George Wilson had a shop where he sold and repaired watches．

    One day his daughter got married and her husband，James，soon came to work for him．

   “I’ll teach you everything I know about watches．”George told them．

    For the first few weeks，James served the customers，dusted the shelves and learned where everything was in the shop．George was very pleased with him．He worked hard and was polite and helpful to the customers．

    After about six months，James said，“Is there any thing else you want to teach me?”

    “Yes，James，there is，”George said：“It’s time I teach you the secret of our success．”

    “I think I know that，”James said．“You buy watches at one price，and sell them at a higher price．The difference in price is our profit．”

    “That is true，but it is not where we make most of our profit．”George said．

     He picked up a watch from the counter．“What do you think of this watch?”He asked James．

    “That is a cheap watch，”the young man replied．“We don’t make much profit from selling those，perhaps a few dollars each．”

    “That is where you are wrong，young boy．”George said，“Those cheap watches make more profit than any other watch in the shop．”

    “I don’t understand，”James said．

    “Because they are really cheap，they are always breaking，”George told him，“We make our profit from repairing them．”

任務(wù)一：根據(jù)所給的英語(yǔ)解釋?zhuān)瑥奈恼轮姓页鱿鄳?yīng)的單詞。

1．people who buy things from shops                       

2．Something that most people don’t know                   

3．things that people wear on their wrists to tell the time                  

任務(wù)二：用短文中出現(xiàn)的單詞或短語(yǔ)完成下列句子。

4．The father will           when he knows about his son’s progress．

5．Who can tell me the      between the two words“funny”and“interesting”．

People have used pigeons to carry messages to one another for hundreds of years. In the 12th century, the royal palaces of Iraq and Syria included pigeon houses so the kings could be kept informed of their generals’ victories and defeats on the battlefield. In fact, pigeons were a common way to send messages right up through World War II.

Many countries, such as the United States, England, France, Germany, and Italy, in both World War I and World War II, used carrier pigeons. Not only were the birds often the fastest, most reliable way to send messages, they could also be used to reach soldiers far behind enemy lines, where radios and field telephone lines were useless. Since they could easily be released (釋放) from airplanes or ships, every branch of the armed services used the birds. In World War II, more than 3,000 soldiers and 150 officers were needed to care for and train the tens of thousands of birds in the U.S. Pigeon Service.

Carrying messages could be a dangerous job. Some pigeons performed with such bravery that they became famous and were even awarded medals, such as England’s Dicken Medal of Gallantry. In a few cases, pigeons even became prisoners of war. In 1918 American forces captured a pigeon named Kaiser, which had been trained to fly special missions for Germany during battle. He was taken to America, where he lived to the age of 32. The most famous pigeon of all may have been Cher Ami. Stationed in France during World War I, he carried twelve important messages for American forces. On his last mission, though wounded, he carried a message that saved the lives of 194 American soldiers. For his extraordinary service, he was awarded the French “Croix de Guerre.”

Carrier pigeons are a slightly different breed (品種) from the kind of pigeons you see on city streets. They are much thinner and taller, with longer legs. Many people find carrier pigeons ugly because of their big wattle, a bent buildup of skin on the beak（鳥(niǎo)嘴）; however, people who raise pigeons often enjoy this strange appearance and consider carriers the best of their breed.

Today, modern communication methods can carry information from one place to another hundreds of times faster than a pigeon could do. However, few people would argue with the fact that carrier pigeons—especially those that served in the military—have earned their place in history. Stories about brave pigeons such as Cher Ami, President Wilson, and Colonel’s Lady have the power to inspire us as no fax machine or high-speed Internet connection could ever do.

1.Many countries used carrier pigeons in the war because_______.

A．they could be believed in

B．they were easily raised

C．they could reach the enemy lines

D．they could hardly be found by airplanes

2.Which is the best example to show the bravery of carrier pigeons?

A．Carrier pigeons could fly to places where radios and telephone lines were useless.

B．For his extraordinary service, Cher Ami was awarded the French “Croix de Guerre”.

C．In World War II, more than 3,000 soldiers were needed to care for and train the pigeons.

D．In the 12th century, kings in Iraq were kept informed of the victories and defeats by pigeons.

