In a 2005 survey of 2005 schoolchildren in six cities, including Beijing and Shanghai, it was found that about 77% of them were short of sleep. Should school hours be cut? In new survey taken by the China Daily website, almost 70% of the 1, 133 people online agreed with cutting school hours, while 20% disagreed and 10% gave no answer.

Liu Xing (12-year-old, 6-grade student): I get up at 5:50 every school day, have breakfast at 6:15, leave home at 6:30 and, after a 30-minute bus ride, arrive at school at 7:00, a full hour before lessons start. Besides, I spend my weekends taking classes in math and English, as well as learning to play the piano.

 Wang Qun (Liu Xing’s mother): My son is still no t doing enough to win a place at a top high school, as it is so competitive. They want students with good English and math and also special skills.

“Craig”(netizen): The best way for children to learn is through play. Through play, they can develop their characters, learn to be independent and improve all kinds of skills.

“Skylark”(netizen): Young parents have little time to play with their children, so letting them go home early is not a good idea. I think schools should have more activities for children after class.

Qi Zhen(high school teacher): People might take some time to accept shorter school hours. It will also take time to change people’s traditional mind that going to college is the only way to a good job.

1. The China Daily website took a new survey to        .

   A. see how many school children are short of sleep

   B. see what people think of cutting school hours

   C. give schoolchildren more time to play

   D. Liu Xing with his math and English study

2.         probably disagree with shorter school hours.

   A. Wang Qun and “Skylark”              B. Liu Xing and “Craig”

   C. Liu Xing and “Skylark”                     D. “Craig” and Qi Zhen

3. Which is not true about Wang Qun?

   A. She wants her son to have many kinds of skills.

   B. She has little time to play with her son every day.

   C. She believes a happy childhood means a failed adulthood (成年).

4. What can we learn from QI Zhen’s words?

   A. Schools should have more activities for children after class.

   B. All the schools will take shorter school hours soon.

   C. There’ll be a long to way to change people’s traditional mind.

   D. Through play children can develop well in different ways.

    Henry was a carpenter(木匠)of our village．Once I asked him to make a dining table for my wife．He made it just the right size to fill the space between the two windows．When I arrived home that evening，Henry was drinking a cup of tea and writing out his bill for his work．

   My wife said to me，quickly，“That’s his ninth cup of tea today．”But she said loudly．“It’s a beautiful table. dear．isn’t it?”

“I won’t decide about that until I see that bill．”I said．

Henry laughed and gave me his bill for the work．It said：

    When I was looking at the bill，Henry said，“it’s been a fine day，hasn’t it? Quite sunny．”

    “Yes．”I said．”I’m glad it is only the 10th of June．”

    “Me．too．”Said Henry．”You wait—it’ll be a bit hotter by the end of the month．”

    “Yes．Hotter—and more expensive．Dining tables will be 20 more expensive on June 30th，  won’t they，Henry?”

    Henry looked hard at me for half a minute．There was a little smile in his two blue eyes．I  gave his bill back to him．

    “If it isn’t too much trouble，Henry，”I said，“Please add it up again．You can forget the    date．”

    I paid him 26．50 and he was happy to get it．

1．Why did Henry talk about weather when the writer was looking at the bill?

   A．Because it was a fine day indeed．

   B．Because he wanted the writer to look at the bill carefully．

   C．Because he wanted to tell the writer what the weather was like．

   D．Because he didn’t want the writer to go through the bill carefully．

2．Why did the writer say that dining tables would be 20 more expensive by the end    of June?

   A．Because he thought Henry would almost certainly add the date to the cost of the dining table．

   B．Because it was difficult to make dining table in hot weather．

   C．Because paint would be more expensive．

   D．Because the cost of wood would be more expensive．

3．The writer thought Henry would ask for      if he made a dining table on the last day of June．

   A．26．50           B．56．50         C．46．50    D．20．00

4．When the writer gave him the money，Henry was happy because      

   A．he got the money easily

   B．he didn’t have to add up the cost again

   C．he got what he should get for his work

   D．he got much money for his work

5．From the story we know that       ．

   A．Henry had written out the bill before the writer got home

   B．Henry still wanted to get 36．50 for his work in the end

   C．Henry made a mistake in the bill

   D．Henry tried to get more money for his work