牛津版（深圳·广州）初中英语九年级上册期末复习（题型专练）：...

    Edinburgh is the world's "festival city". The city holds 12 festivals throughout the year, half of which are celebrated during the months of July and August. Hundreds of thousands of people visit the Scottish capital during the summer. Here are some of the events they can enjoy.

    Patrick Johnson, an artist for the Washington Post, found some treasure in his new house-35, 000 dollars in a place where no one could see it. Although he had car and house payments in his head, he still decided to return all of the money to the previous(先前的)owner of the house, Mr Williams. Would you had done the same？

    Just hours after he had bought the house, Patrick came into the small house, where he was planning to lay out his tools and hang things up. He looked up and saw a little hole in the wall. He didn't know what it was inside, so he walked towards the wall. It was very dark inside, but an old box caught his eye." I caught the thing. It was heavy. I thought it might be some pieces of wood, "he said. Actually it was not. It was filled with lots of dollar bills. But he and his wife knew they had to return the money to Mr Williams.

    "I've got two boys and we teach them to be honest and to do what is right. I knew this was a teachable moment that I would never get back again, "Patrick said to his wife." So I thought we would do something honest with it. It's been a great thing for us and our kids."

    Mr Hunt came from a poor family. He had three brothers and two sisters. His father worked hard but wasn't paid much. And his mother did all the housework at home. They were both able but they couldn't get enough money for their family.

    Mr Hunt was at school for only three years and he had to stop to help his parents though he was good at his lessons. When he was sixteen, he came to the city and began to work in a small factory. He learned from an old worker and became a skilled worker. The old worker liked him and married his daughter to him. The young man did not have his own house and had to live with his parents-in-law. His mother-in-law always thought he was poor and often chattered(喋喋不休).So the young man tried to save everything and hoped to have his own house.

    It was one fine Sunday. The old woman wanted to have a picnic on top of the hill. She told Mr Hunt to drive her car. But sometimes she told him to turn left and sometimes to turn right. The young man had to listen to her. At a crossing, the lights were red but she made him turn left. The policeman stopped them and told the young man to give his license to him.

    "If I did wrong, sir," said Mr Hunt, "it was my mother-in-law's fault. She was driving the car though she sat behind me!"

Dear Mum,

    I'm sorry that I can't go back home for Mother's Day next week. On that day, I'll have to go to an important meeting for my boss, who helps me a lot with my work and life here. But I'll find time to see you at home soon.

    Mum, thank you for everything you've done for Tim and me. After Dad died ten years ago, you had to work in a supermarket in the daytime and in a restaurant at night. But you always gave us two your love and care. Though you don't have to work now, I still remember your coming home and feeling tired many evenings.

    Tim is going to finish his studies next month. He said he would move back from school and look for a job near home. I'm glad you won't live by yourself any more. Let's plan to take a trip in the near future. It's been years since the three of us took a trip together.

    Happy Mother's Day! I love you, Mum.

Best wishes,

John

    Zheng He was an amazing man. He was born in 1371. Eleven years later, he was caught by the army of a rich young man called Zhu Di and made to work for him. Over time the rich man saw that Zheng He was very clever and strong and they became close friends. In 1403 Zhu Di became the emperor of China and he asked Zheng He to join his government.

    The emperor wanted to learn more about the world and show other countries his power. He ordered many new ships to be built and made Zheng He their leader. Between 1405 and 1433, Zheng He led seven sea trips to different parts of the world. He certainly travelled to India, Africa and the Middle East. A few people think his ships have even reached South America and Australia.

    Each trip lasted between two and four years and it is believed that he sailed more than 50,000 kilometres during the years of his travels. Zheng He led a fleet with about 28,000 men and over 300 ships, such as boats for food, water and even soldiers' horses.

    On these trips he brought with him many Chinese goods like silk and medicine to give to foreign kings or to sell for local goods. He returned from each trip with boats which were filled with expensive things such as gold and treasure, foreign guests and strange animals like a giraffe.

    It is a pity that we may never learn everything about Zheng He's travels. The Columbus of the East, Zheng He, died in 1433. After that, the new emperor had these trips stopped and he burned almost all the books about Zheng He's travels, because he believed the trips were unlucky and too expensive. It is only in the last 50 years that historians have begun to carefully study the adventures of great Zheng He.

    The village of Hengly was going to have the Bean Olympics. It was a competition to see which kind of bean would grow the fastest and the tallest. Everybody was excited. They couldn't wait to show their best plants.

    Cassie knew clearly which bean she would choose for the competition, for her family had planted a special "family bean" .It was a flat bean that her great-grandparents had brought from Sicily. Her grandmother planted the beans every year and served them at many meals. Cassie was sure they would be unbeatable beans.

    However, the plan did not work out that way. Although Cassie's bean plants looked healthy with beautiful purple flowers, they did not grow as fast or climb as high as any of her neighbours. These people chose beans from seed(种子)shops. Their beans had wonderful names like "Rocket "or" Top Crop". One type was even named "King's Bean". That was the bean Ivan planted, and his plants climbed almost to the top of the fence. Cassie's plants were just near the middle of the fence.

