He was an old manwho fished alone in a small boat on the sea and he had gone eighty-four days now without taking a fish. In the first forty days a boy had been with him. But after forty days without a fish, the boy's parents had told him that the old man was now salao, which is the worst form of unlucky, and the boy had gone with another boat which caught three good fish the first week. It made the boy sad to see the old man come in each day with his boat empty. The sail looked like the flag of failure forever.

      The old man was thin with deep wrinkles (皱纹) in the back of his neck. His face was terribly brown because of the strong sunlight on the sea every day and his hands had the deep scars (伤疤) from dealing with heavy fish on the lines. But none of these scars were fresh. Everything about him was old except his eyes and they were the same color as the sea and were cheerful.

      “Santiago,” the boy said to him as they climbed the bank from the sea. “I could go with you again. We've made some money.”

        The old man had taught the boy to fish and the boy loved him.

      “No,” the old man said. “You're with a lucky boat. Stay with them.”

      “But remember how you went eighty-seven days without fish and then we caught big ones every day for three weeks.”

      “I remember,” the old man said.

     “It was papa who made me leave. I am a boy and I must follow him.”

     “I know,” the old man said. “It is quite normal.”

       "He hasn't mush faith(信心)"                       

     “No,” the old man said. “But we have. Haven't we?”

     “Yes,” the boy said. “Can I offer you a beer on the Terrace?”

    “Why not?” the old man said “Between fishermen.”

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.”

B

    Hans Christian Andersen was born in Denmark in 1805. He lived with his parents in a town   called Odense. They were a very poor family and they couldn't afford to send Hans Christian to school.

    As a little boy, Hans Christian enjoyed making up fairy tales（童话）and puppet（木偶）shows.

    When he was only eleven years old, his father died and he had to go out to work to make money to help his mother.

    Three years later, Hans Christian left home and went to the city of Copenhagen to be famous and rich. To begin with he didn't do very well there, but at last he was able to go back to school and then on to university to continue his education.

    He wrote fairy tales and stories and soon became famous. At first he wrote the stories that he had heard when he was a child and then began to make up new tales. During his seventy-one year life, Hans Christian wrote over three hundred stories.

    Many of his stories are still enjoyed by children today. Among his best-known stories are: the Emperor's New Clothes, the Ugly Duckling, the Snow Queen, the Princess and the Pea, and the Little Mermaid.

Life is like the four seasons. Now I am very old, but when I am young, it is the spring of my life. I play a lot, and I grow bigger and bigger day by day. There are sweet days and heartbroken (心碎的) days. Some days the sun shines. I have a good job. I am strong and happy. Then I marry (结婚) and have a child. In those days, I am busy and work hard. I start to get gray hair. It's the summer of my life and it passes quickly.

Then the days get shorter. Leaves fall down from the trees. My child is a university（大学） student and then an engineer. My home is much quieter. I start walking more slowly. One day I leave my job, and I retire. I have more time. I know this is my autumn, a beautiful time when the trees change colour and give people delicious fruit. But the days are getting shorter and colder. Winter comes. I am older and weaker. I know I do not have many days, so I will enjoy them to the end.

Chloe Ho Pui-pui is an officer from Hong Kong Police Force. She volunteered for the 19h{#blank#}1{#/blank#}Games in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province. In a training course, Ho got up close to horses to get firsthand knowledge {#blank#}2{#/blank#}Equestrian (马术) events. Her main job was to help two UK horse-shoers (蹄铁工) communicate with the Chinese workers who didn't speak English.

During the{#blank#}3{#/blank#}few days, it was hot and some people fell ill. "My role was to be ready to go wherever I was needed. So, I ran around the center, taking 10,000 steps each day," Ho said. In these days, she slept{#blank#}4{#/blank#}and always had to shout to be heard in noisy conditions. As a result, one day she had difficulty{#blank#}5{#/blank#}. On National Day, the organization invited Ho and other volunteers to a party because they had really set good examples for the public.

My favourite animal is chameleons(变色龙). I like them because they can change colours. Chameleons change colours when they're not happy or see something {#blank#}1{#/blank#}, or when they're too cold or too hot. Chameleons have a very long tongue(舌头), so they can use it {#blank#}2{#/blank#} their food easily. I think they're amazing animals!

Also, I {#blank#}3{#/blank#} love elephants. I love their big ears and long trunks. Elephants can pick up {#blank#}4{#/blank#} and put it in their mouths with their trunks. But they are in great danger now. People cut down many trees, so they {#blank#}5{#/blank#} their homes now. Everyone must try their best to save and help them.