Daniel was always making excuses for forgetting to do things．His usual excuse was  “I was too busy” or “I didn't have time”．

    Daniel's parents were worried    1    him．“He mustn't go through life making excuses all the time，”his father said．“Nobody will believe him．He won't be able to  keep a  job．No bright girl will marry    2  ．”

    “I don't know  3  we can do．”said his mother．

    “I have a good  4  ，”his father said．“If this doesn't work，nothing will.”

    The next day was Daniel's birthday．When he thought of getting exciting presents，he couldn't wait．He woke up expecting his parents to wish him “Happy birthday!” but all they said was “Good morning，Daniel．Hurry up，  5  you'll be late for school．”  There were no presents，not even a card．He was very   6  ．

    “Never mind，”he thought．“They'll give me a  surprise after school．” But they didn't．Finally，at dinner he said to his parents，“Today is  7  ．”

    “Oh!” his father said．“So it is．I  8  ．”

    “So did I．”his mother said．

    “How could you forget?” Daniel asked．“ There must  9  a reason．”。

    “Well，yes，”his father said．“We have a really good excuse for forgetting your birthday，Daniel．We didn't remember your birthday 10  we were too busy．”  Poor Daniel．He never had a silly excuse for not doing something again!

    1．A．with                      B．a(chǎn)bout                   C．a(chǎn)t                 D．in    

    2．A．he                         B．his                       C. him                  D．himself

    3．A．how                     B．why                    C．where             D．what

    4．A．excuse                  B．message               C．idea                D．news

    5．A．or                         B．a(chǎn)nd                    C．then                D．but

    6．A．happy             B．sad                      C．excited            D．grateful

    7．A．Sunday                  B．my birthday           C．Father's Day    D．July 2nd

    8．A．believed                 B．a(chǎn)greed                 C．forgot             D．remembered

    9．A．be                         B．is                        C．a(chǎn)re                 D．have

    10．A．so that                 B．before                  C．a(chǎn)lthough          D．because

　　Mr. Jackson was a painter from England. One day he was staying in a hotel in Australia. While he was having breakfast，an American who had a picture under his arm sat beside him. They introduced(介紹)themselves to each other. The American's name was Jim Black. He only collected pictures，but when Mr. Jackson asked if he was a painter too，Mr. Black answered，“Yes，I am.”

　　Soon they became friends and began to talk about painting.“It's a beautiful day. Let's paint some pictures in the garden，”said Mr. Jackson after a while. Mr. Black didn't know what to say because he was not able to paint.

　　A little time later they went into the garden with a paint box. The garden was full of spring flowers.Mr.Jackson began to paint，but Mr.Black didn't.He just walked around the garden.

　　“I've almost finished my picture.”Mr. Jackson said. He was painting a mother giving food to her baby in the garden.

　　“Beautiful! Wonderful! You are a very good painter.But I'm afraid that you have made one mistake，”said Mr.Black.“When a mother gives food to her baby she always opens her mouth too.”Mr.Jackson laughed and said，“I don't think every mother does that.Have you finished your picture yet，Mr.Black?”“No，not yet，”answered Mr.Black.

　　“What shall I paint?”he thought to himself.Then he had a good idea.

Mr.Black said he was paining a picture in only one color.Mr.Jackson asked what the picture was.Mr.Black answered with a smile，“A white cat is catching a white mouse in the snow.”

(1)Jim Black________.

[　　]

A．was a painter

B．was an old friend of Mr. Jackson's

C．only collected paintings

D．collected Mr. Jackson's paintings

(2)Mr. Jackson painted________.

[　　]

A．a(chǎn) mother eating

B．a(chǎn) baby taking food from its mother

C．a(chǎn) mother giving food to her baby with her mouth open

D．a(chǎn) baby with a big mouth

(3)When they knew each other，they________.

[　　]

A．were paining

B．were in Australia

C．were old friends

D．were traveling to America

(4)From the passage we know________.

[　　]

A．Jim Black wanted to play with Mr. Jackson

B．there was a white cat，a white mouse in the white snow in Jim Black's picture

C．Mr. Jackson painted well

D．Mr. Jackson knew Jim Black couldn't paint

(5)Which of the following is TRUE?

[　　]

A．All the mothers in the world open their mouths when they give food to their babies.

B．People only plant spring flowers in the hotel.

C．Jim Black often paint in only one color.

D．It was a spring day.