By the age of almost four,  Elijah Edney has never had a haircut in his life.  But now he can ' t wait to visit the barber's  -  for two reasons: losing his two - foot - long golden hair will mean   that strangers stop mistaking him for a girl; the hair will be donated to charity to provide a wig   (假發(fā)) for a child with cancer.
Mrs.  Edney, who works in a restaurant, says, "Elijah has always had beautiful hair, so I let him grow it as he w8nted.  It' s like silk.  But now it is at a stage where people mistake him for a  girl and he wants it cut into a boy's haircut. "
Mrs.  Edney and her husband want to collect enough money-£350-to process Elijah's hair  for a sick child.  She says,  "I couldn't bear to see all Elijah's beautiful hair go to waste and my  mum mentioned charities that have human hair made into wigs. "
Mrs. Edney says, "If we can raise the amount we want, it will mean a family will not have   to pay for the wig and can receive it for free.  When you've got children yourself, you hope that if  they lost their hair someone would do the same for them by donating their hair. "
The two-foot-long hair will be donated to the Little Princess Trust (小公主信托基金)  to  make a wig for children suffering cancer. Elijah keeps telling people he is giving his hair to poor  princesses and he is so excited about it.
A spokesman for the Little Princess Trust says, "We're very grateful to anyone who decides   to have their hair cut to donate it to the Little Princess Trust. As a result of hair donations like  this, the charity receives real-hair wigs for free to pass on to families whose children have sadly  lost their own hair through cancer treatment. "
【小題1】Why has Mrs.  Edney let Elijah's hair grow so long?

A．Because Elijah has beautiful hair.

B．Because she likes long hair.

C．Because Elijah looks nice with long hair.

D．Because she wants to donate his hair to charity.

【小題2】Who first thought of charities that use human hair?

A． Elijah's father.	B． Elijah's mother.
C． Elijah himself.	D． Elijah's grandmother.

【小題3】Elijah's parents try to raise money to _________.

A．pay the barber for his work

B．process his hair into a wig

C．give the Little Princess Trust along with a wig

D．give a child who lost his hair through cancer treatment

【小題4】What does Elijah think of his hair being given to a charity?

A．He doesn't care about it.	B．He wants to keep it a secret.
C．He is excited about it.	D．He feels sad for poor children.

【小題5】According to the last paragraph, the Little Princess Trust________.

A．encourages people to cut their hair to donate it

B．welcomes and gives thanks for such donations

C．gives free wigs to children who have lost their hair

D．provides treatment for children with cancer

A mouse looked through a crack in the wall to see the farmer and his wife opening a package: What food might it contain? He was astonished to discover that it was a mouse trap!
Retreating to the farmyard, the mouse declared the warning, “There is a mouse trap in the house, there is a mouse trap in the house.”
The chicken clucked and scratched, raised her head and said, “Mr Mouse, I can tell you this is a grave concern to you, but it is of no consequence to me, I cannot be bothered by it.”
The mouse turned to the pig and told him, “There is a mouse trap in the house.” “I am so sorry, Mr Mouse,” sympathized the pig, “but there is nothing I can do about it but pray; be assured that you are in my prayers.”
The mouse turned to the cow, who replied, “A mouse trap, am I in grave danger, huh?”
So the mouse returned to the house, head down and depressed to face the farmer’s mouse trap alone.
That very night a sound was heard throughout the house, like the sound of a mouse trap catching its prey. The farmer’s wife rushed to see what was caught. In the darkness, she did not see that it was an evil snake whose tail the trap had caught. The snake bit the farmer’s wife. The farmer rushed her to the hospital. She returned home with a fever. Now everyone knew to treat a fever with fresh chicken soup, so the farmer took his hatchet to the farmyard for the soup’s main ingredient. His wife’s sickness continued so that friends and neighbors came to sit with her around the clock. To feed them, the farmer butchered the pig. The farmer’s wife did not get well, in fact, she died, and so many people came for her funeral. The farmer had the cow slaughtered to provide meat for all of them to eat.
So the next time you hear that someone is facing a problem and think that it does not concern you, remember that when the least of us is threatened, we are all at risk.
【小題1】We may infer that the passage is most probably a ______.

A．fairy tale (神話)

B．Fable (寓言)

C．science fiction

D．news report

【小題2】We could see from the passage that the mouse was ______.

