Four girls went to school together every day by taxi.

　　One day one of the girls said,“There is a test this morning;let's get to school late.Then we can miss the test.”

　　“What can we say to the teacher?”O(jiān)ne of the girls said.“He'll be angry.We'll need a good reason.”The girls thought for several minutes,then one of them said,“Let's tell him that our taxi had a flat tyre.”

　　“That's a good idea,”other girls said.“We'll tell him that.”They reached school an hour later.The test was already finished.

　　“Why are you late?”The teacher asked.“You missed the test.”

　　“Our taxi had a flat tyre.”O(jiān)ne of the girls said.

　　The teacher thought for a moment,then he said,“Sit down，one of you in each corner of the room.”The four girls did that.

　　Then the teacher said,“Write on a piece of paper the answer to this question:Which tyre was flat?”

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A friend of mine named Paul received an expensive car from his brother as a Christmas present.On Christmas Eve when Paul came out of his office，a street urchin was walking around the shining car.“Is this your car，boy?”he asked Paul.

　　Paul answered，“Yes，my brother gave it to me for Christmas.”The boy was surprised.“You mean your brother gave it to you and it didn't cost you nothing? Boy，I wish...”he hesitated.

　　Of course Paul knew what he was going to wish for.He was going to wish he had a brother like that.But what the boy said surprised Paul greatly.

　　“I wish，”the boy went on.“that I could be a brother like that.”Paul looked at the boy in surprise，then he said again，“Would you like to take a ride in my car?”

　　“Oh yes，I'd love that.”

　　After a short ride，the boy turned and with his eyes shining，said，“Paul，would you mind driving in front of my house?”

　　Paul smiled a little.He thought he knew what the boy wanted.He wanted to show his neighbours that he could ride home in a big car.But Paul was wrong again.“Will you stop where those two steps are?”the boy asked.

　　He ran up to the steps.Then in a short while Paul heard him coming back，but he was not coming fast.He was carrying his little crippled brother. He sat him down on the step and pointed to the car.

　　“There she is，Buddy，just like I told you upstairs.His brother gave it to him for Christmas and it didn't cost him a cent.And some day I'm going to give you one just like it...then you can see for yourself all the nice things in the Christmas window that I've been trying to tell you about.”

　　Paul got out and lifted the boy to the front seat of his car.The shining-eyed older brother climbed in beside him and the three of them began an unforgettable holiday ride.

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Do as the Romans do

　　The customs in different countries are rather different．If I have dinner with a Chinese host，he always puts more food onto my plates as soon as I have emptied it．That often discomforts me greatly．I have to eat the food even if I don't want to，because it is considered bad manners in the West to leave one's food on the plate．I have already noticed that when a Chinese sits at an American's dinner party．he very often refuses the offer of food or drink though he is in fact still hungry or thirsty．This might be good manners in China，but it is not in the West at all．In theUnited States，it is impolite to keep asking someone again and again or insist on him accepting something．Americans have a direct way of speaking．If they want something，they will ask for it．If not，they wilt say，“No，thanks．”When an American is fed with beer by the host，for example，he might say，“No，thanks．I'll takesome diet，cocacola(可口可樂) if you have it．”That is what an American will do．So when you go to the United States，you'd better remember the famous saying：When in Rome，do as the Romans do．

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(閱讀理解)

　　Tom's birthday is on March 15th.Two weeks before his birthday he was writing a letter to his Aunt Rose when his mother came into the room.“What are you doing,Tom?”she asked.“I'm writing to Aunt Rose,”Tom answered.Tom's mother was very surprised because Tom never wrote letters to anyone.“Are you inviting her to your birthday party?”his mother asked.“No,I'm not,”Tom said.“Aunt Rose never comes to my birthday parties.”“What have you written.then?”his mother asked.“Will you read me the letter?”“All right.But I've written only two lines(行).I'll read them to you.Listen.”Tom went on.“Dear Aunt Rose,thank you very much for your birthday present.I hope...”His mother stopped him and said,“But Tom，Aunt Rose hasn't sent you a birthday present,has she?”

“I see,”Tom answered.“I'm not thanking her for this year's present.I'm thanking her for last year's!”

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(閱讀理解)

　　The president and the election of president in USA

　　The president is the head of the nation and the Executive Branch in the USA and is chosen in a national election for a four year term of rice and may be reelected for a second term,but not to allow the third time.He must be a nation born citizen and at least 35 years.Many presidents in American history served two terms,but Franklin D.Roosevelt was the only president who served four terms.

　　There are two stages in the election of president first,the people in each state choose the list of presidential electors for the state,and second,the electors from all the states cast their votes for presidential candidates,electing a president and a vice-president.They meet in their state capital in early January of the following year to“elect”a president and a vice-president.They vote very strictly.If there are three or more candidates,none of them receives more than half the electoral votes,the House of Representa-tives,by a majority vote,will choose for president one out of the three having the highest electoral votes.In this case the voting is by states,each state counting as one vote.

　　Now in USA only the two major parties-Democratic Party and Republican Party,have the chance of winning the elections.In fact American president stands for the bourgeois behalf.

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The big red American car was much too wide for an English country road.When Jack saw it coming toward him，he stopped his own car at the side to make room for it to past.The American car went slowly past，so close that he could see the driver's face quite clearly.