3.From the passage, we can learn _________.

A．how carrier pigeons developed in history

B．how to train carrier pigeons to get victory

C．carrier pigeons played an important role in the wars in the old days

D．pigeons inspired soldiers to fight before high-speed Internet invented

任務(wù)型閱讀。閱讀短文，并回答問(wèn)題。（10分）

　　The Wilsons decided to go overseas for vacation. They had a family meeting(會(huì)議) to plan the vacation. “First,” Mr Wilson said, “we should decide where we are going.”

　　“I don’t agree,” Mrs Wilson said, “I think we should decide when we are going first. We don’t want to go to places when they are cold.” Mr Wilson agreed, so the family’s first decision was when to go on vacation. They decided to go in July.

　　“Now we can decide where to go,” said Mr Wilson.

　　“But, Dad,” Ben said, “don’t you think that where we go depends on how we go? If we plan to fly, we can go a long way. If we plan to drive, we can’t go far.”

　　Again, Mr Wilson agreed, and they discussed this. At last they agreed to travel by plane.

And so the planning meeting went on. The next day, one of Mr Wilson’s friends at work asked, “Where are you going for vacation?”

　　“Well,” Mr Wilson told him, “we are going in summer by plane, but I don’t know where we are going!”

根據(jù)短文內(nèi)容回答下列問(wèn)題。

1.Why did the Wilsons have a family meeting?

2.What did they decide first?

3.When did they decide to go?

4.How did the Wilsons decide to travel?

5.What they didn’t decide？

 The question was once asked of a highly successful businessman,“How have you done so much in your lifetime?”

He replied,“I have   41 .I have turned my mind free to imagine   42  I wanted to do.Then I have gone to bed and thought about my dreams.In the night I dreamt about my dreams.

And when I awoke in the morning,I saw the way   43  my dreams real.White   44  people were saying,‘You can’t do that,it is   45 ,’I was well on my way to achieving what I wanted,”As Woodrow Wilson,28th President of the U.S.,said:“We grow great by dreams.All big men are

  46 .”

They see things in the soft fog of a spring day,or in the red fire   47  a long winter’s evening.Some of us   48  these dreams die,but others feed,protect and look after them;keep them through bad days until they bring them to the sunshine and light,it comes   49  to the people who sincerely hope that their dreams will come true.

So please,don’t let anyone steal you dreams,  50  try to tell you they are too impossible.

“Sing your songs,dream your dreams,and hope your hope.”

1.A.dreamed            B.changed              C.learned

2.A.how                B.what                C.which

3.A.to make             B.to realize             C.to achieve

4.A.another             B.the other              C.other

5.A.possible            B.impossible             C.important

6.A.dreams             B.dreamer               C.dreamers

7.A.on                 B.in                   C.at

8.A.had                 B.let                   C.kept

9.A.never               B.sometimes              C.always

10.A.or                  B.and                   C.but

One day Mrs. Wilson went shopping with Tracy and Ben. They went to the supermarket in the new shopping center.

“Why do you buy things here?” Tracy wanted to know. “Because they are cheaper here than at the corner store near our home,” Mrs. Wilson said�！� Help me check the prices, please.”

The Wilsons were not rich and Mrs. Wilson was always careful with her money. She looked carefully after the prices of things. She bought lots of things in the supermarket. When they got home, the children said,“ We don’t think you saved money by going to the supermarket.”

“Of course I did,” Mrs. Wilson said。. “Everything was cheaper there.” “We know,” the children said,“but we came home by taxi because we had too much to carry. The taxi fare was more than the money that you save! ”

Mrs. Wilson added everything up. Her children were right.

1.The things at the corner store were ______than those in the supermarket.

A．cheaper          B．nicer             C．more expensive    D．saved a little money

2.Mrs. Wilson ______ in the end.

A．spent more money                      B．paid less money

C．lost some money                        D．saved a little money

3.From the passage we know the children were _________.

A．happy            B．clever            C．tired             D．lazy

4.Mrs. Wilson will _____________.

A．never call a taxi

B．go on buying things in the supermarket

C．buy things near her home

D．not go shopping with her children

5.The best title for the passage is ____________.

A．Cutting Price       B．Corner Store       C．Supermarket       D．Shopping