A teacher began his class by holding up a glass with some water in it.  He held it up for all to see, and asked the students, " How much do you think this glass weighs?"

"50 g!" "100 g!" "125 g!" the students answered.

        "I really don't know unless I weigh it," said the teacher, "but my question is what would happen if I held it up like this for a few minutes?"

" Nothing! " the students said.

"OK. What would happen if I held it up like this for an hour?" the teacher asked.

"Your arm would begin to ache," said one of the students.

"You're right.  Now, what would happen if I held it for a day?"

"Your arm could go numb. Have to go to hospital for sure!" said another student. All the students laughed.

"Very good. But during all this, did the weight of the glass change?" asked the teacher.

"No." the students said.

"Then what caused the arm ache and the muscle (肌肉) stress?"

The students fell silent for a moment.

"Put the glass down!" said one of the students.

"Exactly!" said the teacher. "The problems of life are something like this. Hold them for a few minutes in your head, and it seems OK. Think of them for a long time and they begin to make you ache. Hold them even longer and you will not be able to do anything. It's important to think of the  challenges(挑戰(zhàn))  in your life, but it' s even more important to put them down at the end of every day before you go to sleep. That way, you are not stressed. You wake up fresh and strong and can deal with any challenge that comes your way!"

Remember to put the glass down today.

1. How much do you think this glass which was held by the teacher weighs?

A.50g     B.125g       C.I don’t know.    D.100g

2.What would happen if the teacher held the glass up like this for an hour?

A. One of the students thought his arm could go numb.

B. One of the students thought his arm would begin to ache.

C. One of the students thought his arm would be changed.

D. One of the students thought his arm would be lost.

3. Why did the teacher hold up a glass in his class?

A. Because he wanted to know how much the glass weighs.

B. Because he wanted to ask some student to weigh the glass.

C. Because he wanted to make his class more interesting.

D. Because he wanted to explain it was important to put the challenges in life down at the end of every day.

4. In this passage, the underlined words "go numb" means_______.

A．疼痛不止                  B．消瘦萎縮                   C．松弛下垂         D．失去感覺(jué)

5. According to the passage, which of the following is TRUE?

A. The teacher told his students to face the challenges bravely.

B. The teacher taught his students how to deal with the problems.

C. The teacher used to begin his class with a glass of water.

D. The teacher usually begins his class by holding a glass of water.

--- Why did you _________ school late today ?
--- Because I _________ late this morning .

1 

The family man?

Father was a hardworking man who tried his best to support his wife and three

children. He spent all his evenings attending classes, hoping to improve himself

so that he could one day find a better-paid job, except for Sundays. Father hardly ate

a meal together with his family. He worked and studied very hard because he wanted

to provide his family with the best things that money could buy.

Whenever the family complained that he was not spending enough time with them, he reasoned that he was doing all this for them. But he often wished to spend more time with his family.

The day came when the examination results were announced. To his joy, Father passed with a good mark! Soon after , he was offered a good job as a senior supervisor (主管), which paid quite well.

However, the family still did not get to see Father for most of the week. He continued to work very hard, hoping to get the position of manager. Again, whenever the family complained that he was not spending enough time with them, he reasoned that he was doing all this for them. But he often wished to spend more time with his family.

Father’s hard word paid off and he was promoted(提升). Excitedly, he decided to hire a maid

so his wife did not have to do the housework any more. He also felt that their three-room flat was not longer big enough, and it would be nice for his family to be able to enjoy the comfort of a condominium(公寓). Having experienced the rewards of his hard work many times before, Father decided to further his studies and work at being promoted again. The family still did not get to see much of him again.

As expected, father’s hard work paid off again and he bought a beautiful condominium near the coast of Singapore. On the first Sunday evening in their new home, father told his family that he had decided not to take any more courses or pursue(追求) any more promotions. From then on he was going to spend more time with his family.

Father did not wake up the next day.

1.Father worked seven days a week, didn’t he ?

2.Why did father work and study hard?

3.What was father’s first well-paid job?

4.What did the family complain about father?

5.Where did father manager to buy a beautiful condominium for his family?

6.Do you want to have the “father”in your family? Why or not?

Mr Scott was the owner of a shop. He lived by himself in a small room above his shop. He was always afraid that someone might break into his shop at night
One day, when he checked his money after closing up, he found he had almost 10,000 dollars. He thought keeping so much money in the shop was a dangerous thing. So he took the money with him to his bedroom, put it in the pocket of his coat and went to bed with his coat on. At midnight the doorbell rang and woke him up. He got out of bed and called out in a shaky(顫抖的) voice, “What do you want?” Under the street light stood a policeman, “Sorry to wake you up,” the policeman said, “but all the lights are on in your shop. I think you just forgot to turn them off when you closed up.”
【小題1】Where did Mr Scott live?
A. By himself.         B. In his shop.        C. Above his shop.
【小題2】How much money did he have that day?
A.＄10,000.         B.￥10,000.        C. 10,000.
【小題3】Why did Mr Scott sleep with he money that night? '
A. Because he loved money very much.
b. Because he thought it was not safe to keep it in the shop.
C. Because he knew the policeman would wake him up.
【小題4】Why did the policeman wake him up? '
A. Because he wanted to turn off the lights .
b. Because he wanted to remind Mr Scott
C. Because he wanted to ring his doorbell.
【小題5】How did Mr Scott feel when he heard the doorbell.
A. Excited.           B. Angry.          C. Stressed.

Mr. Scott was the owner of a shop. He lived by himself in a small room above his shop. He was always afraid that someone might break into his shop at night.

One day, when he checked his money after closing up, he found he had almost 10,000 dollars. He thought keeping so much money in the shop was a dangerous thing. So he took the money with him to his bedroom, put it in the pocket of his coat and went to bed with his coat on. At midnight the doorbell rang and woke him up. He got out of bed and called out in a shaky(顫抖的) voice, “What do you want?” Under the street light stood a policeman, “Sorry to wake you up,” the policeman said, “but all the lights are on in your shop. I think you just forgot to turn them off when you closed up.”

1.Where did Mr. Scott live?

A. By himself.          B. In his shop.        C. Above his shop.

2.How much money did he have that day?

A.＄10,000.          B. ￥10,000.        C. 10,000.

3.Why did Mr. Scott sleep with the money that night? '

A. Because he loved money very much.

b. Because he thought it was not safe to keep it in the shop.

C. Because he knew the policeman would wake him up.

4.Why did the policeman wake him up? '

A. Because he wanted to turn off the lights .

b. Because he wanted to remind Mr. Scott

C. Because he wanted to ring his doorbell.

5.How did Mr. Scott feel when he heard the doorbell.

A. Excited.            B. Angry.          C. Stressed.