Dear Reader，

Think about an 11-year-old child spending her days washing clothes，looking after a baby brother，and doing hart work on the farm．

Think about a little girl．She knows there will not be enough food for dinner，and has no water to drink because it if not clean．She has watched her father．brother and sister lose their lives as the family has no money to send for a doctor．

Hard to believe? For Maria Pastora, these are the facts of life．

Maria would gladly walk to school，but her mother，now alone，really needs her at home．Mafia had to leave school to work for her poor family．

But for five dollars a week，you can help out a child like Maria．Show her that somewhere，someone will help her．Through Save the Children．you can help Maria's mother get better crops（收成）from their farm，and earn the money to buy clothes and things for school．

To help Maria most，your money is to put together with other helpers，so hardworking people can help themselves．Build a school or a hospital，make their farm better，bring in clean water… This is what Save the Children has beer about since l932．

For you there are many returns．You can write letters to each other，get photos，or study reports．Know you are helping and saving another person in the same world as you．That's how Save the Children works．But without you，it can't work．Please take a moment to fill in this form to help a child like Maria and her village．

It can make such a difference… in her life and yours．

Save the Children

David L Guyer

Chairman

1．Maria's father．brother and sister died because they             ．

A．were too poor to see a doctor                   B．didn't know where to find a doctor

C．didn't have enough food to eat                     D．were too busy to see a doctor

2．This letter mainly tells you to           ．

A．know about poor people                           B．earn some money for poor children

C．show pity to poor people                            D．donate money to help poor children

3．If you try to help a child like Mafia，which of the following can't you get from her?

A．You can often get some pictures from her．

B．You can get more money from her when she grows up．

C．You can often get her letters．

D．You can often be told how she is getting on．

4．This letter most probably appears            ．

A．on TV                 B．in a magazine        C．in a dictionary         D．on the radio

Born into a farmer’s family, life was not easy when I was a kid. We were so poor that we often did not know where our next meal was coming from. I had to sell cabbages at the marketplace to support my family.
A storyteller once came to the marketplace, and I went to listen to him. My mother was unhappy with me for forgetting my job. But that night, while she was making clothes for us under the weak light of an oil lamp, I couldn't help retelling stories I'd heard that day. She listened impatiently at first, since in her eyes professional（職業(yè)的） storytellers were smooth-talking men—nothing good ever came out of their mouths. But slowly she was attracted by my retold stories, and from that day on, she never gave me any task on market days, unspoken agreement to enjoy new stories. As a repayment（回報(bào)）for Mother's kindness and a way to show off my memory, I'd retell the stories for her in lively detail. Soon, she wasn't the only member of my audience, which later included my elder sisters, my aunts, even my stubborn grandmother.
I knew she was worried about me. Talkative kids are not well thought of in our village, for they can bring trouble to themselves and to their families when they talk too much. Mother often reminded me not to talk so much, wanting me to be a silent and modest teenager. However, my natural desire（渴望）to talk never went away, and that is what makes my name – Mo Yan, which means ‘no speaking’. This strong wish to talk also improved my ability to express myself, which is important for writers who are also considered as storytellers.
【小題1】Mo Yan lived a/an ________ life when he was young.

A．hard

B．colourful

C．easy

D．rich

【小題2】From the second paragraph, we can learn that ________.

A．little Mo Yan was interested in selling vegetables

B．his mother was attracted by the retold story at first

C．his mother didn’t let him listen to the new stories again

D．little Mo Yan had quite a good memory

【小題3】Why did his mother dislike the professional storytellers?

A．Because she thought they never said anything good.

B．Because she thought they couldn’t make much money.

C．Because she thought they would affect Mo Yan’s schoolwork.

D．Because she thought most people didn’t like listening to stories.

【小題4】In Mo Yan’s opinion, a writer should be a ________ child when they were young.

A．silent

B．modest

C．talkative

D．trouble-making

【小題5】Which is the best title（標(biāo)題）of the passage?

A．My Unlucky Childhood	B．A Storyteller’s Childhood
C．My Kind Grandmother	D．More talking leads to success

 
Born into a farmer’s family, life was not easy when I was a kid. We were so poor that we often did not know where our next meal was coming from. I had to sell cabbages at the marketplace to support my family.
A storyteller once came to the marketplace, and I went to listen to him. My mother was unhappy with me for forgetting my job. But that night, while she was making clothes for us under the weak light of an oil lamp, I couldn't help retelling stories I'd heard that day. She listened impatiently at first, since in her eyes professional（職業(yè)的） storytellers were smooth-talking men—nothing good ever came out of their mouths. But slowly she was attracted by my retold stories, and from that day on, she never gave me any task on market days, unspoken agreement to enjoy new stories. As a repayment（回報(bào)）for Mother's kindness and a way to show off my memory, I'd retell the stories for her in lively detail. Soon, she wasn't the only member of my audience, which later included my elder sisters, my aunts, even my stubborn grandmother.
I knew she was worried about me. Talkative kids are not well thought of in our village, for they can bring trouble to themselves and to their families when they talk too much. Mother often reminded me not to talk so much, wanting me to be a silent and modest teenager. However, my natural desire（渴望）to talk never went away, and that is what makes my name – Mo Yan, which means ‘no speaking’. This strong wish to talk also improved my ability to express myself, which is important for writers who are also considered as storytellers.
【小題1】Mo Yan lived a/an ________ life when he was young.

A．hard

B．colourful

C．easy

D．rich

【小題2】From the second paragraph, we can learn that ________

A．little Mo Yan was interested in selling vegetables

B．his mother was attracted by the retold story at first

C．his mother didn’t let him listen to the new stories again

D．little Mo Yan had quite a good memory

【小題3】Why did his mother dislike the professional storytellers?

