It just hadn't been a very good week.On Tuesday，Sam's father lost his job.Then on Wednesday，Sam's mother said that the rent on their apartment was going up.Now it was Friday，and Sam had just opened his e-mail to find an invitation from Rosa to her birthday party.
   An invitation to a party at Rosa's would have been good news.Sam knew Rosa from Adventure Club.Members of the club took trips to places such as the Museum of Natural History.
   Sam knew that he would enjoy Rosa's party，but he didn't want to go without a gift.What could he possibly buy her with the little money he had left in his pocket？Sam knew he couldn't ask Mom or Dad for any money—not this week!"Well，"Sam thought，"I don't have time to worry about this right now.I've got a report to write for school，and I'd better get to the library before it closes."
   Later that afternoon，as Sam was leaving the library，he noticed a sign that said there was a book sale going on downstairs.Sam headed down for a quick look，and two books caught his eye.The first was a cookbook of Puerto Rican foods，and the second was a book about women explorers."Rosa would like these，"Sam thought，"but would it be tacky（俗氣） to give her used books for her birthday？"
   Sam decided that a used gift was better than no gift at all.Besides，Rosa supported recycling in a big way，so probably she would not mind.With his last dollar，Sam bought the books and went home feeling a little better.
   The party on Saturday was a lot of fun.Everyone told stories about the funny things they had done in Adventure Club—like the time they went hiking in a nearby park and fell into the lake.Rosa's mother and grandmother served them delicious food and creamy coconut milkshakes（奶油椰奶奶昔）.Rosa opened all her gifts and thanked everyone for the nice things they had given her.She stopped for a moment when she opened Sam's gift，which made him wonder if she liked the books，but nothing was said.The moment passed，and soon the party was over.
   When Sam got home，he opened his e-mail to find this note from Rosa：
Dear Sam，
   Of all the gifts I received today，yours was the nicest.How did you know I would love a book about women explorers and a cookbook of Puerto Rican foods？Now I have something to read that will inspire me to follow my dream of becoming an adventurer，and I have a book that I can share with my grandmother.She is getting older and wants to be sure her granddaughter knows how to make the wonderful foods of Puerto Rico.Thank you so much.You are a good friend.
Love，
Rosa The week turned out to be a good one after all.

（1）What was the main problem in this story？

D

D

A．Sam's mother was out of work.
B．Rosa's grandmother was getting older.
C．Rosa had not invited Sam to her birthday party.
D．Sam didn't have enough money to buy Rosa a gift.
（2）Why was Rosa so pleased with the cookbook？

D

D

A．Her dream was to become a great cook.
B．She wanted to be better at cooking than before.
C．She had never tasted Puerto Rican foods before.
D．She wanted to learn how to cook Puerto Rican foods.
（3）After reading the thank- you note from Rosa，Sam will most probably

A

A

.
A．write back to Rosa
B．buy Rosa more books
C．a(chǎn)sk Rosa to lend him the books
D．join the Adventure Club
（4）Which saying best expresses a theme of this story？

B

B

A．Practice makes perfect.
B．It's the thought that matters.
C．A friend in need is a friend indeed.
D．If at first you don't succeed，try again.