A boy called Mario had many friends, and he was proud of it. Whoever he met, he would like to show off(炫耀) how popular he was at school.
One day, his grandpa said to him, “Mario, I know that you don’t have as many friends as you think. Many of them are not true to you.”
Mario thought maybe his grandpa was right. However, he wasn’t sure how he could test whether his schoolmates were real friends or not, so he asked his grandpa. The old man answered, “I have just exactly what you need. It’s in my room. Wait a minute.” The old man left, soon returning as if(好像) carrying something in his hand, but Mario could see nothing there.
“Take it. It’s a very special chair. Because it’s invisible, it will be hard for you to sit on it. However, if you manage to sit on it, you can use the chair’s magic power（力量） to tell who your real friends are.”
Mario took the strange invisible chair to school. At break time he asked everyone to form a circle, and he put himself in the middle, with his chair.
“Nobody move. You’re about to see something amazing，” said Mario. Then he tried sitting on the chair. Having difficulty seeing it, he missed and fell to the ground. Everyone had a pretty good laugh. “Wait, wait,” said Mario, making another try. But again he missed the seat.
Mario didn’t give up. He kept trying to sit on the magic chair. Finally, he did it. This time he felt himself in mid-air.
Then he experienced the magic that his grandpa had been talking about. Looking around, Mario saw George, Lucas and Diana holding him up, so he wouldn’t fall. But some schoolmates whom he had regarded as friends had done nothing but made fun of him. Mario was quite thankful to his grandpa, who helped him test who his true friends were.
【小題1】Mario’s grandpa gave him a special chair to _____.

Jessie felt her life so boring one summer day. She was tired of watching TV, she read all her books, and her friends were on vacation. She wanted something different to do. Suddenly, she saw the lawn mower（割草機(jī)）sitting in the yard.
“Mom," she shouted, ‘‘I think I will mow the lawn." Her mom ran into the yard and said,“Oh no, you don't. You're too young to mow the lawn."
“I'm fourteen years old and know how to do it," Jessie said. "Besides, it would help Dad out, and he won't have to worry about it over the weekend."
Mom thought for a while and then decided to let Jessie give it a try. After all, she was home and would keep an eye on her. Jessie already knew how to start the lawn mower from watching her dad. Jessie checked the gas（汽油）to make sure it was full, and put on her gardening gloves to protect her hands. Mom watched from the kitchen window. Jessie really does know how to mow the lawn. She was very careful around the flowers and trees. When she finished, she felt so good, but she was so hot. Mom brought her some ice tea and said, "You really did a great job. Dad will be very surprised."
Later that day, Dad came home and said to Jessie's mom, "You didn't have to mow the lawn. I was going to do it on Saturday. It looks great. Thanks."
"I didn't mow it. Jessie did."
"Wow, our little girl is growing up!" Dad told Jessie what a great job she had done.
"It was fun, and I will do it again next week," said Jessie.
The neighbor next door came by and asked Jessie if she wanted to mow his lawn and make some money. "Sure!" said Jessie. Jessie began mowing his lawn. Two other neighbors asked so, then another three. Jessie was now mowing lawns for them all and making some money. She was no longer bored! "I won't have time to spend my money," she laughed to herself.
【小題1】 In order to do something different, Jessie decide to _______.

Jane Scott is fourteen and the year before last she began to study in a middle school. She likes dancing and singing and spends a lot of time on them. But she hates math and does not work hard at it. She thinks it difficult to learn. She falls behind her classmates and once failed the math exam. She decides to drop it. Her father is angry with her when he knows about it.

It was Sunday. Mr Scott gave a call to his sister, who teaches math in another school. He hoped she would come and tell his daughter how to learn math. The woman came quickly and said. “You’re a clever girl, Jane. I’m sure you’ll soon do well in math if you work hard at it.”

“I’m afraid I can’t, Aunt,” said Jane, “Girls can’t be good at math.”

“I don’t think so,” said the woman. “I was good at it when was a girl. You must do more exercises and practice a math problem again and again until you master it. Remember: Practice makes perfect. Well, it’s a math problem. Think about it and practice it again, and you’ll work it out.”

“OK,” said the girl, “Let me try.”

About an hour later, Jane took the exercise book to her aunt and said, “I’ve done the problem ten times.”

“Well done!” her aunt said happily, “What result did you get?”

“Ten answers.”

1.Jane has difficulty in learning ______.

2.Jane Why does Jane fall behind classmates in math?

3. Mr Scott wanted her sister to help with her because______.

4.The woman told her _______.

5.Which of the following is true?