Jilly the giraffe lived at the Morgan Zoo. She liked the zoo and was friends with all the other giraffes. There was just one problem. Jilly was too tall. When she walked slowly around the zoo, she had to bend down (俯身) to get past some of the trees. The other giraffes just walked along without any problem. “Why can't I be like them? I get so tired of bending down to get past some of the trees!” she thought.

One day Jilly was eating leaves when she saw one of her friends, Granite, struggling (努力) to reach some leaves on the other trees. Jilly went up to him and asked, “What's wrong?” The giraffe said, “I'm having trouble reaching the leaves of these trees. I wish I were as tall as you so I wouldn't have any trouble getting my food.” “You want to be as tall as I am?” asked Jilly. “I always wanted to be shorter so I wouldn't have to bend down to get past all these trees.” With that, Jilly pulled down the leaves for Granite. Suddenly two more giraffes came along and asked if Jilly could get them some leaves. “Sure,” said Jilly. “I would be glad to help you.”

After all the giraffes had their food that day, Jilly started back to the other side of the zoo to rest (休息). She felt so happy and proud that she was able to help the other giraffes get their food from the tall trees. “How silly it was of me to want to be shorter like them,” she thought to herself.

根据材料内容选择最佳答案。

There was once a boy in a village. Whenever he asked people to do things, no one would listen to him. He was sad. So he asked a a wizard to solve the problem by using magic. The old wizard tried a lot of spells, but didn’t work.

A young man heard about the problem. He went to the boy and said that he knew the solution. He gave the boy two pieces of paper. “These are two spells, my boy. Use the first before you ask others to do something, and use the second when they have done it. A smile is also necessary,” the young man said. The boy was happy and tried to use the spells. When he asked people to do something, he said “Please” before his words, and “Thank you”after they had done it. People were very surprised that he boy could be polite. Soon, they became happy to do what the boy asked them to.

The wizard was surprised, and asked the young man about the secret. “It’s not magic. When I was a child, my teacher told me that with good manners you could get anything you want. And he was right. The boy only needed good manners to get what he wanted,” said the young man.

Hainan is in the south（南方）of China. The weather there is different from that of other areas of China. There is no winter in Hainan. It’s not cold all year round. Many people go there in winter, because it’s cold in the north（北方）of China. In summer, it’s very hot. It’s usually sunny, but it often rains. So people often take a pair of sunglasses and a raincoat at the same time. People can enjoy many kinds of fruits like bananas and coconuts(椰子) there, too.

Hainan is a good place to go for holidays and have fun. People can go fishing, boating, swimming and so on. When we want to have a rest, we can walk on the beach (海滩) and enjoy the fresh air and white clouds. It’s so interesting.

Would you like to go to Hainan?

根据短文内容，选择正确答案。

a. Fred Astaires first wife died.

b. Fred's sister Adele stopped performing.

c. Fred Astaire performed with Gene Kelly in a movie.

d. Fred Astaire won an award from America's Motion Picture Academy.

（B）

A man was walking along the street when he saw a woman carrying a large box. It was half in and half out of her car. So the man went up and said, “The box looks very heavy. Let me give you a hand.”

“That’s very kind of you,” the woman said, “ I’m having a lot of trouble with it. Maybe it sticks (卡住) in the car door.”

“Together we’ll soon move it,” the man said. “I’ll get in and take the other end.” And he got in the car.

“Right,” the man said. “I’m ready,” and he began to push the box hard. For several minutes, the man and the woman tried to move the box. Soon they felt very tired.

They rested for a moment. Then the woman said, “Let’s try again. One, two, three!” They went on moving the box.

At last, when they were exhausted, the man said, “I’m sorry, but I don’t think there’s any way to get it out of your car.”

“Get it out?” the woman cried. “I’m trying to get it in! You know?”

A teacher cleared off his desk and placed on top of it a few things. One of them was an empty mason jar（玻璃瓶）. He filled the jar with golf balls until he could fit no more. He looked at the classroom and asked his students if they agreed that the jar is full. Every student agreed that the jar was really full.

The teacher then picked up a box of small pebbles（卵石） and poured them into the jar with the golf balls. The pebbles filled all of the openings in between the golf balls. He asked the students if the jar was full. Once again, they agreed.

Now the teacher picked up a bag of sand and poured it into the jar. The sand filled in all of the empty space left between the golf balls and pebbles. He asked the class again if the jar was full. The students agreed again.

The teacher said, "I want you to know that this jar represents your life," he started. "The golf balls represent the important things: your family, health, friends…The pebbles represent the other things in life, such as your job, house and car. The sand is every small thing . If you put the sand in first, there is no room for the pebbles or golf balls.The same goes for life. If you spend all of your time on the small things, you will never have room for the things that are most important.

   Pay attention to the important things in your life. You should know there will always be time to clean the house or go shopping.

