In a small village in England about 150 years ago, a mail coach ( 邮车 ) was standing on the street . It didn’t come to that village often . People had to pay a lot to get a letter . The person who sent the letter didn’t have to pay the postage (邮资 ) , while the receiver had to .
“Ｈere’s a letter for Miss Alice Brown , ” said the mailman .
“ Ｉ’m Alice Brown , ” a girl of about 18 said in a low voice .
Alice looked at the envelope（信封） for a minute , and then handed it back to the mailman .
“ Ｉ＇m sorry I can’t take it , I don’t have enough money to pay it＂, she said .
A gentleman standing around were very sorry for her . Then he came up and paid the postage for her .
When the gentleman gave the letter to her , she said with a smile , “ Thank you very much ,This letter is from Tom . I’m going to marry him . He went to London to look for work . I’ve waited a long time for this letter , but now I don’t need it , there is nothing in it .”
“ Really ? How do you know that ? ” the gentleman said in surprise .
“ He told me that he would put some signs on the envelope . Look ,sir ,this cross in the corner means that he is well and this circle means he has found work . That’s good news .”
The gentleman was Sir Rowland Hill . He didn’t forgot Alice and her letter .
“ The postage to be paid by the receiver has to be changed ,” he said to himself and had a good plan .
“ The postage has to be much lower , what about a penny (便士 ) ? And the person who sends the letter pays the postage . He has to buy a stamp and put it on the envelope .” he said .
The government accepted his plan . Then the first stamp was put out in 1840 . It was called the “ Penny Black “ . It had a picture of the Queen on it .
The first postage stamp was made ___________ .
| A．in England | B．in America |
| C．by Alice | D．in 1910 |
The girl handed the letter back to the mailman because ______________ .
| A．she didn’t know whose letter it was |
| B．she had no money to pay the postage |
| C．she received the letter but she didn’t want to open it |
| D．she had already known what was written in the letter |
We can know from Alice’s words that _________________ .
| A．Tom had told her what the signs meant before leaving |
| B．Alice was clever and could guess the meaning of the signs |
| C．Alice had put the signs on the envelope herself |
| D．Tom had put the signs as Alice had told him to |
The idea of using stamps was thought of by __________________ .
| A．the government | B．Sir Rowland Hill |
| C．Alice Brown | D．Tom |
From the passage we know the high postage made _____________ .
| A．People never send each other letters |
| B．lovers almost lose every touch with each other |
| C．people try their best to avoid(避免) paying it |
| D．receivers refuse to pay the coming letters |
You want to know about my staying in America, right? Well, to tell you the truth, it is really an eye-opening experience to study here.
In China, I had English classes five times a week since fifth grade. However, I didn’t know how different textbook English could be from everyday English until I came to Hotchkiss School, Connecticut.
When I first studied English, I was told to say, “I am fine.” when people say “How are you?” But in the US, I found that people say, “I am good.” or “I’m tired.”
One day, someone greeted me with “What’s up?” It made me confused(不知所措). I thought for a moment and then smiled because I didn’t know what to say.
Since then, I have discovered more and more differences between Chinese and US cultures.
To my surprise, US girls spend a lot of time in the burning sun to get a tan(晒黑). However, in China, girls try every possible way to get their skin paler, or “whiter”.
I was also surprised by how hard-working US students are.
In China, schoolwork is almost everything, so we study hard and that’s it. But here, a “good” student gets good grades, does a lot for the public and plays sports or music.
The kids here are so talented, I am starting to be sorry that I gave up playing the piano at an early age and that I have never thought about sports.
| A．4 | B．5 | C．6 | D．7 |
| A．quite different from | B．the same as | C．more difficult than | D．easier than |
| A．He thought for a moment and smiled | B．He greeted with “What?” |
| C．He didn’t how to say | D．He was surprised |
| A．only in doing homework |
| B．only on sports or music |
| C．only in working for the public |
| D．on studies, sports or music and public work |
| A．The writer is now staying in the US. |
| B．American girls love to have white skin. |
| C．The US students are hard-working. |
| D．Schoolwork is almost everything in China. |
Mo Yan, a well-known Chinese writer, won the Nobel Prize for literature(文学) in 2012. He was also the first Chinese writer who got this prize in history. When he was interviewed, he said he was only a normal person who could tell stories. He especially thanked his mother. He thought his mother had a strong influence on him.
Mo Yan was born in a poor family in China’s rural area. When he was young, he was a little bit shy because he thought he wasn’t good-looking. His classmates often played jokes on his look. That made him very upset. His mother encouraged him to face the fact bravely. She told him not to look down on himself. She said it didn’t matter if a person didn’t have a good look and it was important to work hard and never give up. She hoped that his son would be a useful person in society.
