Alice always wanted to be a singer. Music was the 1.important thing in her life but, to tell you the2. (true), she took lessons for years and practised every day, 3. in spite of all this, her voice didn't improve. Honestly, it didn’t get better, it just got 4. (loud).
Her teacher finally 5. （give）up and stopped the lessons, but Alice refused to quit(停止), and one day she decided to give a concert and invited her former teacher to attend.
The teacher was very worried about 6.to say after the performance. She knew it 7.be terrible and it was. She didn't want to tell a lie, but she didn’t want to hurt Alice’s feelings 8. . Finally, she got an idea and went backstage（后台） to greet her former （先前的）pupil.
“Well”, said Alice, “what did you think of 9.performance?”
“My dear,” said the teacher, “you’ll 10. be better than you were tonight.”
Soon it would be the holidays, but before that, there were year exams. All the ___ had been working hard for some time, reviewing their lessons for the exams. If they didn’t ___ , they would have to retake them in September. There were usually a few who _____ , but Jane didn’t want to be one of them. She had worked hard all year, _____ just before the exams she was working so hard that her sister Barbara was ____ about her. She went to bed too _____ . The night before the first exam, Barbara _____ that she have an early night and take a _____pill. She promised to wake ___ up in the morning.
As she was falling asleep, Jane was afraid that she might oversleep. Her____ kept jumping from subject to subject. At last, with the help of ____, she went to sleep. In no time（不久）at all, she was sitting in the examination hall, looking at the examination ____ , but she couldn’t answer any of the questions. ____ around her was writing pages and gages.____ she thought hard, she couldn’t find anything to write ___ . She kept looking at her ______. Time was running out. There was only an hour to go. She started one question, wrote two sentences, ____ and tried another one. With only half an hour left she wrote another two sentences. By this time she was so worried that she started ____ . Her whole body shook. It shook so much that she ___ up. She was still in bed and it had all been a ____ dream. A minute later, Barbara called her name.
1.A. teachers B. students C. classmates D. schools
2.A. prepare B. miss C. join D. pass
3.A. succeeded B. failed C. ended D. called
4.A. but B. so C. and D. because
5.A. excited B. frightened C. worried D. pleased
6.A. early B. late C. heavily D. eagerly
7.A. insisted B. hoped C. ordered D. wished
8.A. sleeping B. resting C. exciting D. breathing
9.A. him B. her C. them D. herself
10.A. hand B. eye C. mind D. body
11.A. her sister B. her parents C. the lessons D. the medicine
12.A. result B. marks C. desk D. paper
13.A. The teacher B. The students C. No one D. Everyone
14.A. If B. Though C. So D. How
15.A. with B. about C. on D. to
16.A. watch B. textbook C. sister D. subject
17.A. gave up B. put off C. look around D. think over
18.A. examining B. leaving C. copying D. crying
19.A. raised B. woke C. stood D. cheered
20.A. nice B. wonderful C. terrible D. special
Cheating(舞弊) is when a person misleads, deceives or acts dishonestly on purpose. 1. . If a basketball team is for kids under 8,it's cheating for a 9-year-old play on the team. At school, in addition to cheating on a test, a kid might cheat by stealing someone else's idea for a science project.2. .This kind of cheating is called plagiarizing (抄袭).
3. . Jeff is doing it by sneaking（暗中的） answers to a test. And it's also cheating to break the rules of a game or contest or to pretend something is yours when it isn't. When people cheat, it's not fair to other people. It's tempting(诱惑人的) to cheat because it makes difficult things seem easy, like getting all the right answers on the rest. 4. , and it won't help on the next test------unless the person cheats again.
5. . They want to get good grades but hate hard work. Other kids might feel like they can't pass the test without cheating. Even though there seems to be a "good reason" for cheating, cheating isn't a good idea.
A. Some kids cheat because they're lazy.
B. Cheating can happen in a lot of different ways.
C. But it doesn't solve the problem of not knowing the material（材料）.
D. Some kids cheat once and feel so bad that they never do it again.
E. For kids, cheating may happen at school, at home, or while playing a sport.
F. There are plenty of reasons why a kid shouldn't cheat, but some kids have already cheated.
G. Kids may also cheat by copying a book report off the Internet and handing it in as it's his or her original （原先的）work.
