A judge was working in his room one day when a neighbour ran in and said, “If one man's cow kills another's, is the owner of the first cow responsible?”
“It depends,” answered the judge.
“Well,” said the man, your cow has killed mine.
“Oh,” answered the judge. “Everyone knows that a cow cannot think like a man, so a cow is not responsible, and that means that its owner is not responsible either.”
“I am sorry, Judge,” said the man. “I made a mistake. I meant that my cow killed yours.”
The judge thought for a few seconds and then said,“ When I think about it more carefully, this case is not as easy as I thought at first. ”And then he turned to his clerk and said, “Please bring me that big black book from the shelf behind you.”
【小題1】The neighbour asked the judge_______.

A taxi hit a truck. A policeman spoke to the taxi driver and to the truck driver. He also spoke to Tom. He was a witness . This is what they said.
TRUCK DRIVER: I was driving from the airport to Newton. A car crossed the road, so I slowed down. I did not stop. A taxi hit the back of my truck. Nobody was badly hurt but both cars were damaged.
TAXI DRIVER: I was driving behind a truck a few kilometers from Newton. The truck stopped suddenly. The driver did not give me a warning. I was driving very slowly. I could not pass the truck because there were two cars coming near from Newton. My taxi hit the truck, and some glass cut my left hand.
TOM: I was watching the traffic about a kilometer from the airport. A truck was going to Newton. It was not going very quickly. There was a taxi about two hundred meters behind the truck. It was going fast. When the truck slowed down, the taxi hit it. The taxi driver was not looking at the truck. He was looking out of the window at something. My friend saw the accident, too.
Tom's friend spoke to the policeman and agreed with Tom.
【小題1】How many people are mentioned in the story?

A taxi hit a truck. A policeman spoke to the taxi driver and to the truck driver. He also spoke to Tom. He was a witness . This is what they said.

TRUCK DRIVER: I was driving from the airport to Newton. A car crossed the road, so I slowed down. I did not stop. A taxi hit the back of my truck. Nobody was badly hurt but both cars were damaged.

TAXI DRIVER: I was driving behind a truck a few kilometers from Newton. The truck stopped suddenly. The driver did not give me a warning. I was driving very slowly. I could not pass the truck because there were two cars coming near from Newton. My taxi hit the truck, and some glass cut my left hand.

TOM: I was watching the traffic about a kilometer from the airport. A truck was going to Newton. It was not going very quickly. There was a taxi about two hundred meters behind the truck. It was going fast. When the truck slowed down, the taxi hit it. The taxi driver was not looking at the truck. He was looking out of the window at something. My friend saw the accident, too.

Tom's friend spoke to the policeman and agreed with Tom.

1.How many people are mentioned in the story?

A．Three.            B．Four.             C．Five.             D．Six.

2.The truck was going______.

A．to Newton                             B．to the police station

C．to the airport                          D．home

3.From the story, we know______didn’t tell the truth.

A．the truck driver                        B．Tom

C．the taxi driver                          D．Tom's friend

4.In fact, Tom's friend was also a ______ .

A．witness           B．driver            C．policeman         D．cleaner

5.What's the best title for this passage?

A．A Taxi Driver                           B．A Traffic Accident

C．A Story of Tom                          D．A Truck Driver

In the middle of the first term of school, the entire seventh grade was tested for basic skills. Steve hurried through his tests, and continued to dream of other things. His heart was not in school, but in the woods.

One day, Miss White’s impatient voice broke into his daydreams. “Steve! Pay attention!” Steve turned to look at her, fixing his eyes on Miss White, as she began to go over the test results for the seventh grade.

“You all did pretty well,” she told the class, “except for one boy, and it breaks my heart to tell you this, but...” She hesitated, her eyes searching his face. “...The smartest boy in the seventh grade is failing my class!” She just stared at Steve. Steve dropped his eyes.

After that, it was war! Steve still wouldn’t do his homework. Even as the punishments became more severe, he remained stubborn.

“Just try it! ONE WEEK!” He was unmoved.

“You’re smart enough! You’ll see a change!” Nothing touched him.

“Give yourself a chance! Don’t give up on your life!” Nothing.

“Steve! Please! I care about you!”

Wow! Suddenly, Steve got it! Someone cared about him? Steve went home from school, thoughtful, that afternoon. Walking into the house, both parents were out. He, quickly, gathered up a jar of peanut butter, a loaf of bread, a bottle of water, and this time...his schoolbooks.

?? The following Monday he arrived at school on time, and he waited for Miss White to enter the classroom. She walked in, all smiles! God, she was beautiful!

Miss White, immediately, gave a quiz on the weekend homework. Steve hurried through the test and was the first to hand in his paper. With a look of surprise, Miss White took his paper. Obviously puzzled, she began to look it over. Miss White’s face was in total shock! The smartest boy in the seventh grade had just passed his first test!

From that moment nothing was the same for Steve. Life at home remained the same, but life still changed. He discovered that not only could he learn, but he was good at it!

He discovered that he could understand knowledge and translate the things he learned into his own life. Steve began to go ahead!

1.Steve used to be bad at his lessons because _______.

A．the teacher blamed him from time to time?????

B．he was not a smart boy in his class

C．the test for the seventh grade challenged his confidence???

D．he hadn’t put his heart into his studies

2.The underlined word “stubborn” in the passage probably refers to “_______”.

A．completely unchanged????????? ????????????? B．severely punished

C．careless with the homework????????? D．lost in the test

3.It was the _______that made Steve begin to work hard at his lessons later.

A. his parents??????? ????????????? B．his classmates

C. the teacher????????? ????????????? D．failure in the test

4.Which of the following descriptions is TRUE according to the passage?

A．Steve often helped his parents work in the woods instead of going to school.

B．The teacher punished Steve for his failure in the test for the seventh grade.

C．Steve not only made progress but finally became a good student of the class.

D．Steve was actually a clever boy, but Miss White hadn’t realized it at first.

5.Which of the following words best describes Steve’s teacher?

A. Hardworking.????????????? ????????????? B. Caring.????????????? ????????????? C. Outstanding.????????????? ????????????? D. Strict.

Two old men lived in a room on the third floor of an old people’s home. Both men were very old and badly ill, and they spent 24 hours a day in bed in the room.
Luckily, one of the old men had his bed by the window, and every day he spent hours telling his friend far from the window what he could see through the window. He told him about the traffic going by, the children playing in the park opposite, and the birds flying in trees. The old man far from the window got a lot of pleasure from hearing about the world outside, but after a time he began to get rather unhappy. How nice it would be, he thought, if he had the bed by the window and could see everything for him, instead of just hearing about it.
One night, the man by the window called to his friend, “Quick! Pull the alarm by your bed; I don’t think I can get through the night!” But his friends, expecting an empty bed by the window, did nothing---he just closed his eyes and went back to sleep.
The next morning, the nurse found the man dead in his bed by the window.
The old man was very excited as they moved him into the empty bed by the window. He sat up in bed, pulled back the curtain, looked out --- and saw only a wall.
【小題1】Who do you think was kind in the story?