A

    My name is Peter. I was born in Paris. When I was three, my family moved to London. We stayed there for one year then my dad had to move to New York. We spent about two years there. I moved to Shanghai last May and I like the new country very much.

    I study at an international school in Shanghai. There are people from nearly all parts of the world. I like my school very much and I can learn many things. I love learning Chinese and keep practising it with my classmates. After school, my favourite sport is football. I like drawing and painting, too.

    Shanghai has four seasons and I like spring best here, because I can go out in the evening and play with my friends. In my hometown, the summers are hotter than Shanghai but the winters are not so cold as t hey are here.

    Shanghai is like a small world where all kinds of people and food can be seen. I like being part of it and I am very happy to stay here.

    Lots of students know what a marathon (马拉松赛跑) is, but perhaps they don't know what a triathlon is. The triathlon is a sport that has three parts - swimming, bicycling and running. It is not an easy sport, but a man named Joe Salter is very good at it. A few months ago, he finished a special triathlon — he juggled (抛起接住) three balls all the time during the triathlon. That is to say, he kept on throwing and catching three balls while he was swimming, riding a bicycle and running.

    31-year-old Joe is from Florida, the USA. He loves juggling and he started at the age of 8. Joe did well in juggling. Later, he got the idea to do a triathlon and juggle at the same time to make it more fun. Many juggling fans laughed at his idea and thought it was just a joke. But Joe didn't give up and he kept practicing it. Because of his hard work, he made it at last.

    Talking about his triathlon, Joe said swimming was the hardest part. “It was difficult and complex(复杂的)," he said. “I basically only used my legs, so it took quite a lot of work. Also, swimming in open water made it a little harder. It was not like in a pool.”

    Most people enjoy seeing a film because of its wonderful pictures and fantastic sounds. However, many years ago there were no sounds in the films. So actors had to act by using their body language. Everybody knows Charlie Chaplin, a world-famous funny actor. People everywhere have laughed at Charlie Chaplin's films until tears run down their faces. From his very first appearance they know what will happen. His body language makes people love his films.

    Charlie Chaplin was born in 1889 in London. When he was a child, his family was very poor in 1910, he went to the USA. In 1914 he made his first film. In this film he created the character of a little man who always faced difficulties. When Chaplin was rich, he opened his film company in 1918. He died in 1977.

    The poor man that Charlie Chaplin played in films makes all kinds of stupid mistakes. He is always in trouble, but he never gives up. He dreams of becoming a great man. Even people who don't understand English can enjoy Chaplin's films, because they are mostly silent. It isn't what he says that makes people laugh. His comedy (喜剧) doesn't depend on words. It depends on little actions which mean the same thing to people all over the world. This is the secret of Chaplin's huge success.

    John James Audubon loved all kinds of birds. He spent his life studying them. He painted all the birds of North America.

    John James Audubon was born in Haiti in 1785. When he was a young boy, he moved to France with his family. His father was in the French Navy. He had a farm in the United States. When John was 18, his father sent him to the farm, hoping John would take care of it. But John didn't want to do that. He wanted to hunt, fish, and draw birds. John drew lots of pictures of birds. He wanted to make them look real.

    In 1808, John married Lucy Bakewell and they moved to Kentucky. John and a friend went into business there. They ran a shop. John really didn't like working in the shop. The business soon failed. John wanted to paint full-time. Lucy agreed to help. She got a teaching job to support the family. By that time, they had two young sons.

    John wanted his bird paintings made into a book. He finally did find someone to print his bird pictures in a book. Many people wanted John Audubon's book. Although his book was a great success, John wasn't happy with it. He wanted to show every bird found in North America. By 1838, John finished a great work. It wasn't just one book. It was an amazing set of four books called The Birds of America. It had many paintings. Today, these paintings are very famous.

阅读下列短文, 从下面每个小题的A、B、C、D四个选项中选出最佳选项。

One day, Ben was playing basketball in the living room, breaking a vase. To cover his terrible action, the frightened boy glued the pieces together and put the vase back to its place.

That evening her mother noticed the cracks (裂纹). But to her surprise, the repair work was actually very good. At dinner time, she asked her boy if he broke the vase. Fearing punishment, the boy said that a neighbor's cat jumped in from the window and knocked the vase off. His mother was quite clear that her son was lying. However, she said nothing.

Before going to bed, the boy was asked to go to the study. In the study, his mother didn't look angry. On seeing her son carefully come in, she gave him one chocolate, saying "This chocolate is a reward (奖励) for your imagination: a window-opening cat!" At that moment, the boy felt the chocolate was a hot potato. “Did mom find holes in my excuse?” he thought. “You know, all the windows were closed.” Mother continued calmly and took out two chocolates into his hand, “An award for the perfect repair.”

Now with the chocolates in hand, the boy wished the ground to open up and bury him! He told the truth. “So I have to punish you for your lie.” The mother said with a serious voice and took back his chocolates. The boy bent down his head in shame. “But your honesty should have the award—a box of chocolates.” The mother suddenly bent to kiss his cheek, speaking gently to the crying boy, “My son, honesty values more than anything.”