Mr Howe worked in an office. He studied (研究) the old things and sometimes bought some for
 himself. So he got a lot of money. Eight years ago, when he was sixty-five, he retired (退休). He needn't
  worry about food or clothes. He was busy before,but now he has enough time to rest. He loves playing
 ping-pong and spends most of his time on the game. He had never been ill until he had got a headache one
  day. He was taken to a hospital at once. The doctors looked him over carefully and did their best to save
 (救) him but he felt worse and worse. He made his son send for a witch (請巫婆來).  
     "Do the people in heaven (天堂) play ping-pong,madam?"asked Mr Howe.  
     "I'm sorry I don't know,sir. "answered the witch. "Let me go and ask about it for you. "
     That evening the witch came and said, "I've just been to heaven, Mr Howe. I've brought two pieces of
  news to you. One is good and the other is bad. "
     "Tell me the good news first, please. "
     "Most of the people in heaven play ping-pong," said the witch. "But you'll have a game there the day
 after tomorrow!"

(     ) 1. Mr. Howe is seventy-three now.
(     ) 2. Mr. Howe has little money, so he is poor.
(     ) 3. As he rested very well all the time, Mr. Howe has never been ill.
(     ) 4. The doctors didn't do their best to save Mr. Howe, so he felt worse and worse.
(     ) 5. The bad news meant (意味著) Mr. Howe would die (死) in two days.

1. The ant dries the grains of corn _______.   

A. in the summer
B. in the winter     
C. on weekdays
D. when he is hungry   

2. The grasshopper is very hungry because he only ________ in the summer.     

A. danced
B. dried the grains     
C. stored up corn
D. sang  

3. The ant gave the grasshopper ________.   

A. some grains of corn
B. something to eat     
C. nothing
D. some rice   

4. The title (題目)of the story may be _______.     

A. The Ant and the Grasshopper     
B. The Ant Sings and Dances     
C. The Busy Ant and the Happy Grasshopper     
D. Store up Some Corn and You'll Be Hungry   

5. From the story we can know ________.     

A. the ant is our good friend     
B. we must think before we do anything     
C. people must help others     
D. we must work hard for a good life

     On 26th January, the biggest earthquake(地震)in India took the lives of 25000 people. In the morning, when
everybody was enjoying holiday, earthquake began. It was about 7.5 on the Ritcher scale. "There is nothing
left between the sky and the earth any more. Everything has been pulled down," said one of the villagers alive.
"There is no water, no food and no one has come to help."
     Nobody died in Pakistan, a country next to India. The City of Lahore was lucky. In Lahore American school,
where I was studying, all of the students were safe. They were on the field, so most children didn't feel anything.
The earthquake was felt by the teachers that were on the second floor. However, though Mrs Young was also on
the second floor, she didn't feel anything. She didn't know what happened until a teacher told her about it. Those
teachers who were on the other floors had different feelings. Mr Emond, the maths teacher from Australia, said
that when the earthquake started he thought there was something wrong with him, but then another teacher said
that it was an earthquake. After those words Mr Emond felt better. Mrs Davis and Mr Frost didn't feel anything
either.
     My mother didn't feel anything. She didn't even know that it was an earthquake till she saw a shaking (moving
from side to side) light. My dad saw the computer shaking and then he looked out of the window and saw many
people going out.

1. People use "Ritcher scale" to tell ______.

A.where the earthquake takes place  
B. when the earthquake takes place
C. how serious the earthquake is    
D. how long the earthquake lasts

2. We learn that ______ from the sentence "There is nothing left between the sky and the earth any more."

A. India is a large country        
B. the Indian people had nothing after the earthquake
C. there is no tall building in India  
D. the earthquake in India was serious

3. The city of Lahore is ______.

A. in India        
B. in America      
C. in Pakistan        
D. in Australia

4. Which one is true?

A. I was with my parents when the earthquake happened.      
B. The earthquakes in the city of Lahore wasn't serious.
C. People in the City of Lahore were frightened when they knew if was an earthquake.
D. The teachers in Lahore American school were afraid of the earthquake.

