Once there lived a rich man 【小题1】 wanted to do something for the people of his town. But first he wanted 【小题2】 (find) out whether they deserve his help.
In the center of the main road into the town, he placed 【小题3】 very large stone. Then he 【小题4】 (hide) behind a tree and waited. Soon an old man came along with his cow.
"Who put this stone in the center of the road?" said the man, but he did not try to remove the stone. Instead, with some difficulty he passed around the stone and continued his way. 【小题5】 man came and did the same thing; then another came, and another. All of them complained about the stone but not tried to remove 【小题6】. Later in the afternoon a young man came along. He saw the stone, 【小题7】 (say) to himself, "the night will be very dark. Some 【小题8】 (neighbor) will come along 【小题9】 (late) in the dark and will fall against the stone."
Then he began to move the stone. He pushed and pulled with all his strength to move it. How great his surprise was at last! 【小题10】 the stone, he found a bag of money.

Twelve years ago, Danny called me from a dark, damp subway station. “A baby!” he shouted. “Get down here, and flag down a police car or something.” By nature, Danny is a remarkably calm person, so when I felt his heart pounding through the phone line, I ran.
When I got to the subway station, Danny was holding a light-brown-skinned baby, about a day old. The baby had been wrapped in an oversize black sweatshirt and left on the ground in a corner behind the gate.
Three months later, Danny appeared in family court to give an account of finding the baby. Suddenly, the judge asked, “Would you be interested in adopting this baby?” The question stunned everyone in the courtroom, except Danny, who answered, simply, “Yes.”
“But I know it’s not that easy,” he said.
“Well, it can be,” assured the judge before barking out orders to allow me to be a parent-to-be.
My first reaction, when I heard, went something like: “Are you crazy? How could you say yes without consulting me?”
In three years as a couple, we had never discussed adopting a child. I was an ambitious playwright working as a part-time word processor. Danny was a respected yet wildly underpaid social worker. We had a roommate, who slept in our living room, to help pay the rent.
We knew how many challenges couples usually faced when they wanted to adopt. And while Danny had patience and selflessness, I didn’t know how to change a diaper(尿布), let alone nurse a child. I didn’t trust the system and was sure there would be obstacles. Also, I couldn’t handle parenthood. So I promised myself I wouldn’t get attached.
The caretaker held him and then placed him in my arms. But when the baby stared up at me, with all the innocence and hope he represented, I, like Danny, was completely hooked.
【小题1】Why did the author rush to the subway station?

A．Because Danny finally found their long lost son.

B．Because she sensed Danny met something urgent.

C．Because Danny was knocked down by a police car.

D．Because Danny wasn’t a remarkably calm person by nature.

【小题2】How did the author react on hearing Danny’s answer to the judge’s question?

A．Surprised by the question.

B．Crazy to be a parent-to-be.

C．Annoyed at Danny’s decision.

D．Interested in adopting this baby.

【小题3】It can be inferred from the last paragraph that_________.

A．the author will adopt the baby

B．the caretaker will take the baby away

C．the couple love each other very much

D．the baby will bring hope to the family

【小题4】What is the author’s purpose in writing the passage?

A．To introduce a story of a poor family.

B．To inform people of how to adopt a baby.

C．To call on people to donate money to them.

D．To show human’s kindness and love by nature.

Sports can help you keep fit and get in touch with nature. However, whether you are on the mountains, in the waves, or on the grassland, you should be aware that your sport of choice might have great influence on the environment.
Some sports are resource-hungry. Golf, as you may know, eats up not only large areas of countryside, but also tons of water. Besides, all sorts of chemicals and huge amounts of energy are used to keep its courses(球场) in good condition. This causes major environmental effects. For example, in the dry regions of Portugal and Spain, golf is often held responsible for serious water shortage in some local areas.
There are many environment-friendly sports. Power walking is one of them that you could take up today. You don't need any special equipment except a good pair of shoes; and you don't have to worry about resources and your purse. Simple and free, power walking can also keep you fit. If you walk regularly, it will be good for your heart and bones. Experts say that 20 minutes of power walking daily can make you feel less anxious, sleep well and have better weight control.
Whatever sport you take up, you can make it greener by using environment-friendly equipment and buying products made from recycled materials. But the final goal should be "green gyms". They are better replacements(代替物) for traditional health clubs and modern sports centers. Members of green gyms play sports outdoors, in the countryside or other open spaces. There is no special requirement for you to start your membership. And best of all, it's free.
【小题1】Which of the following is the author most probably in favor of?

A．Motor racing in the desert.

B．Cycling around a lake.

