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.”

阅读下列内容，从每小题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中选出一个最佳答案。

    During the years of game making, there have been a number of games. Many old games have gone since modern games came out.

Teachers at a primary school asked their students to write articles about games they knew and were surprised by the results. Half of the 50 children in one of the classes wrote about online games. It is easy to see that traditional games like hide-and-seek and jump rope games are unfamiliar(不熟悉的) to many of today's schoolchildren. They like to play computer games, especially in the cities, with the rising popularity of TV, the Internet, video and online games.

    An educationist said, "Traditional games used to be so popular, but over just a few years, kids have forgotten them. It's sad."

    The games that many parents once played were generally outdoor activities which were enjoyed by students during breaks or after school. They usually needed several partners and just a little space.

    Jump rope games, for example, have always been popular in many countries around the world. A kind of jump rope game, played with rubber bands(橡皮筋) which are connected together to make a long rope, is played in many countries.

    Rubber band jumping was once very popular in primary schools. Girls loved playing this game. It can help kids practise their jumping skills and develop coordination(协调性), and also help them meet lots of friends.

    It is common these days to see primary school students spending their breaks in the classroom. They are busy with their studies.

    "When we were young, we played many different outdoor games, but today's children don't know what to play or how to play," a 40-year-old mother said. "They don't know what teamwork is."

Being worried by the situation, educational officers have tried to make some programmes to educate children on traditional games.

    John Smith is an old porter. He works at the railway station. Every day he is busy carrying heavy things for passengers（乘客）. He is kind to everyone and always ready to help others.

    One morning, John stood in the station. A train was coming. He was waiting for it. Just then he saw a man running in the station with a big bag in his hand.

    “No train is starting. Why is he in such a hurry?” the old man thought to himself.

    John went up to the man and asked, “May I help you?”

    As soon as the man saw the old porter, he stopped running.

    “Can I catch the 10:35 train to London?” the man asked. He looked worried.

    John looked at him for a few seconds and said, “Well, sir. I'd like to help you, but I can't answer your question because I don't know how fast you can run.” Then he continued, “The 10:35 train to London left five minutes ago. Can you run fast enough to catch it?”

    Mr Brown is a famous doctor. He lives in Sydney with his wife and three children. His wife's father, Mr Black, lives with them too.

    Mr Black is too old to work and he always sits in his chair near the bed all day; but in spring, if the weather is nice, he will sit outside. Sometimes, he even takes his chair into the garden if it is warm enough.

    Recently, Mr Brown found that spending more than three hours playing outside every day can reduce a child's risk of becoming short-sighted. It challenges the people's belief that short-sightedness is caused by using electronic products or reading in weak light. Many people come to see Mr Brown and ask him why Mr Brown shows his research and believes that natural light has a special chemical which stops the eyeball from growing out of shape and prevents people from becoming short-sighted.

    Mr Brown's oldest son, Andersen Brown, is twenty-seven. He is also a doctor like his father. He agrees with his father's idea and he suggests that everyone should spend some time outside. It doesn't matter that time is spent in travelling, playing sports outside or just sitting outside like his grandfather.

    Mr Brown's oldest daughter, Wendy Brown, is twenty-four. She is a music teacher. She teaches students in a junior high school. She likes teaching very much. She thinks those teenagers are very lovely.

    Mr Brown's youngest son, Mike Brown, is not old enough to go to work. He still goes to school. He is a very clever and hard-working boy. He is good at studying. He wants to be a scientist when he grows up.

    A man once visited a temple that was still being built. He saw a sculptor making a sculpture(雕塑).As he watched the man work on the sculpture, he noticed that there was a similar sculpture lying nearby.

    He felt very strange and asked the sculptor, "Why are you making two same sculptures? Do you need two to put in different places?"

    "No, "the man said without looking up, "We need only one, but the first one became damaged before I could finish it, so I'm making a new one."

    The visitor picked up the damaged sculpture and examined it. But he couldn't find anything wrong with it.

    "Where is the damage?" he asked.

    "There is a scratch(擦痕)on the sculpture's nose." the sculptor said while continuing his work.

    The man then asked, "Where are you going to place the sculpture?"

    The sculptor replied that it would be placed on a 20﹣foot﹣high platform(平台)."If the sculpture is up that high, who is going to notice that there is a scratch on the nose?" the man asked.

    The sculptor stopped his work, looked up at the man and said, "I will know it".

    The sculptor chose to stick to a high standard of excellence in his work. Even if other people didn't notice it, it mattered to him that his work should be of the best quality. This is an attitude we should all work hard to keep.

    The cartoon series Boonie Bears is popular with children in China. Logger Vick, a logging(伐木) team worker, came to the beautiful Heilongjiang forest to harvest logs with Boss Li's trust. But there were two hidden terrible rivals(对手) in the forest-the owner of the forest, bear brothers-Briar and Bramble!

    Seeing the forest being destroyed, bear brothers decided to fight with Logger Vick to protect the forest. Briar was so clever that he could beat Logger Vick easily. Bramble was not as clever as his brother but sometimes could also defeat Logger Vick with his brute force(蛮力) . But the cunning(狡猾的) head wouldn't leave so easily. The home defense lasted a long time and Logger Vick tried various ways to defeat bear brothers and cut down logs, but every time he failed. Finally Logger Vick lost Boss Li's trust and gained nothing. As the saying goes, "Doing good will be repaid and doing evil will be punished."

    The cartoon story shows us an active topic in laughter. The two bears facing the failure always feel hopeful. It tells us to protect forests, protect the environment and protect ecological balance in our everyday life.