Birthdays are strange things. The more you have, the more you try and pretend they don’t matter, and the more     1    . I’m not really sure why they think so. It’s true that you are getting older, but as     2     , “Who isn’t getting older every day?” The problem may be that a birthday reminds people of all the things    3    , but have not. I certainly understand that feeling, though I think     4     that I most want to do — a kind of personal re-ordering （重新排序） of the to-do list. What makes you depressed（郁悶） on your birthday is that you realize your re-ordered to-do list is exactly the same as it was last year. That makes you feel     5     , and not been anywhere. I have not had that experience this year. I look back at where I was last year and find things have changed since then.

Children’s schooling is changing very fast． In the past, teachers kept children sitting still for hours． They made them memorize（記住） different kinds of things． In other words, the children had to go on repeating things until they knew them “by heart”． Today, many want to know if it’s possible to make children learn all．They say they can only help them learn． They say they must let children learn and find out things themselves．  

But for some children, school is a kind of prison（監(jiān)獄）．They are there only because their parents make them go．They get out of the classroom as soon as the teacher lets them leave．Many of them want to find work, but the law will not let them work until they reach a certain age．And so, they have to stay in school． Often they do not learn anything at all and hate school every moment．

1． The word “schooling” in the passage means          ．

    A． 學(xué)費(fèi)                     B． 教育            C． 鍛煉              D． 訓(xùn)練

2．Which of the following has the same meaning to“go on repeating”?

    A． read and write                                    B． read or write once

    C． read or write twice                             D． read or write again and again

3． Now, the teachers try their best to          ．

    A． make their students learn more in class

    B． teach their students how to learn themselves

    C． make their students do everything they say

    D． ask their students to do more exercises after class

4． Some children hate schools because          ．

    A． they hope to spend much time reading

    B． their teachers aren’t friendly to them 

    C． they regard them as prisons

    D． they are angry with their classmates

5．          , so they want to stop to find work．

    A． Some children need some money

    B． Some children dislike staying in school

    C． Some children fall behind their classmates

    D． Some children come from poor families

If you watch the sky about an hour after the sun goes down, you may see some “moving stars” ．But they’re not real stars．They are man-made satellites．And the biggest of all is the International Space Station（ISS國際空間站）．

From now until July is the best season to watch the ISS flying over the earth, and people can see it just with their eyes．The ISS is the biggest man-made satellite because scientists want to live on it．They think that the best way to learn more about space is to live there．

When the space station is finished, it will be like a city in space．People will stay an study there with many of the things they have at home．Laboratories, living rooms and power stations are being built．The ISS is the most ambitious（雄心勃勃） and expensive space program ever．Billions of dollars are being spent on it every year．

Scientists hope that the ISS will be a stepping-stone（墊腳石） for future space explanation．“The ISS will help us better understand the human body, explore space and study the earth, It can help us make life on the earth better,” said Kathryn Clark , an ISS scientist．

China is not an ISS country, but it has helped with some of the experiments．China sent some rice up to the ISS to find out what space would do to it．

The ISS is not finished yet．More than 100 parts need to be put on．Scientists hope it will be finished as soon as possible．After it’s finished, more than 90%of the world’s population will be able to see the Space Station．So keep looking up, and maybe you’ll see it get bigger．

1．The ISS is ______．

       A．a(chǎn) world power station                                 B．a(chǎn) man-made satellite

       C．a(chǎn)n outer space moving star                          D．a(chǎn) stepping-stone to the sun

2．You can watch the International Space Station with your eyes _________．

       A．a(chǎn)n hour before sunset                                  B．while flying on the earth

C．in a special room                                        D．from now till July

3．The ISS is in fact regarded as _______ for space exploration．

       A．a(chǎn) laboratory            B．a(chǎn) city                      C．a(chǎn) living room           D．a(chǎn) museum

4．The passage tells us that ________．

       A．China belongs to the ISS

       B．to build the ISS will cost less in the future

       C．China did some research on wheat through the ISS

       D．the best way to learn more about space is to live on the ISS

Maybe you always wonder why your pocket money disappears（消失）so quickly．Well，this may be because you don’t have a budget．If you try a budget for your pocket money, you will find you can stop your money from going so fast．

    A budget is a careful plan to control（控制）where your money goes．Reasonable（合理的）budget can help you spend your money reasonably． 

  Sounds useful? Look at the following before you start your budget：

    Every day there are things you have to pay for, like school lunches and buses．There are also things you would like to spend money on just for fun! All these are your daily expenses（開銷）．

    Since you can’t have money for everything, you have to make choices．you need to ask if you really need something or just want it．Needs are what you must have in order to live，like food and water．Wants are things you would like to have or do，but not necessary ,for example．CDs and cartoons．

    When making a budget，you should first make it clear that how much money you have and how much money you must spend on needs，and then think over how to deal with the left-if there is.

So keep an eye on your budget．Your needs may change into wants，or your Wants may.change into needs．

（   ）1．If you want to stop your money from going fast，you should make

A．needs              B．a(chǎn) list           C．a(chǎn) change             D．a(chǎn) budget

（   ）2．You couldn’t live without

A．needs             B．wants         C．plans                D．hopes

（   ）3．The money you pay for________ is your expense

A．something                                      B．a(chǎn)nything       

C．something necessary                                D．a(chǎn)nything interesting

（   ）4．The passage is probably written for

A．babies           B．teachers       B．boys                D．students

（   ）5．The best title for the passage is________

A．Money                                           B．Needs or Wants    

C．Control Your Spending                      D．Spend Your Money