　　“Where have I seen that face before?” he thought，“Wait a minute! I remember now.It was in the newspaper!” He took out the newspaper from his bag，turned quickly to the middle page.There was a picture of the face in it.Yes，it had a large mouth and small ears，and his eyes were behind dark glasses.

　　“Wanted by the police.”read by Jack.“The City Bank will give a lot of money to anyone who helps the police to catch this man.”

　　“Call the police at once，”he said to himself，But a few minutes later，he was sad.“This man was caught this morning，”answered the police.

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Scientists have learned a lot about kinds of food people need.They say that there are several kinds of food that people should eat every day.They are：(1)green and yellow vegetables of all kinds；(2)citrus(柑橘) fruits and tomatoes；(3)potatoes and other fruits and vegetables；(4)meat of all kinds，fish and eggs；(5)milk and food made from milk；(6)bread or cereal(谷類)，rice is also in this kind of food；(7)butter，or something like butter.

　　People in different countries and different places of the world eat different kinds of things.Food is cooked and eaten in many different kinds of ways.People in different countries eat at different times of the day.In some places people eat once or twice a day；in other countries people eat three or four times a day.Scientists say that none of the differences is really important.It doesn't matter whether food is eaten raw(生的) or cooked，canned or frozen.It doesn't matter if a person eats dinner at 4 o'clock in the afternoon or at eleven o'clock at night.The important thing is what you eat every day.

　　There are two problems，then，in feeding the large number of people on earth.The first is to find some ways to feed the world's population so that no one is hungry.The second is to make sure that people everywhere have the right kinds of food to make them grow to be strong and healthy.

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Are you the only child in the family?If so you are the most important in your family.Parents are the closest people to you in the world.But a lot of middle school students have a problem.They feel they're not as close to their parents as before.They even don't think their parents are fair(公平的) to them.

　　Some students complain that their parents often say a lot to them,but never listen to them.Some say their parents don't allow them to play computer games when other classmates are doing that.Others say when they're making phone calls to friends,their parents like to ask if they're speaking to a boy or a girl.These make them very unhappy.Some students even decide to leave home because they're afraid to tell their parents when they have done something wrong,especially when they do badly in exams.Then they usually think running away is the only choice(選擇).But they don't know running away may bring them some more problems.

　　Problems are parts of life.Here are some suggestions for you to solve your problems.

　　(1)Find a good chance to talk with your parents.Don't be afraid to tell them your feelings.

　　(2)Get help from others like good friends or teachers.

　　(3)Keep a diary to help you understand more about yourself and your feelings.

　　(4)Show your parents you're growing up.Then they'll feel you're no longer a small child.

　　If you follow the advice,you'll have a happy life and never think of running away.

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閱讀理解

　　Basketball is still a young game.It is just over a hundred years.In the winter of 1891,a certain college was having some trouble with its boy students.

　　The weather was bad and the students had to stay indoors ndline.As they could not take part in their usual outdoor sports,they are unhappy,and some of them even get into fights from time to time.Finally,some of the teachers at the college asked Dr.J.E.Naismith to invent a game so that the students might have something to play at.It was not easy to invent such a game because it had to be played indoors,and the court was not very large.Dr.Naismith thought for a few days and invented a kind of ball game.It was a fast,exciting game with much moving and passing of the ball.It was played between two teams.In order to make a score,the ball had to be thrown into a basket ten feet above the floor on the wall.At each end of the court there was such a basket.At first,Dr.Naismith had planned to have the ball thrown into a box.As he couldn't find boxes of the right size,he had to use fruit baskets instead.That is how the game got its name梑asketball.

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閱讀理解

　　Chanukah（光明節(jié)）

　　Every year between the end of November and the end of December.Jewish people around the world celebrate the holiday of Chanukah,the Festival of Lights.Chanukah begins on the 25th day of the month of Kislev,lasted for eight days,but the starting date on the western calendar va-ries from year to year.Jews celebrate Chanukah to mark the victory which Jews reclaimed the Je-rusalem Temple 2300 years ago.

　　Long ago in the land of Judea there was a Syrian king,Antiochus.The king ordered the Jewish people to reject their God,their religion,their customs and their beliefs and to worship the Greek gods.There were some who did as they were told,but many refused.One who re-fused was Judah Maccabee.Judah and his four brothers formed an army.After three years of fighting.the Maccabees were finally successful in driving the Syrians out of Israel and reclaimed the Temple in Jerusalem The Maccabees cleaned the building and removed the Greek Statues.On the 25th day of the month of Kislev,the job was finished and the temple was rededicated.

　　When Judah and his followers finished cleaning the temple,they wanted to light the eternal light,known as the Ner Tamid,which is present in every Jewish house of worship.Once lit,the oil lamp should never be extinguished.

　　Only a tiny jug of oil was found with only enough for a single day.The oil lamp was filled and lit.Then a miracle occurred as the tiny amount of oil stayed lit not for one day,but for eight days.The people had a torchlight parade in the Temple,which may also have contributed to the tradition of lighting candles on Chanukah.

　　In America,families celebrate Chanukah at home.They give and receive gifts,decorate the house,entertain friends and family,eat special foods,and light the holiday candles.

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