Mark Twain’s First Money
Mark Twain was asked one day if he could remember the first money he ever earned.
He thought a long time and then said , “Yes, it was at school. I can remember everything about it. School boys in those days did not take good care of their chairs and desks. There was a rule in our school that if anyone damaged his desk or chair, he would have to pay five dollars or the teacher would beat him in front of the whole school.”
“One day I damaged my desk in some way, I had to pay five dollars or be beaten before the whole school. My father said it would be too bad to have our family disgraced in front of the whole school. He agreed to give me five dollars to hand over the teacher. But before he gave me the money, he took me upstairs and gave me a beating.”
“But as I had one beating and I decided I would take another beating at school and keep the five dollars. So that’s what I did. That was the first money I ever earned.”Mark Twain earned his first money _________.
| A．when he was a pupil |
| B．when he became a writer |
| C．when he taught at a school |
| D．when he was beaten by his father |
The school made the rule so that they could_____.
| A．teach the students well |
| B．give the students a beating |
| C．keep the desks and chairs well |
| D．ask the students for more money |
Mark Twain’s father______.
| A．was happy to give him the money |
| B．got angry when he knew what Mark Twain had done at school |
| C．said sorry to the teacher when he heard the news |
| D．agreed to beat Mark Twain and then give him the money |
Mark Twain’s father thought if he gave Mark Twain the money______.
| A．he would not be beaten in front of the whole school |
| B．he would go to the school again |
| C．he would never do that again |
| D．he would earn the money |
Mark Twain was beaten_______.
| A．at home | B．only by his father |
| C．at school | D．both at school and at home |
【2014年山东省威海市中考】
阅读下面短文，根据短文内容，从短文后面每小题所给的四个选项中选择最佳答案。（每小题1.5分）
Emily and Alex were happy when their family moved to a house with a very big garden. They could climb up trees, grow flowers and even play badminton. They liked to watch the birds flying among the trees in the garden. They even started to put food out to attract more birds.
Everything was fine for a few days until one afternoon there was a strange bumping noise on a window. Emily went outside and found a small bird dead on the grass. Its neck seemed to be broken.
“It must have flown into the window,” Alex said when his sister Emily called him to have a look. “Ah, yes, look here. You can see the mark where it hit the window. There are a couple of tiny feathers stuck(粘贴) on the window.”
“Poor thing!” Emily said.
During the next month, five more birds died in the same way. “Why would they fly to the windows?” they wondered. Finally they found out the truth. When the birds were flying, they couldn’t see into the rooms. All they saw was the reflection(反射) of the garden. They thought that they were flying into trees because they saw trees reflected by the window.
“Something has to be done to save the birds.” the parents decided.
At first, he family tried keeping curtains（窗帘）across the windows, but this made the room dark. Then they bought some strong black paper and cut out the shape of a hawk. They made six hawks – one for each window. They stuck the hawks to the windows. They looked pretty and did not keep out much light. When the birds saw the hawks, they would fly away.
After that, there were no more dead birds. The family were much happier.
They put food out to attract birds because they .
| A．had a special garden for birds |
| B．wanted to see more birds flying in the garden |
| C．had too much bird food to feed the birds |
| D．wanted to catch some birds in the garden |
birds died in the garden.
| A．4 | B．5 | C．6 | D．7 |
The birds flew to the windows because they .
| A．found the windows very clean |
| B．fought for more food |
| C．thought there were more trees ahead |
| D．wanted to go into the room |
The underlined word “hawk” means .
| A．鹰 | B．丛林 | C．山脉 | D．燕子 |
The story is mainly about .
| A．why the birds died in the garden |
| B．the family were good at paper-cutting |
| C．the family had a very big new house |
| D．how the family saved the birds in the garden |
【2014年江苏省盐城市中考】
阅读下列内容，从每题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中选出一个最佳答案。
My name is Jim. My story begins when an old sailor came to the inn(小旅馆)where I lived with my father. My father was the innkeeper.
“Do many people came here?” the old sailor asked my father.
“No,” my father told him. “It is a very quiet place.”
“Good,” the old sailor said. “Then this is a place for me.”
“And what’s your name, sir?” my father asked him.
“Just call me ‘captain’”, the man said.
He put some gold coins on the table. “Tell me when I have spent all these,” he said.
