阅读理解。

A

    Tim was a little boy of nine years old. He was busylast Saturday morning, because he went to the park with his friends to paint.

    He returned home very late. It was nearly half past twelve, but nobody was in. He found that there was a note on the table. Itread:  

    Tim didn't want to follow his parents everywhere. He felt so good that he could be a real big boy and look after himself.

    Thinking there was nothing important out there, he cooked some noodles for himself and also helped himself to some apple juice.

    Then he started to do some housework. He was really a good helper to his mother. When his mother was away, he could always find some housework to do, like sweeping the floor and washing the dishes. He felt it quite right for him to do some housework at weekends.

    In the late afternoon, his parents came back. He asked them what happened.

    “Why? You forget? It's Grandmother's birthday today.”

“Uh, gee! I simply forgot! I must telephone Grandmother.'

     He picked up the phone.

    “I'm terribly sorry, Grandma, that I forget about your birthday. Anyway, anyone will forget one thing or another. So I won't get worried if you forget my birthday next Tuesday.”

    An old farmer lived on a farm with his young grandson. Each morning Grandpa was up early to read. One day the grandson asked, "Grandpa! What good does reading do?"

    The Grandfather quietly turned from putting coal in the stove and replied, "Take this coal basket to the river and bring me back a basket of water."

    The boy did as he was told, but all the water leaked out (漏出) before he got back to the house. The grandfather laughed and said, "You"ll have to move a little faster next time," This time the boy ran faster, but again the same took place. It was an impossible task.

    The old man said, "You're just not trying hard enough," So the boy tried a third time and failed. He said, "See Grandpa, it's useless!"

    "So you think it is useless?" The old man said, "Look at the basket."

    The boy looked at the basket and for the first time realized that the basket was different. It had been transformed from a dirty old coal basket into a clean one inside and outside.

    "You might not understand or remember everything, but when you read it, you will be changed, inside and out. "

    Karen lived with her parents in the Karoo Basin of South Africa. The Karoo was famous for plant and animal fossils(化石) ,Karen's father was a paleontologist(古生物学家) ,and Karen enjoyed looking at the dinosaur bones in his office. She hoped to discover her own dinosaur someday.

    Every summer, Karen's father invited paleontologists from around the world to the Karoo. As they hiked through the dry land, he would show them fossil samples(样本) within the layers of sedimentary rock(沉积岩) and ash.

    This summer, Karen asked her father if she could go along on the hike. He agreed, but he asked her to stay close by. As they drove to the trail(小径) ,Karen's heart beat quickly with excitement. There were so many places to visit.

    The hike was interesting, but Karen was too curious to stay on the trail. Without asking, she ran down into a nearby ravine(峡谷) and looked among the rocks, Then, he heard her father's voice calling to her. She ran up the side of ravine. Suddenly, she spotted something white and shiny. "Dad!" she shouted excitedly.

    Karen's father stood at the top of the ravine with the other people. They looked worried until Karen pointed to the shiny object. All the paleontologists examined it. They nodded to each other in surprise. It was the skull(骨头) of a dinosaur nobody knew about! The paleontologists took pictures and shook Karen's hands. Her father smiled, "Karen." he said. "You are now the youngest paleontologist in the Karoo!"

Hi, boys and girls! Can you play {#blank#}1{#/blank#} piano? Can you draw? Can you tell {#blank#}2{#/blank#}(story)? Are you in the swimming club {#blank#}3{#/blank#} the music club? Look at my friends Ben and John! They are both in the school chess club. They go to the club after school {#blank#}4{#/blank#} Tuesdays. They also go there on the weekend. A big brother is very good at{#blank#}5{#/blank#}(play) chess. He always {#blank#}6{#/blank#}(teach) them to play chess. 

I also like chess. This term, I want {#blank#}7{#/blank#}(join) the chess club, too. I think chess can help {#blank#}8{#/blank#}(I) think quickly. But my sister doesn't think so. She likes reading and writing. Her dream(梦想) is to be a great {#blank#}9{#/blank#}(science) one day. She will join the reading and {#blank#}10{#/blank#}(write) club. How about you? What club do you plan(打算) to join?

One sunny morning，a crow （乌鸦） flies to a wood （树林）.There，he sees a peacock （孔雀） sitting1 a tree.

"Hello，Peacock! It's nice to meet you，" the crow. says. "Can we be2 ? "

The peacock sees the crow and says， "3 ，my friends are all beautiful birds like me. We have nice feathers（羽毛） of different colors. But look at4 !The feathers are all black."

"My feathers may not be beautiful. But they5 me to fly far away，" the crow says.

"I can fly too，" the peacock says and then flies to the tree.

"Well，you are6 .But think about one thing﹣in7 ，what can you do with your beautiful feathers? Can you stay outside all the time when the8 is cold? What about me? My black feathers keep me9 .So I can10 fly around all winter. For me，friendship （友谊） isn't about what we look like，" the crow says and then flies away.