A．Because she thought they never said anything good.

B．Because she thought they couldn’t make much money.

C．Because she thought they would affect Mo Yan’s schoolwork.

D．Because she thought most people didn’t like listening to stories.

【小題4】In Mo Yan’s opinion, a writer should be a ________ child when they were young.

A．silent

B．modest

C．talkative

D．trouble-making

【小題5】Which is the best title（標(biāo)題）of the passage?

A．My Unlucky Childhood	B．A Storyteller’s Childhood
C．My Kind Grandmother	D．More talking leads to success

Most children in the United States are returning to school after the summer holiday．Public education for children in the United Sates is free．But parents still have to buy things such as new clothes，bags and other supplies for their children before every new school year．

8，000 Americans took part in a study．It said that this year American parents would spend almost 15 billion dollars preparing their children for school．

The study also found that 93 percent of families with school age children plan to buy clothes，shoes and school supplies．Each family will spend almost 500 dollars on those things．This is 7 percent more than last year．Almost half of questioned parents also said they planned to spend about 100 dollars on electronics(電子產(chǎn)品) and computers．

Half of the parents in the study said their children would use their own money to buy some things for school．Teenaged children arc expected to spend about 85 dollars each for supplies．23 percent of parents said that even their younger children would buy some things for themselves．

To help shoppers save money，several cities let people buy some goods without paying sales tax．Washington，D．C．，is such a city．It has a ten—day sales tax holiday in August．At that time，people can buy clothing，shoes or school supplies that cost less than 100 dollars without paying sales tax．

1．How many children plan to use their own money to buy school needs?

A．Seven percent of them．      B．Twenty—three percent of them．

C．Ninty—three percent of them． D．None of the above．

2．How much did each family spend last year on children’s school supplies?

A．535 dollars．    B．465 dollars．    C．565 dollars．   D．435 dollars．

3．Shoppers can save money            ．

A．in special days    B．in all big cities

C．during holidays   D．when the things cost $100

4．We can learn from the study that         

A．8，000 parents will spend about 15 billion dollars for their children’s school life．

B．93％ of the American families have school children．

C．500 dollars on children’s clothes，shoes and school supplies is necessary for a family．

D．7％ of the families want to spend 100 dollars on computers and electronics．

5．The best title of the text would be“             ”

A．Children’s Costs in the United States．

B．Children’s Study Plants for the New Year．

C．Public Education in the United States．

D．New School Year，New Supplies and Costs

Mr. Jones had a nice brown coat. He loved it very much, but his wife did not like it because it was old. She often said, ”Give it to a poor man.” But Mr.Jones always said, ”No. I like this coat.”

Then one day a cigarette(香煙) fell on lit and made a hole in it. So Mrs.Jones said, ”Please don’t wear it again.” Mr.Jones took it to a small tailor(裁縫)and

said, ”Please make another coat like this one.” The tailor made the coat very carefully. Then he lit(點(diǎn)燃)a cigarette, and made a hole in the same place.

(  )1.Mrs.Jones didn’t like the coat because___.

A.           it was nice and brown.          B. it was not nice

C. it was very old                   D. it was not old

(  )2. Mrs.Jones often asked her husband to ___.

A.           buy a new coat                    B. make a new coat

C. give the old coat to a poor man       D. wear the old coat again

(  )3. __ made a hole in it, so Mr.Jones took it to a tailor.

A.A cigarette   B. Mr.Jones   C. Mrs.Jones   D.A tailor

(  )4. Mr.Jones asked the tailor to___.

A.           make a new hole in the old coat  B. make a hole in the new coat

 C. make a hole in the same place as the old coat

D. make a new coat like the old one

(  )5. Who do you think was foolish(愚蠢)?

A.           The tailor.    B. Mr.Jomes.    C. Mrs.Jones.    D. No one.

It’s Have Nothing to Do with me

Henry was born in a village. His father has a small farm. He works hard, but the weather is bad. It doesn’t rain for a long time and they can’t get enough food. Sometimes their family are hungry. So the boy can’t go to school. He has to help his parents and work in the fields, too. His parents are very busy and have no time to teach him how to be polite(有禮貌的) boy. He often says something unauspicious(不吉利的) and it makes everyone angry.

The boy’s aunt has a lot of money(錢). She often helps the family and gives the boy some fruit and clothes, so he likes her very much. It was his uncle’s birthday yesterday. Henry’s parents went there with some presents. They didn’t want to take Henry there with them. The boy was angry. His mother told him to be polite, if he wanted to go with them. The boy listened to her, and together they went.

Henry’s uncle was very happy that day. A lot of the boy’s uncle’s friends came to his birthday party. Henry ate some fruit, cakes and meat. And he was

polite before he left. His parents were happy, too.

When the party was over. Henry said, “I said nothing unauspicious today. It’ll have nothing to do with(與….無關(guān)) me if my uncle dies(死) next month.”

  6.Henry’s family are sometimes hungry because _____ .

A. they don’t work hard      B. they can’t get enough food

C. their farm is large         D. the food is good

  7.Henry doesn’t go to school because ______.

A.          he doesn’t like to study

B.           he wants to help his father do farm work

C.          his parents have little(少) money（錢）

D.          he likes to stay at home

8.The meaning of the word “angry” ____- in Chinese.

A．生氣的   B. 興奮的     C.  遺憾的   D.激動(dòng)的

  9. ______, so Henry likes her.

A.          His aunt often gives him books.

B.           His aunt often takes him to the zoo.

C.          His aunt often helps him work in the fields.

D.          His aunt often gives him some fruit and clothes.

  10.Henry’s parents didn’t want to take him to the party because ____.

A.          he often says something unauspicious

B.           he can’t sing songs

C.          He had to look after the house

D.          He is too young to go to there on foot