A．kind and warm-hearted	B．well-informed
C．good at cheating others	D．foolish and rude

【小題3】 The underlined word “ingredient” (Paragraph 7) refers to ______.

A．the mouse

B．the pig

C．the snake

D．the chicken

【小題4】What can we learn from the story?

A．Better safe than sorry.

B．Traps are usually well disguised.

C．To help others is just to save you.

D．To keep the balance of nature is the duty of us all.

A man was selling medicine at a fair（集市）．At first he sold bottles of a cure（藥劑）for colds（感冒）for just a dollar a bottle．
Many people wanted to buy it and the man's young assistant moved quickly through the crowd collecting money and handing out bottles of the cure．
Then，when he had a big crowd， the man held up a very small bottle．
“And now，ladies and gentlemen，he shouted，“Here is the medicine you have been waiting for．The cure for old age．Drink just one bottle of this and you will live forever．
“And，ladies and gentlemen，the man continued，“I'm not going to charge（向……要價(jià)……）you a hundred dollars a bottle for this wonderful medicine．I'm not going to charge you fifty dollars a bottle．I'm not going to charge you twenty-five dollars a bottle．Now，ladies and gentlemen，I'm going to charge you just ten dollars a bottle． Think，my friends，for ten dollars you can live forever．
Most of the people in the crowd did not believe this．
One person shouted，“If it can make you live forever，why don't you drink it？Then another person cried，“Yes， you look as if you're at least sixty years old．
“Thank you，sir，thank you，the man answered，“I'm so glad you said that． My real age is three hundred and twenty-nine．
The crowd laughed at this but there were still some people who wanted to believe the man ．One of them spoke to the man's assistant as she passed by，“Is that true？he asked．“Is he three hundred and twenty-nine？
“Don't ask me，the assistant said，“I've only worked for him for a hundred and fifty years．
【小題1】What did the man sell at first at the fair？   

A．bottles

B．a(chǎn) cure for colds

C．a(chǎn) cure for old age

D．a(chǎn) medicine that made people live forever

【小題2】How much did the man charge for the cure for old age？

A．one dollar a bottle	B．twenty-five dollars a bottle
C．fifty dollars a bottle	D．ten dollars a bottle

【小題3】What does the word “assistant” mean in this passage？

A．仆人

B．朋友

C．助手

D．同伴

【小題4】What does this passage really mean？

A．The man is not honest，and so is his assistant

B．The cure for old age is very useful and not so expensive． ．

C．The cheaper the medicine is，the more people will buy．

D．The two men are very honest，and they would like to help people live forever．

My favorite English teacher could draw humor out of the driest material. It wasn’t forced on us either. He took Samuel Johnson’s dictionary, Addison’s essays, and many other literary wonders from the eighteenth century and made them hilarious, even at eight o’clock in the morning. The thing that amazed me most was that the first time I read these works on my own, some of them seemed dead, but the second time, after his explanation, I couldn’t believe that I hadn’t seen the humor. The stories and poems and plays were suddenly filled with allusions(典故) and irony and hilarious moments. I learned more from him than from any other teacher.
My least favorite English teacher also made people laugh. Some students found him to be wonderfully funny. Many others did not. He assigned journals over a six-week period, to be written every day. At the end of the six weeks I had a notebook full of bits and pieces about my ideas, short stories, reactions to what we had read, and so on. Our teacher announced that we would be grading each other’s journals. Mine was passed to Joe, that class clown, who always behaved in a funny or silly way. He saw it fit to make a joke of and said, “This writing isn’t fit to line the bottom of a birdcage.” Our teacher laughed at that funny remark. It hurt me so much that the anger from it has driven my writing and teaching ever since.
So what makes the difference? Humor is one of the most powerful tools teachers or writers have. It can build up students and classes and make them excited about literature and writing, or it can tear them apart. It is true that humor is either productive or counter-productive and self-defeating.
【小題1】The passage mainly discusses ________.

A．teaching

B．literature

C．humor

D．knowledge

【小題2】The underlined word “hilarious” in Paragraph 1 probably means ________.

A．funny

B．tiring

C．inspiring

D．brilliant

【小題3】The English teacher the writer disliked most ________.

