Steve visits the nursing home near his house two afternoons each week. On one of those days, he reads to his friend Martin. On the other afternoon, he plays cards and talks with Mrs. Johnson. Steve enjoys spending his extra time this way. He is a volunteer. A volunteer is a person who helps another person or has a job for which he or she does not get paid. A volunteer donates his or her time for free.
Everyone else in Steve's family is also a volunteer. Steve's mother Mary volunteers one afternoon each week at the local hospital. She talks to patients, delivers flowers, and helps the nurses with odd jobs. Steve's sister Gina volunteers two afternoons at the museum. She welcomes visitors and answers their questions. Steve's father David also is a volunteer. He is a volunteer fire fighter for the town in which they live.
Steve's family thinks volunteering is very important. Steve's parents think being a volunteer helps to teach values. Steve and his sister learn how to be kind and respect other people.
Steve's family does volunteer work to give something back to the community. They want to help people who are not as fortunate as they are.
A family of volunteers
Relationship | Name | Time per week | 1. | Doings |
Father | David | Anytime necessary | Anywhere necessary | 2. |
Mother | 3. | One afternoon | The local hospital | Talk to patients; Deliver flowers Help nurses |
Son | Steve | Two afternoons | 4. | Read to Martin Talk and play with Mrs. Johnson |
5. | Gina | Two afternoons | The museum | Welcome visitors Answer questions |
Early this morning we all went to the Future Hall to have our graduation ceremony. The headmaster made a wonderful speech, and many of us 1. (move) to tears.
Now the ceremony is over. We will leave school soon. I feel very excited because I am one of the best 2. (graduate). At the same time, I am a little sad because I have to say goodbye to my classmates and teachers. I want 3. (take) some photos with them and I will give some gifts to my teachers as well. In the past three years, I 4. (have) a great time in Red Star International School. I have learnt not only how to study, but also how to be a man. In 5. future, I will work much 6. (hard). I hope I can be an astronaut when I 7. (grow) up.
Maria, Jane and Michael 8. (go) back to their hometowns tomorrow and I will see them off at the airport. We will keep in touch 9. each other by sending emails, making telephone calls or writing letters. We will be good friends forever. I wish my classmates and teachers health, 10. (happy) and good luck.
My great-grand mother, Winifred Hastings, got rich in a mining(采矿)town out West. But her 46 didn’t come from gold or silver, but from soup, steak, apple pie, and good coffee.
In the early 1900’s, Winifred arrived in Silver City with her husband. But he caught a fever and died suddenly. With the little money she had, Winifred decided to open a practical restaurant to 47 all the hungry miners in town.
The restaurant had only wooden boxes for tables, but business was very good 48 . The miners 49 that Winifred was a great cook, 50 they ate in her restaurant every day.
One time, Winifred had a small accident in the restaurant. A fire started in the kitchen and her customers had to put it out. The town mayor walked in 51 there was still a lot of smoke in the room. “Winifred,” he said. “What are you cooking back there?” Everybody 52 .
In 1905, Winifred got married again and moved out of town. On her 53 day in Sliver City, a photographer took her picture. The picture is over my desk at home. It shows Winifred with about fifty miners standing in front of the restaurant. At the top of the photo 54 says: TO WINIFRED THE BEST COOK IN THE WEST. 55 YOUR BOYS.
1.A. wealth B. skill C. family D. health
2.A. cost B. entertain C. warm D. feed
3.A. sometimes B. anyway C. somewhere D. anywhere
4.A. found out B. looked through C. came across D. thought up
5.A. but B. and C. since D. although
6.A. if B. after C. while D. before
7.A. cried B. laughed C. replied D. followed
8.A. best B. worst C. first D. last
9.A. he B. she C. it D. one
10.A. WITH B. FOR C. BY D. FROM
10-year-old Penny goes back to her school to find a place for her dog Socks. The big door is 41 . Penny walks around the school: there were doors at the 42 . They are all locked. Then she sees a window. It is open. She 43 inside. She walks along the hallway between the classrooms. She can’t put Socks inside a classroom.
Under the classrooms, Penny finds a store room. It is locked, too, and she doesn’t have the 44 . Penny puts Socks on the ground and he runs along the hallway. Penny runs after him. “Come here,” she says. Socks is not 45 . He runs into the girls’ changing room.
