One afternoon, my son came home from school and asked me, “Are all people the same even if their skin color is different?” I thought for a moment, then I said, “I’ll explain. Let’s go to a fruit store first. I have something interesting to show you.”
At the store, I told him that we needed to buy apples. And we bought some red apples, green apples and yellow apples.
After we got home, I told Adam, “It’s time to answer your question.” I put one of each type of apple on the table: first a red apple, followed by a green apple and then a yellow apple. Then I looked at Adam, who was sitting on the other side of the table.
“Adam, people are just like apples. They come in different colors, shapes and sizes. See, some may not even look as delicious as others.” As I was talking, Adam was examining each one carefully.
Then, I took each of the apples and peeled them, placing them back on the table, but in a different place.
“OK, Adam, tell me which one is the red apple, the green apple and the yellow apple.”
He said, “I can’t tell. They all look the same now.”
“Take a bite(一口) of each one. See if that helps you tell which one is which.”
He took big bites, and then a huge smile came across his face. “People are just like apples! They are all different, but if you take off the outside, they’re pretty much the same on the inside.”
“Right,” I agreed. “Just like everyone has their own features but they are nearly the same.”
He completely got it. I didn’t need to say or do anything else.
Now, when I eat an apple, it tastes a little sweeter than before. What perfect fruit it is!
1. I took Adam to buy apples for .
A. supper B. his question C. a party D. a present
2. As soon as we got home, I put on the table.
A. all the apples B. three apples of different colors
C. three red apples D. three peeled apples
3.After Adam took big bites, he found they .
A. looked the same B. tasted good C. tasted the same D. weren’t delicious
4.In the end, Adam understood that .
A. people are much the same even if their skin color is different
B. people are different if their skin color is different
C. the apples look the same after they are peeled
D. apples of different colors taste different
5. I feel that apples taste a little sweeter than before because .
A. they are delicious enough B. they are perfect fruit for thinking
C. they are safe fruit D. my son falls in love with them
As an exchange student, I have been staying in a host family in Beijing for the past five months. The parents are 36 in their mid-30s and the son just turned 5. In exchange for room and board, I teach their son 37 .
Like in many of the other Chinese families, he’s an only child. And though he has 38 plastic trucks and boxes full of crayons, I don’t know 39 he has the time to play. When he’s not in the kindergarten, he’s taking after-school classes. On the weekends, the boy goes to more classes. He has one day off―Sunday.
Compared to his schedule, I feel like my childhood was 40 a waste of time. I learned how to climb trees and draw cartoons. I wasn’t learning Chinese at his age. But he and lots of other children are learning English. Both his parents dream that he will have 41 jobs, higher pay, and bigger houses.
The boy seems to take no interest 42 learning English. He doesn’t need a teacher, but a playmate. He is, 43 , only 5. When I think about my life as a 5-year-old, I know for sure I wasn’t half as 44 as he is.
In the evening, when his parents 45 him to speak with me in English, he gets 46 . He lies on the floors, hides under the table and climbs on the furniture. When he finally stops 47 , and starts talking, it isn’t in English, but it isn’t in Chinese, 48 . He speaks in his own language.
He 49 not be a very good student, but I’m not a great teacher. I just want to be his big brother 50 can speak in gibberish(胡言乱语) with him and help draw trucks, robots or spiders.
1. A. both B. all C. either D. none
2.A. drawing B. Chinese C. English D. playing
3. A. a hundred of B. hundreds of C. hundred of D. hundreds
4. A. when B. what C. where D. that
5.A. hardly B. never C. usually D. almost
6. A. more B. fewer C. better D. worse
7. A. with B. in C. for D. on
8. A. after all B. at all C. first of all D. all the time
9.A. busily B. busiest C. busier D. busy
10.A. make B. push C. have D. let
11. A. frustrated B. relaxed C. pleased D. injured
12.A. move B. to move C. moving D. moved
13.A. too B. also C. as well D. either
14.A. can B. may C. must D. need
15.A. who B. whom C. whose D. which
— Did you have a good weekend?
— . I was busy studying for the test.
A. Sure B. I think so C. I am afraid not D. I hope not
Check again, you’ll make fewer mistakes.
A. and B. or C. but D. though
The light rail from Wuhan to Wenquan in six months.
A. will build B. has built C. is building D. will be built
— Enough sleep is good for teenagers.
— Quite right. If you for your favorite TV programs, you will feel sleepy.
A. set up B. cheer up C. pick up D. stay up
