Like most cultures around the world, the Zulu people of Africa tell stories that have animals as heroes. These stories are meant to entertain, but they are also used to teach important lessons to children. This is one of those stories.
One hot afternoon, Jackal was walking along the rocky road sniffing (嗅) the ground. He was hoping to smell a mouse or a lizard (蜥蜴), or something else that would be good to eat. He was so much lost in sniffing that he wasn’t really paying attention to what was around himself.
Suddenly, Jackal looked up to see his neighbor, Lion, walking straight toward him. He did not have enough time to get away. Jackal had played many tricks (捉弄) on Lion over of something quickly.
“Help! Help!” cried Jackal as he quickly jumped upon a large rock hanging over the road. “The rocks are falling down, and I can’t hold them much longer. We shall both be crushed (壓碎) if you do not do your best to hold these rocks back, Lion”
At once, Lion pushed his strong shoulder against the rocks to keep them from moving any further. “I’ll just run over here to get something to stop the rocks,” shouted Jackal as he ran away to safety. Lion stayed leaning against the unmoving rocks for quite a long time before he realized that Jackal had tricked him yet again!
【小題1】Why was Jackal sniffing the ground?

“Excuse me,” said a young man, standing shyly at the open church door. “I’m here to pick up an Easter basket for my daughter. Am I in the right place?” Well, we have baskets, but they’re not Easter baskets for kids; they’re food baskets,” I explained.
That morning I arrived at St. Micheal’s Church in Carmichael, California, to help give out the baskets to needy families for Easter. To make sure every family would receive one, we had handed out numbers to them that matched the basket they were supposed to receive. Each one contained a whole ham, potatoes, bread, vegetables, and a pie --- enough food to help feed a family for a week.
“Why don’t you come in?” I said to the man. He looked disappointed. He shook his head and said, “I can’t... My daughter is waiting for me over there. I’m grateful for the food, but when I heard you were giving away baskets for Easter ... well, I thought they would be Easter baskets for children.” He continued, “I promised my daughter one, and I wanted to surprise her.”
I felt bad, but there was nothing I could do. The man handed me his number, and I walked over to the baskets. A bulge(凸起) in one of the baskets caught my eye. “What is that?” I wondered. Leaning over and looking more closely, I could see, unmistakably, an Easter basket --- filled with candy, chocolate, and Easter eggs. One of the volunteers must have added it by mistake! I thought. Then I looked at the man’s number in my hand. Well, he’ll be....
“Happy Easter,” I said to the man, handing him the only food basket with an Easter basket inside --- the very same basket with his number on it. “Someone knew just what you needed.”
【小題1】The young man had thought that ____________.

缺詞填空
Why does the Leaning Tower of Pisa in Italy lean? It leans because of a mistake. It has leaned almost since the day the builders b    1  it.
In 1774, the people of Pisa in Italy wanted to build a bell tower. They wanted the tower to be the m    2  beautiful bell tower in Italy. The city needed a bell tower because the church(教堂) did not have o    3    . As soon as the first floor of the building was finished, the tower started to lean. Builders t    4    to make the building straight again as they added more floors, but the leaning tower got w   5    as the tower grew. It took about 180 years to finish the tower. Today, the leaning tower has eight f    6    It is 54.5 meters t    7    . And it leans almost 4 meters to one s    8   . The tower is also sinking(下沉) into the g    9  on which it was built. Every year, the tower leans a    10  1.7 cm.

“Excuse me,” said a young man, standing shyly at the open church door. “I’m here to pick up an Easter basket for my daughter. Am I in the right place?” Well, we have baskets, but they’re not Easter baskets for kids; they’re food baskets,” I explained.

That morning I arrived at St. Micheal’s Church in Carmichael, California, to help give out the baskets to needy families for Easter. To make sure every family would receive one, we had handed out numbers to them that matched the basket they were supposed to receive. Each one contained a whole ham, potatoes, bread, vegetables, and a pie --- enough food to help feed a family for a week.

“Why don’t you come in?” I said to the man. He looked disappointed. He shook his head and said, “I can’t... My daughter is waiting for me over there. I’m grateful for the food, but when I heard you were giving away baskets for Easter ... well, I thought they would be Easter baskets for children.” He continued, “I promised my daughter one, and I wanted to surprise her.”

I felt bad, but there was nothing I could do. The man handed me his number, and I walked over to the baskets. A bulge(凸起) in one of the baskets caught my eye. “What is that?” I wondered. Leaning over and looking more closely, I could see, unmistakably, an Easter basket --- filled with candy, chocolate, and Easter eggs. One of the volunteers must have added it by mistake! I thought. Then I looked at the man’s number in my hand. Well, he’ll be....

“Happy Easter,” I said to the man, handing him the only food basket with an Easter basket inside --- the very same basket with his number on it. “Someone knew just what you needed.”

1.The young man had thought that ____________.

A. he would have an Easter basket and a food basket

B. there would be Easter baskets for children.

C. there would be children’s toys in the food basket

D. he would get enough food for the whole year.

2.What did the author do at the church?

A. He worked there as a churchman. 

B. He was called in to give out Easter baskets.

C. He went there to meet the young man.

D. He was a volunteer who helped there.

3.The young man looked disappointed at first because ____________.

A. he was told not to take a food basket     

B. there was little food in the Easter basket

C. he came so late that all the basket had been given out

D. he was told that he wouldn’t get what he wanted

4.What surprised the author was that __________.

A. there was an Easter basket in the food basket

B. someone knew what the young man needed

C. one of the baskets was filled with more bread than others

D. he found that the young man’s name was on the basket

5.We can infer that the young man left the church feeling ________.

A. sad             B. satisfied           C. angry          D. surprised

1.       has the largest population (人口) among these countries.

A. Italy       B. Australia   C. China        D. Italy

2. If you want to visit Big Ben, you should travel to       .

A. Rome         B. London       C. Beijing      D. Canberra

3. You can visit        in the country with the smallest population,

A. the Opera House              B. the Great Wall

C. the Leaning Tower of Pisa   D. Big Ben

4. From the form, you can find        in Western Europe.

A. one country B. two countries    C. three countries D. four countries

5. Which of the following is TRUE according to the information in the form?

   A. Australia isn't English-speaking countries.

   B. Rome is a city in Southern Europe.

   C. Canberra is the capital of Italy.

   D. London has a population of 56 million.