Every year on my birthday since I was 11, a white gardenia (栀子花) was sent to my house. No card ever came with it. Calls to the flower shop were not helpful at all. After some time I stopped trying to find out the sender's name and was just pleased with the beautiful flower, in soft pink paper.

I couldn't stop imagining who the giver might be. Some of my happiest moments werespent daydreaming(幻想 )about the sender. My mother encouraged these daydreams. She'd ask me if I had been especially kind to someone. Perhaps it was one of my classmates Perhaps it was the old man who I once helped. As a girl, I had more fun imagining that it might be a boy that I had met.

    A month before my high school graduation(毕业), my father died. I was so sad that I became completely uninterested in my coming graduation dance, and I didn't care whether I had a new dress or not. My mother, in her own sadness, would not let me miss (过) any of those things. She wanted her children to feel loved. In fact, my mother wanted her children to see themselves much like the gardenia: lovely, strong and perfect.

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

    Mr Brown has got a dog．Its name is Ben．And the dog is very good to Mr Brown．

    One hot day,Mr Brown returns home from work．"I want to know where the water jar(罐子)is．"Then he finds the water jar with clean water．Mr Brown wants to drink some water．But the dog barks(吠叫)．

    "Oh．Ben!Please be quiet!I will give you some water．"But the dog doesn't stop barking and even jumps up to him．"What?Let me drink some water first．Then I will give you something to eat．"But the dog doesn't stop barking．And the dog still jumps up and even breaks the jar at last．Mr Brown gets angry(生气的)．But soon，he finds a snake (蛇) in the pieces of the jar．He knows about the snake．It is poisonous ． It can be very dangerous for him to drink the water.Brown thanks the dog a lot．

根据材料内容选择最佳答案。

B

    Tom has tried many ways to be ill. He doesn't wear a sweater when he should, and two days ago he walked in the rain without his shoes. But nothing happened.

    Yesterday Millie told Tom about a boy in her class who liked being away from school. The boy would rub(摩擦) the end of the thermometer(温度计) until it went up to 39℃. Then he put it in his mouth and his mother would think he was really ill.

    This morning Tom was trying doing that but it never went above 35℃ and he rubbed it for ten minutes. So he held the thermometer next to the light on his desk and it went up to 40℃. He thought he'd put it in his mouth and walk downstairs like that. Then his mother would take it out and she would be worried when she saw that he was rather ill.

    The only trouble was that he didn't know the thermometer would be so hot. As soon as he put it into his mouth it burnt his tongue(舌头) ! He spit(吐) the thermometer out. It fell on the floor but it didn't break.Then ,Tom will have to think a better way to get his mother and father back together.

    Charles Dickens was born in one of the small towns in England.

    When Dickens was nine years old, his father found a job in London and the family moved there. Later on his father was put in to prison(监狱)for owing(负债). His mother could not supply(供应) enough food to him and his younger brothers and sisters. He had to do something for his family, so he could not go to school.  

    Only until his father was out of prison, Charles could go to school. At that time he was already twelve. But he did not finish school. Two years later he began to work in a factory.

    And at first he was a journalist(记者)and wrote for newspapers. The future writer often went to the library to read books. He read a lot. Then, at the age of twenty-two, Dickens began to write and he wrote a lot of novels and stories all his life.Dickens died over a hundred years ago，but people are still reading his books with great interest.

At the beginning of the school year, each student would be given a special job for which they would be responsible (负责任的) for the whole term. Rita, a quiet and hardworking girl, hoped for an exciting task, like taking care of the class plants. Instead, she received a small box with sand and a small ant. 

Even though the teacher explained that this task was very special, Rita could not help feeling disappointed. However, she decided to do her best with her new job. She began to study and care for the ant, learning about its habitat (栖息地) and needs. She made the box a comfortable home for the ant, and it grew much bigger than anyone expected. 

Rita's efforts caught the attention of her science teacher, Mr. Thompson. He turned her work into a class project, and Rita became the class expert (专家) on ants. Her hard work helped the whole class learn about ant behavior and habitats. They even built a small ant farm in the classroom to observe the ant closely. 

Gradually, Rita's classmates became more and more interested in the ant project. They started asking her questions and observing the ant's behavior themselves. Rita organized a presentation where she shared her findings with the whole school during the science fair. 

At the end of the year, Rita's class was recognized as the best of the year. Rita was as well praised for her hard work and how she turned a small task into something big. Rita learned that every task, no matter how small, could make a big difference. She also learned that sometimes the most unexpected things can lead to great success.