Not long after he came to the inn, the captain said to me, “Do you want to earn some money?”
“Yes, please,” I answered. I was only a boy at the time and never had any money. “What do you want me to do?”
“Keep watch for a man with one leg.” he said, “Tell me as soon as you see him. Do that and I’ll give you a coin every week.”
At first, the Captain was a very quiet man and did not want to talk to anyone. But there were nights when he drank a lot of rum. Then he talked a lot and became very noisy. He told stories about bad men doing bad things, and he sang the same song over and over again at the top of his voice, “Fifteen men on the dead man’s chest. Yo-hap-ho! And a bottle of rum.”
My father wanted him to leave because some visitors stopped coming to the inn. But, even when the gold was spent, my father didn’t dare to tell him to leave.
Then father became ill, and Dr. Livesey came to see him. After giving my father some medicine, the doctor came into the inn. When the doctor waited for a man to bring his horse. The Captain started singing the same song again.
The doctor asked him to be quiet. “There was a sick man here,” he said angrily.
The Captain took out his knife and pointed it at the doctor.
“Put that knife down, man,” the doctor said. “And if you keep drinking rum, you’ll soon be dead.”
The Captain was very angry. He began to move toward the doctor.
“Keep away from me. If you do anything bad, you’ll be in trouble.” said the doctor.
Then the doctor’s horse came, and he rode away from the inn. For a few days after this, the Captain was quiet.The Captain asked Jim _________.
| A．to give him some money |
| B．to bring him some drinks |
| C．to watch the doctor |
| D．to look for a man with one leg |
The underlined word “rum” in the passage probably means a kind of _________.
| A．tea | B．wine | C．juice | D．soup |
Which is the right order of what happened in the story?
a. Jim’s father got sick.
b. Some visitors stopped coming to the inn.
c. The man told Jim’s father his name.
d. The doctor told the Captain to be quiet and mind his behaviour
e. The Captain gave Jim’s father some coins so he could stay at the inn.
| A．c e a b d | B．c e b a d |
| C．e c b a d | D．e c a d b |
Which of the following might be the best title for the passage?
| A．An Important Visit | B．A Quiet Inn |
| C．An Unwanted Guest | D．A Simple Boy |
【2014年江苏省徐州市中考】
阅读下面短文，从各题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中选出最佳选项。
Mary was waiting for the airplane to take off. She was happy to get a seat by herself. Just then，an air hostess came up to her and asked. "Would you mind changing your seat? A man would like to sit with his wife." The only available seat
was next to a girl with her arms broke, a black-and-blue face, and a sad expression. "I don't want to sit there," Mary thought immediately. But a soft voice spoke, "She needs help." Finally, Mary moved to that seat. The girl was named Emily. She had been in a car accident and now was on her way for treatment.
When the snack and juice arrived, Mary realized that Emily could not feed herself. Mary considered offering to feed her but hesitated（犹豫）, as it seemed too impolite to offer a service to a stranger. But then Mary realized that Emily's need was more important. Mary offered to help her eat. Although Emily was uncomfortable to accept, she agreed . They became closer and closer in a short time. By the end of the five-hour trip, Mary's heart had warmed, and the time was really better spent than if she had just sat by herself.
Mary was very glad that she had sat next to Emily and fed her. Love sometimes goes beyond human borders（边界）and removes the fears that keep people away. When we reach our hands to serve another, we grow to live in a larger and more rewarding world. How did Mary feel at first when an air hostess asked her to change her seat?
| A．She felt glad to do so. |
| B．She went mad with anger. |
| C．She was not willing to do so. |
| D．She was afraid of the man and his wife. |
Why did Emily have a sad expression at the beginning?
| A．She lost her job. |
| B．She suffered from a car accident. |
| C．She met a stranger. |
| D．She disliked the air hostess. |
What do the underlined words "she agreed" mean?
| A．Emily agreed that Mary would help her eat. |
| B．Emily agreed that she would sit next to Mary. |
| C．Emily agreed that Mary would change her seat. |
| D．Emily agreed that she would receive her treatment. |
What is the best title for this passage?
| A．Flying With Strangers | B．Changing Seats |
| C．Learning To Forgive | D．Passing Your Love On |
【2014年江苏省无锡市中考】
阅读下面的短文，然后根据短文内容，在每小题所给的四个选项中选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
Mr. Jones opened a shop in Aston to sell writing-paper, pencils and things like that. During the first month, very few people visited his shop. He sold little,and he could see that he was going to lose money.
