P.E. in a middle school. He wears a long beard（胡子）and takes good care of it.
It was Sunday yesterday. There was a big football match of the year on the playground in the centre of the city. Mr. king likes the game very much and of course he was going to watch it. With his friends' help he got a ticket a few days ago.
After breakfast he hurried to the bus stop, but a lot of people were waiting there. A bus came and he hardly got on. There were plenty of people in it and it was difficult for them to put their feet. He had to grip（抓住）a back of the chair. At the next stop a boy got on the bus. He was short and couldn't grip anything. Suddenly the bus stopped and the boy hardly fell onto the floor. He looked around and saw Mr. King's beard and grip it. The man found it at once and called out, "Let go of（松開）my beard, boy!"
"Are you going to get off, sir?" asked the boy.
【小題1】Mr. King is a ___.

One evening, Mrs. White said to her husband in surprise, “You look like the football player in the game on TV!” Mr. White watched that man carefully and then said, “Yeah. He is really like me.”
A week later, Mr. White heard that the football player would come to their city. He was very happy. He bought an expensive ticket and went to watch the football game. He wanted to have a look at the player face to face. However, a short time later, Mr. White ran back home. To Mrs. White’s surprise, her husband was black and blue all over his face. “Oh, dear! What happened to you?” , Mrs. White cried（大喊）. Her husband answered angrily, “How terrible it was! Many people in our city wanted to hit that player. When I got there, someone began to hit met. Later, more and more people came to hit me. I turned and ran home at once. Luckily, I could run fast, or I’ll never return home.”
根據(jù)文章的內(nèi)容選擇最佳答案。
【小題1】Mr. White felt __________ when he knew the player would come to their city.
A. sad             B. angry             C. happy
【小題2】Mr. White bought an expensive football ticket because __________.
A. Mrs. White asked him to buy it
B. he wanted to see the player
C. he really wanted to watch the game
【小題3】The underlined words “black and blue” mean “__________” in Chinese.
A. 黑與藍(lán)           B. 精神煥發(fā)         C. 青一塊紫一塊
【小題4】Mr. White ran back home a short time later because __________.
A. the player didn’t like him
B. the game was very boring
C. many people came to hit him
【小題5】 Which is the best title for the passage?
A. A Bad Player   B. A Football Fan    C. A Football Game