Little Tommy was the pride and joy of his parents. He was a little boy, very bright and happy. So with no doubt his parents sent him to kindergarten, and it was certain that he would grow up very well.

At the end of the first week, Tommy brought home pictures he had coloured. His parents were a bit puzzled why his drawings were done in black crayon But they said nothing.

Another week passed and Tommy’s pictures were technically correct and well drawn for a 5-year-old but still in black. His parents thought, perhaps he was colour-blind（色盲的）. So they took him for a check-up.

The doctor told them not to worry. Tommy was healthy in every way. However，the pictures still came home in black. The teacher was contacted and she related that Tommy was the top of her class in everything, very well liked by all of the other children and showed no signs of any problems.

In kindergarten for a month, Tommy’s mother was anxious. She made an appointment with a child psychologist（心理学家）, who did a brain scan for Tommy. His character was well formed, and he was a precocious（超前的）learner. Perhaps he needed more challenging activities.

By Thanksgiving the fridge and various walls and doors of the family home had displayed Tommy’s black pictures, black dogs chasing a black ball in a black field, black houses, black suns, black airplanes, black turkeys, everything black.

Tommy’s grandmother was visiting for the Thanksgiving holiday and noticed all of the black drawings. She immediately asked Tommy, “Why are all of your drawings done in black crayon?”

To which he replied, “Because Grandma, by the time the crayon box gets down to my end of the table, there are only black crayons left.”

【小题1】Which of the following made Tommy’s parents worried?

A．Tommy got bad grades in his exams.

B．Perhaps Tommy needed more challenging activities.

C．Tommy was colour-blind.

D．He drew all of his pictures in black crayon.

【小题2】Why did Tommy draw all his pictures in black crayon?

A．Because he was colour-blind.

B．Because he liked the black colour.

C．Because he only had black crayons.

D．Because he believed the world was black.

【小题3】Which of the words can best describe Tommy according to the last two paragraphs?

A．Strange.	B．Typical.
C．Understanding.	D．Talented.

【小题4】What is the suitable title for the passage?

A．Parents’pride	B．Black paintings
C．A kid painter	D．The last crayon

语法填空

Alanis Morissette, a Canadian singer and song writer, is 【小题1】 excellent superstar. She has made several albums, but her album Jagged Little Pill, which 【小题2】 (publish) in 1995 , made her world famous. Last Thursday night, hundreds of her fans saw her first 【小题3】 (perform) in the Corn Exchange in Cambridge, England since her song Uninvited 【小题4】 (win) this year’s Grammy Award for the best rock song. It was 【小题5】 (extreme) cold that night, but the audience were enthusiastic. During the concert, she played a few songs from her new album, such as Everything But…,【小题6】 tells the story of someone 【小题7】 (look) for love in the wrong places. Morissette gave a 【小题8】 (create) and powerful performance in another song Utopia, whose singing was full of feelings.【小题9】 (impress) by Morissette’s brilliant music and singing, the people present were excited. At the end of the concert, she ended the evening 【小题10】 a new song about the life of a superstar. After the concert, it is widely agreed that she is really a superstar！

Mr Brown was going away for a week. Before he left, he said to his son, "if anyone asks for me, you can tell him that your father has been out for doing something, and will be back in a week, then be sure to ask him to sit down for a cup of tea.""OK, Dad," said his son. But he was afraid his son couldn't remember this, he wrote these words down on a piece of paper and gave it to him. His son put it into his small pocket, took it out and looked at it every now and then.
Four days passed, but no one came to see his father. The boy thought that there was no man to come and that the piece of paper was of no more use for him, so he burnt it that evening.
The next afternoon, someone knocked at the door. The boy opened it. A man was standing at the door and said, "Where is your father?" The boy put his hand into his pocket at once and looked for the piece of paper. He could not find it. He suddenly remembered he had burnt it, so he shouted, "No more."The man was very surprised. He asked, "No more? I met your father last week. When did it happen?"
"Burnt yesterday evening."
【小题1】Mr Brown told his son that _____.

A．he would be away from home for four days

B．he would be back in seven days

C．he would be back in a month

D．he liked a cup of tea

【小题2】Mr Brown wrote the words down on ________.

A．the wall

B．the door

C．a piece of paper

D．his son's pocket

【小题3】A man came to visit the boy's father on ________.

A．the second day

B．the third day

C．the fourth day

D．the fifth day

【小题4】What was burnt? ___________.