1.A. locked B. closed C. open D. broken
2.A. bottom B. top C. back D. front
3.A. walks B. climbs C. jumps D. looks
4.A. interest B. time C. key D. courage
5.A. hearing B. listening C. watching D. answering
There is a popular belief that goldfish only have a three-second memory. But a 15-year-old schoolboy from Adelaide has just finished an experiment(实验)to tell us that it is not true. He shows everybody that the goldfish is smarter than we think.
“I don’t believe that they had a three-second memory because animals need their memory, so they build up over time a knowledge of where the food is,” said Roy Stokes, a student at the Australian Science and Mathematics School.
He did the experiment in small tank(鱼缸)of goldfish. “I decided to get a bit of red Logo and just feed them next to that. Every day I’d put it in and spread food around it.” He said.
“At first they were a bit scared of it, but by the end of the three weeks, they were actually almost coming before I put the food in.”
After leaving the fish alone for a week, Rory placed the red Logo block in the tank again.
“They remembered perfectly well,” he said.
“They actually had a time faster than the average of the three feeds before I left.”
The goldfish showed that not only could they store information, they also had the ability to get it back as a later date.
Culum Brown, a research fellow at Sydney’s Macquarie University, has studied fish behavior for more than ten years.
He says his studies of Australian native fish show fish were intelligent creatures that know how to avoid enemies and catch food like any other animal.
“The thing that I really liked about Rory’s experiment is he not only got that classical conditioning going but the fact that he could get them next just to that specific coloured market. I thought it was really good.” He said.
1.Rory began his research by ______.
A. discussing with his classmates B. making friends with goldfish
C. asking his teacher for advice D. questioning a popular belief
2.Rory put a red Logo in the tank to ______.
A. connect food with the color B. make the tank nicer to look at
C. feed the fish at the same place D. give the fish something to play with
3.What’s the right order of Rory’s experiment?
a. find a tank of goldfish b. feed the fish next to the Logo c. leave the goldfish alone for a week | d. take out the Logo e. put a red Logo into the tank f. put the Logo back into the tank |
A. adbecf B aebdcf C. dabefc D. adebcf
4.What do the last three paragraphs tell us?
A. Rory’s research was highly praised by experienced experts.
B. Rory’s experiment failed to meet the scientific standard.
C. Many scientists had already done the experiment before.
D. Fish are the cleverest animal in Australia.
5.What can we learn from the story?
A. Fish can become smarter with the help of red color.
B. What everybody believes is not necessarily true.
C. Scientists should learn from middle school students.
D. Young people are generally smarter than aged ones.
A long time ago, there lived a very old man. He was so old that he could not see or hear very well. He also could not walk very well, or eat very well for his hand shook. The old man's son and daughter-in-law thought he might make trouble at table. So, they had him eat his meals in the corner of the kitchen without a table.
They gave him very little to eat. The old man would have a sad look on his face as he looked at his son and daughter-in-law’s dinner table. One day the old man’s hand shook so terribly that he dropped his dish on the floor. The daughter-in-law became angry and shouted at the old man. And after that, his meals were served in a broken dish.
Not long afterwards, the family was sitting having their dinner while the four-year-old grandson was sitting on the floor carefully checking pieces of wood. The father asked, “What are you doing?” “I am making a small bowl.”
“Why are you making it?” The son answered. “So that I can fill it with your and mother’s food when I grow up.”
The old man’s son and daughter-in-law looked at one another and without saying a word started crying. The two quickly brought their old father to their dinner table. From that day on, the old man sat with the family when they had their meals. Even when the old man’s food fell here and there, the son and the daughter-in-law did not say anything.
1.The son and his wife made their father eat in the kitchen to ______.
A. teach their son a good lesson B. stay away from trouble
C. punish him for his shaking hand D. give him peace and comfort
2.The old man dropped his dish _______.
A. out of carelessness B. to ask for a new one C. against his own will D. to draw his son's attention
3. By making that small bowl, the grandson wanted to ______.
A. follow his parents' example B. eat the way his grandfather did
C. enjoy making things with his own hands D. show his parents how clever he was
4.The end of the story suggests the old man would _______.
A. no longer drop his dishes B. continue to eat in the kitchen
C. stop shaking his hands while eating D. live a comfortable life in the family
5.What does the writer want to tell us with the story?
A. The young should look after the old. B. Family members should have meals together.
C. It's terribly wrong to serve meals in broken dishes. D. Parents should set a good example for their children.