That Easter day ( 复活节 ) I found out we were so poor . The minister brought us the money for the poor family , so we must be poor , I thought . I didn’t like being poor . Everyone there probably already knew we were poor ! I thought about school . I was in the ninth grade and at the top of my class over 100 students . I wondered if the kids at school knew that we were poor .
We sat in silence for a long time . Then it got dark , and we went to bed . All that week ,we girls went to school and came home , and no one talked much . Finally , on Saturday , Mom asked us what we wanted to do with the money . What did poor people do with the money ? We didn’t know . We didn’t want to go to the church on Sunday , but mom said we had to . Although it was a sunny day , we didn’t talk on the way . Mom started to sing , but no one joined in .
At church we had a speaker . He talked about how churches in Africa built schools and houses for the poor people , but they needed more money to buy foods . The speaker said ,“ Can’t we all give away some money to help those poor people ?” We looked at each other and smiled for the first time in a week .
Mom reached into her purse and pulled out the envelope . She passed it to Darlene , Darlene gave it to me , and I put it into the offering .
When the offering was counted , the minister announced that it was a little over 500 dollars . The speaker was excited . He hadn’t expected such a large offering from our small church . He said ,＂ You must have some rich people in this church .” Suddenly it struck us ! We had given 420dollars of that “ little over 500 dollars .“
We were the rich family in the church ! Hadn’t the speaker said so ? From that day on , I’ve never been poor again .
1.When the writer’s family was given the money for the poor , she probably felt ____________ .
A．thankful B．surprised
C．fair D．embarrassed ( 难堪的 )
2. The mother decided to go to the church to ________________
A．hang out with her kids
B．donate ( 捐赠 ) the money to poor people
C．cheer her kids up
D．show other people they were not poor
3.What does the underlined word “announced” mean ?
A. Spoke loudly in public
B. Made a hard decision
C. Host a good program
D. Discovered an exciting result
4. Which of the statements is true ?
A.The writer was born in an African country
B. The writer didn’t like going to school
C. The mother was helpful to others
D. he mother didn’t want the money given by others
5.What can we learn from the article ?
A. It’s not good to receive other’s money
B. Being poor ,you still can help
C. Churches are good places to learn
D. We should regard difficulties as challenges
In a small village in England about 150 years ago, a mail coach ( 邮车 ) was standing on the street . It didn’t come to that village often . People had to pay a lot to get a letter . The person who sent the letter didn’t have to pay the postage (邮资 ) , while the receiver had to .
“Ｈere’s a letter for Miss Alice Brown , ” said the mailman .
“ Ｉ’m Alice Brown , ” a girl of about 18 said in a low voice .
Alice looked at the envelope（信封） for a minute , and then handed it back to the mailman .
“ Ｉ＇m sorry I can’t take it , I don’t have enough money to pay it＂, she said .
A gentleman standing around were very sorry for her . Then he came up and paid the postage for her .
When the gentleman gave the letter to her , she said with a smile , “ Thank you very much ,This letter is from Tom . I’m going to marry him . He went to London to look for work . I’ve waited a long time for this letter , but now I don’t need it , there is nothing in it .”
“ Really ? How do you know that ? ” the gentleman said in surprise .
“ He told me that he would put some signs on the envelope . Look ,sir ,this cross in the corner means that he is well and this circle means he has found work . That’s good news .”
The gentleman was Sir Rowland Hill . He didn’t forgot Alice and her letter .
“ The postage to be paid by the receiver has to be changed ,” he said to himself and had a good plan .
“ The postage has to be much lower , what about a penny (便士 ) ? And the person who sends the letter pays the postage . He has to buy a stamp and put it on the envelope .” he said .
The government accepted his plan . Then the first stamp was put out in 1840 . It was called the “ Penny Black “ . It had a picture of the Queen on it .