People in the United States honor their parents with two special days：Mother’s Day, on the second Sunday in May, and Father’s Day, on the third Sunday in June. These days are set aside to show love and respect for parents. They raise their children and educate them to be responsible(有责任感的) citizens. They give love and care. These two days make us think about the changing roles of mothers and fathers. More mothers now work outside the home. More fathers must help with child care.
These two special days are celebrated in many different ways. On Mother’s Day people wear carnations. A red one symbolizes a living mother. A white one shows that the mother is dead. Many people attend religious services to honor parents. It is also a day when people whose parents are dead visit the cemetery(墓地). On these days families get together at home, as well as in restaurants. They often have outdoor barbecues for Father’s Day. These are days of fun and good feelings and memories.
Another tradition is to give cards and gifts. Children make them in school. Many people make their own presents. These are valued more than the ones bought in stores. It is not the value of the gift that is important, but it is “the thought that counts”. Greeting card stores, florists, candy makers, bakeries, telephone companies, and other stores do a lot of business during these holidays.
1.Which of the following is NOT a reason for children to show love and respect for parents?______.
A. Parents bring up children.
B. Parents give love and care to children.
C. Parents educate children to be good persons.
D. Parents pass away before children grow up.
2.What do you think “florists” do?______.
A. They sell flowers. B. They make and sell bread.
C. They offer enough room for having family parties. D. They sell special gifts for Mother’s Day and Father’s Day.
3.What do you know from the passage?________.
A. Mother’s Day and Father’s Day are both in May.
B. Fewer women worked outside the home in the past.
C. Not all the children respect their parents
D. Fathers are not as important as mothers at home.
I believe I’ve gotten this more than once. One lady told me she thought I was 12 and even told her 14-year-old daughter the same. I saw lots of surprised faces because people were told I was actually 19 years old.
I’m actually 19 years old, which isn’t much of a problem. I’m like the oldest of my friends and the shortest, which is pretty funny. That’s probably one of the reasons I 
fit in so well with them.
I volunteered at a weekend school teaching young children. Parents always looked me up and down like “why is this 13-year-old girl teaching my child?!??!?” I guessed it was because I’m also petite(娇小)，and I didn’t know whether I had a childish face…??? Sometimes I found it funny, sometimes I found it annoying(令人气恼). But I just shrugged(耸肩)it off at last. You know, soon enough people got to know me and then realized I was not actually a 13-year-old girl.
This short thing used to be a problem for me, though. I was very very small when I was younger, so kids would pick on me. When I was 12, 8-year-old girls would look down at me like “I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU ’RE TWELVE!” I had always wanted to be tall．But now that I'm older, I got used to it, and I actually love it．You know, I'm fun sized!
1.How old is the writer now?_______.
A. 12 B. 13 C. 14 D. 19
2.Many people felt surprised when told the writer’s age because they thought she ________．
A. was certainly over 19 B. should be only 12
C. was 13 D. was over 14
3.Which of the following words can’t be used to describe（描绘） the writer?_______.
A. short B. petite C. childish D. tall
4.The underlined phrase “pick on” means _______.
A. like very much B. help friendlily
C. behave to unkindly D. enjoy very much
5.How does the writer feel when others say she is 12?_______.
A. Not surprised B. Annoying C. Angry D. Sad
Learners of English, especially self-taught learners may have trouble in understanding speeches by native speakers. The following ways might help improve their listening ability.
First of all, do things step by step. It is not good to listen to something beyond your level. Better choose a suitable course and start with the first book. Go on to the second book only after you are sure you understand the first one.
Secondly, stick to one course of study. Don’t change books often. Never let your attention be attracted by another course just because it seems to be more “fashionable”.
Thirdly, listen to the English news program over the radio from time to time. Better go through the news stories in the Chinese-language newspaper first. That will make it easy for you to understand the English news on the radio.
Fourthly, if you have time, listen to some interesting stories in some special English programs, such as VOA. or other listening materials of the same level as that of your textbook.
1.This is a piece of advice to learners of English on how to______.
A. improve their listening ability B. read fast
C. write better English and read faster D. speak correctly
2.If you want to understand the English news program on the radio, you should________.
A. read the Chinese language newspaper step by step
B. read again and again the Chinese language newspaper
C. go through the Chinese language newspaper first
D. be able to recite the Chinese language newspaper
3.The author advised that once you have taken up a course, you _______.
A. should stick to it.
B. should begin with the last book
C. should take up other courses if they are more fashionable
D. shouldn’t do anything else
4.In this passage, VOA stands for_______.
A. a book B. a magazine C. a text-book D. a radio station
