It must be something in the air as every company that possibly can is having a baby contest. Of course, babies are wonderful , and many parents would be the first to agree. Companies really bring in much money.
Walgreens Baby Contest
If you play the new Baby Milestones Challenge Contest
by BabyCenter & Walgreens, you could be entered to win $1,000 in Walgreens
& Beauty.com Gift Cards and Certificates. You can play the instant win to
see if you get a $25 Walgreen’s gift card, but you have to plug in your email
address 
and
receive all their sales and other information for the contest.
Kids and Babies
Kids and Babies are accepting entries for May 2012 Free Photo Contest. Baby Photo Gallery with theme albums and age group albums is moved to the new website Cute Baby Gallery. Check KidsandBibs.com for their Baby Photo Contest blog’s latest update. Grand prize is $25,000. The catch: Winners are decided by the visitors coming to the site and voting for their favorite babies, so you have to advertise their site for them.
Parents.com
Perents.com has a website only for their members, but if you are into “baby” photos, it is well worth surfing. You could receive offers on free samples, money- saving coupons (优惠券), and chances to win the latest contests.
Avon
Avon is another company that has a baby photo contest this spring. Avon is advertising their newest collection. It is Avon’s only collection for the photos of babies. Babies’ age: newborn to 2 years. Just go to TinyTillia.com and upload your recent baby’s photos. First place Baby will be featured in a Tiny Tillia Storybook and win a $5,000 U.S. Savings Bond. The Cuties will win $300 in Tiny Tillia products.
The tip is to run a search engine for all the latest contests going on and start entering them today. You could be lucky and win enough to put “Baby” through college! Have fun!
1.In the author’s opinion, holding a baby contest __________.
A. is not reasonable at all
B. is funny and interesting
C. attracts parents’ attention
D. can cost a company much money
2.If your baby enters for the 2012 Free Photo Contest, you will __________.
A. have to help to advertise their site
B. take your baby to the gallery in May
C. advise the visitors to come to the site
D. see the Baby Photo Gallery’s update about Babies’ photos of the contest
3.What can we learn from this passage？
A. Free Photo Contest will be held in March, 2012.
B. Avon is a website that will hold a baby photo contest.
C. Parents.com only accepts the photos of its members’ babies.
D. You can upload your one-year-old baby’s photos to TinyTillia.com.
4.In the last paragraph, the author advises you to __________.
A. try your best to bring up your baby well
B. enter for all the contests as soon as possible
C. let your kid go to college when he grows up
D. get more information about these contests
That summer an army of crickets(蟋蟀) started a war with my father. Dad didn’t care for insects much more than Mamma, but he could tolerate a few living in the basement. Mamma was a city girl and she said a cricket was just too noisy. Then to support her point she wouldn’t go to bed. She drank coffee and smoked my father’s cigarettes and paced between the sofa and the TV. Next morning she threatened to pack up and leave, so Dad drove to the store and hurried back. He sprayed poison from a jug. When he was finished he told us that was the end of it.
For a couple of weeks we went back to find dead crickets in the laundry. He suggested that we’d all be better off to hide as many as we could from Mamma. I fed a few dozen to the cat who I didn’t like because he scratched for no reason.
However, soon live crickets started showing up in the kitchen and bathroom. Mamma was upset because she thought they were the dead crickets coming back, but Dad said these were certainly new ones. He fetched his jug of poison and sprayed all over until the whole house smelled of poison, and then he sprayed the basement again.
A couple of weeks later, when both live and dead crickets kept turning up, Dad emptied the basement of junk. Then he burned a lot of old newspapers and magazines which he said the crickets had turned into nests.
While we ate supper that evening, the wind lifted some flames onto the wood pile. The only gasoline was in the lawn mower’s(割草机) fuel tank but that was enough to create an explosion big enough to reach the house. Once the roof caught, there wasn’t much anyone could do.
After the fire trucks left, Mamma took the others to Aunt Gail’s. I helped Dad and Uncle Burt carry things out of the house and pile them by the road. We worked into the night and we didn’t talk much, while all around the noise of crickets broke our silence.
1.What do we know about the author’s mother?
A. She didn’t like insects at all.
B. She liked insects more than his father.
C. She cared for insects very much.
D. She could only tolerate a few insects.
2.The author’s father drove to the store to buy _______.
A. cigarettes for himself B. some poison
C. more coffee for his wife D. some gasoline
3.The author’s father burned the old newspapers and magazines because he thought ______.
A. they were no longer useful
B. the crickets were afraid of fires
C. they became the home of crickets
D. the dead crickets came back to life
4.We learn from the last paragraph that ________.
A. the author’s family lost their battle against the crickets
B. the author’s parents learned to put up with insects
C. the author’s family didn’t suffer much in the fire
D. the author’s parents got divorced
It was Thanksgiving morning. In the crowded kitchen of my small home I was busy preparing the traditional Thanksgiving turkey when the doorbell rang. I opened the front door and saw two small children in rags huddling together inside the storm door on the top step.
"Any old papers, lady?" asked one of them.
I was busy. I wanted to say “no” __ __looked down at their feet. They were wearing thin scandals (凉鞋),wet with heavy snow.
“Come in and I'11 you a cup of hot cocoa.”
They walked over and sat down at the table. Their wet shoes left on the floor．I __ them cocoa and toast with jam the cold outside. Then I went back to the kitchen and started again on my household budget. The silence in the front door __ __me. I looked in. The girl__ the empty cup in her hands, looking at it. The boy asked in a flat ," Lady ．．． are you rich?"
"Am I rich? Mercy, !" I looked at my shabby slipcover(家具套)．The girl put her cup back in its saucer（茶碟） .
“Your cups match your saucers．”
Her voice was ___ __with a need that no amount of food could supply．They left after that, holding their against the wind．They hadn't said thank you．
They didn’t to. They had done more than that. Plain blue china cups and saucers were only worth five pence. But they __ __.
I tasted the potatoes and stirred(搅动)the meat soup. Potatoes and brown meat soup, a __ over our heads, my man with a good steady job—these things matched, too．
I moved the chairs back from the fire and the living room．The muddy prints of small scandals were still on my floor. “ them be for a while,” I thought. Just I should begin to forget how I am.
1.A． when B． after C． while D． until
2.A． make B． provide C． do D． cook
3.A． signs B． signals C． marks D． symbols
4.A． showed B． served C． carried D． supplied
5.A． against B． from C． on D． in
6.A． beat B． struck C． got D． noticed
7.A． watched B． lifted C． held D． put
8.A． word B． method C． state D． voice
9.A． yes B． sure C． no D． always
10.A． suddenly B． carefully C． quickly D． anxiously
11.A． hungry B． satisfied C． pleased D． curious
12.A． books B． papers C． dishes D． drinks
13.A． dare B． plan C． want D． need
14.A． shone B． matched C． broke D． equaled
15.A． house B． ceiling C． roof D． curtain
16.A． washed B． rubbed C． wiped D． tidied
17.A． dry B． gone C． wet D． new
18.A． Made B． Let C． Got D． Kept
19.A． in case B． as if C． if only D． only if
20.A． nice B． free C． busy D． rich
In the weeks before the Academy Awards ceremony, movie reviewers make predictions about which movies and actors ______．
A．have awarded B．will award C．are awarded D．will be awarded
She got stuck in a terrible traffic jam on the highway to Shanghai, or she ______ dinner with her family now．
A．will be having B． would be having C．is having D．was having
I had a busy and tiring weekend because ______ the house for the Christmas cost me a whole day．
A．decorating B．to decorate C．decorated D．decorate
