present for his mother. She told her friends about the present and invited them to a "tea party". When her friends came to the "tea party"，the old woman offered them brown tea leaves from the teapot. The old woman's friends began to eat them. Of course, nobody liked the tea leaves.

　　At that time the sailor came in. He looked at the table and said，"Mother，what have you done with the tea?"

　　"I boiled (煮) it as you said."

　　"And what did you do with the water?"

　　"I threw it away, of course." answered the old woman.

　　"Now you may throw away the leaves, too." said her son.

21. Most of the people in Europe ____.

A. drank tea every day 300 years ago. B. drink tea every day.

C. knew nothing about tea 300 years ago. D. like to eat the tea leaves.

22. One day the sailor brought his mother some tea from ____.

A. countries in the west B. countries in the south

C. a tea shop in England D. India or China

23. At the "tea party", ____.

A. nobody really knew what to do with the tea

B. all the woman's friends spoke highly of the tea

C. the woman offered her friends some dry tea leaves

D. the woman gave her friends each a glass of tea water

24. What mistake did the old woman make?

A. She did as the sailor said. B. She boiled the tea.

C. She threw away the tea-leaves. D. She poured the water.

　　What might the future be like? Here are some predictions: things to come, things to go.

　　Spring Festival, the most important Chinese holiday when everyone returns home has caused headaches for millions of Chinese. More than 200 million people travel at the same time, making getting travel tickets and the journey difficult. But in 28 years, Spring Festival travel may not be a problem at all. China plans to build more than 120, 000 kilometers of railway and a fast transportation network that will serve 90% of the population by 2020.

　　And because most of China will be cities, people will not have to go to other places to find a job, so it will no longer be a problem.

　　Newspapers will come to an end in 2043. In the future, digital newspapers will be sent to

personal web tools through Internet. Readers can discuss topics with journalists and editors. Information will move faster.

Oil is running out faster than expected. But scientists have found something else for oil as Fuel. Coal, natural gas, solar power, nuclear power and even, water can take the place of oil as sources of energy.