閱讀理解

Thousands of people have been killed in a huge earthquake in Japan．The quake－the strongest to hit Japan in more than 100 years -- caused great damage and many people are missing and dead．

The 8.9 magnitude﹡ quake hit Friday(March 11)off Japan's eastern coast﹡, and caused tsunami﹡ warnings﹡ across the Pacific as far away as South America and the U．S．West Coast．Several days after a 8.9-magnitude earthquake and resulting 10-meter-high tsunami destroyed the coastline．It’s reported that it was the fifth largest earthquake since 1900．The largest, with a 9.5 magnitude, shook Chile in 1960．

　　In Japan, the tsunami swept away boats, cars and hundreds of houses in coastal areas north of Tokyo．The quake shook buildings in the Japanese capital and caused several fires．All train and subway traffic in Tokyo has been stopped, and thousands of people there were unable to get back home．People are just trying to find clean water．Food is running out．In the stores, there are no rice balls left．There is no bottled water left．People are facing a really serious situation in the days ahead．The number of the final death could go up from the thousands to tens of thousands．

　　Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan said the government would do everything it can to make the influence of the earthquake as small as possible．And in Washington, President Obama said the United States is ready to help the people of Japan．

閱讀理解

　　Long long ago an old man and woman lived in the mountains in Japan．Every day the old man went to the mountain and collected firewood, while the old woman went to the river and did the washing．

　　One day, she was doing the washing when a big peach﹡ came down the river to her．As it was a big and juicy-looking fruit, she thought that her husband would be glad to eat it, so she took it home．When the old man came back for lunch and saw the nice peach, he was really happy．The old woman cut the big peach open with a knife．What a surprise! A lovely little boy was in the peach．The old man and woman had no children, so they were really grateful the gods sent them a boy in this peach．Since he was born in a peach, they decided to call him Momotaro which means ‘‘peach-boy’’．The old woman cooked a meal for the little boy who ate as much as he could．The more he ate, the more he grew．Soon he became a tall and strong boy．

　　Day after day, all Momotaro did was sleep and eat．In the village the other boys went to the mountain and picked firewood while Momotaro was the only one doing nothing．This worried the old man and the old woman．The boys then invited him, ‘‘Momotaro, would you come with us? We are going to collect firewood．’’ But he answered, ‘‘I haven’t a basket, so I can’t go with you’’, and went back to sleep．Upon hearing this, the old woman got very angry with him for being so lazy, so the next day Momotaro went to collect firewood with the other boys．

閱讀理解

　　As a girl, I’ve spend a lot of my time caring about my weight．So I do know something about exercise．Let me tell you about the calorie﹡-burning activities I’ve tried or will try．

　　Salsa﹡

　　I try to keep my weight through dancing．Dancing can improve my coordination﹡ as well as burning calories．I’m personally interested in salsa, which I find energetic and creative．But I have not started classes yet, because classes are very expensive, and I can’t find a dance partner．

　　Ping-pong

　　Ping-pong is a national sport of China, so how could I know nothing about it? My father is a ping-pong fan, and a really good player．He has won several matches．My relationship with ping-pong has always been on-and-off．I’ll get into it for a while, and then lose interest．The reason is because I can’t find a good partner．Some stronger can make you lose interest, while someone weaker(or just as weak)can make the game boring．

　　Tae Kwon Do﹡

　　I’ve recently decided to try Tae Kwon Do as my regular exercise activity．There’s a story behind this decision：A few weeks ago, I was sitting on a bus, reading a book．Suddenly, the bus became very quiet except for the sound of a woman’s crying．I looked up to see what had happened and heard she had just quarreled with a man, and the man slapped﹡ her face．No one on the bus said anything because the man looked really strong and unkind．Even now I feel sad I was among the silence．

　　That’s why I’ve made up my mind to learn something that will help me protect others and myself．

閱讀理解

There are many beautiful cities in the world, hundreds of people visit them every year．Now let’s enjoy four of them．

閱讀理解

　　There is not enough oil in the world now．As time goes by, it becomes less and less, so what are we going to do when it runs out? Perhaps we will go back to using horses, carriages and bicycles．

　　In the Second World War, some people didn’t use gas made from petroleum(石油)in their cars．However，they made gas from wood and plants．The cars didn’t go fast, but at least they ran, so this was better than nothing．However, in the future, we can’t cut down all our trees to make gas; we need our trees for other things, too．

　　Besides different types of gas, we can also use electricity to run our cars, but first we must make the electricity! Some countries have coal and they make electricity with that, but we might not always have coal, either．Other countries have big, strong rivers, and they can use the power of water to turn turbines(渦輪機(jī))and make electricity more easily and cheaply．

　　We are also able to get power from the ocean tides(潮汐)．We put turbines into the mouth of the river．Then the tide comes in, the water turns the turbines and then it goes out, it turns them again．

　　Which of these ways will be used to run our cars in the future?

閱讀理解

閱讀理解

　　If you have a brother or sister, you already know you are different from each other．You live together in the same house and the same parents, but you have different personalities(性格)．

　　Why is this? One possible reason is the way your parent treat you．

　　First－born children receive all the attention from their parents．Most families have twice as many photos of a first-born than any other child．Parents usually give first-born more responsibility and depend on them to take care of younger brothers and sisters．As a result, first -born are often responsible, hard-working, and jealous(嫉妒的)．They often want to do well at school and work．There are more first-born American Presidents, for example, George Bush, George Washington, and Lyndon Baines Johnson than second or last-born children．

　　When a second child arrives, parents are more relaxed．The second child has to compete(媲美)with the first-born for the parents’ attention and love．Their children often choose different sports and hobbies to do well at school and work, but have to be creative to get their family’s attention．They are often friendly and cool．Many famous talk-show hosts were born last．

閱讀理解

閱讀短文或表格，并從所給四個(gè)選項(xiàng)中選出最佳答案。

　　Albert was an ordinary worker in an oil company in America．His workmates gave a nickname(綽號)“Four dollars a bucket of oil” below his name whenever and wherever he wrote down his name．

　　As time went by, people forgot his real name．Later, when Rockefeller, the board chairman(董事長)of the oil company, heard of it, he was very surprised, so he invited Albert to come to his office．

　　“Some people give you a nickname for ‘Four dollars a bucket'．Why aren't you angry?” asked Rockefeller with some puzzlement in his eyes．

　　“Oh!Mr．Rockefeller! I like this nickname very much, because ‘Four dollars a bucket's is our company's advertisement．As long as someone calls me‘Four dollars a bucket'once, I think it's free advertisement for our company．It's not necessary for me to get angry．Don't you think so, Mr．Rockdfeller?”

　　“Oh! What a wonderful man!” ckefeller said excitedly when hearing Albert's words “Young man! Work harder, you must be successful in the future! I believe in you!”

　　Five years later, Albert became the second board chairman after Rockefeller．

　　Later Albert said in one of his reports, “I don't think we should feel frustrated when we have no way to do the world-shaking things．We should treat every thing actively because maybe our future success will begin from a small thing!”

閱讀短文或表格，并從所給四個(gè)選項(xiàng)中選出最佳答案。