Two young men, one was a prisoner while the other was a famous official from the White House, both told a story about how their mothers give apples to them.

The story from the prisoner:

When I was young, one day my mother brought several apples, among which there was a biggest red one that I really wanted to get. My mum put all the apples on the table and asked us, “Which do you like?” I was about to say “the biggest one” while my brother took one step ahead and said what I wanted to say. My mum said angrily, “A good child should give the best to others instead of being self-centered.” I learnt a quick lesson and said, “Mum, give me the smallest one. The biggest one should be left for my brother!” Hearing my words, she felt more than happy and gave the biggest apple to me as a reward.

I told a lie but I got what I wanted! Since then, I learnt to lie. Later, I learnt to fight, steal and rob. I would try all means to get what I wanted. Then later I was put behind bars.

The story from the White House:

When I was young, one day my mum brought several apples of different colors and sizes. Both my two younger brothers and I wanted the biggest one. My mum picked up the biggest apple and said, “It is good to get the biggest apple. Now let’s start a competition. I will divide the lawn (草坪)in front of our house into three parts, one for each. Who could do the job best and fastest would be rewarded with the biggest apple.” I won the apple finally. 

1. Which does the writer want to tell us MOST?

A. Each mother loves her kids.. 

B. Mother’s education is very important. 

C. The earlier education starts, the better result there will be.

D. No pains, no gains.

2.How did the “prisoner” get the biggest apple?

A. By working for the family.          

B. By competing with his brother.

C. By doing the best job.               

D. By cheating his mother.

3. What does the underlined phrase “put behind bars” probably mean?

A. 受批评           B.进监狱          C.受挫折         D.受惩罚

4.It can be inferred from the passage that          .

A. the official was very honest when he was young.

B. the prisoner’s mother taught him how to tell lies.

C. the official learned that what he wanted needed to pay for the same effort.

D. it was his mother who had him break laws.

5.What is the writer probably going to write next?

A. Scientific methods of giving apples.      

B. The importance of mother’s education.

C. Another story about of giving apples.     

D. School education.

When my son, Mark, was in the third grade, he saved all his pocket money for over three months to buy holiday presents. The third Saturday in December Mark said he had made his list and had twenty dollars in his pocket.

   I drove him to a nearby supermarket. Mark picked up a hand basket and went in while I waited and watched in the car. It took Mark over 45 minutes to choose his present. Finally he came to the checkout counter and reached into his pocket for his money. It was not there! There was a hole in his pocket, but no money! Mark stood there holding his basket, tears falling down his face.

   Then a surprising thing happened. A woman came up to Mark and took him in her arms. “ You would help me a lot if you let me pay for you,” said the woman. “It would be the most wonderful gift you could give me. I only ask that one day you will pass it on. When you grow up, I would like you to find someone you can help.When you help others, I know you will feel as good about it as I do now.”

  Mark took the money, dried his tears and ran back to the checkout counter as fast as he could. That year we all enjoyed our gifts almost as much as Mark enjoyed giving them to us.

  I would like to say “thank you” to that very kind woman, and tell her that four years later, Mark went house to house to collecting blankets and clothes foe the homeless people in the fire. And I want to promise her that Mark will never forget to keep passing it on.

1.When did the story probably happen?

A. On Christmas Day.       B. Before Christmas Day.

C. On New Year’s Day.      D. After New Year’s Day.

2.What happened to Mark in the supermarket?

A. His gifts were stolen.     B. He broke his basket.

C. He lost his money.       D. He lost his way.

3.Which is RIGHT according to the passage?

A.When they got to the supermarket, Mark went in with the woman.

B.Mark’s family has no money.

C. Finally Mark accepted the woman’s help. 

D. The woman asked Mark to collect the clothes and blankets.

4.Why did the writer want to say “thank you ” to the woman?

A. Because she bought Mark a nice gift.

B. Because she always paid money for others.

C. Because she collected clothes for the homeless.

D. Because she taught Mark to help people in need.

5.What’s the best title for the passage?