    On the day of the competition, Cassie was disappointed that her beans were in last place. Ivan laughed at her beans and said she could win a prize for the slowest, shortest bean.

    The organizer, Mr Williams, handed out medals for the fastest-growing and the tallest bean plants." Now there remains only one final test, and it is just as important: the taste test."

    Mr Williams cooked the beans from each competitor and chose five experienced villagers as judges(裁判).

    Cassie was nervous. Would her family beans lose another time？

    After the judges tasted the beans, Mr Williams counted the results.

     "We have a winner, "Mr Williams announced." The judges all agree that Cassie's beans are the winner."

    Cassie grinned at this unexpected result. Many of her neighbours, even Ivan asked for her seeds. They were all in favour of the good-tasting beans even though they didn't grow fast or very tall.

    I felt very sad not to be able to get the ticket to the film Titanic last Friday. I learned in the newspaper that tickets could be bought at the cinema box office in Richland Hills every day between 10：00 a.m. and 4：00 p.m. Because I work from 9：00 a.m.to 5：30 p.m., the only time I could go to the cinema was during my 45-minute lunch time. It is a pity that the cinema is on the other side of the town, and the bus service between my office and Richland Hills is not very good. But if you are lucky, you can make the round(往返)trip in 45 minutes.

    Last Monday I stood at the bus stop for fifteen minutes, waiting for a bus. By the time I saw one coming around the corner, there was not enough time left to make the trip-so I had to go back to the office. The same thing happened on Wednesday. On Thursday my luck changed, I got on a bus right away and arrived at the cinema in twenty minutes. But when I got there, I found a long line of people at the box office. I heard one man say he had been waiting in line for fifty-five minutes. I found that I would not have enough time to wait in line. I caught the next bus and went back across the town.

    Then on Friday I understood my only hope was to make the trip by car. It was not cheap, but I felt it would be worthwhile to see the film. The trip by car only took 10 minutes, but it felt like one hour to me. When I reached the cinema, I was delighted to see that nobody was waiting in line. But I quickly found out that it was because they had already sold out all the tickets.

    He was an old man who 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 was the worst form of unluck, 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 were fresh. Everything about him was old except his eyes and they were the same colour 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 much 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."

    In the summer between my first year and second year in college, I was invited to be an instructor(辅导员)at a high school camp. On the first day, when we were dancing and playing games, I noticed a boy under the tree who was small and thin. His shyness made him appear weak. I walked towards him, introduced myself and invited him to join in the activities and meet some new people. He quietly replied, "No, I really don't want to do this." I could understand that he was in a new world but I knew it wouldn't be right to force him either. Actually, the boy didn't need a close talk but a friend.

    At lunch the next day, I was leading camp songs when I saw the boy under the tree sitting alone. I tried again with the same invitation, but he refused once again. That evening I was told the boy's name was Tommy. Then I asked the campers to pay special attention to the boy and spend time with him when they could.

    The days went by and the time came when we had to leave. We held a big, warm party to celebrate the closing of the camp. All the campers shared their wonderful moments. To my surprise, I found the boy from under the tree dancing joyfully with two girls. I couldn't believe it was the same person.

    In October of my second year, I received a phone call from Tommy's mother. She told me that Tommy was hit by a car and died. I offered my deep sadness. The mother said, "Tommy mentioned you so many times. I want you to know that he went back to school and made new friends with confidence. You made a difference to Tommy during his last months."

    At that moment, I realized how easy it was to give a bit of yourself every day. You may never know how much each gesture may mean to someone else. I hope that everyone can pay attention to his own "boy under the tree".

    A doctor entered the hospital hurriedly after being called in for an important surgery(外科手术).He found the boy's father in the hall waiting worriedly.

    On seeing him, the father cried out, "Why did you take all this time to come？Don't you know that my son is in danger？Don't you have any sense of duty？"

    The doctor smiled and said, "I am sorry. I wasn't in the hospital and I came as fast as I could after receiving the call and now, I wish you'd calm down so that I can do my work."

     "Calm down？！What if your son was in this room right now？Would you calm down？If your own son dies while waiting for a doctor, then what will you do？"said the father angrily. The doctor smiled again and replied, "We will do our best and you should also pray for your son's healthy life."

    The surgery took some hours after which the doctor went out happily, "Thank goodness！Your son is saved！"And without waiting for the father's reply he carried on his way running by saying, "If you have any questions, ask the nurse."

     "Couldn't he wait some minutes so that I can ask about my son's state？"shouted the father when seeing the nurse minutes after the doctor left.

    The nurse answered, tears coming down her face, "His son died yesterday in a road accident. He was at the burial(葬礼)when we called him for your son's surgery. And now that he saved your son's life, he left running to finish his son's burial."