Mark Twain was a great writer. He was from the USA. He was born in 1835. He was also a famous speaker. He was famous for his sense of humor. Many people liked to listen to him talk because he liked to tell some interesting stories to make people laugh all the time.

  One day Mark Twain was going to a small town because of his writing. Before he was going to leave, one of his friends said to him that there were always a lot of mosquitoes  in the town and told him that he’d better not go there. Mark Twain waved (摇动) his hand and said, “It doesn’t matter. The mosquitoes are no relatives of mine. I don’t think they will come to visit me.”

    After he arrived at the town, Mark Twain stayed in a small hotel near the station. He went into his room, but when he was just about to have a rest, quite a few mosquitoes flew about him. The waiters felt very sorry about that. “I’m very sorry, Mr Mark Twain. There are too many mosquitoes in our town.” One of them said to him.

    Mark Twain, however, made a joke, saying to the waiter, “The mosquitoes are very clever. They know my room number. They didn’t come into the wrong room.” What he said made all the people present laugh heartily.

 But that night Mark Twain slept well. Do you know why? That was because all the waiters in the hotel were driving the mosquitoes away for him during the whole night.

1. That day Mark Twain went to the town _____.

  A. to see one of his friends     B. because he was told there were a lot of mosquitoes there

  C. because he wanted to do something there for his writing

  D. to see one of his relatives

2. The waitersfelt sorry because _____.

  A. they did something wrong to Mark Twain       B. their hotel was too small

  C. the room was not very clean   D. there were quite a few mosquitoes in Mark Twain’s room

3. All the people present laughed heartily because _____.

  A. the mosquitoes were very clever and they didn’t come into the wrong room

  B. the mosquitoes knew Mark Twain’s room number

  C. Mark Twain made a joke        D. Mark Twain gave the waiters some nice presents

4.  From the story we know _____.

  A. no mosquitoes troubled Mark Twain in the night

  B. the owner of the hotel told the waiters to look after Mark Twain well at night

  C. Mark Twain didn’t have a good rest that night

  D. there were not mosquitoes in the hotel any longer

    Leonardo da Vinci（达芬奇）began painting the Mona Lisa in 1503.He was working on a special painting for a church at the time, but the church painting was not going well. An Italian businessman asked da Vinci to paint a picture of the businessman’s second wife. This is the woman who can be seen in the Mona Lisa.

    All in all, the Mona Lisa is a very good example of da Vinci’s work. Da Vinci uses darkness and light in a clever way in the painting.

    Da Vinci loved science and maths. Right away a person can see that there is a lot of geometry（几何学）in the Mona Lisa. The face of the Mona Lisa is made of many circles and round shapes like balls. Even her smile can be seen as a small part of a large circle.

    The woman in the painting is sitting on a balcony(露台), and mountains can be seen behind her. Da Vinci loved to study rocks and mountains, so these can be seen over and over in his other paintings.

    The woman is sitting with her knees to the side. Her head is turned to look out of the painting. Her hands are held together in front of her. This way of sitting is now used by many artists when they are painting a picture of a man or woman today.

5. Who painted the Mona Lisa?

A businessman.    B. His second wife.   C. Leonardo da Vinci.   D. The businessman’s wife.

6. The woman in the painting is______.

A. an Italian businesswoman            B. Leonardo da Vinci’s wife

C. the wife of a businessman           D .a woman from the church

7. Where is the woman in the painting?

A. On a balcony.         B. On a knee.         C. On a mountain.      D. On a rock.

8. What can a person see in the painting?

A. A lot of geometry.                B. Clever use of light and darkness.

C. Mountains.                        D. All of the above.

     In ancient Greece, there were four major athletic meetings and the Olympian meeting played the most important part in the lives of the people. As time passed，the Olympian meeting gradually lost its local character and became first a national event and then international. No one knows exactly how far back the Olympic Games go but some official records date from 776 BC.     

     The Games took place every four years on the plain by Mount Olympus. Thousands of people came from all parts of the Greek world to watch the games. The winner of the foot race had the great honour of giving his name to the year of his history.      