1. The first postage stamp was made ___________ .
A．in England B．in America
C．by Alice D．in 1910
2.The girl handed the letter back to the mailman because ______________ .
A．she didn’t know whose letter it was
B．she had no money to pay the postage
C．she received the letter but she didn’t want to open it
D．she had already known what was written in the letter
3. We can know from Alice’s words that _________________ .
A. Tom had told her what the signs meant before leaving
B. Alice was clever and could guess the meaning of the signs
C. Alice had put the signs on the envelope herself
D. Tom had put the signs as Alice had told him to
4. The idea of using stamps was thought of by __________________ .
A．the government B. Sir Rowland Hill
C. Alice Brown D. Tom
5. From the passage we know the high postage made _____________ .
A．People never send each other letters
B．lovers almost lose every touch with each other
C．people try their best to avoid(避免) paying it
D．receivers refuse to pay the coming letters
1. 56. We can see _______ in the butterfly exhibition .
A.some paintings .
B.some pictures of butterflies only .
C.some beautiful butterflies .
D.some pictures of the towns from all over the world .
2. You are going to see the exhibition with your 14 –year –old daughter , you will have to pay __________ .
A.15 yuan B.20 yuan
C.25 yuan D.35 yuan
3.We can book group tickets ____________ .
A.by making a phone call
B.by sending an e –mail
C.by writing a letter
D.by filling in an application form
4.There are 45 students in our class . How much will they pay if they visit the exhibition ?
A.￥ 675 B.￥ 450 C.￥900 D.￥400
5.If you go to the exhibition on 1 st , May , you can get ___________ .
A.a book B. a ticket
C. a butterfly D. a present
A beautiful ,well-dressed lady came to see her doctor . She said she was bored by her lifestyle , and her whole life was ________ and meaningless
So the doctor called the old lady who cleaned the office floors , and said to the rich lady，“I’m going to ask Mary to tell you how she found ________ . All I want you to do is to listen.”
So the old lady put down her broom(扫帚) ，sitting on a chair to tell her ____,“Well ,my husband _____ malaria （疟疾 ） and months later my only son was killed by a car . I had nobody … I had nothing ____ . I couldn’t sleep; I couldn’t eat ; I never smiled at anyone; I _____ thought of the death . Then one evening a little cat _____ me home from work . I felt sorry for the cat . It was cold outside , so I decided to let the cat in . I got it some milk , and it licked(舔 ) the plate ______ . Then it rubbed against my leg , and for the first time in months, I smiled . Then I stopped to think : if _____ a cat could make me smile , maybe doing something for ______could make me happy ,too . So the next day I baked（烘烤 ）some biscuits and took them to a neighbor who was _______ in bed. Every day I tried to do something ______ for someone . It made me so happy to see them happy . Today I don’t______ of anybody who sleeps and eats better than I do . I’ve found happiness by _____ it to others . ”
When she heard that , the rich lady cried . She had everything that money could buy ,but she had ___ the things which money couldn’t buy .
1.A.full B.interesting C.empty D.quie
2.A.meaning B.comfort C.truth D.happiness
3.A.question B.story C.survey D.matter
4.A.come over B.got over C.got out D.died of
5.A.left B.worried C.thought D.missed
6.A.ever B.even C.never D.still
7.A.followed B.reached C.arrived D.raised
8.A.bright B.perfect C.clean D.wet
9.A.saving B.helping C.making D.providing
10.A.groups B.animals C.families D.people
11.A.sick B.weak C.healthy D.tired
12.A.funny B.exciting C.nice D.great
13.A.care B.remind C.make D.know
14.A.making B.giving C.lending D.expecting
15.A.found B.got C.lost D.forgotten
---- Many women have to __________ their husbands for their livings .
---- That may not be true . Many women choose to go out to work themselves .
A．put on B. decide on
C．depend on D．come on
---You look a bit worried .
----It’s raining , but I ________my umbrella at home .
A．took B. brought
C．left D． forgot