One night,Mr.Jones sat bay the fire and was worried after another very bad day. Suddenly he got an idea. He found a piece of wood and wrote to the following notice on it in big letters:
“WHAT DO YOU THINK I GIVE AWAY PENCILS AND PAPER AND INK”
He put up the notice in front of the shop window before he went to bed. He slept better than usual that night.
The following day, many people came to the shop. Mr. Jones said good morning to them all with a bright smile and asked the frist woman what she wanted.
She chose some writing paper and a pencil. As soon as he put them on her hands, she turned to leave the shop.
“That will be thirty cents(美分），please,” he said.
“Why?” she asked in surprise.
“That’s the price of the paper and the pencil.”
“But your notice says it’s free,” she replied.
“Oh no,” he said, “how can I make any money if everything is free?”
She took him outside and showed him the notice “It is wrong,too,”she said. “where is the question mark after the word ‘think’?”
“There isn’t a question mark,”he said.
“But there should be one .”
“I’m afraid you’ve made a mistake,” Mr.Jones said.“You have read my notice in the wrong way.”
“Not at all,” said the woman. “It is quite easy to read. It says: What do you think? I give away pencils and paper and ink!”
“No,” Mr.Jones said. “You should read it like this: And the answer to the question is: Certainly not! So you really have to pay me thirty cents, you see.”
How did Mr.Jones most probably fell that night.?
| A．Confident. | B．Guilty. |
| C．Nervous. | D．Worried. |
Which of the following sentences is the most suitble for the blank in the last paragraph?
| A．What do you think?I give away pencils and paper and ink! |
| B．What?Do you think I give away pencils and paper and ink? |
| C．What do you think I give away?Pencils and paper and ink. |
| D．Ink and paper and pencils away give.I think you do what? |
What can we infer(推断) from the story?
| A．Mr.Jones agreed to let the shoppers get things for free that day. |
| B．People in the town considered Mr.Jones a smart and honest man. |
| C．The woman paid the money unwillingly and left the shop angrily. |
| D．Mr.Jones s trick proved to be a longtime success and he got rich. |
【2014年江苏省宿迁市中考】
Holmes said, “Somebody sent a letter with five pips (桔核) in it from India, and arrived seven weeks later to kill John’s uncle. Then they sent five pips from Scotland and arrived three days later to kill John’s father. Now they have sent five pips to John from London!”
“The letters are all from sea ports (海港). The writer was on a ship when he wrote the letters,” I replied.
“Very good, Watson! And John’s enemy is in London already!”
“Well, I hope they won’t kill young John,” I said.
But they did. The next morning, we read in the newspaper that a policeman found him die near Waterloo station. Holmes was very angry about it.
“He came to me for help and those men murdered him! I’m going to find them, if it’s the last thing I do!” he said to me, and he hurried out of the house.
At night, when he came back, he was tired, but pleased, he said, “I know the names of John’s enemies! And now I’m going to send them a surprise! This will frighten them!” He took five pips from an orange and put them in an envelope (信封). On it he wrote “S. H. for J. C.”
“I’m sending the pips to captain James Calhoun. His ship is called the Star. He and his men are sailing back to Georgia, USA.”
“How did you find him, Holmes?” I asked.
“Ship’s papers,” he said, “I’ve looked at hundreds of them today. Only one ship, the Star, was in the three ports at the right times, this morning the Star left London to sail back to Georgia. I found out that the captain and two of his men, all Americans, weren’t on the ship last night, so I’m sure they killed John. When they arrive in America, they’ll get the pips and then the police will catch them!”
Holmes was ________ about John’s death.
| A．curious | B．angry | C．crazy | D．worried |
The Star left London for ________.
| A．Canada | B．Australia |
| C．India | D．America |
Who do you think the underlined letters “J. C.” stand for?
A. James Calhoun B. James Columbus
C. John Calhoun D. John Columbus
Which order is correct according to the story?
①John came to Holmes for help.
② John received a letter with five pips.
③John was killed.
④ Holmes sent five pips to J. C.
A. ③①④② B. ③④①②
C. ④①③② D. ②①③④
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