C．Playing basketball in a gym

D．Swimming in a sports center.

【小题2】The author uses power walking as an example mainly because_________.

A．it is an outdoor sport

B．it improves our health

C．it uses fewer resources

D．it is recommended by experts

【小题3】What do we know about golf from the passage?

A．It is popular in Portugal and Spain.

B．It needs water and electricity to keep its courses green.

C．It pollutes the earth with chemicals and wastes.

D．It causes water shortages around the world.

【小题4】The author writes the passage to ________.

A．show us the function of major sports

B．discuss the major influence of popular sports

C．encourage us to go in for green sports

D．introduce different types of environment-friendly sports

   Rome had the Forum. London has Speaker’s Corner. Now New Yorkers have Liz and Bill.

Liz and Bill, two college graduates in their early 20s, have spent a whole year trying to have thousands of people talk to them in subway stations and on busy street corners. And just talk.

Using a 2-foot-tall sign that says “Talk to Me”, they attract conversationalists（健谈的人）, who one evening included a psychotic, and men in business suits.

They don’t collect money. They don’t push religion. So what’s the point?

“To see what happens,” said Liz. “We simply enjoy life with open talks.”

Shortly after the September 11 attacks, they decided to walk from New York City to Washington, a 270-mile trip. They found they loved talking to people along the way and wanted to continue talking with strangers after their return.

“It started as a crazy idea,” Liz said. “We were so curious about all the strangers walking by with their life stories. People will talk to us about anything: their jobs, their clothes, their childhood experiences, anything.”

Denise wanted to talk about an exam she was about to take. She stopped by for the second time in two days, to let the two listeners know how it went.

Marcia had led her husband to catch a serious disease. “That was very heavy on my mind,” Marcia said. “To be able to talk about it to total strangers was very good,” she explained.

To celebrate a year of talking, the two held a get-together in a city park for all the people they had met over the past year. A few hundred people appeared, as well as some television cameramen and reporters.

They will plan more parties or try to attract more people to join in their informal talks. Some publishers have expressed interest in a book, something the two say they’ll consider before making a decision.

【小题1】What Liz and Bill have been doing could be described as __________ according to Liz.

A．pointless	B．normal
C．crazy	D．successful

【小题2】Why are Denise and Marcia mentioned in the text?

A．Because they knew Liz and Bill very well.

B．Because they happened to meet the writer of the text.

C．Because they organized the get-together in the city park.

D．Because they are examples of those who talked to Liz and Bill.

【小题3】What will Liz and Bill do in the future?

A．Go in for publishing.	B．Produce more television programs.
C．Continue what they are doing.	D．Spend more time reading books.

【小题4】How do they like the idea of writing a book？

A．They have decided to wait a year or two.	B．They will think about it carefully.
C．They agreed immediately.	D．They find it hard to do that.

   Smoking is harmful. But as soon as you quit the habit, everything will be OK, right? Wrong.

New research has found that even if you give up smoking, the damage it has done to your genes will stay there for a much longer time. In the research, a team of US scientists studied the blood of 16,000 people. Among them, some were smokers, some used to smoke, and the rest were non-smokers. Scientists compared their genes and found that more than 7,000 genes of smokers had changed--a number that is one-third of known human genes.

According to NBC News, both heart disease and cancer are caused by genetic changes. Some people may have had the changes when they were born, but most people get them in their day-to-day lives while doing things like smoking.

When you stop smoking, a lot of these genes will return to normal within five years.

This means your body is trying to heal (治愈) itself of the harmful effects of smoking. But the changes in some of the genes stay for longer. They can stay for as long as 30 years, It’s almost like leaving a footprint on wet cement (水泥)----it will always be there, even when you’ve walked away and when the cement becomes dry.

Although the study results may make people unhappy, there is a bright side: the findings could help scientists invent medicine to treat genetic damage caused by smoking or find ways to tell which people have heart disease or cancer risks.

【小题1】The function of Paragraph 1 is to_________ .

A．introduce the topic of the passage	B．give an example
C．make an argument	D．show the main idea of the passage

【小题2】Most genetic changes happen because of___________ .

A．people’s condition at birth	B．environmental pollution
C．people’s bad living habit	D．heart disease and cancer

【小题3】The underlined word “it” in Paragraph 5 refers to__________ .

A．the footprint	B．the cement
C．the harmful effect	D．the genetic change

【小题4】Which of the following statements is true?

A．The findings are the fruit of more than three years’ research.

B．The findings have prevented more people from starting smoking

C．The findings offer evidence that a damaged gene can heal itself.

D．The findings help to find cures for genetic damage caused by smoking.