A．The piece of paper

B．Mr Smith

C．The visitor

D．The boy

Four years ago my sweet mom went to be with her Lord. She did it her way.
I got the call at work, and I headed home quickly. Mom and Dad lived on a small farm that they had owned since I was seven. I hated going there every weekend. There was nothing for a young girl to do but watch the one station on the old TV set, if the weather allowed reception.
My mom, on the other hand, loved the peace and quiet of the land. The place was rustic, with no indoor plumbing or heat. We had a big wood stove in the kitchen that did its best to heat the little farmhouse, but it always seemed cold and too quiet to me.
In the evenings, my mom and I would sit for hours singing in the little kitchen. I sang the melody and Mom harmonized. Her favorite song was "Moon River" and we sang it over and over. Mom told me stories about how when I was a little girl, I could sing before I could talk.
As time passed, I had my own children and went to visit them every week or two. The kids loved the farm and the tractor rides with my dad. Me, well, I still hated the silence of the farm. While my mom loved to sit at her kitchen table and look out at her garden and flowers and retell all the old stories, I missed the hustle and bustle(喧闹) of my life at home. But I sat there listening quietly as she reminisced.
Now, I sat back in the silence and the silence was deafening so I finally leaned over to turn on an old radio. Music always comforted me.
My heart skipped a beat. “Moon River” was playing on the radio. I sat there stunned, with a tear running down my cheek, as I listened to every familiar note.
Then the radio announcer came on. “Here’s one we haven’t heard in a while,” and an unfamiliar song began. I began to cry harder as I heard the words sung over the airwaves. “Come down, come down from your Ivory Tower…”
【小题1】The writer didn’t like staying in the farm for the following reasons Except that ________.

A．it was too cold and quiet

B．she could only sing one song in the small farm

C．there was nothing more that could make her excited

D．the place was rustic, with no indoor plumbing or heat

【小题2】From the first paragraph, we know that the writer’s mother ________.

A．left the small farm with Lord

B．passed away four years ago

C．left for Lord to live her own way

D．preferred to be with Lord

【小题3】What does the underlined word refer to?

A．shouted	B．comforted
C．recalled	D．sighed

【小题4】Which of the following would be the best title for this passage?

A．Mom’s music	B．Cherish(珍惜) life
C．My happy childhood	D．Our small farmhouse

   At home, ordering food from a menu is a normal routine, I don’t even give it a second thought. In China, it’s a whole other story! Here, ordering is a fun game of test and error, and the adventure begins before the food is even served!

Many restaurants in central Beijing advertise “English language menus”, but the translations can just add to the confusion. Although accompanying pictures can be a helpful relief, the translations often make the whole experience even more amusing. During my first few weeks in China I tried some delicious dishes with strange names. As an experiment, my friends and I would order things like “students addicted to chicken gristle（软骨）” and “red burned lion head”. Eventually we learned that “lion head” was actually pork, and “students” were “addicted” to diced（切成丁的）chicken with green pepper. Recently, I came across a busy restaurant down a narrow side street in a Beijing hutong. It was lunchtime and the small room was packed with people sitting on small stools eating noodles. I was hungry and cold, and the steaming bowls looked irresistible! I sat myself down and called out for a “caidan!” In response, the waitress pointed to a wall at the back of the restaurant. The wall was full of Chinese characters describing numerous dishes. There was only one sentence in English: “crossing over the bridge noodles”.

I had never heard of the dish and had no idea what it would taste like. I took a gamble and ordered one bowl of “crossing over the bridge noodles”. A few minutes later the waitress carried a heavy bowl full of broth（肉汤）and I quickly dug in. It was the best bowl of noodles I had ever tasted! I have been back again and again and each time I point at the one English sentence—“crossing over the bridge noodles”. I always enter a restaurant in China feeling excited and a little nervous. Who knows what the next ordering adventure will show?

【小题1】How does the writer find the English language menus in many of Beijing’s restaurants?
A. Confusing but amusing.
B. Easy to understand.
C. Boring and annoying.
D. Accurate and helpful.
【小题2】The underlined word “gamble” in the last paragraph probably means “______”.
A. taste B. look
C. step D. risk
【小题3】What does the passage mainly talk about?
A. The writer’s favorite Chinese dishes.
B. The fun the author had ordering food in China’s restaurants.
C. A comparison between Western food and Chinese food.
D. The correct way to translate the names of Chinese dishes into English.
【小题4】The passage is developed mainly in the form of ______.
A. examples and statements
B. comparisons and conclusions
C. causes and effects
D. time and description