More and more people think it necessary to study in an English-speaking country and it didn’t take long at all for me to decide to come and study in UK.

　　I have been used to school life since I came here two months ago, and I am starting to enjoy most of my time in here. School starts at 9 o’clock every morning, and every Monday, Wednesday and Friday we have long days, in which we have 9 lessons and school finishes at 4 o’clock. Every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday we have short days, in which we have only 6 lessons and finish at 1 o’clock. After lessons, we have 2 hours of activity time, when you can choose from a number of activities, including many sports, such as rugby(英式橄榄球) , football, basketball and tennis.

　　As a boarder(寄宿者), the quality of food is something I consider very important, and Merchiston has not let me down. The school kitchens are run by a professional company, and the quality of food is excellent, and they are always trying to make the diet healthy. One of the obvious advantages of being a boarder is that we can have breakfast in the school, which means we don’t have to pull ourselves out of bed as early as the day pupils!

　　1. How many lessons do the students have every week in this school?

　　A. 15 B. 45 C. 27 D. 18

　　2. The passage mainly tells us about __________________.

　　A. the writer’s school life in the UK as a boarder

　　B. the writer’s opinion of the school life in the UK

　　C. the differences in school life between China and the UK

　　D. the boarder life in a British middle school

　　3. Which of the following has the closest meaning to the underlined phrase “ let me down” in the passage?

　　A. made me blue B. cheered me up

　　C. encouraged me D. made me surprised

　　People often said Thomas Edison was the greatest genius(天才) of his age. There are only a few men in all of history, who have changed the lives of other men as much as the inventor of the first useful electric light. But Edison could never be pleased only because someone said he was a genius. “There is no such a thing as genius,” Edison said. He thought what people called genius was mostly hard work.

　　But Edison was a thinker as well as a worker. From his earliest days as a child he wondered about the secrets of nature. He tried to understand them, and then he tried to learn what he could usefully do with them.

　　Edison enjoyed thinking. He knew that most people would do almost anything instead of the difficult work of thinking, especially if they do not think very often. But he knew, too, that thinking could give men enjoyment and pleasure.

　　Edison could not understand why anyone could not be interested in life. As he loved to think, he also loved to work. On the day he became 75 years old, someone asked him what idea he had about life. “Work,” he answered, “Discovering the secrets of nature and using them to make men happier.” He said he had enough inventions in his mind to give him another 100 years of work.

　　4. What is genius according to Thomas Edison?

　　A. Hard thinking. B. Hard work. C. Useful ideas. D. Useful inventions.

　　5. How did Edison always deal with the secrets of nature after exploring them?

　　A. To write down what he had learned. B. To carry out a new experiment.

　　C. To make them useful in life. D. To share them with others.

　　6. What does the last sentence in the passage mean?

　　A. Edison was born to be a great inventor.

　　B. Edison was able to live another 100 years.

　　C. Edison was ready to make his 100th invention.

　　D. Life was too short for Edison to work for human beings.