短文

Passage 1

John is a basketball fan. He is very good at playing basketball. Yao Ming is his favourite basketball player. John is on the school basketball team. Every Wednesday afternoon, they play basketball after school. John’s friend Henry is not good at basketball. But he would like to play basketball and also wants to be a good basketball player. After school John often teaches him how to throw and catch the ball. Soon Henry becomes a good player. They often have fun at the games. Last Tuesday afternoon, John, Henry and the other players had a basketball game on the playground. Many students cheered for them loudly. John and Henry were in the same team. They jumped up and down. And they helped each other. John got the ball and threw into it. Henry caught the ball and put it in the basket. At last, John’s team won the match. How happy they were!

Passage 2

There is an old man is New York. He doesn’t like children at all. But ke likes cats very much. He has black cats and white cats. He has mother cats and baby cats. So children like to come to his house. They come to play with the cats. More and more cats come to the old man’s house. Soon there are too many cats. The old man can’t give them much food. So he has an idea. “The children love my cats,” he thinks. So he gives each child a cat. Then he is happy. The children are happy, and the cats are happy, too. Because they each have a home.

Passage 3

Kate comes from London. She is a student. She studies in a middle school. She can speak a little Chinese with her father. Her father is a teacher. He teaches in a school. He teaches English. Kate’s mother is at home. She is a housewife. She can make clothes, cook food for them. Kate likes studying in China. She says the Chinese people are very friendly to her family.

Passage 4

David is an Australian boy, he lives in Sydney. He studies in a middle school. He is a good student in his school.

David gets up at 7:00 on weekdays. He often has a glass of milk, an egg and some bread for his breakfast. He goes to school by bus and gets there at 8:20. The first class begins at 8:30.

Now it is 7:40 in the morning. What is David doing? He is drinking milk and eating eggs. “Have an apple, David,” his mother says. “No, thank you. Mom. I must go to school now. I have no time.” Then he runs to catch the school bus.

Passage 5

Peter and Paul passed by a small house on their way home late at night.

They saw thick smoke coming out of its windows. “It’s fire!” said Peter. “We must get help.”

The two brothers ran along the road shouting “Fire! Fire!” They knocked on the door of the next house. They asked them to telephone the police and the firemen.

They ran back to the house. They saw through the window an old lady sitting in an arm-chair. It was clear that she could not move. Peter and Paul tried hard to carry her out of the house and so they did! Some neighbours came and helped take some things out.

In no time the firemen arrived as well as the policemen. The fire was put out. The old lady cried sadly but she was not hurt. She thanked Peter and Paul and her neighbours again and again.

Passage 6

It’s fine spring weather now. The trees and fields are green. The farmers are busy working in the fields. The birds are singing happily in the trees and the flowers are coming out. The sun is shinning warmly and there is a warm wind. Some little boys are flying kites in the fields. They like the wind because they can fly kites high.

It’s lovely summer morning. The sun is just coming up the hills from the

east. It’s early morning and cock are crowing on the farm. Now it’s midday and it’s getting very hot. The sun is shinning brightly. There are hardly any clouds in the sky. Some children are swimming in the river. The farmers are working in the fields. Now the sun is going down in the west. It’s evening now and it’s getting cooler. Soon you can see thousands of bright stars in the sky.

Passage 7

Smiling is the best way of making friends.

When I was thirteen years old, my father found a job in the city. So my family moved there. I also came to a new school near where we live. My new school was far away. At first, I did not know anyone in my class. I was very lonely because I was afraid to make friends with my classmates. I couldn’t talk to anyone about my problem, and I don’t want my parents to worry about me.

Then one day, something good happened. I was sitting at my desk unhappily as usual while my classmates were talking happily with each other. At that moment, a boy came into the classroom. I didn’t know who he was. He passed me and then turned back. He looked at me and, without a word, smiled. Suddenly, I felt happy, lively and warm. That smile changed my life. I started to talk with the other classmates and made friends. Day by day, I became closer to everyone in my class.

Thanks to the smile, I have moved on to a new life. Now, I believe that the world is what you think it is. So smile at the world and it will smile back.

Passage 8

We know that the Internet is playing a more and more important part in our daily life. On the Internet, we can get as much information as we can. We can send e-mail to our friends and talk to them as well. Besides, on the Internet we can read books, enjoy music and watch ball games. We can also do shopping without leaving our homes. But many students spend too much time playing Internet games. They waste a lot of time.

We must make good use of the Internet.

Passage 9

Nick usually spend Christmas Day with his brother, Phil, in Sydney. They don’t usually go to church. In the morning, they open their Christmas presents. Last Christmas, Nick gave Phil a tennis racket, and Phil gave Nick a set of jazz CDs.

Sydney is very hot during Christmas, so Phil and Nick like to go out on Christmas Day. They often have a big lunch on the beach with their friends.

After lunch, Phil, Nick and their friends like to play volleyball on the beach.

But they don’t play for long, because the weather is too hot. Later that day, they usually have a big special dinner. During the dinner, they greet each other and say, “Merry Christmas!”

Passage 10

Many people are waiting for the train. Some are reading newspapers and some are saying goodbye to their friends. Doctor Wang, Li and Chen are talking so happily and excited that they don’t know the train is going to leave. Then the guard calls loudly, “The train is going to leave. Hurry up, please.” The three men hear the guard and two of them jump onto the train quickly before it moves, and one is left behind. It is Dr. Wang. He looks very sad. The guard comes to him and says, “Don’t feel sad. The next train will come in ten minutes.” “I know”, Dr. Wang says, “But it is my train. My friends only come to say goodbye to me!”

Passage 11

There is a big old tree beside my house. A black bird lives in the tree. After breakfast I take some food to the tree. The bird sees me and comes down. The food is in my hand. The bird comes to my hand and eats the food. After that it goes back to the tree. I give some food to the bird everyday. And so the bird knows me. Now we are good friends.

Passage 12

It was my birthday yesterday. I am thirteen this year. We had a party at my home. My parents bought me a big cake. There was my name and thirteen candles on the cake. My father bought a lot of fruits and drinks, too. Many friends came to my birthday party. They bought me many presents. And each of them gave me a birthday card, too. They made the card by hand. When the party began, they sang “Happy birthday to you!” Then Wang Feng performed magic. Li Jun danced disco. Dang Li played the guitar. I was so happy yesterday.

Passage 13

One night a thief broke into an old couple’s house. His careless noise woke up the husband and the wife. The husband told the wife to be quiet, while he said loudly, “My dear, these days thieves are clever. If they take off their clothes and put them on the table, the people in the room will fall asleep and can’t wake up.”

Hearing this, the thief took off his clothes at once and was ready to start his work.

At the moment, the husband suddenly shouted in a loud voice, “Stop thief! Stop thief!” The thief was so frightened that ran away as fast as he could, leaving his clothes on the table.

Passage 14

Ma Hu got two tickets of a wonderful of football match between Quanxing and Guoan. He was thinking of inviting his good friend Zhao Huayang to watch it together. He gave a call and told him to meet at the gate of Xinhua Park after school and then had dinner together.

They met each other on time and had a good dinner in a restaurant. When the waiter brought them the bill. Ma Hu found that he left his wallet at home. The two tickets kept in the wallet.

Passage 15

Why do children go to school? Do you know? You may say that they go to school to learn Chinese, English and some other subjects. This answer is right. But do you know why they learn all these things? Do they learn all these things at school?

The answer is “No”. Children must learn how to learn at school. No one can learn everything at school. When they leave they must continue to learn. So a good teacher at school teaches his students to learn something and teaches them the way of learning it. Then children can continue to learn well after they leave school.