Are you an only-child in your family? Are you feeling alone at home? How are you dealing with it?
Zhang Luwen, 12, feels lucky to have a 4-year-old “brother”. “With him, I never feel lonely at home. He goes with me wherever I go,” said the girl of Sichuan Province. But it is not easy to be a sister. Zhang has to help her parents bath her “brother” every week. This is because he is hairy — he is a dog.
As the number of pet owners in China grows more and more, Chinese students have animal friends at home. Experts say that these small animals give these only-children lessons in love, care, teamwork and generosity.
This month, the first study on the influence of pets on the children came out. It is a survey of 402 Beijing primary school students. It shows that animal friends are good for children.
China had more than 90 million only-children by 2006, according to the government. “In families of three, most children feel lonely. They don’t have many chances to learn how to love and be responsible for others,” said Zhou Xia in the study group. “So having a pet can help with the problem.”
However, some students complain that their parents don’t allow them to have pets. “They are afraid a pet would stop me studying,” said Chen Qi, of Chongqing.
Perhaps he could learn from Qin Yixing, 13, of Beijing. “I don’t play with my dog until I have finished my homework. I made the promise to my mom and I must keep it,” said the girl.
1.According to the passage, experts think _______.
A．it is good for students to have animal friends at home
B．only-children families in China will be fewer and fewer
C．small animals at home are bad for students
D．parents should buy more pet animals for their children
2.What can we learn from the passage?
A．Zhang Luwen’s parents bath every week.
B．Zhou Xia thinks a pet animal can solve the problem that children feel lonely.
C．Chen Qi of Chongqing has got a pet animal.
D．Qin Yixing’s parents don’t want her to have a pet.
Mary’s dime（一毛钱）
It was Sunday afternoon. I decided to clean up the room nicely so that my parents would feel 1 when they returned from a long ride! Then, I sat in the room, having nothing to do.
What else could I do? Then, with no reason, I suddenly 2 the pale face of that little beggar(乞丐) girl. I could see the glad light 3 her eyes when I put the dime in her little dirty hand.
How much I 4 that dime, too! Grandpa gave it to me a whole month ago, and I had kept it ever since in my red box upstairs, but those sugar apples looked so attractive, and were so 5 — only a dime a piece — that I wanted to have one.
I could imagine the little girl stood there in front of the 6 in her old dirty dress, looking at the 7 that were put all in a row in the window. I wonder what I should say, “Little girl, what do you want?” I gently asked. She felt 8 and looked straight at me, just as if（似乎）nobody had spoken so 9 to her before. She realized what I had meant, so she said seriously and sadly. “I was thinking how good one of those delicious hamburgers would 10 . I haven’t had anything to eat today.”
Now I thought to myself, “Mary Williams, you have had a good breakfast and a good lunch today, 11 this poor girl has not had a mouthful yet. You can give her your 12 . She needs it a great deal more than you do.”
I could not run away from that little girl’s sad, 13 look — so I dropped the dime right into her hand. How 14 the girl was! I am so glad I gave her the dime, 15 I had to go without the apple lying there in the window.
1. A．disturbed B．unhappy C．satisfied D．interested
2. A．saw B．remembered C．forgot D．described
3. A．filling B．protecting C．attracting D．touching
4. A．hated B．loved C．missed D．noticed
5. A．valuable B．meaningful C．expensive D．cheap
6. A．market B．library C．store D．bookshop
7. A．dresses B．magazines C．books D．candies
8. A．surprised B．excited C．pleased D．worried
9. A．happily B．kindly C．angrily D．sadly
10. A．taste B．sound C．feel D．smell
11. A．since B．so C．and D．but
12. A．apple B．hamburger C．dime D．candy
13. A．proud B．angry C．calm D．hungry
14. A．grateful B．unlucky C．lonely D．friendly
15. A．unless B．if C．though D．because
— I believe we’ve met here before.
— No, ________. It’s the first time I’ve been here.
A．it isn’t the same B．it’s true C．I don’t think so D．I believe so
— Could you show me _______?
— Sure.
A．what can I do with the bike B．how I could do with the bike
C．which was the way to the zoo D．where he lives
— We’ll have _______ holiday in June. Will you go home?
— No. If I go home, I’ll have to take_______ ride.
A．a one-week; seven days B．an one-week; a seven day’s
C．a one-week; a seven days’ D．an one-week’s; a seven days’
— What is Mom cooking in the kitchen?
— Fish, I guess. How nice it _______!
A．looks B．smells C．sounds D．tastes