Many people say that they are working too many hours. They don’t have enough time to relax or stay with their family.

Work hours are different from one country to another. In France, people spend about 1646 hours a year at work. In Japan, however, people work about 2159 hours a year. That means a Japanese worker works 513 more hours a year than a French worker.   

Why do people work so many hours? Some people work extra hours because they want to make more money. However, many companies don’t pay overtime. Their workers don’t get more pay for more work. These people think it’s their duty to work more hours. Some are afraid of losing their job if they don’t work more hours.
    Many people say that their vacations are too short. In France, people get five weeks of paid vacation a year. In Germany, they get from four to six weeks and in the United States, two weeks. One study shows fewer than half of workers used all their vacation days. In Great Britain, there is a saying, “All work and no play makes Jack a dull(迟钝的) boy.＂If that is true, there must be a lot of dull people in the world.

The human brain weighs about 1.4 kilograms, but it can hold much more information

than most computers. However, there is another difference between human brains and computers. Computers don’t forget information they are given, but humans often do.

No one remembers everything and luckily we don’t usually have to. But everyone can improve their memory if they want to.Here are some suggestions.    

·        Try to use new information immediately. For example, if you meet someone who says “Hi! I’m Carlos.”, don’t just say “ Hello.”. Repeat the person’s name and say“______”.

·        Break a big number into small parts. For example, it’s hard to memorize 109244153.But if you break it into three parts—109/244/153, it will become easier.

·        Write down what you need to remember over and over again. This will help you keep it in mind longer, especially when memorizing formulas(公式)or facts.

·        Always review information. If you bring what you’ve learned back to your mind, it will become easier to remember. For example, before you go to sleep, it’s a good idea to review the new things you’ve learned that day.

·        Discuss with friends. It’s always easier to remember things through discussions. You can have a discussion about what’s right or wrong, it will lead to the right answer.

·        Never tell yourself that you have a bad memory.You can always do something to help improve your memory. And everyone’s memory will get better if they use it often.

 All of the suggestions are helpful. If you follow them, you are certain to improve your memory.

It is known that most people spend one third of their lives sleeping. So sleeping is important to our health and daily lives. But the problem is that for most people, especially office workers, it is not easy to get enough sleep. For centuries, people have been troubled by insomnia. There are three ways to deal with it

Pay attention to your daily diet!

How well you sleep is closely connected to your daily diet. If you eat fat or hard-to-digest food for supper or eat just before you sleep, it will keep keeping you awake. What should be on your daily menu? For supper, you can choose something low-fat and digestible like fish, chicken or lean meat, rice and wheat. All the foods mentioned above can soothe the nerves(舒缓神经). Avoid foods that cause gas such as potato, corn, bread, carbonic acid(碳酸)drinks. If you still can not sleep well after cutting out these harmful foods, try adding some foods that will make you sleepy

Create a good sleeping environment

A good sleeping environment includes comfortable pajamas, a soft quilt, and most importantly, a comfortable bed.

Do something relaxing

In order to get a good night's sleep, you should not only relax your body, but also your mind. Try to do something to relax your mind before going to bed. Listening to soft music, reading or watching some light TV for half an hour before going to bed is a good way to make you feel sleepy. If you still can't sleep, try some exercise like walking or jogging to get rid of stress and increase your blood circulation(血液循环). Also taking a bath or soaking（浸泡）your feet in warm water can help your blood circulation and relax your body.

It may be hard to believe, but the American Revolution(革命)—the war that freed the American states from British control—began over a cup of tea. Tea was not the only thing that caused the war, of course, but it played a very big part.

The British people’s love of tea is well-known. When the British won control over mush of North America in the early 1700s, they brought their tea- drinking habits with them. Tea quickly became the continents most popular drink. As tea could not be grown locally, just as in Britain, it was shipped into the country—mostly from India.

In the early 1700s, the Britain government made a special deal with the East India Company, as an English trading company. They agreed that no other company was allowed to bring tea to Britain or any country controlled by Britain, including America. It was a great deal for the East India Company, since it meant that the company could decide whatever price it wanted for its products. And it always decided on a high price!

In North America, the local people did not like having to pay such high prices. Instead od overpaying for tea from the British, they turned to Dutch traders, who secretly brought tea to the country that was just as good—and much less expensive. Although this broke the law, the American people didn’t care. They got the same cup of tea at a much lower price.

The East India Company, however, didn’t like this at all. By the 1760s, they were losing millions of pounds each year to Dutch traders—a huge amount of money in a time when￡60 a year was considered a good income. Instead of reducing their prices to compete with the Dutch, the company asked the British government for help and the government agreed.

In 1767, the British introduced new law that increased the prices of all goods which were brought into America. These laws helped make the East India Company even richer and forced local people to pay much more for everything. The American leaders asked the British government not to do so, but the British refused to listen. These unfair laws increased Americans’ anger about British rule and the rest, as they say, is history.