A

Every year on my birthday, from the time I turned 12, a white gardenia (栀子花) was sent to my house. No card came with it. Calls to the flower shops were not helpful at all. After a while I stopped trying to find out the sender's name and I was just very pleased with the beautiful white flower in soft pink paper. But I never stopped imagining who the giver might be. Some of my happiest moments were spent daydreaming about the sender. My mother encouraged this imagination. She'd ask me if there was someone to whom I had done a special kindness. Perhaps it was the old man who I looked after when he was ill.  As a girl, I had more fun imagining that it might be a boy.

    One month before my graduation, my father died. I felt very sad and didn't want to go to the coming graduation dance at all. And I didn't care whether I had a new dress or not. But my mother, in her own sadness, would not let me miss any of those things. She wanted her children to feel loved and lovable. In fact, my mother wanted her children to see themselves much like the gardenia—lovely, strong and perfect with perhaps a bit of mystery.

    My mother died ten days after I was married. I was 22. That was the year the gardenia stopped coming.

    The lion says that he is on his death bed. So he asks all the animals to come and listen to his last wishes.

    The cat comes to the lion's cave(洞穴). He stands there and goes in. Then a sheep goes in. Before she comes out, a rabbit goes in to hear the last wishes of the king of animals.

    But soon the lion looks well again, and goes out of his cave. He sees a fox(狐狸) waiting outside. “Why don't you come in?” asks the lion to the fox.

  “I beg your pardon,” says the fox, “I see many animals go into your cave, but nobody comes out.

    Before they come out again, I will wait outside.”

    A university professor recently made several tests with different animals to find out which was cleverer than other animals.

    In one test the professor put a monkey in a room where there were several small boxes. Some boxes were inside other boxes. One small box had some food in it. The professor wanted to watch the monkey and to find out how long it would take the monkey to find the food. The professor left the room. He waited a few minutes outside the door. Then he got down on his knees and put his eye to the keyhole (钥匙孔). What did he see? To his surprise, he found himself looking into the eye of the monkey. The monkey was on the other side of the door and looked at the professor through the keyhole.

    Lang Lang is a famous Chinese pianist. He was born in 1982 in Shenyang. He showed his talent(天赋)for playing the piano when he was two. He began to take piano lessons at the age of 3. At the age of 5, he won first prize in the Shenyang Piano Competition. When he was 11, he won first prize at the Fifth International Young Pianist Competition.

    He began his study at the Curtis Institute(学院) of Music in America when he was 15. He became the first Chinese student at the institute. During his study there he made great progress and became a top pianist. On August 14th, 1999, the great Andre Watts was ill so Lang Lang played at the concert instead of him and he was successful. Then he became famous all over the world.

    In August of 2008, more than 5 billion people watched Lang Lang's performance at the opening ceremony(开幕式)of the Beijing Olympic Games. He also played at the opening ceremony of the Shanghai Expo(世博会).

    In 1978, I was working as a nurse in a small town about 270km away from Sydney, Australia. I was looking forward to having five days off from duty. Unluckily, the one train a day to my home in Sydney had already left. So I thought I'd get a ride.

    I waited by the side of the highway for three hours, but no one stopped for me. Finally, a man walked over and introduced himself as Gordon. He said that although he couldn't give me a lift, I should come back to his house for lunch. He noticed me standing for hours in the November heat and thought I must be hungry. I was doubtful as a young girl but he promised me I was safe, and he also offered to help me find a lift afterwards. When we arrived at his house, he made me sandwiches. After lunch, he helped me find a lift home.

    Twenty-five years later, while I was driving to a nearby town one day, I saw an elderly man standing in the glaring heat, trying to get a ride. I thought it was another chance to repay(回报) someone for the kindness I'd been given many years earlier. I pulled over and picked him up. I made him comfortable on the back seat and offered him some water.

    After a few moments of small talk, the man said to me, "You haven't changed a bit, even your red hair is still the same."

    I couldn't remember where I'd met him. He then told me he was the man who had given me lunch and helped me find a lift all those years ago. It was Gordon.

Qian Xuesen was a great scientist. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} He is also known as "the King of the Rocket." Thanks to his research, China's space technology has progressed in a rapid way.

Qian was born in Shanghai on December 11th, 1911. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} After graduation, he worked in America for a few years. In the early 1950s, he heard that New China had been founded (建立), and he decided to give up the good working conditions in America. Although the American government tried to stop him from leaving, he succeeded in coming back to China in 1955.

{#blank#}3{#/blank#} Then it became the leading organization for China's rocket and air travel. At that time, the conditions in China were too hard. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} On April 24, 1970, China's first man-made satellite (卫星), "Dongfanghong I" was successfully sent into the air.

A student of Qian Xuesen, Zhu Yilin, once said, "I learned professional knowledge and working spirit from Mr. Qian. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} When New China needed scientists badly, he returned to help in the rocket industry."

A. I sensed his deep love for our country, too.

B. Who visited Qian Xuesen when he was in China?

C. At the age of 24, he went to America to study.

D. But Qian and his team still faced the difficulties bravely.

E. He is known as "the Father of China's Space Program."

F. In 1956, Qian Xuesen suggested starting a special organization.