“I believe you’re the right person to write an advice column (专栏) for the students called Dear Amy!” Jenny, editor of the school newspaper, said to Andy, who finally agreed to accept the job if Jenny promised not to tell it to anyone else.
At first it wasn’t too bad. Most of the letters he received were interesting and quite easy to answer. Then came a letter from a person named Joe.
“Dear Amy,” it began, “I’m in real trouble. I’ve wanted to be a songwriter all my life, but my parents don’t even let me take music lessons. I have a guitar, but they both get angry if I play. I’ve tried explaining, but they didn’t listen. I feel sad. Should I run away from home? Maybe that will make my parents agree.” The letter signed “Joe”.
Andy thought about this letter for a long time. Should he advise someone to run away from home? Probably not. But didn’t Joe have a right to be a songwriter if he wanted to? Andy thought hard, but couldn’t think out a good answer. Andy couldn’t sleep. He just worried about poor Joe.
At a bar a few days later, Eleanor, a girl in Andy’s maths class, sat down next to him and asked, “ What’s wrong with you? You look a little worried.”
“I guess I do,” said Andy.
“If you get a problem, why don’t you try writing to Dear Amy about it?” asked Eleanor.
Andy sighed. But Eleanor continued, “In fact, I guess Dear Amy is rather busy with other problems. She still hasn’t answered the phony letter I wrote her last week. You’d better read it — it may even make the most hard-hearted person cry! It was supposed to be from a songwriter named Joe.”
1.Andy might be ______.
A．an editor of the school newspaper
B．a songwriter
C．a maths teacher
D．a doctor in the school
2.It’s clear that Dear Amy ______.
A．helps students who want to run away from home
B．answers letters from the students
C．writes songs for the students
D．meets readers at a bar
3.It seemed to be easy for Andy to do the job until _____.
A．he changed his name
B．he received a letter signed “Joe”
C．he met Eleanor at a bar
D．his name was well-known
4.In the letter Joe says that ______.
A．his parents don’t know about music
B．his classmates don’t understand him
C．he would stay away from his parents
D．he would obey his parents
5.The underlined word “phony” means “______”.
A．unreal B．boyish C．popular D．favourite
The nine-year-old Marc Yu is called Little Mozart. He is too short to reach the pedals (踏板) of a piano. Marc, from California, USA, says, “The problem is that my legs aren’t straight enough, so I have to get very close to the piano.”
Marc’s 34-year-old mother played Beethoven’s CDs to him when she was pregnant . Marc started playing the piano at a birthday party when he was only two. While the other children were singing “twinkle, twinkle, little star …”, he walked over to the piano and started playing the song. It astonished his mother, because that was the first time he’d been near a piano. Marc gave his first public performance, playing Beethoven, at six, the same age as Mozart. After that concert, Marc won a ￡225,000 university scholarship.
At present he practices the piano eight hours a day. He also studies part-time at the famous Colbum Music School in Los Angeles, and flies once a month to China for lessons at Shanghai Music School. Marc says, “I like playing the piano because it makes me have a lot of different feelings —sadness, excitement, happiness and so on. I like playing difficult pieces, especially those that my teacher says I shouldn’t.”
1.The nine-year-old Marc Yu is from .
A．China B．France C．Canada D．the United States
2.Marc played the piano at the age of for the first time.
A．two B．five C．six D．nine
3.According to the passage, the underlined word “astonished” means “ ” in Chinese.
A．使……理解 B．使……担心
C．使……惊奇 D．使……难过
4.At present Marc practices playing the piano .
A．once a month B．eight hours a day
C．in his free time D．only on weekends
5.What Marc says in the last paragraph tells us that .
A．he likes challenges B．he doesn’t like challenges
C．he is afraid of challenges D．he wants to be happy and famous.
There is one word you must learn before you visit the USA. That is “Freeze”. Remember it has a special meaning besides the usual one. It means “stand still and don’t move”. Often policemen use it when they are ready to use their guns. If one doesn’t obey the order and moves, he or she will be shot to death.
One evening in Los Angeles, someone rang the bell of a house. It was a dangerous area at night, so the owner of the house took his gun with him when he answered the door. He opened the door and saw a strange man. But the man turned round and started walking away from the house. The owner cried: “Freeze”, but the young man went on walking without obeying the owner’s order. The owner thought he was trying to run away, so he shot at the young man and he was killed.
Later, police found that the dead man was a Japanese student who was studying in Los Angeles University. He went to visit a friend, but unluckily could not remember the number of the house. When he realized he went to the wrong house he turned round and left. He didn’t know much English and so didn’t understand the word “Freeze”. What a lesson we should get for this!
1.According to the article, what does the word “Freeze” mean?
A．It means “be covered with ice”. B．It means “very cold”.
C．It means “dangerous”. D．It means “Stand still, or I will shoot you”.
2.The meaning of the word “owner” here means _________.
A．a policeman B．a man with a gun
C．a person who possesses something D．a dog of a house
3.Which of the following is right?
A．When you hear the police or someone say “Freeze” in the USA, you must stop moving.
B．Don’t ring the bell of anyone’s house in the USA at night.
C．At last, the police found the dead man was a thief.
D．The owner of the house was put into prison.
4.Which of the following is NOT true according to the article?
A．Police say “Freeze” when they are going to use their guns.
B．The story happened in Los Angeles in the morning.
C．The dead man was a Japanese student.
D．The dead man couldn’t understand the meaning of “Freeze”.
5.What’s the best title of the article?
A．A Japanese Student B．American Police
C．Freeze D．The Owner of a House
There are many different kinds of cars in the world. My aunt thinks this is because cars are ____1 their drivers. She says, “Rich people have expensive cars, big people have large cars, and old people drive old cars.” But I don't 2 her.
My neighbour, Mrs. Hill, is 82 years old. She drives only on Tuesday, and she drives only to the bank. She 3 drives more than 30 kilometres an hour. Do you think Mrs. Hill has a very ___4 and small car? No, her car is new. It's very large, and it _5 go 200 kilometres for each hour!
My friend is 6 . He draws beautiful pictures with lots of colours. But his car is black! Mrs. Bates has a very, very old one. There is often something 7 with the car. Does she drive that kind of car because she is poor? No, she has four factories and 8 dollars in the bank. My aunt Mary has a very 9 car, though she drives to the country with her husband, her two children, her mother and their dog.
Now you have 10 my friends and their cars. Do you agree with my aunt? Maybe you have a car. Does it say anything about you?
1. A．for B．with C．like D．among
2. A．like B．look after C．agree with D．chat with
3. A．never B．always C．sometimes D．often
4. A．old B．new C．broken D．beautiful
5. A．may B．can C．must D．has to
6. A．a teacher B．a reporter C．a writer D．an artist
7. A．interesting B．wrong C．mistake D．trouble
8. A．twenty B．two hundred C．two thousand D．two million
9. A．big B．small C．expensive D．new
10. A．read about B．knew C．seen D．met with
---Which of the following sentences is CORRECT?
A．I don’t know when will he come back tomorrow.
B．I have no idea when will he come back tomorrow.
C．I don’t know when he will come back tomorrow.
D．I have no idea when is he coming back tomorrow.
----You look so pretty in this new dress!
----_________.
A．No, no. I am not pretty at all.
B．You shouldn’t say that.
C．Thank you for saying so!
D．You are pretty too.