     Dr Zhang worked in Gulou Hospital. He had to stay late at the hospital one night to do an operation.
 He finally left at about 11 pm. He drove home slowly because the weather was terrible - the wind was
  strong and it was raining heavily. He was turning into the road when a man suddenly ran in front of his car.
  He almost hit him but the car stopped just in time. He was frightened and the man looked frightened, too. 
  Dr Zhang got out of the car to see whether the man was OK. But the man ran away before Dr Zhang
 could say anything. Dr Zhang felt it was very strange.
     When he got home, the lights were on. He called to his wife but there was no answer. Then he
 remembered that she was at a concert in Nanjing Olympic Centre.
     He was still very upset about what happened on the road. So he made himself a drink. Then he went up
 stairs to have a bath. He saw that the window in the bedroom was open. This was strange because his
 wife always locked the doors and windows before she went out. She was afraid of thieves. When he went
  to close it, he found his wife was lying on the floor. There was blood everywhere. He hurried to her and
 found her dead. He sat beside her body and was too frightened to do anything.
     He phoned the police in the morning. They came half an hour later. Dr Zhang tried hard to remember
 anything he could. He couldn't stop thinking about the man on the road. What was he doing at that time
 of night? Why did he look so frightened? Why did he run away?

1. This story happened   

     A. on a cold morning
     B. on a windy, rainy night
    C. on a summer night
    D. on a rainy morning

2. While Dr Zhang was turning into the road,   .

    A. a man suddenly ran in front of his car
    B. his wife called him from the concert hall
    C. a man stopped him and asked him the way
    D. a man hit his car with a big stone and ran away

3. After Dr Zhang found his wife dead, he   .

    A. called the police at once
    B. called out for help
    C. tried to find out who killed his wife
    D. sat beside his wife's body without knowing what to do

4. Which of the following is NOT true?

    A. Dr Zhang called the police the next morning.
    B. Dr Zhang could remember clearly what had happened.
    C. The police arrived thirty minutes after Dr Zhang's call.
    D. Dr Zhang thought over what the man was doing in the neighbourhood that night.

5. In the end, Dr Zhang might   .

    A. say nothing about his family
    B. remember nothing about what happened that night
    C. tell why his wife was killed that night
    D. believe the man on the road probably killed his wife

     It was a dark night. I saw bright light in my neighbor's kitchen. I thought he could be having a midnight
  snack so I went back to my bed. Soon, there was a burning smell and I thought something must be
 wrong. At once, I jumped out of bed and went downstairs to have a look. I saw a fire (火) coming out of
  my neighbor's kitchen. I shouted "Fire!" But there was no one nearby to hear my shouts for help. I ran
 quickly into my house and called the Fire Department (消防部門) and went back to my neighbor's house.
  I knocked (敲) at the door and called my neighbor's name, but there was no answer. I tried to break into
  the house and saved a cat and a rabbit. I tried to pour water through the kitchen window but it was no
  use, the fire is too big. Luckily, a fire engine (消防車) arrived and the firemen put out the fire.
     When my neighbor came back, he was sad because his kitchen was burnt down, but he thanked me for
  calling the Fire Department and for saving his pets.
     A week later, my neighbor invited me to his home for dinner. At his new kitchen, he took a photo of
 me. Later on, he gave me the photo as a present. It made me very happy.

1. Where did the fire happen?
    _________________________

2. What did the writer run quickly into his house for?
    _________________________

3. What did the writer save from the fire?
    _________________________

4. Who put out the fire?
    _________________________

5. What did the neighbor do a week after the fire?
    _________________________

       A man died and was on his way to another world, either heaven (天堂) or hell (地獄). He saw an
extremely grand palace half way and the owner of the palace asked him to stay and live in the palace. 
       The man said, “I have been working hard during my life and now I just want to eat and sleep without any work.”
       The owner of the palace said, “If so, there is nowhere else better than here for you. There is plenty
of seafood and delicacies (美味佳肴) in my palace, and you can eat whatever you like without anyone
stopping you. And nothing needs to be done by you.” Then, the man settled down (安定) in the palace.
       At the beginning, the man felt very happy at the cycle of eating and sleeping. But gradually, he felt a
bit lonely and void. So he went to the palace owner and said, “It is very bored to live by just eating and
sleeping every day. Now I show no interest in this kind of life any more. Could you help me find a job?”
       The owner replied, “Sorry, there is no job here at all.”
       After another several months, the man could not go on with the life and went to the palace owner
again, “I really can not stand this kind of life any more. If you do not offer me a job, I would prefer to
go to hell instead of living here.”
       The owner of the palace smiled contemptuously (蔑視地), “Do you think it is heaven here? It is
actually hell!”

根據(jù)短文內(nèi)容，選擇最佳選項。

1. The man saw a really grand palace ______.

A. on his way home          
B. on his way to hell    
C. on his way to heaven
D. on his way to another world after his death

2. The man could stay in the palace ______.

A. where he had to work hard                      
B. where he couldn’t eat much food        
C. where he did nothing but eat or sleep
D. where he had no seafood or delicacies to eat

3. The underlined word “void” means “              ” in Chinese.  

A. 活潑的      
B. 空虛的      
C. 困倦的      
D. 激動的