During the summer holidays there will be...

The Great Fire of London started in the very early hours of September 2, 1666. In four days it destroyed more than three-quarters of the old city, where most of the houses were wooden and close together. Over one hundred people became homeless, but only a few lost their lives .

　　The fire started on Sunday morning in the house of the King’s baker（面包师）in Pudding Lane. The baker, with his wife and family, was able to get out through a window into the roof. A strong wind blew the fire from the bakery（面包房）into a small hotel next door. Then it spread quickly into Thames Street. That was the beginning.

　　By eight o’clock three hundred houses were on fire. On Monday nearly a kilometer of the city was burning along the River Thames. Tuesday was the worst day. The fire destroyed many well-known buildings, old St Paul’s and the Guildhall among them .

　　Samuel Pepys , the famous writer, writer about the fire, “People threw their things into the river. Many poor people stayed in their houses until the last moment. Birds fell out of the air because of the heat .”

　　The fire stopped only when the King finally ordered people to destroy hundreds of buildings in the path（路径） of the fire.With nothing left to burn, the fire became weak and finally died out.

　　After the fire, Christopher Wren, the architect(建筑师), wanted a city with wider streets and fine new houses of stone．In fact, the streets are still narrow, but he did build more than fifty churches, among which was the new St Paul’s

　　The fire caused great pain and loss, but after it London was a better place: a city for the future and not just of the past.

1.The underlined word‘family’in the second paragraph probably means____.

2.It seems that the writer of the text was most sorry for the fact that　　 .

3.Why did the writer cite(引用)Samuel Pepys?

4.How was the fire put out according to the text?

A young woman carrying a three-year-old child got on a bus. The conductor(售票员) hurried to give her a warm welcome and then kindly asked the other passengers to make more room for the woman and her child. On seeing this, people began to talk. "You know this conductor used to be very rude. Now suddenly he has changed his bad behavior , "said a middle-aged man.

"Yes, he should be praised and we must write a letter to the company," said a second passenger. "That's right," another lady said, "I wish a newspaper reporter were here so that more people could learn from this conductor. "

Just then a gentleman who looked like a teacher turned to the conductor and said , "Excuse me, but can I know your name, please? Your excellent service must be praised..."

Before he could open his mouth, the three-year-old child sitting on the young woman's lap interrupted (打断谈话), "I know his name. I call him Dad."

1.The passengers were ________ to see the conductor's kindness to the woman and the child.

2.One passenger suggested writing a letter to the company to ______  .

3.What was the gentleman?

4.The word "he" in the last paragraph refers to _______.

Scientists are trying to make the deserts ,which get very little rain, into good land again. They want to bring water to the deserts，so people can live and grow food. They are learning a lot about the deserts. But more and more of the earth is becoming desert all the time. Scientists may not be able to change the desert in time．

Why is more and more land becoming desert？Scientists think that people make deserts．People are doing bad things to the earth against the scientists’ wish．

Some places on the earth don’t get much rain. But they still don’t become deserts．This is because some green plants are growing there．Small green plants and grass are very important to dry places．Plants don’t let the sun make the earth even drier． Plants do not let the wind blow the dirt away．When a bit of rain falls，the plants hold the water. Without plants, the land can become desert more easily．

1.Deserts ____________ ．

2.More and more land is becoming desert  because____________．

3.Small green plants are very important to dry places because ________

4.After reading this passage, we learn that _____________ ．

Bill White’s father is a lawyer. In his   56 time, he likes to get out in the country and take some 57 of animals.

For a long time, Bill had wanted to go with his father on one of his 58 . But his father didn’t take Bill along with him 59  he was fifteen.

He and Bill drove to the farm which 60 to his uncle in the afternoon. They        61 the night there, so that they could 62 out early the next morning. Uncle Steve and his son Larry, who was sixteen, were going to go out with them.

It was still dark when Bill heard the alarm 63 the next morning. He wondered why it was running so early. He couldn’t remember 64  he was. He turned over   __65__and looked at the clock. It was 5 o’clock. Then he 66  that he was at the     67 and that he was going out to take pictures with his father. He jumped out of bed and got 68 quickly.

He ran downstairs. The others were already in the   69   ,where Uncle Steve was cooking bacon and eggs. There was a pot of coffee on the stove. It   70  good.

They ate breakfast quickly. They didn’t talk 71  , because they didn’t want to   __72__ up the other people in the house. They filled a thermos bottle(热水瓶)        73 hot coffee and took some sandwiches 74 Aunt Grace, Uncle Steve’s wife, had made for them. They gathered their camera   75  and started out.

I can’t remember the day ______ we first met in China.