A．was not able to make students laugh	B．hurt his student’s feelings
C．didn’t let his students do the grading	D．had no sense of humor

She may have lacked a home, but now this teen has top honors.
A 17-year old student who spent much of high school living around homeless shelters and sometimes sleeping in her car-today graduated and spoke on behalf of her class at Charles Drew High School in Clayton County, Ga.，just outside of Atlanta.
Chelsea Fearce, who held a 4.466 GPA and scored 1，900 on her SATs despite having to use her cellphone to study after the shelter lights were turned off at night.
"I know I have been made stronger. I was homeless. My family slept on cushions on the floor and we were lucky if we got more than one full meal a day. Getting a shower, food and clean clothes was an everyday struggle,” Fearce said in a speech she gave at her graduation ceremony. Fearce overcame her day-to-day struggles by focusing on a better day. "I just told myself to keep working, because the future will not be like this anymore, she told WSBTV.
Fearce，one of five children, grew up in a family that sometimes had an apartment to live in, but at other times had to live in homeless shelters or even out of their car, if they had one. "You're worried about your home life and then worried at school. Worry about being a little hungry sometimes and go hungry sometimes. You just have to deal with it, You eat what you can, when you can.”
To our surprise, Fearce overcame the difficulties and even tested high enough to be ad- mitted into college halfway through her high school career. She starts college next year at Spelman College as a junior where she is planning to study biology, pre-"med（醫(yī)學(xué)預(yù)科），"Don't give up. Do what you have to do right now so that you can have the future that you want,”Fearce said.
【小題1】Which of the following is the best title of the passage?

A．So Many Homeless Students in America

B．How Does a Homeless Student Live in Society?

C．The Hardship of Fearce and Her Family in America

D．Homeless Teen Graduates as a Speaker of High School Class

【小題2】How did Fearce go on with her study without access to lights?

A．By the car light.	B．By her cellphone.
C．By lights out of shelters.	D．By moonlight.

【小題3】When Fearce starts college at Spelman College, she will＿_(dá)_．

A．have graduated earlier from high school than normal

B．be a 17-year-old student from a poor family

C．have a home without sleeping in her car or shelters

D．have raised enough money to go to college

【小題4】From the passage, we can learn that＿_(dá)_．

A．SAT is easy for the students of high schools

B．Fearce's parents have six children to support

C．Fearce often had to struggle with starvation

D．Fearce gave a speech at a ceremony of Spelman College

【小題5】What can we learn from Fearce's experience?

A．Knowledge can change your fate.

B．Don't give up, and tomorrow will be better.

C．Whatever is worth doing is worth doing well.

D．He that will not work shall not eat.

"When I look back on my childhood I wonder how I survived at all. It was, of course, a miserable childhood. The happy childhood is hardly worth your while. "Worse than the ordinary miserable childhood is the miserable Irish childhood. And worse yet is the miserable Irish Catholic childhood." That was Frank McCourt reading the opening lines of his book Angela's Ashes, released in 1996.
This Irish American author best known for the Pulitzer Prize-winning autobiography Angela's Ashes that recorded his poor upbringing, died of cancer on Sunday, The New York Times reported. He was 78.
Born in New York City, he was the eldest of the seven children born to Irish immigrant parents. Angela's Ashes was a memoir(回憶錄)that captured an irresponsible, drunkard(酒鬼)father with a gift for story-telling. When not drunk, his father was absent, turning his back on a family so poor, McCourt wrote, that they were reduced to burning the furniture in their rented hut to keep warm. His mother struggled to raise her many children after his father left the family.
In Angela's Ashes, he wrote of hunger, a home flooded with rainwater and the unbearable humiliation(恥辱)of seeking handouts from charities in the Irish city. But he told the story in a way that is expressive, warm and light-hearted.
Frank McCourt left Ireland at the age of 19 to return to New York City where he was born. He earned a degree in English education and taught creative writing for nearly thirty years. After retiring in 1987, he decided to write about his childhood. "Angela's Ashes" became a huge success and brought McCourt a 1997 Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Critics Circle Award and other honors. Millions of copies of the book were sold worldwide and it was adapted into a 1999 movie starring Emily Watson and Robert Carlyle.
【小題1】In the first paragraph, by saying "The happy childhood is hardly worth your while", the writer really means that ________.

