Bringing a giraffe into the world is a tall order. A baby giraffe is born 10 feet high and usually lands on its back. Within seconds it rolls over its legs under its body. Then the mother giraffe rudely introduces its children to the reality of life.

In his book, A View from the Zoo, Gary Richmond describes how a new-born giraffe learns its first lesson.

The mother giraffe lowers her head long enough to take a quick look. Then she puts herself directly over her child. She waits for about a minute, and then she does the most unreasonable thing. She throws her long leg and kicks her baby, so that it’s sent sprawling(四腳朝天).

When it doesn’t get up, the process is repeated again and again. The struggle to rise is important. As the baby giraffe grows tired, the mother kicks it again. Finally, it stands for the first time on its shaky legs. Then the mother giraffe kicks it off its feet again. Why? She wants it to remember how it got up. In the wild, a baby giraffe must be able to get up as quickly as possible to stay with its group, where there’s safety.

Another writer named Irving Stone understood this. He spent a lifetime studying greatness, writing stories about such men as Michelangelo, Vincent van Gogh, Sigmund Freud, and Charles Darwin.

Stone was once asked if he had found something that runs through the lives of all these great people. He said, “I write about people who sometime in their life have a dream of something. They’re beaten over the head, knocked down and for years they get nowhere. But every time they stand up again. And at the end of their lives they’ve realized some small parts of what they set out to do .”

1.What does the underlined part “a tall order” in Paragraph 1 mean?

A．A happy thing.                          B．A difficult task.

C．A big dream.                           D．A beautiful scene.

2.Which of the following statements is True according to the passage?

A．This passage is a description of giraffes’ living habits.

B．Baby giraffes can’t stand up until three months old.

C．Irving Stone spent a lifetime studying and writing stories about great people.

D．The great people can’t stand up after they’re knocked down for years.

3.What would be the best title for the passage?

A．How to keep a baby giraffe.

B．Learning to Get Back Up.

C．Stories about the great people.

D．A mother giraffe and its baby giraffe.

Every child has a dream of what they want to be，right? When Renee Butts was little，her dream was to become a volunteer firefighter because her father was one．Sadly，when she was 14，her father died and she was never able to volunteer with him．Renee's story doesn't end there，however，which is why I think of her as a true hero．She was strong-minded and never gave up，which makes her a good firefighter．

Some days she must be ready to deal with any emergency，like fighting a fire，dealing with a car accident or helping someone who's sick．Other days she is in the driver's seat．Sometimes Renee works nine to eleven days a month on 24-hour shits．She also has a family to take care of．Her husband is a firefighter，too．

Renee remembers the first time she fought a fire．She was awoken early in the morning by the alarm．She said she was very nervous but did what she had to do．

When I asked Renee what the best part of her job is，she replied，“Helping people and saving their lives．” I think that shows signs of being a true hero．She's always glad to do anything for anyone in need．With 140 people in her station，Renee is one of the only three women．

I think she's great．We could never live without people like her who is glad to help others．Renee's deed helps me believe that I can do anything．I hope someday to be just like her：to wake up and help people every day．

1．When her father died，Renee Butts         ．

A．gave up her dream                                      B．decided to do as her father did

C．married a firefighter                                    D．became a child without family

2．What is Renee's husband?

A．A driver．           B．A writer．              C．A doctor．             D．A fireman．

3．Which of the following is true according to the passage?

A．The writer learns a lot from Renee．            B．There are 143 members in the station．

C．Renee works 9 to 11 hours every day．        D．Renee wants to be famous by doing so．

4．What does the writer think of Renee Butts?

A．Clever．               B．Careful．              C．Helpful．                D．Outgoing．

5．What’s the best title for the passage?

A．A True Hero                                            B．A Busy Volunteer

C．A Famous Woman                                     D．A Sweet Dream

閱讀理解

　　All over the world people enjoy sports. Sports help to keep people healthy, happy and help them to live longer.

　　Sports change with the season. People play different games in winter and summer.

　　Games and sports often grow out of people's work and everyday activities. The Arabs use horses or camels in much of their everyday life; they use them in their sports, too.

　　Some sports are so interesting that people everywhere go in for them. Football, for example, has spread around the world. Swimming is popular in all countries near the sea or in those with many rivers.

　　Some sports or games go back thousands of years, like running or jumping. Chinese boxing, for example, has a very long history. But basketball and volleyball are rather new. Neither one is a hundred years old yet. People are inventing new sports or games all the time.

　　People from different countries may not be able to understand each other, but after a game they often become good friends. Sports help to train a person's character(性格). One learns to fight hard but fight fair, to win without pride and to lose with grace(文雅).

1．According to this passage we know that ________.

[　　]

A．people began to play about one hundred years ago

B．a(chǎn)bout 100 years ago people ran or jumped when they played

C．basketball has a longer history than volleyball

D．not all the games have long history

2．According to this passage, which of the following isn't true?

[　　]

A．Sports help to train a person's characters.

B．People swim only because there are a lot of rivers in their country.

C．People from different countries may not be able to understand each other before a game.

D．Sports and games can develop the friendship between peoples all over the world.

3．The writer didn't tell us in this passage that ________.

[　　]

A．basketball was invented in America

B．sports change with the seasons

C．games and sports often grow out of people's work and everyday activities

D．football is played all over the world

4．A lot of people have more free time from their work to enjoy sports because ________.

[　　]

A．they like sports very much

B．they want to live longer

C．they want to make a lot more friends

D．they don't have to go to work on Saturday or Sunday as before

5．From this passage we can see that ________.

[　　]

A．sports and games are unimportant things that people do

B．sports and games should be treated(對(duì)待) only as amusement(娛樂(lè)活動(dòng))

C．sports and games are only useful to the old

D．none of the above is true

Bringing a giraffe into the world is a tall order. A baby giraffe is born 10 feet high and usually lands on its back. Within seconds it rolls over its legs under its body. Then the mother giraffe rudely introduces its children to the reality of life.
In his book, A View from the Zoo, Gary Richmond describes how a new-born giraffe learns its first lesson.
The mother giraffe lowers her head long enough to take a quick look. Then she puts herself directly over her child. She waits for about a minute, and then she does the most unreasonable thing. She throws her long leg and kicks her baby, so that it’s sent sprawling(四腳朝天).
When it doesn’t get up, the process is repeated again and again. The struggle to rise is important. As the baby giraffe grows tired, the mother kicks it again. Finally, it stands for the first time on its shaky legs. Then the mother giraffe kicks it off its feet again. Why? She wants it to remember how it got up. In the wild, a baby giraffe must be able to get up as quickly as possible to stay with its group, where there’s safety.
Another writer named Irving Stone understood this. He spent a lifetime studying greatness, writing stories about such men as Michelangelo, Vincent van Gogh, Sigmund Freud, and Charles Darwin.
Stone was once asked if he had found something that runs through the lives of all these great people. He said, “I write about people who sometime in their life have a dream of something. They’re beaten over the head, knocked down and for years they get nowhere. But every time they stand up again. And at the end of their lives they’ve realized some small parts of what they set out to do .”
【小題1】What does the underlined part “a tall order” in Paragraph 1 mean?