I can’t remember when I fell in love with music. Maybe it happened when I was feeling blue sometime long ago. I can’t tell you exactly how music makes me feel better. But while listening to music, especially light music, it makes me feel calm and peaceful. Now I am listening to a song named Moon River. It is really a fantastic song. I didn’t like this song at the beginning, but later I found its slow melody and beautiful lyrics deeply touching.

   “Oh, dream maker, you heart breaker. Wherever you’re going I’m going your way. Two drifters(流浪者) are off  to see the world. There’s such a lot of world to see.”

Yes. Although there is a long way to go for the drifters and maybe there are many troubles ahead, he seems afraid of nothing. I like music. Music reminds me that human beings have a lot in common even if they come from different countries or backgrounds, because we all have the same feeling or understanding of melodies and words.

1.The writer likes      music.

A.popular                  B.light              C.classical          D.dance

2.The writer didn’t like the song called Moon River        .

A.now                     B.at all              C.at the beginning    D.very much

3.From the song, we know that the drifters seem afraid of       .

A.everything               B.police             C.dogs             D.nothing

4.The writer thinks people who come from different countries have       .

A.the same feeling of melodies and words

B.different understanding of melodies and words

C.different feelings of melodies and words

D.the same understanding of sound and words

5.The writer began to love music when he/she was       sometime long ago.

A.happy                    B.excited             C.tired           D.blue

I grew up in a small town. When I was in the third grade, I was chosen to be the        in the school play. My mother helped me practice my lines for weeks. But once I stepped onto the stage, I was too nervous to        the words. Finally, my teacher asked me to         the role to a storyteller. I didn’t tell my mother        had happened when I went home for lunch that day. She knew that I was        from my look. She asked if I wanted to go for a walk in the yard.

      It was a lovely         day and the grass was turning green. We could see a lot of yellow dandelions(蒲公英）in the grass. I watched my mother walking towards a dandelion and         it up by its roots(根莖). “From now on, we’ll have only roses in this garden.” she said. “But I like dandelions,” I said. “All        are beautiful _—— even dandelions!”

“Yes, every flower gives pleasure in its own way. And that is true of       too. Not everyone can be a princess. You will be a beautiful storyteller,” my mother said, reminding me of how much I        to read stories to her. “The storyteller’s part is just as       as the part of a princess.”

The big day         came. A few minutes before the play, my teacher handed me a      . I looked at it and thought of our        talk. It made me        .

After the play, I took the flower home, and kept it in our family dictionary.

1.A. king                  B. snowman             C. princess               D. witch

2.A. forget              B. remember                   C. find              D. write

3.A. act                    B. play                       C. change                D. take

4.A. which              B. what                       C. that               D. this

5.A. energetic        B. unhappy              C. excited      D. dishonest

6.A. spring              B. summer                   C. autumn                  D. winter

7.A. putting             B. pulling                      C. setting                   D. looking

8.A. seasons           B. rainbows              C. flowers      D. scenes

9.A. animals            B. plants                       C. people                   D. food

10.A. hated             B. loved                             C. tried                     D. planned

11.A. interesting    B. common              C. important           D. cheerful

12.A. suddenly       B. finally                       C. usually                   D. slowly

13.A. rose               B. dandelion                  C. present                 D. hairclip

14.A. breakfast time B. lunchtime                      C. suppertime         D. teatime

15.A. imaginative   B. generous              C. confident             D. humorous

A friend of mine named Paul received（收到） an expensive car from his brother as a Christmas present．On Christmas Eve when Paul came out of his office，a street urchin(頑童) was walking around the shining car．“Is this your car，Paul？”he asked． Paul answered，“Yes，my brother gave it to me for Christmas．”The boy was surprised（驚奇）．“You mean your brother gave it to you and it didn’t cost you anything？Boy，I wish…”He hesitated(猶豫)．

Of course， Paul knew what he was going to wish for（希望）．He was going to wish he had a brother like that. But what the boy said surprised Paul greatly.

“I wish,”the boy went on，“that I could be a brother like that．”Paul looked at the boy in surprise, then he said again, “Would you like to take a ride in my car？”

“Oh yes，I’d love that．”

After a short ride，the boy turned and with his eyes shining，said，“Paul，would you mind （介意）driving in front of my house？”

Paul smiled a little．He thought he knew what the boy wanted．He wanted to show his neighbours that he could ride home in a big car. But Paul was wrong again. “Will you stop where those two steps are？ the boy asked．

He ran up to the steps. Then in a short while Paul heard him coming back, but he was not coming fast. He was carrying his little crippled（殘疾的） brother. He sat him down on the step and pointed to the car.

“There she is, Buddy, just like I told you upstairs. His brother gave it to him for Christmas and it didn’t cost him a cent（美分）. And some day I’m going to give you one just like it…then you can see for yourself all the nice things in the Christmas windows that I’ve been trying to tell you about.”

Paul got out and lifted the boy to the front seat of his car. The shining-eyed older brother climbed in beside him and the three of them began an unforgettable（難忘的） holiday ride.

1.The street urchin was very surprised when ________．

A．Paul received an expensive car

B．Paul told him about the car

C．he saw the shining car

D．he was walking around the car

2.From the story we can see the urchin ________．

A．wished to give his brother a car

B．wanted Paul’s brother to give him a car

C．wished he could have a brother like Paul’s

D．wished Paul could be a brother like that

3.The urchin asked Paul to stop his car in front of his house ________．

A．to show his neighbours the big car

B．to show he had a rich friend

C．to let his brother ride in the car

D．to tell his brother about his wish

4.We can infer（推斷）from the story that ________．

A．Paul couldn’t understand the urchin

B．the urchin had a deep love for his brother

C．the urchin wished to have a rich brother

D．the urchin’s wish came true in the end

5.The best name of the name story is _________．

A．A Christmas Present

B．A Street Urchin

C．A Brother Like That

D．An Unforgettable Holiday Ride

When I was ten, my sisters and I were amazed at our neighbor’s Christmas tree. We returned home from their house and decided that we must have one of our own. In our house we never had enough money for a Christmas tree.
In fact, we insisted so much that my father had no choice but to agree. “Yes!” he finally said.“This year we will have a Christmas tree.” Our mouths dropped open at the thought of having our own tree. Then Dad said,“I’ll do it myself.”
We followed him around the house as he gathered up the materials he would need, We all sat close to him, carefully watching everything he did. He passed the thread around the first nail on the corner of a box, then back down to the second nail on the box, and up again to the nail, until right there before our eyes a green Christmas tree began to take shape. He carefully did the same with all of the 50 nails in the box and when he had finished, he said,“Now you can decorate it.”
I don’t remember where the decorations came from, but they were red and small and to us they just looked so beautiful and perfect for our tree. When we finished decorating it, we proudly invited all our friends over to see our Christmas tree. We were so happy, not only because it looked so pretty, but because my father had made it himself. It truly was the most beautiful Christmas tree we had ever seen.
Years later, things got better and Dad was able to buy a proper Christmas tree which we would happily decorate. However, my sisters and I will never forget the night when we got our first Christmas tree.
【小題1】What do we know about the writer?