A．a(chǎn) lot of readers don't deserve happy childhood

B．his childhood is not worth of others' sympathy

C．his childhood is mixed with happiness and misery

D．smooth childhood surely will not draw readers' attention

【小題2】From the passage, we know Frank McCourt's father is ________.

A．humorous and trustworthy

B．a(chǎn)lcohol-addicted but loves his family

C．poor but warm-hearted

D．irresponsible but gifted in telling stories

【小題3】Which of the statements about the book “Angela’s Ashes” is right?

A．This book is intended to show respect to McCourt’s father.

B．The author wrote the book in a sad and serious tone(語(yǔ)調(diào)).

C．The book enjoyed great popularity after it came out.

D．The author got two awards because of the book.

【小題4】 What's the text mainly about?

A．A brief introduction to Frank McCourt and one of his works.

B．A literary review(評(píng)論) on Frank McCourt's book.

C．An account of Frank McCourt's miserable childhood.

D．A comment on Frank McCourt's life experience.

A couple had a son eleven years after they married. They were a loving couple and the boy was the apple of their eye. When the boy was around four years old, one day the father was very tired after work so he asked his wife to pick up their son. The mother, who was very busy in the kitchen, totally forgot about it.
Later the boy lost his way on the street. When the son was found missing, the mother hurried to look for him, but she didn’t find him. The mother felt very sad and didn’t know how to face her husband.
When the father went to the police station after hearing that the son was missing, he looked at his wife and said just four words. What do you think the four words were? The husband just said "I love you, darling."
The son was missing. If she had picked him up earlier, this would not have happened. There is no point in blaming (責(zé)備) anyone. His wife had also lost her only child. What his wife needed at that moment was comfort and understanding from her husband. That is what the husband gave his wife. Several weeks later, with the help of the police, the couple finally found their lost son. The family’s relationship became stronger over that time.
Sometimes we spend lots of time asking who is to blame. We miss many chances to give each other support and let each other feel the warmth of human relationships. Get rid of all your unwillingness to forgive, selfishness, and fears and you will find the world is much more wonderful.
【小題1】What is the meaning of the underlined phrase “the apple of their eye”

A．A person who always has a sweet smile in their opinion.

B．A person who is as pretty as an apple in their opinion.

C．A person who is loved more than anyone else in their opinion.

D．A person who looks like an apple in their opinion.

【小題2】Why didn’t the father pick the boy up himself?

A．He was very lazy.

B．He thought the mother had picked him up.

C．He forgot to pick him up.

D．He was too tired to do it.

【小題3】What can we learn from this passage?

A．Be careful in everything you do.	B．Love is the most important thing.
C．Learn to forgive others.	D．Everyone can make mistakes.

【小題4】What do you think of the husband?

A．Warm-hearted.

B．Careful.

C．Hard-working.

D．Broad-minded.

Harry Houdini was one of the greatest American entertainers in the theater this century. He was a man famous for his escapes from prison cells, from wooden boxes floating in rivers, from locked tanks full of water. He appeared in theaters all over Europe and America. Crowds came to see the great Houdini and his “magic” tricks.
Of course, his secret was not magic or supernatural power. It was simply strength. He had the ability to move his toes as well as he moved his fingers. He could move his body into almost any position he wanted.
Houdini started working in the entertainment world when he was 17, in 1891. He and his brother Theo performed card tricks in clubs in New York. They called themselves the Houdini Brothers. When Harry married in 1894, he and his wife Bess worked together as magician and assistant. But for a long time they were not very successful. Then Harry performed his first prison escape in Chicago in 1898. Harry persuaded a detective to let him try to escape from the prison, and he invited the local newspapermen to watch.
It was the publicity (宣傳) that came from this that started Harry Houdini’s success. Harry had fingers trained to escape from handcuffs and toes trained to escape from ankle chains. But his biggest secret was how he unlocked the prison doors. Every time he went into the prison cell, Bess gave him a kiss for good luck and a small skeleton key, which is a key that fits many locks. She passed it quickly from her mouth to his.
Harry used these prison escapes to build his fame. He arranged to escape from the local prison of every town he visited. In the afternoon, the people of the town would read about it in their local newspapers, and in the evening every seat in the local theater would be full. What was the result? Worldwide fame and a name remembered today.
【小題1】According to the passage, Houdini’s success in prison escapes depends on ______.