      After a long history of almost 1, 200 years, the Games were stopped for religious(宗教的) reasons. It was then decided in 1896 to start the Olympic Games again. The meeting was held in Athens and 311 athletes from 13 countries took part in it but the idea of such an international meeting attracted the world's attention. After the 1908 London Olympics, many nations sent their best athletes. Although the Games have been time and again threatened by some unfavourable political events, the Games have taken place every four years.      

      Nowadays, the Games are held in different countries in turn. As the biggest international gathering of any kind in the world, athletes from different countries play games together and this provides them with good chances to learn to live together. The friendly feelings in the Olympic Village make people think of the world as one big family. The Olympic Games was hosted in Beijing in 2008, it is believed that the Games was a wonder of the world.

9. The first old Olympic Games took place _____.      

A.a thousand years ago                  B.in the seventh century AD     

C. before 700 BC                         D. in modern times

10.The continuity of the Olympic Games was once broken because of____.      

 A.religious reasons          B.wars         C. political events         D.Both A and B．

11. The Olympic Games meeting finally formed _____.      

A.a local event      B.a national event    C.an international event      D.an official event

12. The friendly feelings between two countries are strengthened because___.      

A.athletes come from different countries   B.they enable people to know each other better    

C.athletes live in the Olympic village          D.they live in one big family

       Macao is only forty miles from Hong Kong and it is easy to reach. You can get there by sea. It is an interesting place and it has a long history. Macao is part of China and most people living there are Chinese.      

      The first Europeans in Macao came from Portugal. More than four hundred years ago the Portuguese went there to trade with China. Some settled and made their homes there. They built strong forts（要塞）to guard the city and the harbor. They also built churches, schools, hospitals and other places. Slowly the city grew. People from many other countries came to live and work in Macao.      

     Today many people live in Macao. Some only go there to watch dog－racing or motor－racing or to gamble（赌博）with their money. But Macao is a quiet and peaceful place. It is pleasant just to walk around and look at the old buildings and forts. You feel you are back in the old days. Of course，some of the buildings are now in ruins. The Church of St. Paul has only the front wall with many steps leading up to it. But it is still interesting to see.      

     When you are hot and tired, there are small cool gardens to rest in. When you are hungry, there are good restaurants with many kinds of food. Nearby are some islands, which are also nice to visit and are easy to get in. There are certainly a lot to see and to do in Macao.

13. Macao is easy to get to because it is____.     

A. part of China and most people living there are Chinese     B. an interesting place    

C. very fast and cheap by sea                                 D. not far away from Hong Kong

14. You feel in Macao you are back in the old days because ____.    

A. some of the buildings are now in ruins    B. you can watch dog-racing or motor-racing     

C.you can find the old buildings and forts      D. it is a silent and peaceful place  

15. The writer's idea is that ____.      

A. people from many countries came to live and work in Macao    

B. the Portuguese were willing to do business in China    

C. people in Macao serve good food     

D. Macao is a quiet and peaceful place with a lot to see and to do

   “Three Apples” changed the world. The first one seduced(引诱)Eve. The second one awakened Newton.   16   . Here are some famous words from Steve Jobs to share.

On character

I'm the only person I know that's lost a quarter of a billion dollars in one year.   17   .

On good design

That's been one of my mottoes---focus and simplicity .Simple can be harder than complex---You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. But it's worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains.

On his outlook

  18 . Going to bed at night saying we've done something wonderful, that's what matters to me.

On your working life

Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work.  19 . If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle.

On the importance of death

No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don't want to die to get there.   20 . No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because death is very likely the single best invention of life. It is life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away.

A．It's very character building.

B．The third one was in the hands of Steve Jobs.

C．This is not a one-man show.

D．And the only way to do great work is to love what you do.

E．And yet death is the destination we all share.

F．It' s really hard to design products by focusing on groups.

G．Being the richest man in the cemetery doesn't matter to me.