Once there was a huge apple tree. A little boy loved to come and play around it every day. He loved the tree and the tree loved to play with him.

      Time went by --- the little boy had grown up and he no longer played around the tree every day. One day, the boy came back to the tree and he looked sad. “Come and play with me,” the tree asked the boy. “I’m no longer a kid. I wouldn’t play around the tree any more.” the boy replied. “I want toys. I need money to buy them.” “Sorry, I don’t have money. But you can pick all my apples and sell them. So, you will have money.” The boy picked all the apples on the tree and left happily. The boy never came back after he picked the apples.

      One day, the boy returned and the tree was so excited, “Come and play with me,” the tree said. “I don’t have time to play. I have to work for my family. We need a house for shelter. Can you help?” “Sorry, I don’t have a house. But you can cut off my branches to build your house.” So the boy cut all the branches off the tree and left happily. The tree was glad to see him happy but the boy never came back since then. The tree was again lonely and sad.

       One hot summer day, the boy returned and the tree was pleased. “Come and play with me!” the tree said. “I am sad and getting old. I want to go sailing to relax myself. Can you give me a boat?” “Use my trunk to build your boat. You can sail far away and be happy.” So the boy cut the tree trunk to make a boat. He went sailing and never showed up for a long time.

Finally, the boy returned after he left for so many years. “Sorry, my boy. But I don’t have anything for you any more. The only thing left is my dying root,” the tree said with tears ①

“Good! Old tree root is the best place to lean on and rest. Come and sit down with me and rest.” The boy sat down and the tree was glad and smiled with tears ② ----

1.---Why did the boy pick all the apples on the tree?

----Because __________.

A. he wanted to eat them                    B. he needed money to buy toys

C. he liked the tree without apples             D. he wanted to share them with friends.

2.----When did the boy come back to the apple tree?

----He came back _________.

A. whenever he was happy                             B. if he missed the apple tree

C. when he was in times of difficulty                     D. as  soon as he was free

3.----What did the boy want at last?

----He wanted ___________.

A. to have a house to live in             B. nothing except a place to rest

C. the root of the apple tree            D. anything that the apple tree had

4.----What can we learn from the story?

----We should _________.

A. plant more apple trees      B. learn from the boy

C. always stay at home     D. be thankful to our parents

5.According to the passage, which of the following statements is NOT true?

A. The phrase “with tears ①” means that the apple tree was sad because the boy asked for too much.

B. The phrase “with tears ②” means that the apple tree was still happy because she could help the boy for the last time.

C. Each time the boy asked the apple tree for help, the tree tried her best to satisfy him.

D. After reading the passage, we can easily think of the old Chinese saying “Parents’ love is universal!”

It is very important to be able to control（控制) yourself. Losing control may bring things that you would never want to see. We can learn something from the following story.

　 Once a boy often made trouble. His mother gave him many nails（釘子）. She told him to hammer（錘，釘）one in the garden fence every time he lost his patience and fought with someone. The first day he hammered 27 nails. In the following weeks he learned how to control himself better and the number of nails hammered became smaller and smaller. He learned it was easier to control himself than to hammer nails.

　 The day finally came when he didn’t hammer any nails. He went to tell his mother about it. Then his mother told him to pull off a nail from the fence each time he didn’t lose his patience. After some days he told his mother that all the nails had been pulled off, Thus, she took him to the fence and said to him, “You’ve behaved well, but look at all the holes in the fence. The fence will never be again like it was before. When you fight with someone, you leave wounds（傷口）in him like these. The trouble may be over, but the wounds will always be there.”

　 So, learn to control yourself before you hammer the nail in the fence. Try not to leave any holes in your past.

(　 ) 51. Why did the mother give her son nails?

　 A. To put the garden fence right.　　　　 B. To help him understand something.　　　　

　 C. To put them away.　　　　　　　　　 D. To make him lose patience.

(　 ) 52. When did the boy hammer a nail?

A. When he brought things to his mother.　　 B. When he repaired his fence.

C. When he fought with others.　　　　　　 D. When he leave a hole in the garden.

(　 ) 53. What’s the best title of this passage?

A.A Special Way My Mother taught me　　　 B. How to Hammer Nails

C. How to Pull Off a Nail　　　　　　　　 D. Never Fight with Others