A．his special tricks and supernatural powers

B．his unusual ability and skeleton key

C．his magic tricks and supernatural powers

D．his wisdom and magic tricks

【小題2】 It can be inferred from the passage that Houdini became famous ______ .

A．in 1894	B．before he married
C．a(chǎn)t the age of 17	D．when he was 24

【小題3】According to the passage, which of the following statements is NOT true?                         

A．Houdini was a famous American magician.

B．Houdini was first recognized in Chicago.

C．Houdini first entered the entertainment world together with his wife.

D．Houdini was popular with people from Europe and America.

【小題4】 Which of the following is the best title for the passage?

A．A Skeleton Key	B．A Secret Prisoner
C．Worldwide Fame	D．Great Escapes

O. Henry was a pen name used by an American writer of short stories. His real name was William Sydney Porter. He was born in North Carolina in 1862. As a young boy he lived an exciting life. He did not go to school for very long, but he managed to teach himself everything he needed to know. When he was about 20 years old, O. Henry went to Texas, where he tried different jobs. He first worked on a newspaper, and then had a job in a bank, when some money went missing from the bank O. Henry was believed to have stolen it. Because of that, he was sent to prison. During the three years in prison, he learned to write short stories. After he got out of prison, he went to New York and continued writing. He wrote mostly about New York and the life of the poor there. People liked his stories, because simple as the tales were, they would finish with a sudden change at the end, to the reader’s surprise.
【小題1】In which order did O. Henry do the following things?
a. Lived in New York.   b. Worked in a bank.        c. Travelled to Texas.
d. Was put in prison.    e. Had a newspaper Job.      f. Learned to write stories.

A．c. e. b. d. f. a

B．e. c. f. b. d. a

C．e. b. d. c. a. f.

D．c. b. e. d. a f.

【小題2】People enjoyed reading O. Henry’s stories because

A．they had surprise endings	B．they were easy to understand
C．they showed his love for the poor	D．they were about New York City

【小題3】O. Henry went to prison because        .

A．people thought he had stolen money that was not his

B．he broke the law by not using his own name

C．he wanted to write stories about prisoners

D．people thought he had taken money from the newspaper

【小題4】What do we know about O. Henry before he began writing?

A．He was well-educated.	B．He was not serious about his work.
C．He was devoted to the poor.	D．He was very good at learning.

【小題5】Where did O. Henry get most material for his short stories?

A．His life inside the prison.	B．The newspaper articles he wrote.
C．The city and people of New York.	D．His exciting early life as a boy.

Most Chinese people these days know what it is like to have an “English teacher”, since almost all pupils study English from their third year. Usually that first English teacher will be a young and lovely lady in primary school. But my first English teacher is no other than my father. Looking back, I can see that, when I was only a little girl, he created an English environment by providing me with flashcards，fun English- language toys and even dolls which can sing English songs! My interest in English had certainly been awakened (喚起) when I began to learn English at school. Just imagine, he went a step further and asked me to learn New Concept English by myself! I was puzzled and even angry. I could not understand why a father could be so strict with his little girl. All the same, he never gave up and he gently insisted that I follow through with his idea. At first, I read stories with tears and I actually hated them because they were too difficult for me. In the end, I came to love the funny stories and, to be honest, my father was always there with a helping hand. I am sure that my English would never have got so far without his support. And that’s why my father is not only my first English teacher but also my lifelong teacher. He is one who awoke my interest, and who gave me much confidence .
【小題1】Most pupils in China begin to learn English________.

A．in primary school

B．from parents

C．a(chǎn)t three years old

D．a(chǎn)t home

【小題2】The underline part ”no other than my father” in the passage probably means________.

A．like my father

B．not my father

C．my father himself

D．not only my father

【小題3】From the whole passage we can see that________.

A．the girl preferred playing to learning English

B．the girl hates her father because he was strict

C．the girl is very thankful to her father

D．the father gave up after knowing his daughter could not understand

【小題4】Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?

A．The girl’s father is her first English teacher.

B．The girl had been interested in English before going to school.

C．The girl’s father was always ready to help her with her English.

D．The girl could have learned English well by herself without her father.

【小題5】What would be the best title for the passage?

A．How I learned English at school

B．My father---my first and lifelong English teacher

C．The relationship between my father and me

D．I’ve made progress in English learning