Mo Yan didn’t let her mother down. He worked hard at writing. He wrote many famous novels, such as Hong Gao Liang(《红高粱》)and Wa(《娃》). His success tells us a truth,“Nobody can beat you unless you beat yourself.”Hold on to your dream and your dream will come true in the end.
| A．In 2010. | B．Last year. | C．In 2013. | D．Last month. |
| A．to be interviewed about the Nobel Prize for Literature |
| B．to be a normal person who could tell stores |
| C．to win the Nobel Prize for literature |
| D．to be influenced strongly by his mother |
| A．Because he was poor. |
| B．Because he couldn’t tell stories. |
| C．Because his classmates often laughed at his look. |
| D．Because he didn’t work hard. |
| A．Working hard. | B．Money. | C．A good job. | D．A good look. |
| A．Mo Yan’s classmates were friendly to him. |
| B．Mo Yan was born in a rich family. |
| C．Mo Yan won the Nobel Prize for peace. |
| D．Mo Yan’s mother helped him a lot. |
An old porter (搬运工人) had worked for the railway for a very long time. One morning he was standing in one of the big railway stations and waiting for travelers to ask him to help them with their luggage, when he saw a small man running toward the trains with a big bag in his hand.
The porter watched the man for a few seconds, and the man saw the porter.
At once the small man ran up the porter and said, “Can I catch the 10:35 train to London, porter?” He was breathing very fast, and he seemed worried.
The old porter looked at him for a moment and then said with a smile, “Well, sir, I’d like to help you, but I can’t answer your question because I don’t know how fast you can run along rails. You see,” he explained, “the 10:35 train to London left five minutes ago.”The old porter’s job was _______
| A．to stand in the railway station |
| B．to answer the traveler’s question |
| C．to help the travelers carry their luggage |
| D．to ask the travelers to help him |
The small man looked worried, because _______.
| A．he couldn’t run so fast as the train |
| B．he wondered if he could catch the 10:35 train to London |
| C．the porter watched him for a few seconds |
| D．he lost his bag |
At the end of the story, the porter _______.
| A．played a joke on the small man |
| B．told the small man when he could catch the train |
| C．helped the samll man to catch the train |
| D．told the small man there was no 10:35 train to London |
When the porter told the man the train had left, the time was _______
A 10:40 B. 10:35 C. 10:30 D. 10:45
Dear Mrs. Smith,
I was a student of yours in Grade Six, and I hope you still remember me. I’m writing this letter because I want to let you know that the school year with you was important and special to me. It made a great contribution(贡献) to my life.
I know I was very quiet in your class, and you never said much to me. But you did something that made a big difference in my life. You see, all through my first years in schools. I hated to read. Books were just words that had very little to do with me, and I was bored by them. I’ll never forget the first day of Grade Six when you took out a thick book and began to read the story to our class. Your voice seemed to change with the people in the story, and you drew pictures in my mind as you read aloud. Since that day, I couldn’t wait until after lunch when you would read to the class. You read us all kinds of wonderful books.
During the summer after my year in your class, I missed hearing the stories you would read. So one day I picked up a book and read it all on my own. I found out that I could make the words interesting, too. Now, I love to read! Thank you for opening the world of books for me.
Yours,
Linda This letter is about a girl saying “ ” to a teacher.
| A．Happy Teachers’ Day | B．Thank you |
| C．Goodbye | D．Sorry |
Linda was not sure if Mrs. Smith could remember her because at school
| A．she wasn’t a good student. | B．she wasn’t good at all her lessons |
| C．she had few words | D．she liked reading |
Mrs. Smith got Linda .
| A．to enjoy reading | B．to enjoy drawing pictures |
| C．to write books | D．to read aloud |
Which is not true in the story?
| A．The teacher often said much to Linda. |
| B．The teacher did something important in Linda’s life. |
| C．The teacher opened the world of books for Linda. |
| D．The teacher read them all kinds of wonderful books. |
“Cool” is a word with many meanings. Its old meaning is used to express (表示) a temperature that is a little bit cold. As the world has changed, the word has had many different meanings. “Cool” can be used to express feelings of interest in almost everything.
When you see a famous car in the street, maybe you will say. “It’s cool.” You may think “He’s so cool,”when you see your favorite football player.
We all maximize(扩大)the meaning of “cool”. You can use it instead of many words, such as “new” or “surprising”. Here’s an interesting story we can use to show the way the word is used. A teacher asked her student to write about the waterfall(瀑布) they had visited. On the student’s paper was just the one sentence, “It’s so cool.”Maybe he thought it was the best way to show what he saw and felt.
But the story also shows a scarcity(缺乏)of words. Without “cool”, some people have no words to show the same meaning. So it is quite important to keep some credibility(可信性).Can you think of many other words that make your life as colorful as the word “cool”? I can. And I think they are also very cool.In the passage, the word “express” means “_______”.
| A．see | B．show | C．know | D．feel |
If you are ________ something, you may say,“It’s cool.”
| A．interested in | B．angry about |
| C．worried about | D．unhappy with |
The writer takes an example to show he is ________ the way the word is used.
| A．pleased with | B．strange to |
| C．worried about | D．unhappy with |
In the passage, the writer suggests(暗示)that the word “cool”___________.
| A．can be used instead of many words |
| B．usually means something interesting |
| C．can make your life colorful |
| D．may not be as cool as it seems |
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