A. A big supermarket.     B. A kind woman.

C. A happy holiday.       D. A wonderful gift.

When my son, Mark, was in the third grade, he saved all his pocket money for over three months to buy holiday presents. The third Saturday in December Mark said he had made his list and had twenty dollars in his pocket.
I drove him to a nearby supermarket. Mark picked up a hand basket and went in while I waited and watched in the car. It took Mark over 45 minutes to choose his present. Finally he came to the checkout counter and reached into his pocket for his money. It was not there! There was a hole in his pocket, but no money! Mark stood there holding his basket, tears falling down his face.
Then a surprising thing happened. A woman came up to Mark and took him in her arms. “ You would help me a lot if you let me pay for you,” said the woman. “It would be the most wonderful gift you could give me. I only ask that one day you will pass it on. When you grow up, I would like you to find someone you can help.When you help others, I know you will feel as good about it as I do now.”
Mark took the money, dried his tears and ran back to the checkout counter as fast as he could. That year we all enjoyed our gifts almost as much as Mark enjoyed giving them to us.
I would like to say “thank you” to that very kind woman, and tell her that four years later, Mark went house to house to collecting blankets and clothes foe the homeless people in the fire. And I want to promise her that Mark will never forget to keep passing it on.
【小题1】When did the story probably happen?

When you are ill, you should go to see a doctor. After the doctor looks you over, he will write you a note to take to the chemist for some medicine. Chemists are usually good at reading doctors’ notes. But sometimes doctors write too badly and even the chemist can not read them.

One day a woman wrote to a doctor to invite him to have dinner with her family in the restaurant. The doctor wrote an answer, but he wrote too badly and the woman could not read it. “What shall I do?” she asked her husband, “I don’t know whether he is going to come or not. I don’t want to call and say that I don’t understand him.”

Her husband thought for a few minutes and then he had an idea. “Take it to the chemist,” he said, “He will be able to read it for us.”

“Thank you,” the woman said, “That’s a good idea.” She went to the chemist’s shop and gave the doctor’s note to him. The chemist looked at it for a long time.

“Could you wait a moment, Miss?” he said, Then he went to the back of the shop. After a few minutes he came back, carrying a large bottle. He gave the bottle to the woman.

“Take one spoonful(一匙) every day.” He told the woman.

( ) 1. What did the doctor do when he was invited to have dinner in the restaurant?

　　 A. He said he could come on time　　 B. he wrote the woman an answer

　　C. he was very glad to come　　　　　 D. He wrote a note to the chemist

( ) 2. Why couldn’t the woman understand the “note”?

　　A. Because the doctor wrote badly.　

　　B. Because the woman didn’t know much about medicine.

　　C. Because the doctor didn’t like to go

　　D. Because the woman never went to school.

( ) 3. The husband wanted his wife to _______.

　 A. call the doctor or have dinner with them.

　 B. go to the chemist and get some medicine.

　 C. take the reply to the chemist for help　　　　

　 D. read it again

( ) 4. In the story, the word “chemist” means “______’ in Chinese.

　A. 护士　　　 B. 化验师　　　 C. 药剂师　　　 D.药房

( ) 5. What did the man in the chemist’s shop give the woman at last?

A. A piece of good advice.　　　 B. The right idea of the doctor.

C. An invitation from the doctor.　 D. A bottle of medicine.

Have you ever felt life is bad? Do you find that life seems to make things difficult for you and everything seems to go wrong? I sometimes felt that way，but a friend changed me．

He told me that although he didn't have enough money，he was happy．I asked why he was happy．Then he told me what he saw in India．

A few years ago，he was really feeling sad and went to India．He saw an Indian mother cut off her child's right hand with a knife．After that he could never forget the sad eyes of the helpless mother and the child．The reason why the mother did that was to beg．The mother did this so that the child could go out on the streets to beg and get some food to eat．

Then he began to think about how happy he was．He had food to eat，a complete body，a job，a family，the chance to say that some food wasn't delicious，and many things that the mother and the child in front of him never dreamed of having．

After hearing his story，I began to think about it，too．Was my life real1y that bad? Perhaps it wasn't．It wasn't bad at all．

What about you? Next time you think that your life is bad，think about the child who lost one hand so that he could beg on the streets．

1．The writer begins the article with two questions in order to _________．

A．show the readers he knows a lot                  B．stress his opinion

C．attract the readers' interest

2．The Indian mother was _________ when she was cutting off her child's hand．

A．angry                         B．sad                      C．crazy

3．The underlined part “to beg” means _________．

A．to ask others for food                                 B．to tell others he’s sorry

C．to say he's unable to do anything

4．The writer's friend _________ after he saw what the Indian's life was like．

A．felt very sad and angry                                B．came to believe he was lucky

C．started to feel he was helpless

5．The underlined sentence in the end of the passage tells us _________．

A．how to feel good when upset                       B．how to help the poor when possible

C．how to keep a balance between rich and poor